Indeed! My own parents ran off to Gretna. My mum was 20 and her father was dead against them getting married. He travelled 300 miles to get her, once he realized what was going on (she'd told him she was going for a holiday with a female friend). So my dad was left high and dry, until my mum sneaked back there again. I have the souvenir silver anvil given to them at the time and the newspaper clipping from the Border Press newspaper, who ran a story on the elopement. But, just try telling her father that at 20 she was full age! haha Claire www.claires-rosleaancestry.co.uk -----Original Message----- From: nir-down-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:nir-down-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Michael Lightfoot Sent: 15 January 2008 03:29 To: nir-down@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NIR-DOWN] James CROSKERY and Margaret SLOAN Peter McGuinness wrote: > No subterfuge required: marriage at 16 was, and is, legal in England > with parental consent. In all the English census returns, the marital > status is left blank unless the individual is 16 or over, after which it > is completed; the assumption being that anyone under 16 is automatically > single but after that you need to specify. > I have a feeling the parish priest would usually need no proof of age - > he would already know! > But you have missed the point. "Of full age" meant parental permission was NOT required. The fact that Patricia's marriage cert says that, yet they weren't over 21 would be prima facie evidence that they DIDN'T have parental permission. It certainly happened. I have several cases in my parish record transcriptions where the same situation applied. And then there was Gretna Green... --