text: wife selling ( english custom ) wife selling in england was a way of ending an unsatisfactory marriage by mutual agreement that probably began in the late 17th century , when divorce was a practical impossibility for all but the very wealthiest . after parading his wife with a halter around her neck , arm , or waist , a husband would publicly auction her to the highest bidder . wife selling provides the backdrop for thomas hardy 's novel the mayor of , in which the central character sells his wife at the beginning of the story , an act that haunts him for the rest of his life , and ultimately destroys him . although the custom had no basis in law and frequently resulted in prosecution , particularly from the mid - 19th century onwards , the attitude of the authorities was equivocal . at least one early 19th - century magistrate is on record as stating that he did not believe he had the right to prevent wife sales , and there were cases of local poor law commissioners forcing husbands to sell their wives , rather than having to maintain the family in workhouses . wife selling persisted in england in some form until the early 20th century ; according to the jurist and historian james bryce , writing in 1901 , wife sales were still occasionally taking place during his time . in one of the last reported instances of a wife sale in england , a woman giving evidence in a leeds police court in 1913 claimed that she had been sold to one of her husband 's workmates for £ 1 . legal background wife selling in its " ritual form " appears to be an " invented custom " that originated at about the end of the 17th century , although there is an account from 1302 of someone who " granted his wife by deed to another man " . with the rise in popularity of newspapers , reports of the practice become more frequent in the second half of the 18th century . in the words of 20th - century writer courtney kenny , the ritual was " a custom rooted sufficiently deeply to show that it was of no recent origin " . writing in 1901 on the subject of wife selling , james bryce stated that there was " no trace at all in our [ english ] law of any such right " , but he also observed that " everybody has heard of the odd habit of selling a wife , which still occasionally recurs among the humbler classes in england " . marriage until the passing of the marriage act of 1753 , a formal ceremony of marriage before a clergyman was not a legal requirement in england , and marriages were unregistered . all that was required was for both parties to agree to the union , so long as each had reached the legal age of consent , which was 12 for girls and 14 for boys . women were completely subordinated to their husbands after marriage , the husband and wife becoming one legal entity , a legal status known as coverture . as the eminent english judge sir william blackstone wrote in 1753 : " the very being , or legal existence of the woman , is suspended during the marriage , or at least is consolidated and incorporated into that of her husband : under whose wing , protection and cover , she performs everything " . married women could not own property in their own right , and were indeed themselves the property of their husbands . but blackstone went on to observe that " even the disabilities the wife lies under are , for the most part , intended for her protection and benefit . so great a favourite is the female sex of the laws of england " . separation five distinct methods of breaking up a marriage existed in the early modern period of english history . one was to sue in the ecclesiastical courts for separation from bed and board ( a et ) , on the grounds of adultery or life - threatening cruelty , but it did not allow a remarriage . from the 1550s , until the matrimonial causes act became law in 1857 , divorce in england was only possible , if at all , by the complex and costly procedure of a private act of parliament . although the divorce courts set up in the wake of the 1857 act made the procedure considerably cheaper , divorce remained prohibitively expensive for the poorer members of society . an alternative was to obtain a " private separation " , an agreement negotiated between both spouses , embodied in a deed of separation drawn up by a conveyancer . desertion or elopement was also possible , whereby the wife was forced out of the family home , or the husband simply set up a new home with his mistress . finally , the less popular notion of wife selling was an alternative but illegitimate method of ending a marriage . the laws respecting women , as they regard their natural rights ( 1777 ) observed that , for the poor , wife selling was viewed as a " method of dissolving marriage " , when " a husband and wife find themselves heartily tired of each other , and agree to part , if the man has a mind to authenticate the intended separation by making it a matter of public notoriety " . although some 19th - century wives objected , records of 18th - century women resisting their sales are non - existent . with no financial resources , and no skills on which to trade , for many women a sale was the only way out of an unhappy marriage . indeed , the wife is sometimes reported as having insisted on the sale . a wife sold in wenlock market for 2s . 