Hi all One of my relatives married in Simla at 13 1/2 following the death of her father. She had a number of children but the first born seems to have arrived when she was 18 years old. A word of warning ! A few years ago I contacted and met the great granddaughter of this lady who was then in her 70's. We had a lovely lunch and she presented me with a family tree that she had inherited. I was delighted and we went on to talk about two of our family in more detail. She was absolutely horrified by the news that Elizabeth was 13 1/2 on her marriage to William Ball. She wouldn't hear the discussion that this was "normal" for the time. I also mentioned that her much loved Uncle married four times ( having been widowed three times). This also went down like a lead balloon. This lady never answered my letters again and the much promised family photos never arrived. The lesson I have learnt .............don't say anything too controversial until you have the photos/ letters you have been promised! I had no intention of upsetting this lovely woman but that is obviously what I did. Cathy N Devon Researching Picton Davies, Picton Clark, Cox.

Wonderful post my gg mother married at 15 went on to have 13 children most of which survived to adulthood have a photo of her in later life A beautiful woman and pillar of society snobbery is a curse xx Sent from my iPhone 6 > On 14 Mar 2015, at 12:17, cathy via <india@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > > Hi all > > One of my relatives married in Simla at 13 1/2 following the death of her > father. She had a number of children but the first born seems to have > arrived when she was 18 years old. > > A word of warning ! A few years ago I contacted and met the great > granddaughter of this lady who was then in her 70's. We had a lovely lunch > and she presented me with a family tree that she had inherited. > I was delighted and we went on to talk about two of our family in more > detail. She was absolutely horrified by the news that Elizabeth was 13 1/2 > on her marriage to William Ball. She wouldn't hear the discussion that this > was "normal" for the time. I also mentioned that her much loved Uncle > married four times ( having been widowed three times). This also went down > like a lead balloon. This lady never answered my letters again and the much > promised family photos never arrived. > > > The lesson I have learnt .............don't say anything too controversial > until you have the photos/ letters you have been promised! I had no > intention of upsetting this lovely woman but that is obviously what I did. > > > Cathy > > N Devon > Researching > Picton Davies, Picton Clark, Cox. > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to INDIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Subject: bride at 13 and a half years of age: Hi Cathy, Maria and others: There is an historical reason for this. Most British soldiers were recruited at ages 17 or 18 years of age from the poorest sections of British society. After a long voyage of 6 months or longer (Clive's first voyage to India took him 15 months) they faced an alien land in an alien culture; they had no proper quarters; they faced tropical diseases such as cholera, small pox and typhoid;. terrible heat and local wars. . Only one in 10 returned home! and they had to wait till they were about 25-28 years old before they were allowed to marry "on the strength". Meaning they had to received their commanding officers pemission, otherwise upon marriage, they would not get the wives' and children's allowances. The children's allowances ceased at the age of 14. At this age the boys went into the army (in non-combative positions as buglers etc. ) and the girls had to marry.as they had no other means of support. Often the girls married the friends of their fathers in the military. In my own family many of the women were married at ages 14 or 15. One of them had at least 15 children - all by the same husband! These young girls were expected to look after their husbands and have dinner ready on the table when they came home. I read somewhere that one young bride chose to play marbles with her friends and did not have dinner ready for her husband. . The young husband beat her up! These young girls were children forced to grow up too soon. Yet they and their children have survived to become productive citizens to which we can all attest. These were the pioneers in India, who contributed much to Society for which they should be remembered. On Mar 14, 2015, at 6:50 AM, cathy via <india@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > Hi all > > One of my relatives married in Simla at 13 1/2 following the death of her > father. She had a number of children but the first born seems to have > arrived when she was 18 years old. > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to INDIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message