Exploring GB

In Horsham, West Sussex historical facts are etched into the pavements.

This one reads: “Instead of divorce, wife selling was common. In 1844, the last wife sale in Britain occurred in Horsham for 30 shillings.”

Wife selling refers to a historical practice that occurred in England centuries ago, particularly during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

During this time, divorce was difficult and costly, and remarriage often came with financial constraints.

As a result, some husbands and wives resorted to a ritual known as wife selling.

In these cases, a husband would publicly auction off his wife to another man.

In most reports, the sale was announced in advance, perhaps by advertisement in a local newspaper.

It usually took the form of an auction, often at a local market, to which the wife would be led by a halter (usually of rope but sometimes of ribbon) around her neck, or arm.

Often the purchaser was arranged in advance, and the sale was a form of symbolic separation and remarriage, as in a case from Maidstone, where in January 1815 John Osborne planned to sell his wife at the local market.

However, as no market was held that day, the sale took place instead at "the sign of 'The Coal-barge,' in Earl Street", where "in a very regular manner", his wife and child were sold for £1 to a man named William Serjeant.

In July the same year a wife was brought to Smithfield market by coach, and sold for 50 guineas and a horse.

Such "divorces" were not always permanent, in 1826, John Turton sold his wife Mary to William Kaye at Emley Cross for five shillings.

But after Kaye's death she returned to her husband, and the couple remained together for the next 30 years.

For the husband, the sale released him from his marital duties, including any financial responsibility for his wife.

For the purchaser, who was often the wife's lover, the transaction freed him from the threat of a legal action for criminal conversation, a claim by the husband for restitution of damage to his property, in this case his wife.

Prices paid for wives varied considerably, from a high of £100 plus £25 each for her two children in a sale of 1865 (equivalent to about £15,300 in 2024) to a low of a glass of ale, or even free.

Public wife sales were sometimes attended by huge crowds.

An 1806 sale in Hull was postponed "owing to the crowd which such an extraordinary occurrence had gathered together", suggesting that wife sales were relatively rare events, and therefore popular.

Estimates of the frequency of the ritual usually number about 300 between 1780 and 1850, relatively insignificant compared to the instances of desertion, which in the Victorian era numbered in the tens of thousands.

Towards the end of the 18th century, some hostility towards wife selling began to manifest itself amongst the general population.

One sale in 1756 in Dublin, Ireland was interrupted by a group of women who rescued the wife.|

Following the rescue, the husband was given a mock trial and placed in the stocks until early the next morning.

Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of punishment and public humiliation.

The use of stocks, pictured below, is seen as early as Ancient Greece.

However, wife selling persisted in England in some form until the early 20th century; according to the jurist and historian James Bryce.

In 1901, he wrote that wife sales were still occasionally taking place during his time.

The most recent case of an English wife sale was reported in 1913.

A woman gave evidence in a Leeds police court during a maintenance case claimed that her husband had sold her to one of his workmates for £1 (equivalent to about £100 in 2024).

The manner of her sale is unrecorded.

Sometimes, it was more of a mutual agreement between the husband, wife, and another individual willing to marry the woman, while in other instances, it was a more symbolic act to publicly shame or divorce a spouse.

Wife selling was never officially sanctioned by the law and was frowned upon by broader society.

Over time, changes in divorce laws and social norms rendered this practice obsolete, and it has no legal standing in modern times.

It's important to note that this practice is a historical phenomenon.

It is no longer legally recognised or practiced in contemporary England or any other modern society.

Reacting to the post on social media, someone wrote: “This kind of historical culture, driven by patriarchy along with the worst cherrypicked parts of religion and individualistic sociology is Europeans worst contribution to the world.

”And they made sure to invade or claim all of it and impose it… It wasn’t all bad, don’t get me wrong, but this structural foundation caused suffering to women to persist to this day.”

Another person added: “1844 really! You learn the whackiest stuff on Facebook. Who knew wife-selling was ever a thing in Britain?”

Someone else jokingly said: “They tried that with husbands, but there were no takers.”

If you visit Horsham, West Sussex today, you’ll find lots of historical facts etched into the pavements.

Horsham is a market town and offers an attractive place to go shopping, visit the park, eat out and wander around the weekly market in the town centre.

It’s 31 miles south of London with direct links by train.

It’s also 18.5 miles north-west of Brighton and 26 miles north-east of Chichester, making it fairly accessible for a lovely day out.

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