ABSTRACT
The study of child marriages brings into focus the matter of a betrothal contract. Any study of church court act books reveals a constant stream of men and women who were involved in failure to marry after a betrothal or repudiation of a contract to marry. In courtship during the seventeenth century and before, love was not the paramount factor. Society at this period was concerned with the acquisition of property in the shape of lands or goods as prosperity increased. The selection of a bride was influenced for many men by the possibility of bringing some small estate or property that could be developed or even inheriting at some future date a considerable fortune. Therefore a contract to marry was considered to be of a firm contractual nature enforceable at law.
