18th C
The nearest arrangement to divorce available to couples mid 18th C was agreement on Private Articles of Separation, by which the husband was no longer liable for his wife's debts, but neither party was free to remarry, although they could co-habit with other partners.
The safely married Georgian male was in an envious position: he had absolute freedom to behave in any manner he chose, provided it was lawful. Heavy drinking and fornication were accepted as normal behaviour for men like Gainsborough and his circle and their wives could do nothing but accept the situation.
They had, of course, their own ways of dealing with an errant husband. In Margaret's case she, by all contemporary accounts, kept a close eye on her husband's expenditure and earned herself a reputation for being mean and unwelcoming to his friends. Very few of them liked her and even fewer stayed in touch with her after her husband's death. Gainsborough often referred to his wife as "old Margaret" in a rather perjorative manner when writing to his old friend Unwin. She was in her thirties at the time and there is more than a hint in his comments about her to indicate that some of his male friends believed him to be a hen-pecked husband.
In the 187 years from 1670 to 1857 there were only 325 divorces registered in England, all but four of them obtained by men.
Forced marraiges were occasionally wrecked by an unwilling bride. Lady Mary Coke scandalized society by refusing to consummate her marriage and as a result she was kept a virtual prisoner at Holkham Hall in Norfolk for a year before being humiliated by a public annulment.
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LIVING WITH MRS THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH IN THE CIRCUS, BATH, 18TH /21ST C By VIVIENNE RAE-ELLIS The following is a work in progress, to be published here in instalments. The manuscript has not been submitted to any publisher. References and bibliography will be published following the final chapter. 1) go to the Manuscript below right.. 2) Start from the top entry.. 3) Read down through the manuscript
The Circus
About Me
- Vivienne Rae-Ellis FRGS
- I am an ex-pat Tasmanian author who has lived in England since 1987. I have had eleven books published in seventeen editions by publishers who include Faber&Faber, Heinemann, Hamish Hamilton, Robert Hale, University Of Melbourne, University of Yale, Angus Robertson and the Australian Institute Of Aboriginal Studies. Subjects include biographies of three famous Australians: Trucanini, the last Aboriginal Tasmanian to live and die on the island; Louisa Anne Meredith, Australia's first resident female author, and George Augustus Robinson, Chief Protector of the Aborigines in the 1830's. Published work includes books for adults and for children based on the history of Australia; the paranormal;and Public Libraries.
