Our G G Grandparents Mary Ann Bowyer and William Russell married in Chatham, Kent in 1861. William Russell had known Mary Ann Bowyer since she was a young girl. In the 1851 census they were living next door to each other when William was 17 and Mary was 8. So it's a bit of a surprise that they married in Chatham. Maybe her parents were against the marriage - the witnesses are usually family members but in this case they are outsiders. She was only 19 and the legal age for marriage was 21, unless there was parent's consent. One month before the marriage Mary Ann was working in Clerkenwell, London as a nursemaid, and William was in Kemsing working as a groom. There's a story here but not uncovered yet.