Selling a wife at Carlisle

Many people in England believed a man could end his marriage by selling his wife at public auction. On 7 April 1832 Joseph Thomson, a farmer, brought his wife into Carlisle, had the bellman announce the sale, and at noon set her on an oak chair with a halter of straw round her neck. He then made a long speech listing her faults before the bidding began. The belief had no force in law.