Marriage in the reign of Queen Anne Stuart 1702-1714

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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 18^th 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 22^nd May, 1712 and was renewed in on the 24^th, 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 18^th to the 20^th. “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 18^th 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

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk   

http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary/

Disasters Lead to Children by Katherine Pym

Available July 1st

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One of the sources for my 17^th century novels is Pepys’ diary. He wrote of his daily existence for the period of 10 years, from 1660-1669. His thoughts of what he saw include the king’s restoration and his coronation, which Pepys missed due to having to use the facilities, but he was in the nose bleed section and couldn’t see a lot anyway. He fitted the naval fleet for the 2^nd Anglo/Dutch War and other journeys. He was in and about London during the plague and watched the great fire burn most of London’s inner city to the ground.

Samuel Pepys (older)

I’ve seen comments that Pepys was a pervert because he was unfaithful to his wife, but more importantly, he was insatiable during the plague. 

I don’t want to defend Pepys’ actions, and I don’t approve of them, but after seeing hurricane Ike in full swing where everything in its path was lost, the philosophical of going through a crisis such this will bring a response to human survival. 

No one remembers Hurricane Ike (Sept 2008) because on the heels of its fury and destruction, the stock market crashed. Banks closed. The car industry’s back broke and all but Ford’s CEO’s begged the US Government for a bailout. 

Hurricane Ike

Ike had made a swath of destruction that almost equaled Katrina. Bolivar Island, near Galveston was all but flattened. The storm battered Galveston Bay and produced storm surges. They swept ashore, engulfing houses and sweeping them off their foundations. Bodies are still missing. 

I have a friend who had fled Ike as so many fled the plague in 1665. Thousands died of the pestilence. As Pepys went about Navy business, he saw death on all sides: 

“14 Sept 1665 – My meeting of a dead corpse of the plague, carried to be buried at noonday... –to see a person sick of the sores carried close by me... my finding the Angel Tavern at the lower end of Tower Hill shut up; and more than that, the alehouses at the Tower Stairs: and more than that, that the person was then dying of the plague when I was last there, a little while ago at night, to write a short letter there, and I overheard the mistress of the house sadly saying to her husband somebody was very ill, but did not think it was of the plague – to hear that poor Payne my waterman hath buried a child and is dying himself – to hear that a laborer I sent... to know how they did there is dead of the plague...”

Hauling away the dead

After seeing this, Pepys found hilarity with others who still lived. He drank and cavorted. He had sex with as many women as would have him. It seems, whether or not he understood it, his natural inclination was to continue the species as a virulent pestilence tried to end it. If he weren’t sterile, several Pepys’ babies would have been born 9 months later. 

In the aftermath of Ike, fishing boats, and yachts were strewn along the highway. Houses were in shreds. Families slept in their cars and tried to contact FEMA in the middle of the night. 

Men and women found each other and had sex. 9 months later, more than the usual babies were born. Catastrophes, horrible as they are, seem to keep our species alive and well. As everyone dies around them, they come together and attempt to preserve the human race. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Many thanks to:

The Diary of Samuel Pepys, VI, 1665 Edited by Robert Latham & William Matthews, HarperCollins, UK 1995

Wikicommons, Public Domain, the Houston Chronicle, & www.gettyimages.com

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