Hardy’s classic novel The Mayor of Casterbridge opens when Michael Henchard, in later years the eponymous mayor, but then a poor hay trusser, sells his wife in the public market with tragic consequences. Though by no means usual, in the absence of divorce, (except for the very rich), such proceedings were far from unique and local papers of the 18th and 19th centuries report a steady stream of these events often in lurid detail.

The “Bristol Mercury” of 17th August 1833 records that a man called James Stradling offered his wife for sale at Lansdown Fair before a large concourse of rowdy spectators. She was brought forth “dashingly attired” and with a halter round her neck covered in silk. Before the sale could be concluded however, Stradling was arrested for causing a disturbance and conveyed to the Bath lock up. The following Monday, he was discharged by the magistrates with a reprimand.

It appears that the happy couple returned to the marital home, where at the very least, relations must have been strained. There seems to have been another attempt at a sale, followed by imprisonment of the husband, but even worse was to follow.

On the 4th October there is a report under the heading “Horrid Attempt at Murder”.

“On Friday, Louisa Stradling gave information at the Guildhall, Bath of a most nefarious premeditated attempt made by her husband, James Stradling, shoe maker of Campden Street in this City to take away her life, the previous night. Our readers may remember that that this man who had about twelve months since sold his wife for five shillings at Lansdown Fair again exhibited her for sale in our public market place.  A warrant was issued against him for a breach of the peace and he was committed to prison for six months. Since that period, the parties have lived together only six weeks.

“On Thursday last, Stradling, with apparent kindness proposed to his wife to take a walk with her along the banks of the canal adding that he intended to catch some eels. She consented and they proceeded to the canal at the back of Sydney Parade when he placed Mrs Stadling between the lock gates and desired her to throw the hook and line into the water while he sought for a worm. After a short while, he returned and the inhuman villain pushed her into the water, a fall of about twelve feet and then ran off, leaving her in this perilous position, no doubt expecting she would soon be a corpse.

In falling however, the woman’s clothes became inflated and she was buoyed up in the water for upwards of ten minutes and her cries attracted the attention of some persons, and a station of the humane society being nearby, a pole and rope were procured to save her from a watery grave. Because of her exhaustion and failure to hang on because of the weight on her wet clothes, one of the persons, a strong swimmer, was let down by a rope which he placed about her waist and was able to extricate her.

“She was conveyed to the White Hart at Widcombe in a senseless state but was shortly restored.

“Stradling was apprehended next day and the above facts sworn, He was fully committed for trial at the next Somerset Assizes.”

And then, at the Assizes…………… reported 11th April 1835:

“James Stradling, indicted for maliciously attempting to drown his wife. According to the prosecutrix, she and her husband had been drinking at a public house and they went to the canal to fish and she fell in. But in her examination before Magistrates she had said that her husband pushed her in. This she now denied and said she knew not what she was talking about at the time, she was so much agitated.

“Mr Justice Patterson told the Jury there was not sufficient evidence to commit the prisoner and ordered his acquittal, at the same time addressing the prisoner, telling him there was no doubt his wife committed wilful perjury in order to save his life.”

(Even in those days, an example of the Police frustrated in their attempts to bring a case in a “domestic”. )

a cartoon of a wife sale

In 1841 at Beaufort Square in Walcot, a James Stradling aged 55 is listed along with an Elizabeth Stradling aged 60. Their names are separated by two men called Targett, as though Mr and Mrs lived in separate parts of the house.

I assume Louisa died and the “inhuman” James took up with Elizabeth (unless they are one and the same woman). So far I can find no death for Louisa and no remarriage for James. (He is not the James Stradling who married Jane Jenkings (sic) at St Michael’s, Bath in 1837 who was a baker and lived in Wellington.)

In 1851, at 4 Skines Place, Walcot, the couple are shown in the more usual way. James,  a cordwinder, (shoemaker) is 67 and his wife, 71. Their granddaughter, Elizabeth Arthur, who had been in the house in 1841,  aged 8 is still with them, but is now young woman of 18.

