The story of Margery Blakelocke

In 1605 William Leppington, husband of Margery Blakelocke, came to the Church Courts at York, to ask for his marriage to be annulled. He claimed that he had been under 14 (so beneath the legal age of consent for male marriage) when the marriage had taken place twelve years earlier, but more importantly he also said that Margery was not mentally capable of understanding the concept of marriage (now or in the past) and that this, as well as William's age, made the marriage invalid. Finally, he stated that he had never consented to, and they had never consummated, the marriage in the six or seven years since it had taken place.

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Three witnesses were called in this case – Margery's brother Thomas, a man of 42 living in Bridlington who says he has known William Leppington for ten years:

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William's brother Michael aged 31:

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and the vicar of Folkton who originally married the couple, Richard Fox, who was 58 years old at the time of the case:

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All of them agreed that Margery would not be able to understand the concept of marriage, giving examples of her not knowing her parents' names, or how many days there are in the week, or not being able to count to five as examples of her limited capacity. In addition, Margery was personally examined about the claims and found to be completely unable to answer any questions.

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In August 1605 the courts annulled the marriage.