6d. in 1830 was quite determined that the transaction should go ahead , despite her husband 's last - minute misgivings : " ' e [ the husband ] turned shy , and tried to get out of the business , but mattie mad ' un stick to it . ' er her in ' er man 's face , and said , ' let be yer rogue . i be sold . i wants a change ' . " for the husband , the sale released him from his marital duties , including any financial responsibility for his wife . for the purchaser , who was often the wife 's lover , the transaction freed him from the threat of a legal action for criminal conversation , a claim by the husband for restitution or damage to his property , in this case his wife . sale it is unclear when the ritualised custom of selling a wife by public auction first began , but it seems likely to have been some time towards the end of the 17th century . in november 1692 " john , ye son of nathan whitehouse , of tipton , sold his wife to mr. bracegirdle " , although the manner of the sale is unrecorded . in 1696 , thomas heath was fined for " in an unlawful manner with the wife of george of ... bought her of her husband at the pound " , and ordered by the peculiar court at thame to perform public penance , but between 1690 and 1750 only eight other cases are recorded in england . in an oxford case of 1789 wife selling is described as " the vulgar form of divorce lately adopted " , suggesting that even if it was by then established in some parts of the country it was only slowly spreading to others . it persisted in some form until the early 20th century , although by then in " an advanced state of decomposition " . in most reports the sale was announced in advance , perhaps by advertisement in a local newspaper . it usually took the form of an auction , often at a local market , to which the wife would be led by a halter ( usually of rope but sometimes of ribbon ) around her neck , or arm . often the purchaser was arranged in advance , and the sale was a form of symbolic separation and remarriage , as in a case from maidstone , where in january 1815 john osborne planned to sell his wife at the local market . however , as no market was held that day , the sale took place instead at " the sign of ' the coal - barge , ' in earl street " , where " in a very regular manner " , his wife and child were sold for £ 1 to a man named william serjeant . in july the same year a wife was brought to smithfield market by coach , and sold for 50 guineas and a horse . once the sale was complete , " the lady , with her new lord and master , mounted a handsome which was in waiting for them , and drove off , seemingly nothing loath to go . " at another sale in september 1815 , at staines market , " only three shillings and four pence were offered for the lot , no one choosing to contend with the bidder , for the fair object , whose merits could only be appreciated by those who knew them . this the purchaser could boast , from a long and intimate acquaintance . " although the initiative was usually the husband 's , the wife had to agree to the sale . an 1824 report from manchester says that " after several she [ the wife ] was knocked down for 5s ; but not liking the purchaser , she was put up again for 3s and a quart of ale " . frequently the wife was already living with her new partner . in one case in 1804 a london shopkeeper found his wife in bed with a stranger to him , who , following an altercation , offered to purchase the wife . the shopkeeper agreed , and in this instance the sale may have been an acceptable method of resolving the situation . however , the sale was sometimes spontaneous , and the wife could find herself the subject of bids from total strangers . in march 1766 , a carpenter from southwark sold his wife " in a fit of conjugal indifference at the alehouse " . once sober , the man asked his wife to return , and after she refused he hanged himself . a domestic fight might sometimes precede the sale of a wife , but in most recorded cases the intent was to end a marriage in a way that gave it the legitimacy of a divorce . in some cases the wife arranged for her own sale , and even provided the money for her agent to buy her out of her marriage , such as an 1822 case in plymouth . such " divorces " were not always permanent . in 1826 john turton sold his wife mary to william kaye at emley cross for five shillings . but after kaye 's death she returned to her husband , and the couple remained together for the next 30 years . mid - 19th century it was believed during the mid - 19th century that wife selling was restricted to the lowest