Priscilla Lydia Sellon, 1821-76, was a Anglican nun who played a part in the English Catholic Revivalist movement of the 19th century and founded an Order called the Sisters of Mercy. Devoutly religious, she had intended going abroad as a missionary but instead was “called” to work amongst the poor naval families at Devonport, being particularly active during the cholera year of 1849. She was suspected of being a convert to Rome which aroused much controversy, even bigotry. It was stated with ill-concealed satisfaction that a mob had pelted her house in Plymouth, threatening to raze it to the ground. It appears however that male churchmen, who never went into the slums themselves were active in stirring up such events. Rev Hobart Seymour denounced Miss Sellon from the pulpit in Bath, calling her “unladylike” “a petty despot” and likened her to a crafty old owl who caught her Sisters “poor little mice” in her claws. Another clergyman said “God forbid we stop the flow of Christian Charity but we much protest against the system of drawing young ladies from their homes.” As well as feeling threatened by Miss Sellon’s alleged Roman Catholicism it appears to me that newspapermen and clerics alike were even more outraged because she was a woman.

The papers were delighted when things went wrong, as when a Miss Bowring “daughter of Dr Bowring, now in China” had left the Order and returned to her mother in Exeter. It was said she had “been unhappy in the home of her adoption and is now seriously ill.”

Miss Sellon opened several houses in Bristol, at 7 Park Row (unlisted in 1851) and 14 College Green (lodging houses in 1851) when an Irish woman, Catherine Callahan, a Roman Catholic, who seems to have been taken on as a maid of all work described at length and in lurid detail, certain practices supposed to prove that the “Lady Superior” now adhered to Rome but the “evidence” becomes somewhat suspect when it later transpired that Callahan was suing the Sisters for wages which she said were owed to her. A court at Stroud awarded her £1. 5 shillings, which the Sisters appealed, saying she was and always had been aware that they did not pay wages!

In July 1854, the Bristol Mercury reported pompously “Miss Sellon, whose migrations from house to house in Bristol have been so exceedingly numerous that she must have over and over again experienced the truth of the adage that ‘two removes are as bad as one fire’ has made another change of residence and taken the large house in The Fort on St Michael’s Hill which has long been untenanted.”

For the decade 1850-60, Miss Sellon was a celebrity, as well known as Florence Nightingale. She declined to go to the Crimea with Miss Nightingale as she felt to do so might lead to a division of authority, however, the party which left for the war in October 1854 included “a number of recruits from Miss Sellon’s establishment”. 

After 1856 when there was another reported move to The Priory in Bath, Miss Sellon dropped out of the limelight.  It was said that her experiences during the cholera epidemic of 1849 had weakened her and subsequently she could only sit for short periods at a time. She often took her meals in a reclining position, eventually becoming paralytic. It is not possible to say whether this affliction was hysterical but it does seem to compare with the experience of other Victorian lady “invalids” like Harriet Martineau and   Florence Nightingale herself. Miss Sellon died at Malvern in 1876 aged 55.

Miss Sellon should have made appearances in the censuses 1841-71 but I have failed to find her. Her father, William R.B. Sellon, a retired Commander RN and a Magistrate who had changed his name from Smith because of an inheritance can be found under neither name in 1841. In 1851 he was at Gravesend, Kent, aged  60, with his second wife Martha, 43, children Anna, 33, Frederick, 16. John, 14, Gertrude, 8, Elizabeth, 7 and Melville, 4. Another daughter, Caroline aged 10, was living at the Orphans’ Home, Wyndham Place, Plymouth where Catherine Chambers, an associate of Miss Sellon was Matron. Despite her tender years, Caroline is tellingly described “Sister”. Of Miss Sellon herself, there is no sign. It seems she was determined not to be counted. The Plymouth Journal describes the woes of the enumerator who called at her establishment and was greeted by a nun, all in black, who told him Miss Sellon was away and had taken the papers with her. He called again with two forms to be completed but the same nun again refused, “determined to brave the law rather than disclose the secrets of the prison house”, he added, “there is a great mystery as to who is who in the Eldad Nunnery.”

I had not heard of Miss Sellon before I discovered that she had considered taking a house in Brislington which is one of my principal local interests. Nothing seems to have come of it, but I cannot but wonder if it was the forerunner of the Convent at Arno’s Court which became a reformatory for Catholic girls in the late Victorian era.   I think that Miss Sellon, despite the topic being unfashionable nowadays would make a good subject for someone’s dissertation!

