Morning Herald, March 11, 1802: “On the 11th of last month, a person sold, at the market cross, in Chapel en le Frith, a wife, a child, and as much furniture as would set up a beggar, for eleven shillings!”
Morning Herald, April 16, 1802: “A Butcher sold his wife by auction the last market day at Hereford. The lot brought £1 4s. and a bowl of punch.”
Annual Register, February 14, 1806: “A man named John Gorsthorpe exposed his wife for sale in the market, at Hull, about one o’clock; but, owing to the crowd which such an extraordinary occurrence had gathered together, he was obliged to defer the sale, and take her away. About four o’clock, however, he again brought her out, and she was sold for 20 guineas, and delivered, in a halter, to a person named Houseman, who had lodged with them four or five years.”
Morning Post, October 10, 1807: “One of those disgraceful scenes, which have, of late, become too common, took place on Friday se’nnight at Knaresborough. Owing to some jealousy, or other family difference, a man brought his wife, equipped in the usual style, and sold her at the market cross for 6d. and a quid of tobacco!”
In the Doncaster Gazette of March 25, 1803, a sale is thus described: “A fellow sold his wife, as a cow, in Sheffield market-place a few days ago. The lady was put into the hands of a butcher, who held her by a halter fastened round her waist. ‘What do you ask for your cow?’ said a bystander. ‘A guinea,’ replied the husband. ‘Done!’ cried the other, and immediately led away his bargain. We understand that the purchaser and his ‘cow’ live very happily together.”
Enough examples have been given to show that the French idea of wives being sold in Smithfield, and elsewhere, is founded on fact; indeed, there is no reason to disbelieve the writer of “Six mois à Londres in 1816,” when he describes a wife sale he saw at Smithfield—at which the lady was offered at the price of 15s., and, at that price, was eventually purchased, after due examination, “Comme il avait examiné quelques instans auparavant, une jument que je l’avais vu marchander.”
We must not throw stones at our grandfathers because this custom was in their midst. I could quote numerous instances of it, from time to time, down to our own days. Vide the South Wales Daily News, May 2, 1882, where, at Alfreton, a woman was sold by her husband, in a public-house for a glass of ale; and, again, in the Pall Mall Gazette, October 20, 1882, where it is recorded, that, at Belfast, a certain George Drennan sold his wife to one O’Neill, for one penny and a dinner.
But, before dismissing the social status of women of this class, at that time, I cannot help chronicling a singular custom, which, however, appears to be peculiarly local.
Annual Register, March 22, 1806: “A Woman to Let! There is a custom, which, most likely, is peculiar to a small district in the western part of Cumberland. A few days ago, a gentleman from the neighbourhood of Whitehaven, calling upon a person, at his house in Ulpha, was informed that he was not at home; he was gone to church; there was ‘a woman to let!’ On enquiry as to the meaning of this singular expression, it was thus explained:—When any single woman, belonging to the parish, had the misfortune to prove with child, a meeting of the parishioners is called, for the purpose of providing her a maintenance in some family, at so much a week, from that time to a limited time after delivery; and, this meeting (to give it the greater sanction), is uniformly holden in the church, where the lowest bidder has the bargain! And on such occasions, previous notice is given, that on such a day, there will be a ‘woman to let.’”
