Selling Of Wives In England

[Astonian]

In 1773 three men and three wives went to the Bell Inn in Edgbaston street
Birmingham and made the following singular entry in the toll book which is kept there,
August 31 st .1773 Samuel Whitehouse of the parish of Willenhall,in the county of Stafford, this day sold his wife mary Whitehouse, in open market,
To Thomas Grithiths, of birminham, value one shilling.
To take her with faults ,,signed ,!,, Samuel and mary Whitehouse.
Voucher, Tho Buckley of birmingham,,
The parties were all exceedingly well pleased,and the money was paid down,
As well for the toll as purchased

 

[Dave M]

To take her with faults




Like that

 

[mikejee]

See also: Birm Post 19.3.1863 & 26.1.1865 (from Birm Post 150 years ago thread)

 

[Astoness]

very interesting alan...

mike thanks for the snippits..never heard of this wife selling before..wonder what todays wives would go for

 

[Vivienne14]

What a disgraceful practice! But maybe (and hopefully) the wife and children in post #3 had a better life away from the husband. Viv.

 

[Alberta]

How dreadful , better not let my husband see it, what's a £100 worth now.

 

[mikejee]

Alberta
It varies depending on how you calculate it:
In 2015, the relative value of £100 0s 0d from 1865 ranges from £8,623.00 to£196,300.00.

A simple Purchasing Power Calculator would say the relative value is £8,623.00. This answer is obtained by multiplying £100.00 by the percentage increase in the RPI from 1865 to 2015.

This may not be the best answer.

The best measure of the relative value over time depends on if you are interested in comparing the cost or value of a Commodity , Income or Wealth , or a Project . For more discussion on how to pick the best measure, read the essay "Explaining the Measures of Worth."

If you want to compare the value of a £100 0s 0d Commodity in 1865 there are three choices. In 2015 the relative:
real price of that commodity is £8,623.00
labour value of that commodity is £63,830.00
income value of that commodity is £90,720.00

(This from https://www.measuringworth.com/ukco...&amount=100&year_source=1865&year_result=2016 )

 

[Vivienne14]

Alberta the real answer is "priceless"!!!! Viv.

 

[A Sparks]

In the Thomas Hardy book The Mayor of Casterbridge he sells his wife before his fortunes change for the better.

 

[Smudger]

In some Muslim countries a man simply has to say " I divorce you" (repeated 3 times) & that`s the end of the marriage, with the woman left with nothing. At least over here she could end up being sold to another man & get a share in any free beer! Tis sometimes a strange world we live in.