§ Sir Knox Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Scotland, what representations he has received concerning the age of marriage in Scotland; and what reply he has sent.
§ Mr. RossIn addition to requests received by my Department for information on marriage law, a few of which have contained suggestions that the minimum age of marriage should be raised, I have received in the last year two specific communications to this effect. These were acknowledged; I do not think they indicate a general demand for a change.
As the hon. Member has pointed out in correspondence, before the Age of Marriage Act, 1929, which prescribed 16, only males below 14 and females below 12 were by Scots law incapable of matrimonial consent. The Act of 1929, therefore, represented a distinct change. I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving me an opportunity of correcting on this point the supplementary reply given on 17th November by my hon. Friend the Minister of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Fife, West (Mr. William Hamilton).