It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a woman in possession of a love of history, must be in want of a blog.
'For my part I don’t see why men who have got wives and don’t want ‘em, shouldn’t get rid of ‘em as these gipsy fellows do their old horses...Why shouldn’t they put ‘em up and sell ‘em by auction to men who are in need of such articles? Hey? Why, begad, I’d sell mine this …
Continue reading ‘I’d sell my wife if anybody would buy her’: wife sales in England
I was recently rather amused by a chapter in an 18th-century advice manual for women, entitled 'On being over-fond of animals'. This anti-pet diatribe comes from a 1756 publication called The Wife, which also features charmingly-named chapters such as 'The danger of living in the same house with any Relation of the Husband's', 'Sleeping in different Beds', and 'The …
We know from letters, diaries and novels that Victorian bachelors expended much thought and worry on the issue of marriage. When confronted with a potential match, they had to weigh up both the financial and personal aspects of the married state. Victorian marriage was an expensive business. Among the very poor, perhaps, neither party expected to …
Continue reading What did Victorian bachelors think of marriage?