A dowry is a payment, such as land property, monetary, cattle or any commercial asset that is paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage.
153-681: Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 1751 – 7 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester . The owner of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane , in London, he wrote several prominent plays such as The Rivals (1775), The Duenna (1775), The School for Scandal (1777) and A Trip to Scarborough (1777). He served as Treasurer of
306-463: A reverse auction was needed to determine the dowry to be paid to a swain. In case of divorce without reason, a man was required to give his wife the dowry she brought as well as the bride price the husband gave. The return of dowry could be disputed, if the divorce was for a reason allowed under Babylonian law. A wife's dowry was administered by her husband as part of the family assets. He had no say, however, in its ultimate disposal; and legally,
459-511: A "party" in the modern sense. They had no definite programme or policy and were by no means even united. Generally, they stood for reducing crown patronage, sympathy towards nonconformists , support for the interests of merchants and bankers and a leaning towards the idea of a limited reform of the voting system. Most Whig leaders, such as Lord Grey , Lord Grenville , Lord Althorp , William Lamb (later Lord Melbourne ) and Lord John Russell , were still rich landowners. The most prominent exception
612-642: A Power which they hate —WE serve a Monarch whom we love—a God whom we adore...They call on us to barter all of Good we have inherited and proved, for the desperate Chance of Something better which they promise .—Be our plain Answer this: The Throne WE honour is the PEOPLE'S CHOICE—the Laws we reverence are our brave Fathers' Legacy—the Faith we follow teaches us to live in bonds of Charity with all Mankind, and die with Hope of Bliss beyond
765-433: A Russian advice book of the 16th century for upper classes, includes advice to set aside property for purposes of a dowry, and use it to accumulate linens, clothing, and other things for it, rather than have to suddenly buy it all for the wedding; if the daughter should happen to die, the dowry should be used to give alms and for prayers for her soul, although some might be set aside for other daughters. In late Tsarist Russia
918-555: A Tory and Fox as a Whig, Pitt always considered himself to be an independent Whig and generally opposed the development of a strict partisan political system. Fox's supporters saw themselves as legitimate heirs of the Whig tradition and they strongly opposed Pitt in his early years in office, notably during the regency crisis revolving around the King's temporary insanity in 1788–1789, when Fox and his allies supported full powers as regent for their ally,
1071-616: A Tory-dominated House of Commons but upon the accession of William III in 1688 a new Act was passed that prohibited the importation of French goods. In 1704, the Whigs passed the Trade with France Act that renewed protectionism against France. In 1710, Queen Anne appointed the predominantly Tory Harley Ministry , which favoured free trade. When the Tory minister Lord Bolingbroke proposed a commercial treaty with France in 1713 that would have led to freer trade,
1224-492: A bride they care nothing whether she has a dowry and a handsome fortune, but look only to her beauty and other advantages of the outward person. Arrian , The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great , 3rd century BC Arrian's second book similarly notes, They (Indians) marry without either giving or taking dowries, but the women as soon as they are marriageable are brought forward by their fathers in public, to be selected by
1377-651: A chance to die down. When it met in October 1680, an Exclusion Bill was introduced and passed in the Commons without major resistance, but was rejected in the Lords. Charles dissolved Parliament in January 1681, but the Whigs did not suffer serious losses in the ensuing election. The next Parliament first met in March at Oxford, but Charles dissolved it after only a few days, when he made an appeal to
1530-591: A different instrument than on the Continent. The Salic law , which required females to be disinherited and disenfranchised from land ownership, did not apply in England. Single women held many rights men did. The most famous example of this English female inheritance and agency right is perhaps Elizabeth I of England , who held all rights a male monarch did. While single women held rights to hold property equivalent to those of men, marriage and married women were affected by
1683-412: A dowry. Gioachino Rossini 's opera La Cenerentola makes this economic basis explicit: Don Magnifico wishes to make his own daughters' dowries larger, to attract a grander match, which is impossible if he must provide a third dowry. One common penalty for the kidnapping and rape of an unmarried woman was that the abductor or rapist had to provide the woman's dowry. Until the late 20th century this
SECTION 10
