The Shift Marriage

Want to avoid bringing debts into your new marriage? Well, there was a way to shift  them away … 

During the 18th and 19th centuries many people in the UK thought (without any legal basis whatsoever) that if a woman got married in her shift (or smock) rather than a gown then any premarital debts could not be given over to the new spouse. For instance, in 1775 a widow named Judith Redding “went into one of the pews in the church, stript herself of all her cloaths except her shift, in which only she went to the altar, and was married, much to the astonishment of the parson, clerk, &c.” She assumed this meant her creditors could not come after the property of her new husband, a bricklayer by the name of Richard Elcock.

This would also be done if a wealthier woman was marrying a man with debts, in the (again, mistaken) belief that his creditors could not come for her property once the wedding had occurred. Although in legal terms the husband and wife became one person, in reality that one person was the MAN. Women, and everything they owned, became the property of their husband upon marriage, because “the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband; under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs every thing … her condition during her marriage is called her coverture.” Without a shift marriage the creditors could seize the groom’s newly acquired monies or goods when he wed, because they were HIS — not his wife’s — property.

Is it any wonder that anti-heroine Mary Crawford was so very pragmatic about marital happiness in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park? A woman risked everything when she gambled at the altar.

Still, I could not resist making use of the shift marriage in Mansfield Parsonage as part of a conversation between Miss Crawford and her sister, Mrs Grant:

“A shift marriage? You have the advantage of me ma’am, for I have never heard of such a thing. I am all eagerness to hear of it.” Mary was highly diverted by her sister’s tale.

   “It is a local custom, my dear. If a woman should marry in her shift, then her debts are not transferred to her new husband, nor his to her.”

   “But isn’t the woman excessively mortified to appear before the parson with only a shift to clothe her?” Mary was more amused than scandalized by the thought.

   “When it came time to wed Mrs. Odell and Mr. Triggs, it was Dr. Grant who was excessively mortified I think.” Mrs. Grant giggled. “When he returned home from preforming the ceremony that morning he was as flustered as I have ever seen a man.”

   “Oh! Do tell!”

   “Perhaps I shouldn’t,” Mrs. Grant teased. “You are an unmarried lady after all.”

   “Don’t be cruel; tell me or I shall never cease to wonder.”

   “Alright then, but remember that this is in strictest confidence and prepare yourself to be astounded. When Dr. Grant arrived at the rectory, he found Mr. Triggs awaiting him and Mrs. Odell retired to the necessary room. Not long thereafter, Mrs. Odell emerged, enswathed in a cloak from head to foot. Dr. Grant, of course, assumed it was because she was in her shift and wanted to be covered as much as possible for as long as possible. However, my dearest husband had underestimated her determination that her husband’s debts not be the cause of their ruination. As soon as Dr. Grant assumed his position at the altar, and the wedding service was to begin, Mrs. Odell threw off her cloak and proceeded to say her vows in the exact same state in which she was born!”

   “No!” Mary gasped, truly shocked yet simultaneously profoundly entertained. “Without one stitch upon her?”

   “It was if she were Eve in Paradise, and knew not her nakedness. Even her hair was unbound. Dr. Grant said that he blushed and knew not where to look, and Mr. Triggs stammered like a schoolboy, but that Mrs. Odell became Mrs. Triggs with as much sang-froid as if she had been draped with a nun’s habit.”

   Mary started laughing. “Oh, how did Dr. Grant endure it when he next saw her in Sunday service? How does he look her in the eye even now?”

   “To tell the truth, my husband could not converse with Mrs. Triggs for more than a twelvemonth without becoming discomfited and inarticulate. He grew more composed with time, but still to this day every time he must speak of original sin and Eve’s temptation his eye seeks her out among the congregation, no matter how sternly he tells himself not to.”