I am looking for the spouses of one of my distant ancestors, George Ridgway born in Macclesfield in 1788.

I am aware that matching marriages at this period is tricky due to the lack on family information on the certificates.

I found a marriage bond and allegation for a George Ridgway from Macclesfield in1809 (a good year to find him marrying) to a Prudence Johnson. This document gives his age as 21 which puts his birthdate in1788, which is the same as my George.

Question- is the age of '21' exact on these documents or like others of the type just a generic 'of legal age' year?

Would you use this document for my George's marriage?

With kind regards and stumped in Arkansas USA,

Neil