1800s Laws

Law of Coverture

The doctrine of the law of coverture originated in the middle ages and was consistently used in the English and Welsh legal system. They were the laws that meant a woman's legal identity were covered by her husbands after marriage. Her legal identity and other powers became non-existent and her husband had full control over her.  There was no official ending to the law of coverture, but as laws surrounding the property rights of women were introduced in the 19th century, they were slowly eroded away.  

Legally she had no control over:

• Owning property
• Sign legal documents
• Enter into contracts
• Her own body and control of it
• Making decisions for her children against her husband's wishes
• Keep her own salary
• Get any education against her husband's wishes

The legal rights of women and coverture were clarified in the Commentaries on the Laws of England by Sir William Blackstone in 1765. The text included in this book was inherently dehumanising and proved that women lacked many crucial rights that we have today. 

Blackstone quoted, 'By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in the law,' meaning that women lost their identity entirely under the law and became known through their husbands name only. Women were known as 'feme covert' which means 'covered women'. 

Although no laws were made to strictly end coverture, the introduction of laws in the 1800s and 1900s for women's rights helped to protect women against domestic violence and to keep their own identity. 

The Rule of Thumb

Reportedly, in the 1800s a judge stated that a man could beat his wife as long as he uses a rod not thicker than his thumb. Although there is very little legal evidence of this rule, many people consider it to have been common law throughout the 19th century.

This cartoon in the press in 1782 was said to represent the rule of thumb, however its validity is not certain. 

If this did become common law at the time, it was not at all instrumental at protecting women against violence. The fact that a husband could not hit his wife with a rod thicker than his thumb would do little to prevent serious harm being inflicted upon women. Substantial injury could still be caused and it normalised the abuse of women in Victorian society. 

Curfew on Wife Beating 1895

A bylaw made by the city of London made hitting your wife illegal between the hours of 10pm and 7am. Although this could be depicted to have protected women from abuse at night, including when men returned home drunk or stressed, it was passed purely to stop the neighbours being disturbed whilst they were trying to sleep. To us in modern society, it seems ridiculous that a law such as this would be seen as helpful. Clearly, in the 1800s, the protection of women was something that was cared very little about.