How the British sold their wives in the market, how much they asked for and why they did it

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The fair, lively traders, interrupting each other, offer their goods, buyers and just onlookers are everywhere. There and then a man leads a woman on a leash. Both of them are poorly and unprepossessingly dressed and try not to collide with their eyes either with each other or with those around them, although the latter are not surprised by what is happening, rather amused. The picture leaves no doubt - the sale of his own wife is taking place. And we are not talking about the Middle Ages, but about the 18-19th century, and even England. Selling your own wife was common and was considered a divorce.

Marriage and the impossibility of divorce

In England, until the middle of the 18th century, there was a so-called de facto marriage, that is, a man and a woman lived together, shared a life, raised children, but there were no legal obligations between them. Simply put - a modern "civil" marriage or cohabitation.

However, after the law was passed, obliging to formalize the relationship, the treatment of women only got worse. Husband and wife became something common and inseparable, or to be more precise, the wife completely dissolved in the spouse and could not have her own interests. A married woman could not have any property, but what is there, she herself was that property. Moreover, this was presented as a great favor to women, because they were not responsible for their actions and were completely and completely under the protection and care of their spouse. Alas, such a legal incapacity led to the fact that women began to be sold like cattle.

As mentioned above, husband and wife became one, and then divorce was a very troublesome event. More precisely and divorce it can be called a stretch. It was possible to divide the bed and the table, but the wife herself did not go anywhere. Secondly, it was impossible to remarry.

Later, the divorce procedure was complicated even more, for this it was necessary to write as much to parliament, and this was not only very long, but also expensive. In addition, the basis for divorce could be adultery on the part of the wife, moreover, proven, either a serious violation of the law or an insult to the spouse. But this, too, all required proof. And still it was impossible to marry again.

There were not so many options, you could just leave, but at the same time not have any other relationship, you could run away from your wife, but then you would have to leave the property. In this situation, the sale of a boring second half did not seem like something out of the ordinary.

However, the selling process was not always something humiliating for women. Often they were redeemed by their own lovers, or dukes who were flattered by their youth and beauty, which abruptly changed the lives of peasants and there was no question of regretting her husband who had betrayed her. Marriages in England were allowed from 12 and 14 years old for girls and boys, respectively. It is unlikely that someone at this age could choose a couple with whom they would like to live their whole life, it is no wonder that attempts to divorce were made every now and then, despite the legal difficulties.

How the deal went

Especially practical men had previously advertised in the newspaper that a woman would be sold at a certain date at the fair. Usually the price was not indicated, everything was decided by mutual agreement of the parties. The rope around the neck, for which the woman was brought to the market, was a mandatory attribute, serving as an identification mark indicating that the wife was being sold.

Often the buyer was determined in advance, this raised questions from the spouse, because why would the buyer value her advantages so highly that he did not know about? Therefore, buyers were often suspected of having ties with the purchased woman long before the sale and purchase transaction.

Despite the fact that the very fact of selling a woman, a spouse, sounds like something wild, the “product” could well have been abandoned by a specific buyer, and without explaining the reasons. It often happened that a woman herself gave money to her lover for her ransom (having previously deceived her from her husband). During drunkenness or marital quarrels, the spouses could in the heat of the moment sell their wife, which they later repented of. There is a known case that after the refusal of the sold wife to return to her legal husband, in despair he killed himself. Women were often sold with their children.

Scottish ladies did not allow themselves to be sold, literally taking their position in society from men. Once the husband decided to sell his wife and put her on the market, could he have guessed that this would cause riots and his beating. About seven hundred women living in the immediate vicinity decided to give the man a thrashing, which, in fact, they did, armed with stones. So this tradition did not take root in Scotland.

How much was the ex-wife

It’s worth mentioning right away that someone’s ex-wife couldn’t be expensive. Most often it was a purely symbolic price. So, in the 19th century, two pounds were given for a woman, and the medical academy bought corpses for studying anatomy by students for four pounds. At the same time, women were bought for money relatively rarely, most often for food or drink. Usually it was about a liter of rum and a set table. For comparison, governess at that time received 16 pounds, but a divorce cost up to 90 pounds.

Neither side even doubted that everything they do not only has no legal force, but also attracts a crime. But proceeding from the fact that all parties remained in the advantage, the fact of such a deal was not made public.

At the end of the 19th century, such a story nevertheless became the subject of proceedings. 25-year-old Betsy was sold to her own lover. But at the same time, the official marriage with her husband, of course, was not terminated. When somehow this became known, she was accused of polyandry. Despite the testimony of witnesses that the girl was sold and now lives with another man and only with him, she was found guilty and sent to hard labor. A funny incident in which the law enforcement system of the time essentially blamed the victim for what happened, while none of the men who initiated the deal were punished.

When women are tired of being a commodity

The case in Scotland was far from the only one, in Dublin, in the middle of the 18th century, when an attempt was made to sell, the wife was beaten off from her husband by a group of women, and the man himself was locked in a barn along with cattle (very symbolic). At that time, the appearance on the market of such a pair (a man and a woman on a leash) caused bewildered silence and censure from the society.

But in fairness, it should be noted that rarely has anyone been punished for trafficking in wives. The last incident with the sale of his wife happened in 1913, and the wife complained about the incident and demanded punishment for her husband in court. Since then, there has been no mention of such savagery against women.

Perhaps people used to treat feelings and the choice of a partner easier, but many marriage traditions, which have already become history, seem to contemporaries at least strange, if not completely unacceptable. Pedantic Germans, during the heyday of fascism, prepared their wives in special schools, where women were not taught sciences, but taught to obey their husbands and give birth to as many children as possible.