I have been contacted by Steve Niven, the current landlord of the Seven Stars, the famous Bristol pub who writes:

"I was wondering if you know anything about Landlord Thompson of the Seven Stars www.7stars.co.uk/history.htm 1787 at the time of Thomas Clarkson's visit. I have been researching this and have found many Thomas Thompsons but can't actually determine if this was he or not. Landlord Thompson is a hero of mine due to his stance against slavery in Bristol but I think there may be a very interesting history behind this fellow. Captain Thomas B Thompson took a break from service due to the death of his uncle (Edward Thompson) in 1786. A Captain Thomson was involved in transporting the poor London Blacks to Freetown Sierra Leone, a colony for freed slaves set up by Clarkson's brother, John. He was also involved in the abolition movement, Could this be the man that Clarkson notes in his book as Landlord of the Seven Stars?"

I'm sorry to say that I don't know anything much about Landlord Thompson or Thomson. Can anyone help?

By co-incidence, I have been researching Alexander Falconbridge, the former Ships' Surgeon who accompanied Clarkson on his Bristol fact-finding tour. I will be putting this information in a blog soon.

On 6th June, 2009, I visited Tyntesfield, near Wraxall, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-tyntesfield with my daughter and three grandsons, the fabulous Boothroyd Boys, aged 3, 2 and five months.

When I visit a place I always like to know a little about the inhabitants and though the history of the Gibbs family en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyntesfield is well documented, I could not resist delving a little for myself.

On the night of 2nd April, 1871 when a census of England and Wales was taken there were two little visitors to Tyntesfield, Cyril Gurney aged 3 and William Hampden Gurney aged one. How appropriate - did they scamper, whoop and career about like our two elder boys? Did our boys' games echo those of the two ghostly boys, near enough to them in age, but separated by 138 years in time? Did they run their nursemaids ragged, romping in the lovely grounds, hiding among the daisies in the meadow or get lost among the rhododendrons and then laugh?

But sadly not. There was no fun in that April of 1871 for Tyntesfield was a house of mourning. The boys' mother, Alice Blanche Gurney, the daughter of William and Matilda Gibbs had died less than three weeks before on 12th March, aged 27.

Listed at the Tyntesfield house on census night were William Gibbs, the guano magnate, aged 80, his wife Matilda, much younger at 53, their son Anthony, Alfred Gurney, their son in law with his two orphaned boys, Miss Low, a cousin and a clergyman. Alfred Gurney had hardly registered the shock of his young wife's death, for he was recorded as "married" rather than "widowed". The family was looked after by twelve servants, starting with a housekeeper and ending with William White, quaintly titled "odd man."

By the time the next census was taken ten years later, Alfred Gurney was the Vicar of St Barnabas, a fashionable parish at St George, Hanover Square, London. He had not remarried and lived at the parsonage with his spinster sister. His two sons now 13 and 11 had been sent away to boarding school, at Mortlake in Surrey.

Cyril grew up, married Margaret Trotter and became a "West Indian Merchant". By 1901 he had his own three children aged 5, 2 and one month old. I have not located William Hampden Gurney in censuses after 1881, but know that he died in 1903, in London, aged 33 years.

By 1891, Anthony Gibbs, now a magistrate, uncle of Cyril and William Gurney, and his wife Janet were living at Tyntesfield. They had nine children at home, from teenagers to two babies, Janet aged three and Lancelot aged one, who must have played in the lovely gardens. Perhaps their Swiss nurserymaid pushed the tiny ones around in the ancient high iron pram we saw amongst the heaps of lumber piled high in the stables awaiting cataloguing and refurbishment.

Incidentally, when doing this small piece of research, I was pleased to see a name I could add to my "Kingswood Index". In 1861 when the Gibbs' family was living at 16 Hyde Park Gardens in London, among the resident servants was Mary Haskins aged 21, born Bitton, Gloucestershire.

I received the following from Bob Lawrence:

As promised, here is some information about the BALLIN family of the Bristol area. I have no personal connection to them - this research started because one of them married a Sargent from Winchelsea in Sussex, and my Sargent ancestors also come from that area. I have not listed all the Ballins I have found, nor all the details, but these can be found on RootsWeb World Connect at http://wc.rootsweb.com.