levels of labourers , especially to those living in remote rural areas , but an analysis of the occupations of husbands and purchasers reveals that the custom was strongest in " proto - industrial " communities . of the 158 cases in which occupation can be established , the largest group ( 19 ) was involved in the livestock or transport trades , 14 worked in the building trade , 5 were blacksmiths , 4 were chimney - sweeps , and 2 were described as gentlemen , suggesting that wife selling was not simply a peasant custom . the most high - profile case was that of henry brydges , 2nd duke of chandos , who is reported to have bought his second wife from an ostler in about 1740 . prices paid for wives varied considerably , from a high of £ 100 plus £ 25 each for her two children in a sale of 1865 ( equivalent to about £ 12 , 900 in 2016 ) to a low of a glass of ale , or even free . the lowest amount of money exchanged was three farthings ( three - quarters of one penny ) , but the usual price seems to have been between 2s . 6d. and 5 shillings . according to authors wade mansell and belinda , money seems usually to have been a secondary consideration ; the more important factor was that the sale was seen by many as legally binding , despite it having no basis in law . some of the new couples bigamously married , but the attitude of officialdom towards wife selling was equivocal . rural clergy and magistrates knew of the custom , but seemed uncertain of its legitimacy , or chose to turn a blind eye . entries have been found in baptismal registers , such as this example from in essex , dated 1782 : " amie daughter of moses stebbing by a bought wife delivered to him in a halter " . a jury in lincolnshire ruled in 1784 that a man who had sold his wife had no right to reclaim her from her purchaser , thus endorsing the validity of the transaction . in 1819 a magistrate who attempted to prevent a sale at ashbourne , derby , but was pelted and driven away by the crowd , later commented : although the real object of my sending the constables was to prevent the scandalous sale , the apparent motive was that of keeping the peace ... as to the act of selling itself , i do not think i have a right to prevent it , or even oppose any obstacle to it , because it rests upon a custom preserved by the people of which perhaps it would be dangerous to deprive them by any law for that purpose . in some cases , like that of henry cook in 1814 , the poor law authorities forced the husband to sell his wife , rather than have to maintain her and her child in the effingham workhouse . she was taken to croydon market and sold for one shilling , the parish paying for the cost of the journey and a " wedding dinner " . venue by choosing a market as the location for the sale , the couple ensured a large audience , which made their separation a widely witnessed fact . the use of the halter was symbolic ; after the sale , it was handed to the purchaser as a signal that the transaction was concluded , and in some instances , those involved would often attempt further to legitimate the sale by forcing the winning bidder to sign a contract , recognising that the seller had no further liability for his wife . in 1735 , a successful wife sale in st clements was announced by the common , who wandered the streets ensuring that local traders were aware of the former husband 's intention not to honour " any debts she should contract " . the same point was made in an advertisement placed in the ipswich journal in 1789 : " no person or persons to her with my name ... for she is no longer my right " . those involved in such sales sometimes attempted to legalise the transaction , as demonstrated by a bill of sale for a wife , preserved in the british museum . the bill is contained in a petition presented to a somerset justice of the peace in 1758 , by a wife who about 18 months earlier had been sold by her husband for £ 6 6s " for the support of his " . the petition does not object to the sale , but complains that the husband returned three months later to demand more money from his wife and her new " husband " . in sussex , inns and public houses were a regular venue for wife - selling , and alcohol often formed part of the payment . for example , when a man sold his wife at the shoulder of mutton and cucumber in in 1898 , the purchaser paid 7s . 6d . ( £ 40 in 2016 ) and 1 imperial quart ( 1 . 