"With the consent of friends"

I came across this phrase in an old parish marriage record recently but don't recall coming across the phrase before. I was not sure what it implied as far as the couple or the church was concerned so I carried out an online search. While I came across instances of the phrase being used I couldn't find an explanation of it's meaning.

I'd appreciate your help.

Tony

 

Is it from the 'society of Friends' meeting house? ie Quakers.

 

Hi Wendy. No. It was just a conventional C of E parish record. My suspicion is that it may be something about the age of the pair but then I'd expect it to be "parents" rather than "friends" (my computer just corrected that word to "fiends" - has it been talking to my vacuum cleaner?).

 

This question was posed back in 2007 on a RootsChat thread.
The answer from the same question to the records office...... 'Ocaasionally, if the bride or groom was patently underage.....but had no surviving parents, then specific consent of a guardian would be sought, if there was no guardian as such (because the person was spoor or an orphan) then the general approbation of the Parish Overseer, and of the friends of the couple was deemed sufficient. All the vicar or officiating minister had to know was that there was no objections to the marriage'.
So, in reading between the lines, consent meant that there were no objections from their friends and clergy.

 

Thanks Sue. I thought that it was something of that nature. I seem to recall that the age of consent in those days was 21.

cheers
Tony

 

Duh, I knew that having seen similar in my family. Good one Archie's Mum.

 

I do apologise for my typo’s. I hadn’t even been to the closest cellar door. And there are a few around here.

 

Too cold to venture out?

 

You got that one right. Kids were building snowmen up on the mountain, although only little ones but snowmen all the same.

 

Because the preprinted register contained "with the consent of...", some vicars thought they should fill in the gap with nonsense.

 

Hi Peter

You seem to be implying that there was no requirement to complete that section of the form if it was irrelevant to the couple in question. But if so the stuff I found online and the replies above seem to suggest that quite a lot of clergy used the same words.

Tony

 

Then again people are still doing that on family trees.