I have come across a number of other Ballins in the area, but have not been able to link them in with this family. There seem to be a lot of cousin marriages, which makes me think that Isaac Samuel Ballin and his wife Maria Ballin were cousins. Isaac Samuel seems to have been a practicing Jew, and his daughter Ada, who was a well-know author and is listed in the Oxford Dictionary of National biography, also published a Hebrew grammar and won a Hebrew Scholarship at university. Samuel Ballin I, on the other hand, was married and is buried in an Anglican church, and his children were baptised as Church of England. It is perhaps the unusual surname, the choice of first names, and the occupations followed that means one assumes they were Jews.

There is no obvious connection between the Ballins and the Joseph Cohen who committed suicide in the Bridewell, but he was also a Jew who married a Christian. I wonder how common that was, and how it was considered in the Jewish community. Judith Samuel's book on the Jews in Bristol makes great use of the synagogue records, and so concentrates on practicing Jews.

Here are the details:

Isaac Samuel BALLIN

Isaac Samuel Ballin was born in 1811 at Wells, Somerset, England. He was in partnership with Frederick Maggs as a fur manufacturer in 1832 at 26 High Street, Bristol, but this partnership was dissolved in the same year. Between 1833 and 1845, he was a fur manufacturer, wholesale and retail, at 45 Wine Street, Bristol. He married Susanna Ballin, daughter of Samuel Ballin and Elizabeth Whittern, and possibly his cousin, on 25 Sep 1833 at the New Synagogue, Bristol.

From 1836 to 1858, he traded as a fur manufacturer and importer at Wine Street, but also operated at Redcliff Street and Park Street at different times in addition. He is also recorded as a straw bonnet maker and wholesale straw plat dealer. At times, he shared premises with I. Cohen. His wife Susanna died in 1849, and in 1858 Isaac sold his Bristol business to Messrs Lodge & co and he moved with his family to London. He married Annie Moss in 1860 and died on 1st December 1897 in London, having been a furrier and straw hat dealer in Woburn Place and Tavistock Square. His daughter Ada, born 1862, was a well-known author and journalist on health and childcare.

Samuel BALLIN I

Samuel Ballin I was born in 1776, place of birth unknown. He married Elizabeth Whittern, daughter of William Whittern and Elizabeth Shellard on 22 Nov 1813 at St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Somerset, England. They had previously had six children who had been born at Wotton under Edge, but baptised at Hawkesbury, the birthplace of Elizabeth Whittern. Samuel worked as a silversmith at Bradley Street, Wotton under Edge, although his marriage record describes him as an ironmonger. He was declared bankrupt on 27 Feb 1826. He died in 1830 and was buried at St Mary's, Wotton under Edge.

Samuel BALLIN II

Samuel Ballin II was born in 1809 at Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire, the son of Samuel Ballin I and Elizabeth Whittern, and was baptized on 8 Oct 1809 at St Mary's, Hawkesbury. In 1830, he and his sister Susanna were straw hat makers in Wotton under Edge, but by 1832 he had moved to 2 Old Market Street, Bristol, where he was in the same business with his sister Ann. He married Maria Sargent, daughter of William Sargent and Susannah Whittern, on 1 Dec 1834 at Winchelsea, Sussex. Maria was his cousin, and her father William Sargent was a miller and later Mayor of Winchelsea. In 1836, he was a fur manufacturer at 2 Redcliff Street, Bristol but by 1841 was living at 6, Corridor, Bath, described as a fur manufacturer. He remained there and at 16 Union Street, Bath, until his death on 21 May 1879.

Ann BALLIN

Ann Ballin was born in 1808 at Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Samuel Ballin I and Elizabeth Whittern and was baptized on 11 Dec 1808 at St Mary's, Hawkesbury. She was the daughter of Samuel Ballin and Elizabeth Whittern. From 1832, she was in business with her brother Samuel as a straw hat maker in 2 Old Market Street, Bristol. She married Arnold Beeston, son of John Howton Beeston and Alicia on 9 Jun 1835 at Horfield, Bristol, but Arnold died in 1836, and Ann returned to her previous business, moving to 13 Peter Street, Bristol. She married James Thomas in 1842, but was a widow again by 1851.

