BOY AND GIRL MARRIAGES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3871, 15 November 1928, Page 4

BOY AND GIRL MARRIAGES.

TENDANCY IN AUSTRALIA. NEW SOUTH WALES FIGURES. Sydney, Nov. 1. The psychologist and the moralist will find much of interest in the latest marriage statistics of New South Wlales, and the majority will probably welcome the sign that girls are once again evincing a desire to marry early. The figures for 1927 show that marriage is not only more popular, but the brides have been much younger than was the fashion during the preceding , five or six years. Thus New South Wales has been keeping pace with England, where there has been a great increase in boy and girl marriages, recalling the trend of the mid-Victorian period. In view of a population increase of- 52,000 during 1927 the greater , number of marriages celebrated last year, compared with 1926, was not ' surprising. But it was surprising to find that more than, a third of the bridegrooms last year and many more than half the brides were below the age of 24. Altogether there were 20,052 marriages, compared with 19,219 for the previous year. There was a great increase in the number of marriages by both men and women who had not attained the age of 21, but the most popular ages appear to have been between 21 and 24. There were 6306 men and 7017 girls between those agesimarried in 1927 —66 more men and 2958 more girls than those who came under the classification . between 25 and 29 years. Of course there were some girls who carried the early marriage theory too far. At least* some are bound to agree that that was so in the case of six girls who were married when they were 14 years of age. Then, again, there were 59 girls who were married at 15 and 300 at 16. The tendency seems to have been for men to select younger brides, as there were fewer younger bridegrooms. There were 717 girls married at 1.7, and the numbers increased until the 24 year period, when they commenced to recede. On the other side of the picture it is interesting to note that the oldest bride! was a widow of 87, who married a bachelor, and the oldest bridegroom was 89. Five bridegrooms in 1927 were more than 80 years, and 14 brides had; seen more than 70 summers. Many matrimonial adventures

are hinted at in the prosaic uniformity of the tabulated figures. Last year one divorced man and one divorced woman remarried at the age of 20. Eight widowers and 29 .widows remarried before they reached the age of 24, and one widow 'of 18, three of 19 and one of 29 were remarried.