I found this little bit of atrocity searching Google Books using the keyword “pastimes.” I had hoped to find some genteel crafts that ladies did to while away their evenings, maybe some embroidery or paper craft. No such luck.
AMONG the customs unknown to the law in this country, though by the illiterate and vulgar supposed to be of legal validity and assurance, is that of SELLING a WIFE, like a brute animal, in a common market-place. At what period this practice had origin we have not discovered, but it has unquestionably been in existence for a long series of years; and many instances might be given of the extensive spread of this licentious custom in more modern times. From newspapers of different dates, now before us, the three following cases are selected, in order to shew that the metropolis does not alone participate in the disgrace which springs from the legislative tolerance of this irreligious and indecent custom ; but that other parts of England are equally involved in the shame of such a scandalous profligacy. It merits, indeed, the greater reprehension, from the foul stigma which it fixes on our national character; and though the magistracy may not, at present, be armed with sufficient powers to put a stop to a practice so highly censurable (though we doubt the assumption ; for whatever is contrary to good morals, is assuredly amenable to the law) ; the Parliament should immediately interfere, and prevent its longer continuance by the infliction of punishment.
Under the date of June the 12th, 1797, we read thus : ‘“ At the close of Smithfield-market on Monday, a man who keeps a public house in the neighbourhood of Lisson-green, brought his Wife, to whom he had been married about two months, for sale into the market; where having by means of a rope, made her fast to the railing opposite St. Bartholemew’s coffee-house, she was exposed to the view of hundreds of spectators for near a quarter of an hour, and at length sold, for half a guinea, to a dealer in flowers, at Paddington. He is to receive with the woman, from her original owner, twenty pounds in bad halfpence.” The second instance was on the 11th of March, 1808, when “ a private individual led his Wife to Sheffield market, by a cord tied round her waist, and publicly announced that he wanted to sell his cow. On this occasion, a butcher who officiated as auctioneer, and knocked down the lot for a guinea, declared that he had not brought a cow to a better market for many years.” The last of the three instances occurred on the 27th of March, 1808, when “ a man publicly sold his Wife to a fisherman, in the market at Brighton, for twenty shillings and a blunderbuss.”
Nancy Mayer explains Regency Marriage Laws and How to Dissolve a Regency Marriage. This is an excerpt from an article by Nancy Mayer. You can read the entirety of it on her website The Regency Researcher. As many of you know, I’m her web mistress. After March 25, 1754, when the Hardwicke Act for the Prevention of Clandestine Marriages went into effect, couples marrying...
Leading Apes in Hell — Regency Spinsters Recently, I was looking for Regency images in the 1816 journals of “Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions” by Rudolph Ackermann, Frederic Shoberl. I came across a columnist who was mysteriously named “The Female Tattler.” Her moralistic writings were full of melodrama and woe. So, I thought I would include one...
How To Behave Like A Regency Gentleman Lately, I’ve been super busy moving to a neighboring state and battling the novella that didn’t want to end. My husband and I need new-to-us furniture for our home, so we’ve been haunting a local antique auction. There, I’ve discovered that I possess a surprising skill—I can roughly date prints....
On Morning Calls and Hosting Dinner Parties, Balls and Routs in the Late Regency In my last post, we examined gentlemen’s etiquette, so it’s only fair to see how the ladies are behaving. I’m excerpting from the British edition (the book was later released in America) of Domestic Duties; Or, Instructions To Young Married Ladies On The Management Of Their Households, And The Regulation Of Their Conduct...
Lost in the Regency Mail When I wrote my first book RAKES AND RADISHES, I had to do a great deal of research on the exciting details of British mail delivery. Not only did I need to learn how a person retrieves her mail, but also the timing of communications. That was years ago, and,...
Nursing Your Regency Infant Two blog posts in two days! Can you tell that I’m procrastinating? I found this little article “Management of Children” in the British journal The Housekeeper’s Magazine, and Family Economist published in 1826. I’ve included pictures of feeding bottles and a breast pump found at the British Science Museum. Do...
Regency Menu for Four I struggled writing this post. I wanted to simply list some menus and recipes from The French Cook, or, The Art of Cookery, by Louis Eustache Ude from 1815. Unfortunately, the recipes in the original book are difficult to locate because the dish names on the menus don’t match the recipes....
Persuading Papa – Regency Love in Letters from 1809 Dear Gentle Readers, Good grief! Background checks, letters of recommendation, applications. Even Regency love matches felt like business. I have excerpted the saga of Polly and her Mr. Smith in letters from The London Universal Letter-Writer, Or Whole Art of Polite Correspondence published in 1809. Don’t worry, after much paperwork,...
An American View on the Opium Wars from 1850, Part I I admit I’m ignorant of many, many things in history, including the Opium Wars. So I found this American article detailing the facts around the initial wars fascinating. The two-part article is found in The Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review, Volume 23, 1850. I will post part one tonight. The...
3 Replies to “Regency Era Wife Selling”
I wonder if the marriage would be…canceled? Illegitimate? Annulled? Like what happens to the marriage license and all that stuff if they had one? Would it be declared as a divorce? Would the husband be able to remarry if he sold his wife? So the wife would basically be a slave to the New owner? So many questions.
Indeed, ki pha! I am asking the same questions. Can you tell us more about this, Susanna?
I have no idea. I’ll ask Nancy. She knows Regency all…
I wonder if the marriage would be…canceled? Illegitimate? Annulled? Like what happens to the marriage license and all that stuff if they had one? Would it be declared as a divorce? Would the husband be able to remarry if he sold his wife? So the wife would basically be a slave to the New owner? So many questions.
Indeed, ki pha! I am asking the same questions. Can you tell us more about this, Susanna?
I have no idea. I’ll ask Nancy. She knows Regency all…