DO YOU KNOW?


Did you know that until 1913, wives were sold at auction in England?

It's not a myth; it was a legal and social custom that lasted for 200 years.

How did it all begin?

At the end of the 17th century, divorce in England was impossible for the poor. Only the very wealthy could request a divorce by submitting a petition to Parliament, a process that was incredibly expensive and took years.

So what could a poor husband do if he wanted a divorce?

They found a strange loophole: "selling the wife at the market."

Because the law at the time considered a wife to be the property of her husband, just like household furniture, he would take her to the livestock market, put a rope or collar around her neck or wrists, and start the auction.

How much did she cost?

The price ranged from a few shillings to £25—almost the same as the price of a horse at that time.

The first documented case was in Birmingham in 1733, when a man named Samuel Whitehouse sold his wife, Mary, for just one pound. The scene was public: the husband would call out to passersby, listing his wife's "virtues" to drive up the price, and people would gather to watch. This phenomenon peaked between 1780 and 1850, with over 400 such sales documented.

Why couldn't the woman refuse?

In Victorian England, a woman owned nothing. Once married, all her possessions became her husband's. Even if she separated, custody of the children automatically went to the father, who could prevent her from seeing them altogether.

A story with a happy ending:

One of the most famous stories is that of Anne Wells. She was a poor servant who was abused by her husband. He put her up for sale in the market in a dire situation. The 2nd Duke of Shandos happened to be passing by and bought her for only half a crown to protect her from further humiliation. He took her in, ensured her education, and after her first husband died, he married her, making her a duchess.

This practice was gradually abolished with the introduction of modern divorce laws, but the last documented case was in Leeds in 1913, where a wife was sold for one pound.

This bizarre story reminds us how women's rights and the laws have evolved from a past that considered them mere property to the present day.

Sources: British Court Archives - London Museum of Social History - Wives for Sale by Samuel Minnefield.

What fact in this story shocked you the most?

#History #HistoricalFacts #England #TrueStories



Poetry by poet*salem
Written on 2026-09-30 at 13:07

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