Table Of Content.d
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Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin :
Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>, Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on
2019-06-18 23:44:44.
GENDER in HISTORY
Series editors:
Pam Sharpe, Lynn Abrams, Cordelia Beattie and Penny Summerfield
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The expansion of research into the history of women and gender since the
1970s has changed the face of history. Using the insights of feminist theory
and of historians of women, gender historians have explored the configuration
in the past of gender identities and relations between the sexes. They have
also investigated the history of sexuality and family relations, and analysed
ideas and ideals of masculinity and femininity. Yet gender history has not
abandoned the original, inspirational project of women’s history: to recover
and reveal the lived experience of women in the past and the present.
The series Gender in History provides a forum for these developments. Its
historical coverage extends from the medieval to the modern periods, and its
geographical scope encompasses not only Europe and North America but
all corners of the globe. The series aims to investigate the social and cultural
constructions of gender in historical sources, as well as the gendering of
historical discourse itself. It embraces both detailed case studies of specific
regions or periods, and broader treatments of major themes. Gender in
History titles are designed to meet the needs of both scholars and students
working in this dynamic area of historical research.
Living in sin
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Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:30.
ALSO AVAILABLE
IN THE SERIES
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Myth and materiality in a woman’s world: Shetland 1800–2000
Lynn Abrams
History Matters: patriarchy and the challenge of feminism
(with Notre Dame University Press)
Judith Bennett
Gender and medical knowledge in early modern history
Susan Broomhall
‘The truest form of patriotism’: pacifist feminism in Britain, 1870–1902
Heloise Brown
Artisans of the body in early modern Italy: identities, families
and masculinities
Sandra Cavallo
Women of the right spirit: Paid organisers of the Women’s Social
and Political Union (WSPU) 1904–18
Krista Cowman
Masculinities in politics and war: gendering modern history
Stefan Dudink, Karen Hagemann and John Tosh (eds)
Victorians and the Virgin Mary: religion and gender in England 1830–1885
Carold Engelhardt Herringer
The military leadership of Matilda of Canossa, 1046–1115
David J. Hay
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se Katherine Holden
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g Women police: Gender, welfare and surveillance in the twentieth century
ir llA Louise Jackson
.sserP Noblewomen, aristocracy and power in the twelfth-century
ytisre AnglSou-Nsaonrm Joahnn rse alm
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re The business of everyday life: gender, practice and social politics in England, c.1600–1900
tse Beverly Lemire
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aM The independent man: citizenship and gender politics in Georgian England
.8 Matthew McCormack
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Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:30.
LIVING IN SIN
COHABITING AS HUSBAND AND WIFE
IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND
Ginger S. Frost j
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distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Macmillan
Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:30.
Copyright © Ginger S. Frost 2008
The right of Ginger S. Frost to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published by Manchester University Press
Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK
and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10010, USA
Distributed exclusively in Canada by UBC Press
University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall,
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for
ISBN 978 0 7190 7736 4 hardback
First published 2008
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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oC Printed in Great Britain
by CPI Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:30.
Contents
Acknowledgements page vii
Introduction 1
1 Cohabitation, illegitimacy, and the law in England, 1750–1914 9
2 Violence and cohabitation in the courts 32
3 Affinity and consanguinity 52
4 Bigamy and cohabitation 72
5 Adulterous cohabitation 96
6 The ‘other Victorians’: the demimonde and the very poor 123
7 Cross-class cohabitation 148
8 Radical couples, 1790–1850 169
9 Radical couples, 1850–1914 195
Conclusion 225
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evre Bibliography 236
ser sth Index 255
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Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:30.
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Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:30.
Acknowledgements
Having worked on this project for over a decade, I owe more debts than I can possibly
repay. I want to thank the anonymous readers for Manchester University Press and
the entire staff there. I am also deeply grateful to my wonderful mentors, Marty
Wiener, Martha Vicinus, and John Gillis, who never hesitated to give support, advice,
and letters when needed. I’m particularly indebted to the two readers of the original
900-page manuscript, Gail Savage and George Robb, who helped plan the necessary
cuts and who, for some reason, are still friends with me. I also thank commentators at
various meetings where I gave papers, too numerous to specify, and the readers of
separate chapters, including Julie Early, Rod Phillips, and Nancy Fix Anderson. My
colleagues at Samford University, especially the chair, Dr John Mayfield, offered
much support and encouragement. Similarly, I also want to thank the 2002–03
fellows of the National Humanities Center, particularly the Victorianists: Harriet
Ritvo, John Kucich, Diane Sadoff, Molly Rothenberg, and Jonathan Riley. Joshua
Bearden put together the Bibliography, and for that I am grateful. Finally, for intellectual
and practical support while in England, I thank John and Sue Stewart.
