What age is "of age"?

[Kit]

If a couple got married and it doesn't mention any ages for the couple, nor that any permissions for underage marriage were given, what age is "of age"?

I'm looking at the early 1800's in case it changed over time.

[Merry]

Definitely 21. It changed to 18 in the 1960s I think (may have been 1950s).

It was lowered to 18 in the 1970s.

I would definitely say over 21.

[Merry]

Originally Posted by maggie_4_7

It was lowered to 18 in the 1970s.

Thanks for that Maggie - you have just saved me from a long arguement in this house! lol

Well my memory may be a bit off but my very first vote was just after I turned 18, it was the referendum/vote on whether to come out of the EEC that Ted Heath's government had taken the country into without a referendum and I was born in 1956 and it had been lowered the year before I voted. It was 1974/75 under a Labour government led by Harold Wilson.

But I'm sure someone can confirm that or not.

[Kit]

So if someone married in 1813 they would have been born in 1792 or before?

[Caroline]

The first election when you could vote at 18 was in 1970. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...election,_1970

I remember it well as I was born in 1951 and eligible to vote, but couldn't as I was in Hong Kong where my father was stationed with the RN - he and my mother were allowed postal votes, and so were any dependants over 21, but they hadn't got themselves geared up for dependants of 18, 19 and 20 to have one so I missed out..

[ElizabethHerts]

I'm not quite sure the exact date that the coming of age thing changed, but I remember this:

My sister was born in 1949.
I was born in 1951.
She was very annoyed because we became of age on the same day -

http://www.lawreform.ie/publications...me1/lrc_3.html

"Nine out of the eleven members of the Latey Committee concluded that the historical causes for fixing 21 years as the age of majority were not relevant to contemporary society, and they recommended that the age of majority be reduced to 18 years. (See Latey Report, paragraphs 518 and 519(1) at pp. 125 and 126.) This recommendation was accepted and on January 1, 1970, the age of majority was reduced from 21 to 18 years. (See Family Law Reform Act 1969, for England and Wales, the Age of Majority (Scotland) Act 1969, for Scotland, and the Age of Majority Act (NI) 1969, for Northern Ireland.)"

Ah yes, 1st January 1970
I was 18, she was 20.

[Kit]

Your poor sister. No longer able to hold the age card over you. lol

[ElizabethHerts]

Originally Posted by Kit

Your poor sister. No longer able to hold the age card over you. lol

LOL! We get on pretty well, only a odd wobble, so she's never used "I'm older than you" since we were kids.