How realistic is this ?

[LadyEloise1]

Researching DH's family and it appears that his great granduncle married a woman 14 years older than him.
I think that's very unusual for the time.
He was about 22 and she was 36 when they married. It was in the early years of the 20th century.
I really need to see their marriage certificate don't I !!!

I thought it must be a mistake but I just checked on Ancestry and saw the Marriage Certificate.
He was 19 and she was 34.
That is very unusual isn't it.
They went on to have 3 children but I don't know if they stayed together.
When is the next census after 1911 available?

Was she pregnant? Had she been married before?

It's probably not as unusual as you think. I've seen it quite a few times in my own family tree research. Love's love and all that.

If it was after 1914 then many men would have been lost during WW1, so the pool of 'available men' of marrying age would have been very different.

Going way off tangent, William Shakespeare married Ann Hathaway who was almost a decade older than him and that was in fifteen hundred and something.

She was, as David Mitchell memorably puts it, up the Duffington however.

1921 census is the next one then 1939 register. At 19 he would have been underage to marry without permission I think. Did he serve in ww1 as there may be enlistment or service records available

Yes parental consent was required until 1987 except in Scotland.

It was in 1905. In England.

What demographic are we talking about?

He is listed as a banker's clerk.
One of the fathers is listed as an accountant.

Did he marry his boss's daughter? Or 'marry up'? Not only women did (do) this.

This is so interesting - there are so many possible scenarios! I love how a piece of paper like a marriage certificate can tell a whole story.
So - is she listed as a spinster or a widow? What are the professions of both fathers? Are the fathers still alive at the time of the wedding? Do they live in the same parish?
Can you learn anything from the names of the witnesses?
And - billion dollar question - how soon after the wedding is the first child born?

Very similar thing in my family tree but in the early 19th century. Also really common for the woman to be a couple of years older. Not something that I expected to find.

Genealogy can throw up some nasties.

Some distant married ancestors of mine were first cousins. I know it's not illegal but ... yuck!

On one side of my family, both my great grandfathers were orphaned before the age of 5 they were then split from their siblings and brought up by various family members.

Wasn't Ann Hathaway older than Will Shakespeare?

She is listed as a spinster and the first child born alive appears to be 4 years later.
When will the 1921 census be released on Ancestry ?

Brides's father is a shipping agent- whatever that was and groom's father an accountant so I presume they were middle ish class.

my mums great aunt was 10 years older than her husband. They were the sweetest and loveliest couple.
My mum is 80 so I think they were 30 years older? Born 1910/1920 ish?

A wealthy spinster married off and they got along and had children?

Either it's a genuine marriage - love is love after all. Or alternatively he's married her on the promise of inheritance. When doing similar research I've heard of a couple of marriages where the woman had perhaps mental health or learning difficulties and has been "married off" to a suitable man willing to take her on in exchange for becoming the heir to a business/money/title. Usually when there is no son/heir in the family and one is needed to be brought in.

My granny born in 1903 was 15 years older than my grandad. I'm not sure what age she was when she got married but must have been relatively young as they had 11 children.

19 is young for a middle-class marriage in 1905. I think @HoHoHoliday ’s suggestion is very plausible.
Groom’s father does the books for bride’s father’s business?
More unusual is her age when her children are born - 40 was pushing it then for a first pregnancy and you say she had two more?
Are you 100% sure you’ve got her age right?

Was it her first marriage or might she have been widowed and had children already?

Find My Past has paid a fortune to host the 1921 census, and I doubt that ancestry will get access to it any time soon.

Your best bet if you want access to their details on the 1921 census is either see if your local library has FMP access, or wait until FMP have one of their free taster weekends. (You could ask for a lookup but FMP doesn't allow those under the terms of their customer contract).

If you're anywhere near Kew, Manchester or Aberystwyth you can visit the national archives (or their partner locations) and access the 1921 census free of charge.

@LadyEloise1 if you PM me the details I'll look up the 1921 census for you . I'd have to email or what's app the result though.