"Years and upwards" on marriage bonds

[J. P. Gilliver]

"alledged and made Oath as follows, That he is of the Age of ________
Years and upwards, and a ___________ and intends to marry
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
aged ________________ Years and upwards, and a ___________"

Those are the printed bits; the one I'm looking at has Thirty, Widower,
her name and residence, Twenty two, and Spinster filled in.

It's the "and upwards" bit that I am puzzled about. Had it, and I'm
pretty sure I've seen several such, said just "twenty-one and upwards",
I'd assume it just meant they were claiming (often enough untruthfully!)
that they are of the age of majority and thus eligible to marry without
consent. But I've often enough seen ages over 21 - and at least one
under (nineteen) - that that doesn't explain it.

Anyone know? Does "and upwards" not mean what I at first assume it does?

[john]

Post by J. P. Gilliver
"alledged and made Oath as follows, That he is of the Age of ________
Years and upwards, and a ___________ and intends to marry
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
aged ________________ Years and upwards, and a ___________"
Those are the printed bits; the one I'm looking at has Thirty, Widower,
her name and residence, Twenty two, and Spinster filled in.
It's the "and upwards" bit that I am puzzled about. Had it, and I'm
pretty sure I've seen several such, said just "twenty-one and upwards",
I'd assume it just meant they were claiming (often enough untruthfully!)
that they are of the age of majority and thus eligible to marry without
consent. But I've often enough seen ages over 21 - and at least one
under (nineteen) - that that doesn't explain it.
Anyone know? Does "and upwards" not mean what I at first assume it does?

A quick bit of research
from
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Marriage_Allegations,_Bonds_and_Licences_in_England_and_Wales
"The exact ages of the parties may appear but sometimes only a rough age
is given and after 1754 "twenty-one years and upwards" regularly
appears, although practice varied in different places. If either of the
parties was under 21 then a formal written statement of approval by the
appropriate parent or guardian was required. No person under the age of
21 - unless already married and widowed - was allowed to marry in church
without the permission of their parents."

The 1754 date comes from the Clandestine Marriages Act 1753 coming in to
force on 25 Mar 1754
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_Marriages_Act_1753

[J. P. Gilliver]

Post by john

Post by J. P. Gilliver
"alledged and made Oath as follows, That he is of the Age of ________
Years and upwards, and a ___________ and intends to marry
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
aged ________________ Years and upwards, and a ___________"
Those are the printed bits; the one I'm looking at has Thirty,
Widower, her name and residence, Twenty two, and Spinster filled in.
It's the "and upwards" bit that I am puzzled about. Had it, and I'm
pretty sure I've seen several such, said just "twenty-one and
upwards", I'd assume it just meant they were claiming (often enough
untruthfully!) that they are of the age of majority and thus eligible
to marry without consent. But I've often enough seen ages over 21 -
and at least one under (nineteen) - that that doesn't explain it.
Anyone know? Does "and upwards" not mean what I at first assume it does?

A quick bit of research
from
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Marriage_Allegations,_Bonds_and_Lic
ences_in_England_and_Wales
"The exact ages of the parties may appear but sometimes only a rough
age is given and after 1754 "twenty-one years and upwards" regularly
appears, although practice varied in different places. If either of the
parties was under 21 then a formal written statement of approval by the
appropriate parent or guardian was required. No person under the age of
21 - unless already married and widowed - was allowed to marry in
church without the permission of their parents."

[]
Yes, as I said, I was quite familiar with "21 years and upwards"
occurring frequently, as a way of claiming majority and thus consent not
required - often untruthfully claimed.

What puzzles me is the "and upwards" appearing when ages other than 21
are inserted, both higher and lower (such as 30 and 19).

I guess it's that it's preprinted on the form, so few people feel
they're entitled to delete it, but it does make the age seem less
precise.