The woman is sold and considered the property of her husband
Wife selling, a custom observed in England, appeared at the end of the seventeenth century when only the rich could file for divorce, because it was necessary to submit an application to Parliament. The procedure is very long and expensive. So how can we separate from an unwelcome wife? By selling him! Isn't a woman the property of her husband? As well as his property and children? This is how the practice of selling wives developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries! Prices can range from a few shillings or pounds to £25, in other words the price of a horse...
The first we know of happened in Birmingham in 1733. A local newspaper reported that Samuel Whitehouse sold his wife Mary at market to a person named Thomas Griffiths for £1. A woman is paraded in public by her husband and wears a collar around her neck, waist, or arm, and sometimes even a rope, like a cow's or a horse's. The husband asks the audience to come closer and praises his wife's qualities to raise the stakes.
In 1801, a feverish auction was held among poor farmers, who raised the stakes penny by penny. Finally the poor woman was sold for only a few shillings. It's a very humiliating sight but it attracts crowds. Women are victims of bold and insulting statements. This practice reached its peak between 1780 and 1850 and we can find traces of 400 women being sold.
In Victorian England, a woman was considered her husband's property, a fortune like anything else. She does not own anything of her own, and in the event of marriage, all of her property becomes the property of her husband. In the event of divorce or separation between spouses, custody of the children automatically passes to the father, who can prevent any contact between the mother and her children.
There is a famous story about selling a wife. One day, young Henry Bridge, 2nd Duke of Chandos, happened to be attending a bride-sale party. Young Anne Wells works as a maid in an inn. Her husband beats her, she is bruised and her mouth is split open. He places her on a table, on the end of a rope, to increase the humiliation.
The Duke buys her for half a crown, takes her under his protection and educates her. She is also very beautiful, and the two eventually become lovers. When the violent husband died, the Duke of Chandos married Anne of Wales, making her the new Duchess of Chandos.
This practice, which had been in use for nearly two hundred years, has been abandoned. But the most recent case of wife selling is that of a Leeds resident being sold to her husband's friend for the modest sum of £1. The sale took place in 1913...
Source: websites