Sometimes a man other than
her husband escorted a lady to a party. Having lovers outside
marriage was socially accepted if discrete.
Single women were discouraged from thinking of their independent
status not as advantageous, but as regrettable. Weddings were
becoming public in church instead of private. Brides wore a white
silk or satin dress with a train. Over one third of brides who
were capable of having children were already pregnant when they
got married. In 1753 a marriage statute required licenses to marry
and the consent of parents or guardians in case of minors, calling
of banns [advance announcement so that anyone could point out why
the marriage should not take place], and need of four weeks
residence in the parish where the license was given by bishop or
other authority, because of the kidnapping of heiresses,
prostitutes trapping unwary youths after getting them drunk, and
priests performing marriages clandestinely and not in church,
which required banns. Two witnesses to the marriage were required
to sign a certificate of marriage, which was then to be registered
in the parish books. Manufactured goods relieved ladies from
baking of bread, brewing, and spinning. So they often visited with
friends, wrote letters, embroidered, and supervised the servants.
Funerals ceremonies started with socializing at the house with
refreshments, then going in a procession to the church for burial,
and finally returning to the house for more socializing.
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