I also owe much to the librarians at many institutions, including the British
Library; National Archives (Kew); University College, London; Bishopsgate
Institutional Reference Library, London Metropolitan Archives; British Library of
Political and Economic Science; Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; the Institute
of Historical Research; University of Michigan Library; Duke University and Law
Libraries; Lambeth Palace Archives; National Research Library, Chicago; Centre for
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se Library, London Metropolitan University; and, especially, the National Humanities
r sth Center, Triangle Park, NC. Anyone who has spent a year at the NHC knows how
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.sserP rNeacteiiovneadl cErnudcioawl mmeonnte ftoarry t hsue pHpuomrt afnroitmies J; uadnsdo nth Ce oRlolecgkee, fSelalmerf oFrodu nUdnaitvieorns,i twy;h tihche
ytisrevin fundedTh mey fsoalblobwatiincga l wyeoarrk sa th tahvee N bHeeCn. previously published and are part of this
U re manuscript, and I thank the publishers for permission to include any copyrighted
tse materials here. These include the following: ‘ Through the medium of the passions
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cn : cohabitation contracts in England, 1750–1850’, Proceedings of the 23rd Annual
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00 Victorian England’, Journal of Family History 22 (1997), 286–306; ‘ He could not hold
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© his passion : domestic violence and cohabitation in England, 1850–1900’, Crime,
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girypo Hunisitoonrsy, a&n dS oUciteotpieias,n 1is2m (2 i0n0 E8d),w 2a5r–d4ia4n; aEnndg l‘a Lnodv’, eA nisa arclwhiasyt sS tfuredeie :s ,A fonratrhcchoimsmin, gfr. ee
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Finally, thanks to my support system of friends and family, especially my
mother. I could not have gotten through this long process without you.
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Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:30.
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Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:30.
Introd uction
I
n July 1875, George Henry Lewes, a man of letters and a scientist,
accepted an invitation to a garden party which the Queen of Holland
attended. During the course of the afternoon, Lewes had a conversation
with the monarch. She complimented his writings, then added, ‘as to your
wife’s – all the world admires them’.1 What is startling about this story was
that Lewes’s legal wife, Agnes, had never written a book in her life. Instead,
the queen referred to Lewes’s cohabitee, Marian Evans (George Eliot), with
whom he had lived for seventeen years. Nor was the Dutch queen unique
in her sympathy. Queen Victoria, a byword for prudery, nevertheless let
Eliot know how much she enjoyed her books, and acquired the signatures
of both Lewes and Eliot for her collection. Princess Louise, her daughter,
attended a party with the couple in 1878 and talked privately with Eliot
for some time.2 Though Eliot was exceptional, her experience – along
with many others – indicates that the Victorian attitude to unmarried
cohabitation was not one of blanket condemnation. Instead, it was complex
and contingent on many factors.
Although the large number of cohabiting couples in England dates
only from the 1970s, free unions are at least as old as marriage itself. In the
nineteenth century, the choice to cohabit rather than marry crossed classes
.d and regions and revealed conflicting motives and desires between the
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r sth and the state’s role in these institutions. As Chapter 1 will make clear, the
gir llA law of marriage in England changed several times over the course of the
.sserP cThenet ustrayt,e b tuoto kw oasv ebra tsheed dperfiimniatiroilny oofn m tharer iHagaerd awndic kmeo Mst aorfr tiahgee a Adjcutd oicf a1t7io53n.
ytisre of marriage cases at that point, and even more so after the Divorce Act
vin of 1857. Though the law never recognised common-law marriage as a
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tseh repeatedly. The civil courts decided disputes over bonds and wills, while the
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a criminal side oversaw bigamy trials and instances of violence. The Victorian
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thg these relationships had all the roles of spouses but no legal sanction. In
irypo the end, the issue boiled down to the definition of marriage – as a status, a
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sacrament, an institution, and/or a relationship.
The legal difficulties posed by cohabitation are therefore examined
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Frost, Ginger S.. <i>Living in Sin : Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England</i>,
Manchester University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1069613.
Created from nscc-ebooks on 2019-06-18 23:44:10.