#17328375001981836-445: A fourth of the remaining wealth to her upkeep till she is ready to marry, and then give the rest to her to take with her into her married life. Dowry was common in different historic periods of China and continued through the modern history. Locally called " 嫁妝 ( Jiàzhuāng ), the dowry ranged from land, jewelry, money to a collection of clothing, sewing equipment and collection of household items. Mann and others find that dowry
1989-482: A historical correlation between the practices of "diverging devolution" (dowry) and the development of intensive plough agriculture on the one hand, and homogeneous inheritance (brideprice) and extensive hoe agriculture on the other. Drawing on the work of Ester Boserup , Goody notes that the sexual division of labour varies in intensive plough agriculture and extensive shifting horticulture. In sparsely populated regions where shifting cultivation takes place, most of
2142-602: A joint family. She would often sell this property for cash to overcome hard economic times or needs of her children and husband. In a few cases, she may transfer the property she brought as dowry to her daughter or daughter-in-law. Dowry assets once transferred in turn constituted separate wealth of the woman who received it ( sifang qian , etc.). Often a woman who brought a large dowry was considered more virtuous in Chinese culture than one who didn't. In parts of China, both dowry and brideprice ( pinjin ) were practiced from ancient eras to
2295-421: A lavish scale. Sheridan had little money and no immediate prospects of any, other than his wife's dowry . The young couple entered the fashionable world and apparently held up their end in entertaining. Sheridan was a patron of Margaret Cuyler and she was his presumed mistress. As his protégée she appeared at Drury Lane in January 1777, despite being a poor actress. In 1775 Sheridan's first play, The Rivals ,
2448-451: A money dowry. In Romania in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (1750–1830s) the exclusion of dowered girls from the family inheritance led to increased cohesion within the nuclear family. The wife's male relatives controlled the dowry but she retained sole ownership of the dowry and wedding gifts. Her relatives could prosecute the husband for squandering a dowry; wives gained some ability to leave an abusive marriage. The long-term result
2601-418: A national network of newspapers and magazines as well as local clubs to deliver their message. The press organised petitions and debates and reported to the public on government policy, while leaders such as Henry Brougham (1778–1868) built alliances with men who lacked direct representation. This new approach to the grass roots helped to define Whiggism and opened the way for later success. Whigs thereby forced
2754-1172: A negligent husband, and may eventually go to provide for her children. Dowries may also go toward establishing a marital household, and therefore might include furnishings such as linens and furniture. Locally, dowry or trousseau is called jahez in Urdu , jahizie in Persian and Arabic ; dahej in Hindi , dāj in Punjabi , daijo in Nepali , çeyiz in Turkish , joutuk in Bengali , jiazhuang in Mandarin , varadhachanai in Tamil , khatnam in Telugu , streedhanam in Malayalam , miraz in Serbo-Croatian and in various parts of Africa
2907-416: A new household. Dos was given for the purpose of enabling the husband to sustain the charges of the marriage state (onera matrimonii). All the property of the wife which was not dowry, or was not a donatio propter nuptias, continued to be her own property, and was called Parapherna . The dowry could include any form of property, given or promised at the time of marriage, but only what remained after deducting
3060-516: A new system emerged with two separate opposition groups. The Rockingham Whigs claimed the mantle of Old Whigs as the purported successors of the party of the Pelhams and the great Whig families. With such noted intellectuals as Edmund Burke behind them, the Rockingham Whigs laid out a philosophy which for the first time extolled the virtues of faction, or at least their faction. The other group were
3213-560: A private tutor, Lewis Ker, to direct his studies in his father's house in London, while Domenico Angelo instructed him in fencing and horsemanship. In 1772, aged 20 or 21, Sheridan fought two duels with Captain Thomas Mathews, who had written a newspaper article defaming the character of Elizabeth Ann Linley , whom Sheridan intended to marry. In the first duel, they agreed to fight in Hyde Park , but finding it too crowded they went first to
SECTION 20
#17328375001983366-411: A song named "Doing It for the Whigs". Dowry Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower . While bride price or bride service is a payment by the groom , or his family, to the bride, or her family, dowry is the wealth transferred from the bride, or her family, to the groom, or his family. Similarly, dower is the property settled on the bride herself, by the groom at
3519-816: A strong presidency , initially the presidency of Andrew Jackson , analogous to the British Whig opposition to a strong monarchy. The True Whig Party , which for a century dominated Liberia , was named for the American party rather than directly for the British one. Dickinson reports the following: All historians are agreed that the Tory party declined sharply in the late 1740s and 1750s and that it ceased to be an organized party by 1760. The research of Sir Lewis Namier and his disciples [...] has convinced all historians that there were no organized political parties in Parliament between
