Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-03-15
iNFANTILE MARRIAGES.


MARRIAGES.
"'khl Children OF Very Tender Ye.r
United In wedIock.
many persons will be considerab,v
astonished to hear how recentlv ~,
social annals disclose the frequency 81
juvenile unions in England and Scot
ahd. We do not refer to those we'll.
known instances OF princes and poten.
tates being contracted in marriage
wniie still children and for grounds Of
state alone, but to the general custom
IN other classes to as late date az IN
the last two centuries. These mar
riages were not mere betrothaIs. but
genuine marriages, '.in the face of the
Church" and duly solemnized accord.
lngto the Book Of Common PRAYER. Per.
maps the youngest bride on record in
English annals was the daughter of Sir
William Brereton at the age OF two 10 =
husband who was a year older than
herself. In this case the children were
carried into church and their elders
spoke for them.
But In another case where a little
boy OF three was married to a bride ~
nve' ne was carried by q clergyman.
who coaxed him to repeat the neces-
sary formulas. The task was not easv
however, as the child said he had
learnt enough lessons for that day be-
lore he was half through, and was only
Kept up to it by the priest saying:
You must speak little more. and
then go play you" In further in
stance recorded in Lancashire the
bridegroom was bribed to go to church
oy the present of an apple. Frequently
the brides were year or two Older
than their lords and masters, as in the
case OF Vergery Vernon, who. in 1862
she being nearly ten years old-was
married to Randle More, who was but
eight. Another record tells OF how
Gilbert Girard and Emma Talbot were
married at Leigh Church, when the
boys uncle held up the bridegroom.
who was five years old, and spoke the
words OF matrimony for the child 8
part, and the woman-who was not six
years of age-''spake for herself as she
was taught"
1t seems incredible that, during the
reigns OF Henry VIII, Edward VI,
Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth it
was quite customary for persons OF all
ranks in life to marry their children at
astonishing early ages. But the
Bishops Registry at Chester-not to
speak OF local records in all parts of
England-could testify many instances
Instances, too, among people anx-
ious for the intellectual progress OF
their day. and among whom sordid
reasons for such marriages were not
supposed to exist.
VIM. Chaderton, SUCCESSFULLY Bishop
OF Chester and Lincoln, a well-known
scholar and distinguished ecclesiastic
of the reign of Elizabeth, and who was
notable for the encouragement he gave
to ministers, and his zeal in establish
ing lectureships and daily morning
prayer. did not scruple to marry his
daughter Joan. in 1852. at the age OF
nine, to Richard Brooke, then nearly
eleven.
Four years later the marriage was
ratified-as was usual in such cases
by the consent OF the young people. the
lengthy documents testifying to .he rat
ification being still extant in the
records of Chester. Unfortunately,
their early love did not develop into an
enduring love, and twenty years later
we read that the Bishop had mo great
comfort of that matrimonyn of his only
daughter, and that she was separated
from her husband.
1t sometimes happens, when years Of
consent were attained. i. e., twelve
for the girl and fourteen for the boy
that the child bride and child bride
groom disliked each other so heartily
that they refused to ratify the contract
and then an action for divorce was I'M
dertaken and the marriage declared
void. Juvenile marriages in those
days were fortunately always voidable,
and where it could be proved that
there had been no renewal of promise,
no exchange of gifts, messages or meet
ing between the children, the union
was annulled, and each was set free.
The divorce court was at that time
the scene of many appeals from the
most useful couples until about the be-
ginning of the seventeenth century
when Strype notes that 1.-The nation be-
came scandalous for the frequency o.
divorces, especially among the richer
sort, and one occasion was the covet
business of the nobility and gentry. who
used often to marry their children
when they were young boys and girl:
that they might join land to land, and
being grown up, they many times dis
liked each other and then separation
and divorce followed to the breaking
of espousals and displeasure OF God. =
London Tid-Bits.
-
IS Graatnace