Reply #25: There were only certain periods and places where early marriage was common

[csziggy]

I've been doing genealogical research and was surprised that the marriage age in England and Europe was much older than once the families moved to the Americas. The factors that caused this were probably economic and one of the reasons that the descendants left Europe.

It was not unusual for the German age of marriage to be 30 or older for the men and 25 or older for the women in the Protestant families. In England among the Quaker families, the ages were slightly lower - 25 to 30 for men 20 to 25 for women. I have not found a single marriage record in the families I am following where either the groom or bride was in their teens among the English or German families.

Even in the same families with the same religions, once they emigrated to the Americas, the marriage age dropped significantly, though still women tended to be at least 17 or 18 at a minimum and the men in their early 20s. Still, there were not as many teen brides as many people might think, at least in the families I am following. Most were over 20 and their husbands were on average a few years older.