> Hi Brenda, > I have a marriage of James Goodman To Mary Sear in Bletchley on the > 20th may 1839 (I know this would make James only 14 at the time but > the dates might not be right) Regards Martin sear It would be very unlikely indeed, though technically possible.Marriage in the mid twenties is much more likely, when he could afford to support a wife. However, in assessing the age, are you working from a baptism? Remember that the child may very well not have been an infant at the time. Also, James Goodman is not an uncommon name in Bucks (or anyhere), and you may have picked the wrong one. What age does James claim in subsequent different censuses? -Though even that may not be a certain test, because people were pretty vague about ages. I have a man who was definitely born and baptised on given dates in 1800. In 1851, he is 50, in 1861 he is 64, in 1871 76 and when he dies 4 years later, he is back to 75. I suspect we have two different men here. (I've deleted the rest of the message, so am not sure what it said).