Tangled Love
By
Rosemary Morris
I have written three historical romances, with
strong themes set in the reign of Queen Anne Stuart and am writing a series of
articles about life in the early 18th century.
Marriage in the reign of Queen Anne
Stuart 1702-1714
Part Two
Marriage Act of Queen Anne 1712
Defrocked clergymen, dishonest
clergymen and even laymen posing as clergymen conducted hole-in-the-corner
marriages at the Fleet Prison, Queens Bench, in taverns and elsewhere.
To discourage clandestine marriages
the Marriage Act of Queen Anne received Royal Assent on the 22nd
May, 1712 and was renewed in on the 24th, June. The Act stated that
the penalty for conducting an illegal marriage service would be one hundred
pounds. Half of the penalty would be given to the informer and, ‘if any gaoler
or keeper of any prison should be privy to, or knowingly permit any marriage to
be solemnized in his said prison, before publication of the banns, or licence
obtained as aforesaid, he shall for every such offence forfeit the sum of one
hundred pounds to be recovered and distributed as aforesaid.” On top of this
there was a five-shilling fee for every marriage licence, or marriage
certificate.
This law made it easy to marry. A
couple could go for a walk in the country and pop into a church and get
married. Sion Chapel in Hampstead placed an advertisement in The Postboy from April the 18th
to the 20th. “As there are many weddings at Sion Chapel, Hampstead,
five Shillings only is required for all the Church fees for any Couple that are
married there, provided they bring with them a licence or Certificate,
according to the Act of Parliament.”
The Curious Marriage of a Bride in her
Smock
Entry in a parish register. “John
Bridmore and Anne Sellwood was married in her Smock, without any clothes or
head gear on.’
This was not unusual. The purpose
was to absolve the husband from paying any debts his wife might have owed
before her marriage. This belief seems to have been caused by misinterpretation
of the law as it was laid down that ‘the husband is liable for the wife’s debts
because he acquires an absolute interest in the personal estate of the wife,’
etc. From this an ignorant person might conclude that if his wife had no estate whatsoever he could not be liable for her
debts.
Physical Chastisement
Some so-called gentlemen
sometimes beat their wives. In The
Spectatior, even the gallant Sir Richard Steele wrote that he could not
deny there were ‘perverse Jades that fall
to Men’s Lots, with whom it requires more than common Proficiency in Philosophy
to be able to live. When these are joined to men of warm Spirits, without
Temper or Learning, they are frequently corrected with Stripes; but one of our
famous Lawyers is of the opinion, that this ought to be used sparingly.’
Today, we can only look back and
pity abused wives and hen-pecked husbands who could not apply for a legal
separation or get divorced.
Novels by
Rosemary Morris available as e-publications and paper backs.
Early 18th
century novels: Tangled Love, Far Beyond Rubies and The Captain and The
Countess
Regency novels:
False Pretences and Sunday’s Child, Monday’s Child and Tuesday’s Child.
Heroines born on different days of the week.
Mediaeval Novel,
Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, The Lovages of Cassio, Book One, set in the turbulent
reign of Edward II
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