Don't know about minimum ages.
My own work on the Stoke-upon-Trent parish listing of 1701
suggests roughly half the couples with children were not
married - although this may reflect none recording of
marriage ceremonies or some ceremony outside formal church
regulation.
Certainly co-habitation has long been popular. Ask anyone
whose researched their family history and you'll see what
I mean.
David
On Mon, 13 Aug 2001 09:50:53 +0100 Gordon Lovett
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
# What were the rules governing the minimum age of marriage and the age of cohabiting etc. in the seventeenth century.
#
# Gordon Lovett
---------------------------------
David Alan Gatley (Dr),
School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Staffordshire University,
Stoke-on-Trent,
ST4 2XW
Telephone 01782-294780 (Office)
01782-415340 (Home)
Fax 01782-294760
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/sociology
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/census
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