3672-523: A woman's dowry was often returned to her family. Coverture never applied universally in Britain and was repealed in the 1800s. This effectively ended the concept of dowry as the property of a single woman was either retained by her after marriage or its income became marital property under joint control with a husband (not under his sole control as in coverture). In some parts of Europe, especially Eastern Europe, land dowries were common. The Domostroy ,
3825-523: Is a deficit of trade with France was bad because it would enrich France at England's expense. In 1678, the Whigs passed the Prohibition of 1678 that banned certain French goods from being imported into England. The economic historian William Ashley claimed that this Act witnessed the "real starting-point in the history of Whig policy in the matter of trade". It was repealed upon the accession of James II by
3978-533: Is an evolutionary model in which these historical variables may not be the decisive factors today. Susan Mann argues, in contrast, with examples where even in late Imperial China, dowry was a form of female inheritance. Stanley J. Tambiah later argued that Goody's overall thesis remained pertinent in North India , although it required modification to meet local circumstances. He points out that dowry in North India
4131-465: Is based on interpreting verses of ancient Sanskrit scriptures from India, not eyewitness accounts. Available eyewitness observations from ancient India give a different picture. One of these are the eyewitness records from Alexander the Great 's conquest ( ca . 300 BC), as recorded by Arrian and Megasthenes. Arrian's first book mentions a lack of dowry, They (these ancient Indian people) make their marriages accordance with this principle, for in selecting
4284-528: Is considered one of the greatest comedies of manners in English. It was followed by The Critic (1779), an updating of the satirical Restoration play The Rehearsal . Having quickly made his name and fortune, in 1776 Sheridan bought David Garrick 's share in the Drury Lane patent, and in 1778 the remaining share; his later plays were all produced there. In 1778 Sheridan wrote The Camp , which commented on
4437-489: Is known as serotwana , idana , saduquat or mugtaf . Anthropologist Jack Goody 's comparative study of dowry systems around the world utilizing the Ethnographic Atlas demonstrated that dowry is a form of inheritance found in the broad swath of Eurasian societies from Japan to Ireland that practice "diverging devolution", i.e., that transmit property to children regardless of sex. This practice differs from
4590-458: Is only partially used as a bride's conjugal fund, and that a large part goes directly to the groom's joint family. This would initially seem to discount Goody's model, except that in North India, the joint family is composed of the groom's parents, his married brothers and unmarried sisters, and their third generation children. This joint family controlled this part of the dowry, which they used to help fund their own daughter/sister's dowries. But when
4743-436: Is the type of property controlled by the household. Bridewealth circulates property and women, and is typical of societies where property is limited. Dowry concentrates property and is found in property owning classes or commercial or landed pastoral peoples. When families give dowry, they not only ensure their daughter's economic security, they also "buy" the best possible husband for her, and son-in-law for themselves. Even in
Richard Brinsley Sheridan - Misplaced Pages Continue
4896-626: The American War of Independence . He refused the offer. In December 1815 Sheridan became ill and was largely confined to bed. He died in poverty. However, dukes, earls, lords, viscounts, the Lord Mayor of London , and other notables attended his funeral, and he was buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey . In 1825 the Irish writer Thomas Moore published a sympathetic two-volume biography, Memoirs of
5049-591: The Conservative Party in 1912. The Whigs began as a political faction that opposed absolute monarchy and Catholic emancipation , supporting constitutional monarchism and parliamentary government , but also Protestant supremacy. They played a central role in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and were the standing enemies of the Roman Catholic Stuart kings and pretenders . The period known as
5202-625: The Duke of Bedford and elements of that which had been led by George Grenville , it also contained elements of the Kings' Men, the group formerly associated with Lord Bute and which was generally seen as Tory-leaning. The association of Toryism with Lord North's government was also influential in the American colonies and writings of British political commentators known as the Radical Whigs did much to stimulate colonial republican sentiment. Early activists in
