While marriages were supposed to be celebrated publicly by priests, in churches where the parties were known, many couples had reasons -- among them parental disapproval, religious nonconformity, property considerations and previous entanglements -- to marry in other ways. Nor was this difficult where there was no unified marriage code, where a simple exchange of vows might constitute a valid marriage, and where unbeneficed priests were prepared to perform the ceremony in return for a drink.
Clandestine marriage had represented a problem to the church and state, and to the rights of property, since the middle ages, eluding a variety of attempts to control it. By the eighteenth century it had become a scandal, with Fleet parsons marrying thousands of couples a year. In 1753 Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act nullified such irregular marriages, only to drive them to adopt other guises until the introduction of civil marriage in 1836.
In this intriguing book Brian Outhwaite explores the nature and scale of clandestine marriage. He describes why it attracted so many customers and why it was so hard to suppress. "Clandestine Marriage in England, 1500-1850" provides a new perspective on a central social and religious institution.

The first history of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in England that covers the period up to the removal of principal subjects inherited from the Middle Ages. Probate, marriage and divorce, tithes, defamation, and disciplinary prosecutions involving the laity are all covered. All disappeared from the church's courts during the mid-nineteenth century, and were taken over by the royal courts. The book traces the steps and reasons - large and small - by which this occurred.

This concise survey examines the consequences of periods of dearth in England, in the years between 1550 and 1800. By the sixteenth century, periods of dearth no longer produced marked rises in mortality, as had happened previously. Instead, the ordinary people appear to have become more politically active, and an increase in the incidence of widespread rioting has been connected to these periods that followed serious harvest failure. Over the past twenty years there has been a dramatic increase in interest among scholars in these themes. This book surveys the enormous volume of literature that has been generated on the subject, explores interconnections, and draws attention to problems still outstanding. Particular attention is paid to a key factor in understanding food riots - namely, changes in government policy towards grain provisioning in these periods of dearth.

This concise survey examines the consequences of periods of dearth in England, in the years between 1550 and 1800. By the sixteenth century, periods of dearth no longer produced marked rises in mortality, as had happened previously. Instead, the ordinary people appear to have become more politically active, and an increase in the incidence of widespread rioting has been connected to these periods that followed serious harvest failure. Over the past twenty years there has been a dramatic increase in interest among scholars in these themes. This book surveys the enormous volume of literature that has been generated on the subject, explores interconnections, and draws attention to problems still outstanding. Particular attention is paid to a key factor in understanding food riots - namely, changes in government policy towards grain provisioning in these periods of dearth.

This collection of original essays is a tribute to Donald Coleman, Emeritus Professor of Economic History in the University of Cambridge, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and formerly Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics. The essays are contributed by friends, former students and colleagues to honour him in his retirement. They range, as does Donald Coleman’s work itself, from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, and reflect, in other ways, his special talents and interests. Two particular themes are reflected in the essays: the operations of businessmen and business values in history, and the factors that shaped and influenced government policies.