[LMB] Age at first marriage

[Michael R N Dolbear]

> From: Mitch Miller <mitchmiller at entertainmenttax.com>
> Date: 05 April 2008 02:34

> I wonder how universal marriage in the 20's was during the 19th century 
> - Juana Maria de los Dolores deLeon Smith, the "Ladysmith" for whom the
> town in South Africa and hence the singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo
> is named, (1798-1872) married then-Major Harry Smith when she was 14 -- 
> he was 25.

Rather a special case = see The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer of course.
I recall that Ladysmith Road in Ullapool, Highlands of Scotland has a
correct Gaelic translation (Road of the Smith's Woman).

As to England in the 19th Century :

Mean age at first marriage of men in certain occupations in
England and Wales and their brides:

Miner                       24.06  22.46
Textile hand                24.36  23.43
Shoemaker, tailor           24.92  24.31
Artisan                     25.35  23.70
Laborer                     25.56  23.66
Commercial clerk            26.25  24.43
Shopkeeper, shopman         26.67  24.22
Farmer or farmer's son      29.23  28.91
Member of the professional  31.22  26.40
   or independent class
   
This is from p. 86 of Robert Woods, _The Demography of
Victorian England and Wales, 2000, which has it from an 1890
analysis by William Ogle; this page is among those availabe
at Google Books.

Selections from G.E. Mingay, ed., _The Victorian Countryside_, 2000, are
also available at Google Books.