5355-573: The Duke of Monmouth , being implicated, fled to and regrouped in the United Provinces . Algernon Sidney , Sir Thomas Armstrong and William Russell, Lord Russell , were executed for treason. The Earl of Essex committed suicide in the Tower of London over his arrest for treason, whilst Lord Grey of Werke escaped from the Tower. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Queen Mary II and King William III governed with both Whigs and Tories, despite
5508-626: The Earl of Shelburne , took its place. After Rockingham's unexpected death in July 1782, this uneasy coalition fell apart, with Charles James Fox , Rockingham's successor as faction leader, quarrelling with Shelburne and withdrawing his supporters from the government. The following Shelburne administration was short-lived and Fox returned to power in April 1783, this time in an unexpected coalition with his old enemy Lord North. Although this pairing seemed unnatural to many at
5661-457: The Norman Conquest changes to the law in the 12th century. Coverture was introduced to the common law in some jurisdictions, requiring property of a wife to be held in the husband's name, custody and control. The Normans also introduced the dowry in England replacing the earlier custom of the new husband giving a morning gift to his bride. At first the husband publicly gave the dowry at
5814-812: The Parliaments of England , Scotland , Ireland , Great Britain and the United Kingdom . Between the 1680s and the 1850s, the Whigs contested power with their rivals, the Tories . The Whigs became the Liberal Party when the faction merged with the Peelites and Radicals in the 1850s. Many Whigs left the Liberal Party in 1886 over the issue of Irish Home Rule to form the Liberal Unionist Party , which merged into
5967-519: The Prince of Wales . The opposition Whigs were split by the onset of the French Revolution . While Fox and some younger members of the party such as Charles Grey and Richard Brinsley Sheridan were sympathetic to the French revolutionaries, others led by Edmund Burke were strongly opposed. Although Burke himself was largely alone in defecting to Pitt in 1791, much of the rest of the party, including
6120-537: The Prince of Wales . Following his success in defeating the government over the Peerage Bill in 1719, Walpole was invited back into government the following year. He was able to defend the government in the Commons when the South Sea Bubble collapsed. When Stanhope died unexpectedly in 1721, Walpole replaced him as leader of the government and became known as the first Prime Minister . In the 1722 general election
6273-455: The Ton (le bon ton) , Sheridan drank heavily and was a gambling addict, gambling most nights with money he did not have. Whilst most of his fellow gambling addicts attempted to pay their creditors, Sheridan pointedly never paid his debts, as he believed paying his creditors "only encourages them." Sheridan's behaviour towards women in particular was dishonourable. A rake and professional storyteller, he
Richard Brinsley Sheridan - Misplaced Pages Continue
6426-566: The Tory party as treasonous Jacobites , and the Septennial Act ensured that the Whigs became the dominant party, establishing the Whig oligarchy. Between 1717 and 1720 the Whig Split led to a division in the party. Government Whigs led by the former soldier James Stanhope were opposed by Robert Walpole and his allies. While Stanhope was backed by George I, Walpole and his supporters were closer to
6579-558: The abolition of slavery , the expansion of the franchise (suffrage) and an acceleration of the move toward complete equal rights for Catholics (a reversal of the party's late-17th-century position, which had been militantly anti-Catholic ). The term Whig began as a short form of whiggamore , a term originally used by people in the north of England to refer to (cattle) drovers from western Scotland who came to Leith to buy corn. The Gaelic -speaking Scottish cattle drivers would call out "Chuig" or "Chuig an bothar"—meaning "away" or "to
6732-526: The colonies called themselves Whigs, seeing themselves as in alliance with the political opposition in Britain, until they turned to independence and started emphasising the label Patriots . In contrast, the American Loyalists , who supported the monarchy, were consistently also referred to as Tories. Later, the United States Whig Party was founded in 1833 on the basis of opposition to
6885-678: The (proposed) wife may give it back to him of her own will (if she does not want to marry). Al-Biruni , Chapter on Matrimony in India , about 1035 AD Al-Biruni further claims that a daughter, in 11th-century India, had legal right to inherit from her father, but only a fourth part of her brother. The daughter took this inheritance amount with her when she married, claimed Al-Biruni, and she had no rights to income from her parents after her marriage or to any additional inheritance after her father's death. If her father died before her marriage, her guardian would first pay off her father's debt, then allocate
7038-589: The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht , which they attempted to block through their majority in the House of Lords . The Tory administration led by Harley and the Viscount Bolingbroke persuaded the Queen to create twelve new Tory peers to force the treaty through. The Whigs primarily advocated the supremacy of Parliament, while calling for toleration for Protestant dissenters. They adamantly opposed a Catholic as king. They opposed