1 l ) of beer . a sale a century earlier in brighton involved " eight pots of beer " and seven shillings ( £ 30 in 2016 ) ; and in in 1790 , a man who swapped his wife at the village inn for half a pint of gin changed his mind and bought her back later . public wife sales were sometimes attended by huge crowds . an 1806 sale in hull was postponed " owing to the crowd which such an extraordinary occurrence had gathered together " , suggesting that wife sales were relatively rare events , and therefore popular . estimates of the frequency of the ritual usually number about 300 between 1780 and 1850 , relatively insignificant compared to the instances of desertion , which in the victorian era numbered in the tens of thousands . distribution and symbolism wife selling appears to have been widespread throughout england , but relatively rare in neighbouring wales , where only a few cases were reported , and in scotland where only one has been discovered . the english county with the highest number of cases between 1760 and 1880 was yorkshire , with 44 , considerably more than the 19 reported for middlesex and london during the same period , despite the french caricature of john bull " booted and spurred , in [ london 's ] smithfield market , crying ' à livres ma femme ! ' [ £ 15 for my wife ] , while milady stood in a pen " . in his account , wives for sale , author samuel pyeatt menefee collected 387 incidents of wife selling , the last of which occurred in the early 20th century . historian e. p. thompson considered many of menefee 's cases to be " vague and dubious " , and that some double - counting had taken place , but he nevertheless agreed that about 300 were authentic , which when combined with his own research resulted in about 400 reported cases . menefee argued that the ritual mirrored that of a livestock sale — the symbolic meaning of the halter ; wives were even occasionally valued by weight , just like livestock . although the halter was considered central to the " legitimacy " of the sale , thompson has suggested that menefee may have misunderstood the social context of the transaction . markets were favoured not because livestock was traded there , but because they offered a public venue where the separation of husband and wife could be witnessed . sales often took place at fairs , in front of public houses , or local landmarks such as the obelisk at preston ( 1817 ) , or bolton 's " gas pillar " ( 1835 ) , where crowds could be expected to gather . there were very few reported sales of husbands , and from a modern perspective , selling a wife like a chattel is degrading , even when considered as a form of divorce . nevertheless , most contemporary reports hint at the women 's independence and sexual vitality : " the women are described as ' fine - looking ' , ' buxom ' , ' of good appearance ' , ' a comely - looking country girl ' , or as ' enjoying the fun and frolic heartily ' " . along with other english customs , settlers arriving in the american colonies during the late 17th and early 18th century took with them the practice of wife selling , and the belief in its legitimacy as a way of ending a marriage . in 1645 " the p court " of hartford , connecticut , reported the case of baggett , who was fined 20 shillings for " his wyfe to a young man " . the boston evening - post reported on 15 march 1736 an argument between two men " and a certain woman , each one claiming her as his wife , but so it was that one of them had actually disposed of his right in her to the other for fifteen shillings " . the purchaser had , apparently , refused to pay in full , and had attempted to return " his " wife . he was given the outstanding sum by two generous bystanders , and paid the husband — who promptly " gave the woman a modest salute wishing her well , and his brother sterling much joy of his bargain . " an account in 1781 of a william collings of south carolina records that he sold his wife for " two dollars and half [ a ] dozen bowls of " . changing attitudes towards the end of the 18th century , some hostility towards wife selling began to manifest itself amongst the general population . one sale in 1756 in dublin was interrupted by a group of women who " rescued " the wife , following which the husband was given a mock trial and placed in the stocks until early the next morning . in about 1777 , a wife sale at carmarthenshire produced in the crowd " a great silence " , and " a feeling of uneasiness in the gathering " . when a labourer offered his wife for sale on smithfield market in 1806 , " the public became incensed at the husband , and would have severely punished him for his brutality , but for the interference of some officers of the police . " reports of wife selling rose from two per decade in the 1750s , to a peak of 50 in the 1820s and 1830s . as the number of cases increased so did opposition to the practice . it became seen as one of a number of popular customs that the social elite believed it their duty to abolish , and women protested that it represented " a threat and insult to their sex " . jps in quarter sessions became more active in punishing those involved in wife selling , and some test cases in the central law courts confirmed the illegality of the practice . newspaper accounts were often disparaging : " a most disgusting and disgraceful scene " was the description in a report of 1832 , but it was not until the 1840s that the number of cases of wife selling began to decline significantly . thompson discovered 121 published reports of wife sales between 1800 and 1840 , as compared to 55 between 1840 and 1880 . lord chief justice william murray , 1st earl of mansfield , considered wife sales to be a conspiracy to commit adultery , but few of those reported in the newspapers led to prosecutions in court . the times reported one such case in 1818 , in which a man was indicted for selling his wife at leominster market , for 2s . 