Age?

[MollyMay]

What has the minister written in the age column for the groom?
He is meticulous, in all other entries in the register, in giving both ages (no of full age etc)
Was it his comment on the age gap


In fact the groom was 66 and lived to be 92! His 'young' bride then remarried when she was a sprightly 73

 

[arthurk]

It looks as though it could be "at age", which is an obsolete variant of "of age". However, the latest example quoted in the OED is from 1709, which is probably quite a long time before this was written.

My main doubt about it is whether the second word is "age". Are there any similar examples of "g" on the page?

 

[Half Hour]

Rootsweb has a list of abbreviations but I wasn't able to find that on it! Do you think he have meant legal age?

 

[MollyMay]

Are there any similar examples of "g" on the page?

This is the brides surname. The marriage was 1934 so relatively modern


I did wonder if it was filled in after as the ink is very slightly paler than the rest of the entry.

 

[MollyMay]

Do you think he have meant legal age?

It defeats me, the gent concerned was obviousy elderly as he was a retired widower - my first thought was old age, but there is no obvious 'd' and the first letters look more like 'a' than 'o'

 

[arthurk]

I did wonder if it was filled in after as the ink is very slightly paler than the rest of the entry.

Could be - I've also just noticed that the 't' in Retired and Spinster is carefully formed, with the crossing forming the join to the next letter. Here the 't' (if it is one) has no crossing at all.

Which means: (a) if written by same person, may well not be "at age", or (b) if written by someone else, could still be read as "at age".

 

[Bay Horse]

I did wonder if it was filled in after as the ink is very slightly paler than the rest of the entry.

I'm leaning towards this, and 'b' above, now that I've read everyone's responses. When I looked at the image earlier, I was completely flummoxed I have to say.

 

[Archie's Mum]

It’s probably Latin for “none of your * business”

 

[MollyMay]

It’s probably Latin for “none of your * business”

Brilliant - I wish I had thought of that

 

[Sis]

It’s probably Latin for “none of your * business”

 

[Findem]

I keep coming back to that image and just can't get to grips with it.

The first word I can't see as being anything other than al, the second word is a 'something' e, as everyone can see but the 'something' is strange. I've been trying to think what could be expressed as a/e, the only thing of anything like relevance is a shortened 'age exempt' or 'age excused' but I doubt that's the case.

I'm wondering if viewing other pages might reveal a clue.

 

[Archie's Mum]

I have searched everywhere like everyone else. The only thing I can find is that there is a Hebrew word 'al' which translates to...on, about, of, at, or for.
Is it a possibility that the groom was Jewish and that his age is stated as 'about'. What follows though is anyones guess.

 

[Daft Bat]

I wonder what is on the marriage certificate itself from either the GRO or local Register Office.

Just sayin'....

 

[Findem]

Do you think a Records or Registry Office might have idea what it means, it could be a standard notation for a certain situation, just a thought.

 

[MollyMay]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. My cousin sent me this as she had never seen anything like it before (it is from Essex, hence my only putting a small snip on here), nor had I, and it just intrigued us to what the officiating minister, or a second hand, had entered.
She knows how old the groom was, at that point - 66 and that he lived to see his 92nd birthday.

 

[Findem]

As it's Essex try the Essex Records Office Archivists they seem a pretty knowledgeable group.

 

[MollyMay]

Thank you Derek.

 

[Findem]

To save you searching here is the Archivist's email address: -

[email protected]

 

[MollyMay]

Thanks so much Derek I will pass it on to my cousin.

 

[Bay Horse]

Hoping you get a response to this because we really need to know.