Wife selling

Wife Selling

Thomas Hardy wrote of a rural life, later destroyed by the Industrial Revolution. He set his 1886 novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge, in the early 1800s.

It starts with the shocking scene of a wife and baby auctioned to a passing sailor for five guineas. Michael Henchard regrets his drunken action the following day. He tries to find his family, but is too late. Henchard rues the act for the rest of his life, his dying wish to be forgotten.

Records exist of wife selling in the 1700s and 1800s. Read on to learn more about the practice.

Selling A Wife. Thomas Rowlandson, 1812-14.

Legal background
Before 1753, marriage was a fairly informal affair. Both parties had to agree to the union and be of legal age. This was 12 years for girls, 14 years for boys. Once married, the wife was her husband's property. Formal separation was expensive, beyond the means of the poor. Even more so after the Marriage Act of 1753, which required a formal church marriage ceremony.

Wife selling had no legal basis. But what were a husband and wife to do when they were sick of each other and had no other solution? Local authorities, particularly in rural locations, tolerated the practise. Often, the purchaser was the wife's lover. So the wife could be a willing participant and may even have arranged the exchange.

Tradition
The husband would lead his wife to a public space such as the market square. A halter attached to her neck, waist or arm symbolised her status as her husband's possession. He auctioned his wife to the highest bidder. There was no shortage of witnesses. The spectacle resulted in huge, boisterous crowds. To formalise the affair, money changed hands.

Examples
In 1739, at Great Massingham, Samuel Whitehead sold his wife to another man for a half guinea. Local parish records recorded the event. This showed even church documents sometimes noted such transactions. In May 1777, a blacksmith near Sleaford sold his wife to a widower for fourpence. The blacksmith transferred his wife in a halter.

In 1789, Samuel Whitehouse, of Staffordshire, sold his wife, Mary, for one shilling. The purchaser was to take her with all her faults. At Stamford in 1829, a man sold his wife for two shillings wet and two shillings dry. He delivered her to the purchaser in a halter on the Market Hill. The wet was beer to the value of two shillings, dry was money itself. After the transaction, the two men retired to a public-house to quaff the heavy wet.

In 1865, a Wolverhampton coal dealer received £100 for his wife and £25 for each of his children. The purchaser was an American sailor on his way to Leeds. Edmund Dean, a railway navvy, came up on trial for bigamy in 1873. His defence was that he didn't live very comfortably with his first wife. Whilst away working, he learned she was unfaithful to him. Returning home, he found wife and lover comfortable together in his home. Making the best of a bad job, Edmund sold his wife and the furniture to the lover for ten shillings.

Local events

Richard Hawkins, a navvy, sold his wife in Cambridge the week before Christmas in 1789. Five shillings was the price agreed, with three shillings paid on account. The wife immediately demanded a second wedding ring. When supplied, she put it on her finger, eagerly kissed her new husband and walked off with him. (Cambridge Chronicle & Journal 1789)

In 1829, a Hamerton man's wife went to live with a shepherd. Dissatisfied with the situation, the husband visited the couple, intending to recover his spouse. Finding the frail fair one quite content, he made the best of a bad job and sold her for seven shillings. They drew up a formal agreement. The husband delivered his ex-wife to the shepherd in a halter. (Huntingdon Bedford and Peterborough Gazette 1829).

James Swann sold his wife and two children at Littleport suspension bridge in 1839. The price was a sovereign. At the husband's insistence, the purchaser drew up a certificate to confirm the transaction. (Huntingdon Bedford and Peterborough Gazette 1839).