6d . in 1825 a man named johnson was charged with " having sung a song in the streets describing the merits of his wife , for the purpose of selling her to the highest bidder at smithfield . " such songs were not unique ; in about 1842 john ashton wrote " sale of a wife " . the arresting officer claimed that the man had gathered a " crowd of all sorts of vagabonds together , who appeared to listen to his ditty , but were in fact , collected to pick pockets . " the defendant , however , replied that he had " not the most distant idea of selling his wife , who was , poor creature , at home with her hungry children , while he was endeavouring to earn a bit of bread for them by the strength of his lungs . " he had also printed copies of the song , and the story of a wife sale , to earn money . before releasing him , the lord mayor , judging the case , cautioned johnson that the practice could not be allowed , and must not be repeated . in 1833 the sale of a woman was reported at epping . she was sold for 2s . 6d . , with a duty of 6d . once sober , and placed before the justices of the peace , the husband claimed that he had been forced into marriage by the parish authorities , and had " never since lived with her , and that she had lived in open adultery with the man bradley , by whom she had been purchased " . he was imprisoned for " having deserted his wife " . the return of a wife after 18 years results in michael 's downfall in thomas hardy 's novel mayor of . a bad - tempered , impulsive and cruel husband , feeling burdened by his wife , sells her to a stranger for five guineas . he becomes a successful businessman and rises to the position of mayor , but the return of his wife many years later prompts his fall back into penury . the custom was also referred to in the 19th - century french play , le marché de londres . commenting on the drama and contemporary french attitudes on the custom , in 1846 the writer angus b. reach complained : " they reckon up a long and visionary list of our failings [ ... they ] would as readily give up their belief in the geographical and physical existence of london , as in the astounding fact that in england a husband sells his wife exactly as he sells his horse or his dog . " such complaints were still commonplace nearly 20 years later ; in the book of days ( 1864 ) , author robert chambers wrote about a case of wife selling in 1832 , and noted that " the occasional instances of wife - sale , while remarked by ourselves with little beyond a passing smile , have made a deep impression on our continental neighbours , [ who ] constantly cite it as an evidence of our low civilisation . " embarrassed by the practice , a legal handbook of 1853 enabled english judges to dismiss wife selling as a myth : " it is a vulgar error that a husband can get rid of his wife by selling her in the open market with a halter round her neck . such an act on his part would be severely punished by the local magistrate . " originally published in 1869 , burn 's justice of the peace and parish officer states that " publicly selling or buying a wife is clearly an indictable offence ... and many prosecutions against husbands for selling , and others for buying , have recently been sustained , and imprisonment for six months inflicted " . another form of wife selling was by deed of conveyance . although initially much less common than sale by auction , the practice became more widespread after the 1850s , as popular opinion turned against the market sale of a wife . the issue of the commonly perceived legitimacy of wife selling was also brought to the government . in 1881 , home secretary william harcourt was asked to comment on an incident in sheffield , in which a man sold his wife for a quart of beer . harcourt replied : " no impression exists anywhere in england that the selling of wives is legitimate " , and " that no such practice as wife selling exists " , but as late as 1889 , a member of the salvation army sold his wife for a shilling in hucknall , nottinghamshire , and subsequently led her by the halter to her buyer 's house , the last case in which the use of a halter is mentioned . the most recent case of an english wife sale was reported in 1913 , when a woman giving evidence in a leeds police court during a maintenance case claimed that her husband had sold her to one of his workmates for £ 1 ( equivalent to about £ 90 in 2016 ) . the manner of her sale is unrecorded .