7191-589: The 18th century was social ruin for women, and Harriet narrowly escaped such calamity only when Duncannon's father William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough and the powerful Cavendish clan sided with Harriet, making divorcing her social suicide. Whilst attempting to win back his wife Eliza , one of multiple similar occasions, he conceived a child with a governess named Caroline Townsend in 1789. Sheridan's friends, Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough helped him arrange for Caroline to go abroad to deliver, and adopted
7344-467: The 20th century. Though throughout the history of China, the practice of using a brideprice has largely been used instead of dowries, but has slowly diminished in modern times. Dowry was widely practiced in Europe until the early modern era. Folklorists often interpret the folk tale Cinderella as the competition between the stepmother and the stepdaughter for resources, which may include the need to provide
7497-718: The Archconfraternity of the Annunciation, a Roman charity dedicated to providing dowries, received the entire estate of Pope Urban VII . In 1425, the Republic of Florence created a public fund, called the Monte delle doti , to provide dowries to Florentine brides. Vast inheritances were standard as dowries for aristocratic and royal brides in Europe during the Middle Ages. The Portuguese crown gave two cities in India and Morocco as dowry to
7650-514: The British Crown in 1661 when King Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza , a princess of Portugal. In some cases, nuns were required to bring a dowry when joining a convent . At some times, such as Ancien Régime France, convents were also used by some parents to put less attractive daughters, so that the more marriageable daughters could have larger dowries. Ancien Régime families that could not provide proper dowries also used
7803-720: The British Empire with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 . It purchased and freed the slaves, especially those in the Caribbean sugar islands. After parliamentary investigations demonstrated the horrors of child labour, limited reforms were passed in 1833. The Whigs also passed the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 that reformed the administration of relief to the poor and the Marriage Act 1836 that allowed civil marriages. It
SECTION 50
#17328375001987956-601: The Catholic Church because they saw it as a threat to liberty, or as Pitt the Elder stated: "The errors of Rome are rank idolatry, a subversion of all civil as well as religious liberty, and the utter disgrace of reason and of human nature". Ashcraft and Goldsmith (1983) have traced in detail, in the period 1689 to 1710, the major influence of the liberal political ideas of John Locke on Whig political values, as expressed in widely cited manifestos such as "Political Aphorisms: or,
8109-401: The Church of England, opposed to a Whig". He linked 18th-century Whiggism with 17th-century revolutionary Puritanism, arguing that the Whigs of his day were similarly inimical to the established order of church and state. Johnson recommended that strict uniformity in religious externals was the best antidote to the objectionable religious traits that he linked to Whiggism. At their inception,
8262-461: The English aristocracy sent few of their eligible daughters to convents. Failure to provide a customary, or agreed-upon, dowry could cause a marriage to be called off. William Shakespeare made use of such an event in King Lear : one of Cordelia's suitors gives up his suit upon hearing that King Lear will give her no dowry. In Measure for Measure , Claudio and Juliet's premarital sex was brought about by their families' wrangling over dowry after
8415-472: The French. Along with Charles James Fox , Lord Moira and other radical Whig grandees, he testified on behalf of Arthur O'Connor . O'Connor was acquitted. His companion, Father James Coigly was hanged. During the invasion scare of 1803 Sheridan penned an 'Address to the People': THEY, by a strange Frenzy driven, fight for Power, for Plunder, and extended Rule—WE, for our Country, our Altars, and our Homes.—THEY follow an ADVENTURER, whom they fear—and obey
8568-400: The Grave. Tell your Invaders this; and tell them too, we seek no Change; and, least of all, such Change as they would bring us. He held the posts of Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall (1804–1807) and Treasurer of the Navy (1806–1807). Sheridan was noted for his close political relationship with the Prince of Wales , leading a faction of his supporters in the Commons. By 1805 when
8721-406: The Hercules Pillars tavern (on the site where Apsley House now stands at Hyde Park Corner ) and then on to the Castle Tavern in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden . Far from its romantic image, the duel was short and bloodless. Mathews lost his sword and, according to Sheridan, was forced to 'beg for his life' and sign a retraction of the article. The apology was made public and Mathews, infuriated by