Elizabeth BALLIN

Elizabeth Ballin was born in 1800 at Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Samuel Ballin I and Elizabeth Whittern and was baptized on 23 Mar 1800 at St Mary's, Hawkesbury. She married John Box on 13 Sep 1821 at St Mary's, Wotton under Edge and their first two children - Henry Oborne Box and Mary Box were born at Wotton under Edge. Subsequent children were born at Dursley, where John was in business as a watchmaker. Elizabeth died at Dursley in 1887. Their son Edward married his cousin Susanna Sargent Ballin, daughter of Samuel Ballin II and Maria Sargent, and Edward's sister Frances Anne Box married Robert Ashton Lister, the well-known Dursley industrialist.

Joseph COHEN

Suicide in the Bridewell. On Wednesday night, Joseph Cohen, a prisoner in the Bridewell, charged upon remand with having a quantity of cloth in his possession, supposed to have been stolen, hung himself in his cell. An inquest was held upon the body on Thursday before the Coroner, J.B.Grindon Esq., and from the evidence adduced it appeared that the deceased had formerly been of the Hebrew persuasion; but having married a Christian, he had not for some years attended upon the religious worship of that people. His business lay a good deal among public-houses, and he was, to some extent, addicted to habits of intemperance; but he was described by his father-in-law and mother-in-law (his wife having been dead some years) as kind and considerate to them, and careful of, and affectionate to, his daughter, a girl of about 15 years old. He was last seen alive at half-past six o'clock, when, in compliance with the rules of the Bridewell, his supper was left with him, and he was locked up for the night. After his cell door was closed, the turnkey on duty in the passage heard him moving about as if walking up and down, but after a time the sounds ceased, and it is supposed that he must then have hanged himself, for on his cell-door being opened at about nine o'clock he was found suspended from one of the bars of his cell-window by a silk handkerchief. His feet were about five inches from the ground, and the handkerchief was so loosely tied that upon the officer lifting the body, he was enabled to remove it without difficulty. Medical assistance was promptly obtained, but the unfortunate man was "beyond the skill of surgery", and had evidently been for some time dead, as his body had begun to stiffen. His supper was untouched. The jury having attentively considered the testimony adduced, returned a verdict that the deceased - who had appeared both frightened and grieved by his detention in prison - "Hanged himself while in a state of temporary insanity."

Bristol Mercury, 22nd March 1851

Joseph Cohen married Sarah Totterdown at St Peters on 30th September 1833. Their daughter Elizabeth Mary Cohen was baptised at SS Philip & Jacob on 7th December 1834.

1841 Census

Waterloo Place, SS Philip & Jacob, Bristol

Joseph Cohen, 27, Tailor

Sarah Cohen, 24, Tailoress

Bob Lawrence

ACLAND: Lieut Charles Baldwin Dyke, died on May 10, aged 25, off the coast of Africa on board HM Ship "Scout". FFBJ 22.7.1837

BROUGHTON, John, esq., Rear Admiral; of the White, died aged 70, at the residence of his son in law Rev F.A. Glover, Rector of Charlton Dover, was uncle to William G. Broughton, Bishop of Australia. "He went to sea in 1780 and was one of the few survivors of Lord Rodney's action of 12 April 1782." FFBJ 14.10.1837

BYRON: Rear Admiral Richard, died Sep 2, aged 68, at the Bush Hotel, Southsea, on his way to the Isle of Wight with his family for the benefit of his health. FFBJ 9.9.1837

CHAPMAN: Lieut Nicholas, RN, of Freeland Place, Clifton, died Mar 24, aged 45, recently appointed to command the new vessel "Juno". FFBJ 1.4.1837

CHERRY, Captain Henry, of this Port, died Sep 19, aged 67. FFBJ 7.10.1837

CLEMENTS: Robert B.S., aged 19, drowned on Apr 23 on a voyage from Newfoundland in the "Falcon", son of the late Mr Stephen Clements of this City. FFBJ 23.9.1837

CRIDDIFORD: Elizabeth, died Aug 17, aged 53, relict of the late Captain Richard Criddiford of this Port. FFBJ 2/9.9.1837

