Living in sin : cohabiting as husband and wife in nineteenth-century England /
Frost, Ginger Suzanne, 1962-
Living in sin : cohabiting as husband and wife in nineteenth-century England / Ginger S. Frost. - Manchester New York : New York : Manchester University Press ; Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. - 1 online resource (vii, 264 pages) - - Gender in history . - Gender in history. .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-254) and index.
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.
Use copy Legal Deposit; Only available on premises controlled by the deposit library and to one user at any one time;
"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
Electronic reproduction.
[Place of publication not identified] :
HathiTrust Digital Library,
2010.
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.
http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212
English.
9781847791412 1847791417 9781781700723 1781700729
22573/ctt1554t14 JSTOR
GBA903082 bnb GBB7A0125. bnb
014694675 Uk 018370761 Uk
1800-1899
Unmarried couples--History--England--19th century.
Couples non mariés--Histoire--Angleterre--19e siècle.
SOCIAL SCIENCE--Sociology--Marriage & Family.
HISTORY--Europe--Great Britain.
Unmarried couples
Freie Liebe--Grossbritannien--Geschichte 19. Jh.
Konkubinat--Grossbritannien--Geschichte 19. Jh.
Partnerschaft--Single--Grossbritannien--Geschichte 19. Jh.
Single--Partnerschaft--Grossbritannien--Geschichte 19. Jh.
England
History
HQ803.5 / .F76 2008
306.841094209034
Living in sin : cohabiting as husband and wife in nineteenth-century England / Ginger S. Frost. - Manchester New York : New York : Manchester University Press ; Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. - 1 online resource (vii, 264 pages) - - Gender in history . - Gender in history. .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-254) and index.
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.
Use copy Legal Deposit; Only available on premises controlled by the deposit library and to one user at any one time;
"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
Electronic reproduction.
[Place of publication not identified] :
HathiTrust Digital Library,
2010.
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.
http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212
English.
9781847791412 1847791417 9781781700723 1781700729
22573/ctt1554t14 JSTOR
GBA903082 bnb GBB7A0125. bnb
014694675 Uk 018370761 Uk
1800-1899
Unmarried couples--History--England--19th century.
Couples non mariés--Histoire--Angleterre--19e siècle.
SOCIAL SCIENCE--Sociology--Marriage & Family.
HISTORY--Europe--Great Britain.
Unmarried couples
Freie Liebe--Grossbritannien--Geschichte 19. Jh.
Konkubinat--Grossbritannien--Geschichte 19. Jh.
Partnerschaft--Single--Grossbritannien--Geschichte 19. Jh.
Single--Partnerschaft--Grossbritannien--Geschichte 19. Jh.
England
History
HQ803.5 / .F76 2008
306.841094209034