Hi Graham >>Their first child,my Great,Grandmother Florence Elizabeth Mary BOWEN,[1876-1966] wasn't born for another 13 months,so it wasn't the case of a "Shotgun Marriage".<< It could have been if the previous pregnancy had either ended in a miscarriage, still birth or even an infant which died young...:-) But I do agree with your point that it was often used to obscure the true age. After 1875 the Registrar General kept writing to vicars etc, instructing them to use the actual ages, but the latest one I have come across was one in the early 20th century where a fairly elderly lady was described as "of full age" when marrying her 25 year old "toy-boy"! Polly