Marriage and the law in the eighteenth century
Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1753
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8958638 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Lemmings (University of Newcastle Australia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 339-360 |
| Publication date | 1996-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x00020276 |
| OpenAlex | W2000972225 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 24 |
This article is an analysis of the hysterical debates in the house of commons over the 1753 Marriage Act, placed in the context of the failure of existing marriage law to prevent clandestine marriage and bigamy, and the crucial importance of the marriage market for the male propertied elite. It shows that the proponents of the act appealed strongly to the patriarchal and material instincts of the majority in the Commons, while its principal opponents, who claimed to stand for affective marriage and championed the interests of women, actually represented the exploitative marital and sexual behaviour typical of many Georgian men. The article concludes that the passage of the Marriage Act in these circumstances absolutely contradicts some historians' theories about the progress of ‘affective individualism’ among the elite, and implies rather the continuance of patriarchy and the use of marriage for economic and political advantage
Context (archaeology · Economics · Elite · Georgian · House of Commons · Instinct · Marriage law · Marriage market · Parliament · Patriarchy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Philosophy
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Fashioning Adultery
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The impact of the Clandestine Marriages Act
Clandestine weddings at the Fleet Prison, c. 1710–1750
Cultures of Sex, Laws of Difference
Control over Marriage in England and Wales, 1753–1823
Love, Honor, and Obedience
Two textile townships, c. 1660‐1820
Marriage and society
Road to Divorce
The family, sex and marriage in England, 1500-1800
Informal Marriage, Cohabitation and the Law 1750–1989
Patriarchy and Married Women's Property in England
The English urban renaissance
The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence
Uncertain Unions
The Rise of the Egalitarian Family
Presidential Address
Marriage Settlements in the Eighteenth Century
The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence
Law and the Theory of the Affective Family
Informal Marriage, Cohabitation and the Law, 1750-1989
The social origins of marriage partners of the British Peerage in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
The Rise of the Egalitarian Family
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2000 - 2020 (21) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |