What were some of the laws that controlled Regency-era marriages? Where exactly did the Musgroves stay in Bath? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this episode of My Cousin Jane.
Welcome back to My Cousin Jane. Today we’re going to be talking about Persuasion, Volume 2, Chapter 10, also known as Chapter 22.
Chapter Summary
In brief
In this chapter, Anne is on her way to tell Lady Russell everything she’s discovered about Mr. Elliot’s nefarious past, when her plans are interrupted by the arrival of Mary and Charles, and the news that many of her friends and family from Uppercross are now in Bath.
They share the surprising news that Henrietta and Charles Hayter are just a few months away from getting married, and one of the reasons for the visit is to buy Henrietta’s wedding-clothes. Let’s listen to a clip of this revelation, courtesy of Karen Savage of LibriVox.org:
Anne’s only surprise was, that affairs should be in forwardness enough for Henrietta’s wedding-clothes to be talked of. She had imagined such difficulties of fortune to exist there as must prevent the marriage from being near at hand; but she learned from Charles that, very recently, (since Mary’s last letter to herself), Charles Hayter had been applied to by a friend to hold a living for a youth who could not possibly claim it under many years; and that on the strength of his present income, with almost a certainty of something more permanent long before the term in question, the two families had consented to the young people’s wishes, and that their marriage was likely to take place in a few months, quite as soon as Louisa’s. Persuasion, Chapter 22
Regency Marriage Laws
The idea of their parents giving consent is more than just an idea of, “we’d like your blessing on our marriage.” Marriage law in the UK has a long and interesting history. Over the years, the legal age of marriage has been changed numerous times, as has the age of legal consent.
At the time that Persuasion took place, the Marriage Act of 1753 would have been in effect. This is sometimes referred to as the Clandestine Marriages Act, because the point of the law was to prevent clandestine marriages from taking place. This law stated that in England and Wales, men and women under the age of 21 could not marry without parental consent.
This is why in Pride and Prejudice, Lydia and Mr. Wickham are thought to have run off to Gretna Green in Scotland, because Scottish marriage laws at the time were much more lax than in England and Wales. The legal age of marriage in Scotland was only 14 for boys and 12 for girls, and required no parental consent.
In England and Wales, the 1753 Act required that marriages had to be performed in an Anglican church in front of two witnesses. Exceptions were provided for Jews and Quakers, though notably not for Catholics.
In Scotland, anyone could perform a marriage, so long as there were two witnesses. It became traditional, in fact, for Scottish blacksmiths to perform the ceremony, giving rise to the popular term “anvil priest,” because the ceremonies were performed in front of an anvil.
Gretna Green was the destination of choice, thanks to it being just across the Scottish border, and the fact that a toll road leading there was constructed just a few years after the 1753 Marriage Act came into effect. Many of the marriages were performed in the toll house situated just at the end of the toll road leading into Gretna Green.
This building is in fact still standing, and you can book it for a wedding venue. It’s a popular destination for weddings in Scotland, and you can have a traditional wedding or an anvil wedding take place.
The booming Gretna Green wedding business saw a sharp decline after 1856, when Scottish law was changed and required at least one member of the party, either the bride or the groom, to be resident in Scotland for at least 21 days prior to the wedding.
The White Hart Inn
One other interesting thing we find out from Mary and Charles is that the Musgrove family are all staying at the White Hart Inn.
The White Hart Inn in Bath was one of the most famous inns in the area. It stood just across from the Pump Room on the corner of Stall Street and Westgate Street.
The term “white hart,” h-a-r-t, refers to the common name of the white stag, which was the royal symbol of Richard II. There were, and still are, a lot of inns and pubs in the UK named the White Hart. Unfortunately, the one in Bath was demolished in 1869.
There’s currently a Costa coffee shop sitting there now, but a plaque remains on that building’s exterior commemorating the prior location of the historic building.
There’s a famous painting of the building by John Maggs hanging in Bath’s Victoria Art Gallery, which was done just before the inn was demolished. In that painting, you can see the famous statue of the white stag, a.k.a. the white hart, standing over the entrance.
That statue actually survived the demolition, and today stands over the entrance to a restaurant in Bath called The White Hart, though that restaurant is located in a different spot on the other side of the River Avon.
The Rising Sun
Speaking of the White Hart, later in the chapter, everyone is there visiting with the Musgrove family. Charles comes and announces that he has secured tickets to the theater for the entire family, but Mary’s upset that the date Charles chose is the date they were invited to an “evening party” by Elizabeth and Sir Walter. Let’s listen to a clip of this conversation.
“Well, mother, I have done something for you that you will like. I have been to the theatre, and secured a box for to-morrow night. A’n’t I a good boy? I know you love a play; and there is room for us all. It holds nine. I have engaged Captain Wentworth. Anne will not be sorry to join us, I am sure. We all like a play. Have not I done well, mother?”
Mrs Musgrove was good humouredly beginning to express her perfect readiness for the play, if Henrietta and all the others liked it, when Mary eagerly interrupted her by exclaiming—
“Good heavens, Charles! how can you think of such a thing? Take a box for to-morrow night! Have you forgot that we are engaged to Camden Place to-morrow night? and that we were most particularly asked to meet Lady Dalrymple and her daughter, and Mr Elliot, and all the principal family connexions, on purpose to be introduced to them? How can you be so forgetful?”
“Phoo! phoo!” replied Charles, “what’s an evening party? Never worth remembering. Your father might have asked us to dinner, I think, if he had wanted to see us. You may do as you like, but I shall go to the play.”
“Oh! Charles, I declare it will be too abominable if you do, when you promised to go.”
“No, I did not promise. I only smirked and bowed, and said the word ‘happy.’ There was no promise.”
“But you must go, Charles. It would be unpardonable to fail. We were asked on purpose to be introduced. There was always such a great connexion between the Dalrymples and ourselves. Nothing ever happened on either side that was not announced immediately. We are quite near relations, you know; and Mr Elliot too, whom you ought so particularly to be acquainted with! Every attention is due to Mr Elliot. Consider, my father’s heir: the future representative of the family.”
“Don’t talk to me about heirs and representatives,” cried Charles. “I am not one of those who neglect the reigning power to bow to the rising sun. If I would not go for the sake of your father, I should think it scandalous to go for the sake of his heir. What is Mr Elliot to me?” Persuasion, Chapter 22
The phrase Charles uses here, “neglect the reigning power to bow to the rising sun,” is an interesting one. In her book, Satire, Celebrity, and Politics in Jane Austen, Professor Jocelyn Harris makes the case that this phrase is actually a reference to King George III’s son, George IV.
This phrase appears in other writings of the period in that context, referring to this situation, and it may be a reference to the 1789 Regency Crisis that we discussed briefly back in episode 16.
Conclusion
That wraps up this episode of My Cousin Jane. As always, if you enjoy the show and would like to help support us, please consider clicking the little donate button or subscribing to our newsletter. Either way, thanks so much for listening.
