Hi Louise, Until 1926(!!), boys could marry at 14, and girls at 12! It was rare for marriages to take place at those ages, even in Victorian times, though it could happen, usually prompted by the financial circumstances of the families concerned, or the "making good" of "mistakes" which had already been born. Parental consent was required for all parties under the age of 21 (i.e. minors), and I know that in Tudor times it was required that they should each live with their parents until they were sixteen. Practically the only work in the area at that time was agricultural. Puddle, or Piddle, (or alternatively Trenthide) is the name of the river on which Puddletown is built, and the next village along is Tolpuddle, which is very famous for its six Martyrs, agricultural workers who were deported to your shores for the heinous crime of forming what is now celebrated as the first ever Trade Union. See the museum website at http://www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/ if you haven't already. Tolpuddle is not too far for people to have travelled to more varied work in Dorchester, though few would have. There is also Puddletown Forest, so forestry would have kept some people busy, though I don't know the pre-Forestry Commission history of the forest. Dorset-Life has been (apparently) hibernating recently, but there are some very knowledgable listers out there who, I'm sure, can elaborate further. All the best, Davy Cannon, Dorchester, Dorset