Research Catalog

Living in sin : cohabiting as husband and wife in nineteenth-century England

Title: Living in sin : cohabiting as husband and wife in nineteenth-century England / Ginger S. Frost.
Author: Frost, Ginger Suzanne, 1962-
Publication: Manchester : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

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Request for On-site Use Request Scan Not available - Please for assistance.	Text	Use in library	HQ803.5 .F76 2008	Off-site

Details

Description

vii, 264 pages; 23 cm

Summary

"Living in sin is the first book-length study of cohabitation in nineteenth-century England, based on research into the lives of hundreds of couples. 'Common-law' marriages did not have any legal basis, so the Victorian courts had to wrestle with unions that resembled marriage in everyway, yet did not meet its most basic requirements. Unsurprisingly, the courts reacted with ambiguity, upholding cohabitation in some instances and punishing it in others. By challenging the definition of marriage through their actions, couples reformed the state's dealings with it; nevertheless, cohabitees never had legal status and this had serious repercussions for women and children." "The majority of those who lived in irregular unions did so because they could not marry legally. Others, though, chose not to marry, either from indifference, class differences, or because they dissented from marriage for philosophical reasons. This book looks at each motivation in turn, highlighting class, gender and generational differences, as well as the reactions of wider kin and community. Cohabitation was not the same as marriage, but many family and friends accepted at least some irregular unions, most readily in the working classes. At the same time, the sexual double standard meant that women suffered more than men from the disadvantages of 'free unions'." "Frost shows how these couples slowly widened the definition of legal marriage, preparing the way for the more substantial changes of the twentieth century, making this a valuable resource for all those interested in Gender and Social History."--Jacket.

Series Statement

Gender in history

Uniform Title

Gender in history

Subject

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Cohabitation, illegitimacy, and the law in England, 1750-1914 -- Violence and cohabitation in the courts -- Affinity and consanguinity -- Bigamy and cohabitation -- Adulterous cohabitation -- The 'other Victorians' : the demimonde and the very poor -- Cross-class cohabitation -- Radical couples, 1790-1850 -- Radical couples, 1850-1914.

ISBN

0719077362
9780719077364

LCCN

2009286117

OCLC

ocn232981112
232981112
SCSB-1504908

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library