Full Age and Minor
You will often see the term minor and full age recorded on marriage certificates and in parish registers. A minor was a person under the age of 21. Therefore someone described as being "full age" was aged 21 years or over. A minor could marry with the permission of a parent or guardian if they were aged 12 for girls and 14 for boys - although this was very rare. This was not changed until 1929 when the age was raised to 16 for both sexes, with 21 still being the age of consent. In 2010 the age of consent for marriage was changed to 18.
