A Shock to Marriage

Emily Hall married Edmund Haughton Jackson in 1887 in the town of Clitheroe, Lancashire, but the couple never cohabited. In fact, except for a few days immediately after the ceremony, Emily refused to live with her husband for four years, ignoring his many requests to do so and defying a court's judgment in his successful suit for restitution of conjugal rights in 1889. According to English law, her flouting of the order for restitution could have landed her in prison. However, Parliament abolished the penalty of imprisonment in the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1884, so by the time Emily and Edmund Jackson became embroiled in their battle of wills, there was little Jackson could do. Thoroughly frustrated, and convinced that her family was influencing her against him, Edmund kidnapped Emily in public on March 10, 1891. Her sisters immediately sued for a writ of habeas corpus to gain her release. A court case ensued, and in the original judgment, justices Cave and Jeune found against Mrs. Jackson, but the Appeals Court reversed that decision. Emily returned to her family amid public outcry.1KeywordsMarried WomanHabeas CorpusUnhappy MarriageSaturday ReviewVictorian PeriodThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves

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