DUNN, Captain Richard, of this Port, died Jul 4 aged 59. FFBJ 8.7.1837

CUDDY, Captain John, died Aug 12, on the passage home from Jamaica. FFBJ 14.10.1837

HEATLEY: John Boon, died Oct 3, aged 20, only son of the late Captain John Heatley of this City. FFBJ 7.10.1837

HENDERSON: David, esq., MD, Surgeon RN, died Nov 2, many years resident in this City. FFBJ 4.11.1837

HOLMES: Martha, infant daughter of Captain W. Holmes, of this Port, died Jan 11. FFBJ 14.2.1837

HOOD: William, esq., merchant of this City, died Jul 7, at Charleston, South Carolina. "Till within a few days of the fatal intelligence reaching England, his arrival was daily expected by his family." FFBJ 12.8.1837

JACKSON: Mr Michael, late 2nd Mate of the brig "Caledonia" of Greenock, one of the crew of the wreck taken off by Dugden, died Dec 9, at St Peter's Hospital, in this City. FFBJ 23.12.1837

LLOYD: Elizabeth, wife of Mr E. Lloyd, writing master of this City and eldest daughter of Captain Hall of the port of Pembroke, died Jan 26. FFBJ 4.2.1837

PAGE: Mr R.C., died Apr 10, aged 27, 2nd Officer of the ship "Orestes" while on her passage from China to Bristol. FFBJ 20.5.1837

PIKE: Margaret, only child of Mr James Pike, master mariner of this Port, died Nov 26 aged 13. FFBJ 2.12.1837

POTTER: Captain Robert, aged 23, on June 3, at Appolonia, Gold Coast, of the barque "Congo" of that port, drowned in attempting to go ashore in a canoe through heavy surf. Two natives perished with him. FFBJ 23.9.1837

RADFORD: Mary, wife of Captain Richard Radford, of this Port, died Oct 19, aged 29, at her residence at Trinity Street. FFBJ 21.10.1837

REES, Mr James, master of the "Betsey" of Tenby, died Jan 25, aged 35, after a severe accident aboard the ship. FFBJ 11.11.1837

SAMPSON: Captain, of the ship "Lucy Ann" of this Port, died Feb 7, at Port Maria, Jamaica. A native of this City. FFBJ 1.4.1837

SHEWIN: Mrs, died Nov 30, at Lebeck House, Hotwells, wife of Captain Shewin, RN. FFBJ 2.12.1837

SMITH: Ann, wife of Mr Richard Smith of Bath Street and second daughter of Captain James Barker, RN, died Feb 5, "under the influence of the prevailing epidemic". FFBJ 11.11.1837

SMITH, Rhoda, wife of Captain S. Smith of this Port, died Nov 16. FFBJ 18.11.1837

STOKES: Captain John, RN, died Sep 28, at St Columb, aged 67, brother of Mr Samuel Stokes of the Bush Tavern, Bristol. FFBJ 7.7.1837

STONE: Charles, 2nd son of Mr Charles Stone of this City, died Aug 9, aged 20, on the passage from Jamaica aboard the "Feronia". FFBJ 21.10.1837

THOMAS: Frederick John Thomas aged 13, died at North Briton (? This may be "North Britain - i.e. Scotland - or North Brixton), March 23, eldest son of Mr John Thomas and grandson the late Captain William Thomas of this Port. FFBJ 1.4.1837

THOMPSON, Ada Jane, aged 3 years and 4 months, died Oct 31, only child of Captain Thomas Thompson of Alfred Place, St Mary Redcliffe. FFBJ 4.11.1837

TURBERVILLE: John, only son of Mr Giles Turberville, excise guager of this Port, died at Jamaica, aged 29. FFBJ 25.11.1837

VICKERY: Caryer, esq, surgeon RN, died Jan 23 aged 75, at London, formerly of this City. 28.1.1837

WASON: Captain Edward, died Mar 29, died Mar 29, at the Island of Barbadoes, aged 64, brother to Mr James Wason, merchant of this Port. FFBJ 13.5.1837

WOLLEY: Rear Admiral, (died) Dec 27th at his residence Campden Place, Bath, aged 69. FFBJ 30.12.1837