8874-483: The Junto led to a split among the Whigs, with the so-called Country Whigs seeing the Junto as betraying their principles for office. The Country Whigs, led by Robert Harley , gradually merged with the Tory opposition in the later 1690s. Although William's successor Anne had considerable Tory sympathies and excluded the Junto Whigs from power, after a brief and unsuccessful experiment with an exclusively Tory government she generally continued William's policy of balancing
9027-542: The Life of Richard Brinsley Sheridan , which became a major influence on subsequent perceptions. A Royal Society of Arts blue plaque was unveiled in 1881 to commemorate Sheridan at 14 Savile Row in Mayfair. Another plaque is in Stafford. He was twice married. He and his first wife Elizabeth had a son: Elizabeth also had a daughter, Mary, born 30 March 1792 but fathered by her lover, Lord Edward FitzGerald . After Elizabeth's death, Sheridan fulfilled his promise to look after Thomas and FitzGerald's baby daughter. A nurse
9180-445: The Navy from 1806 to 1807. Sheridan died in 1816 and was buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey . His plays remain a central part of the Western canon and are regularly performed around the world. Sheridan was born in 1751 in Dublin , Ireland, where his family had a house on the then fashionable Dorset Street . His mother, Frances Sheridan , was an Anglo-Irish playwright and novelist. She had two plays produced in London in
9333-432: The Presbyterians), while the Tories generally favoured the minor gentry and people who were ( relatively speaking ) smallholders; they also supported the legitimacy of a strongly established Church of England . (The so-called High Tories preferred high church Anglicanism, or Anglo-Catholicism . Some, particularly adherents of the non-juring schism , openly or covertly supported the exiled House of Stuart 's claim to
SECTION 60
#17328375001989486-421: The Prince was cooling on his previous support of Catholic Emancipation Sheridan, George Tierney and others announced their own opposition to it. When, after 32 years in Parliament, he lost re-election in 1812, his creditors closed in on him and his last years were harassed by debt and disappointment. On hearing of his debts, the American Congress offered Sheridan £20,000 in recognition of his efforts to prevent
9639-436: The True Maxims of Government Displayed", an anonymous pamphlet that appeared in 1690 and was widely cited by Whigs. The 18th-century Whigs borrowed the concepts and language of universal rights employed by political theorists Locke and Algernon Sidney (1622–1682). By the 1770s the ideas of Adam Smith , a founder of classical liberalism became important. As Wilson and Reill (2004) note: "Adam Smith's theory melded nicely with
9792-465: The Whig Party ( blue and buff , a yellow-brown colour named after buff leather ) were particularly associated with Charles James Fox . Poet Robert Burns in "Here's a health to them that's awa" wrote: It's guid to support Caledonia's cause And bide by the Buff and the Blue. "The British Whig March" for piano was written by Oscar Telgmann in Kingston, Ontario , c. 1900 . Punk band The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing have
9945-399: The Whig Supremacy (1714–1760) was enabled by the Hanoverian succession of George I in 1714 and the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1715 by Tory rebels. The Whigs took full control of the government in 1715 and thoroughly purged the Tories from all major positions in government, the army, the Church of England , the legal profession, and local political offices. The first great leader of
10098-494: The Whigs swept to a decisive victory. Between 1714 and 1760, the Tories struggled as an active political force, but always retained a considerable presence in the House of Commons . The governments of Walpole, Henry Pelham and his older brother the Duke of Newcastle dominated between 1721 and 1757 (with a brief break during the also-Whig Carteret ministry ). The leading entities in these governments consistently referred to themselves as "Whigs". This arrangement changed during
10251-406: The Whigs was Denzil Holles ' parliamentarian faction, which was characterised by its opposition to absolute monarchism . Under Lord Shaftesbury's leadership, the Whigs (also known as the Country Party) sought to exclude the Duke of York (who later became King James II) from the throne due to his Roman Catholicism, his favouring of monarchical absolutism, and his connections to France. They believed
10404-412: The Whigs was Robert Walpole , who maintained control of the government from 1721 to 1742, and whose protégé, Henry Pelham , led the government from 1743 to 1754. Great Britain approximated a one-party state under the Whigs until King George III came to the throne in 1760 and allowed Tories back in. But the Whig Party's hold on power remained strong for many years thereafter. Thus historians have called
10557-440: The Whigs were protectionist in economic policy, with free trade policies being advocated by Tories. The Whigs were opposed to the pro-French policies of the Stuart kings Charles II and James II as they believed that such an alliance with the Catholic absolute monarchy of France endangered liberty and Protestantism. The Whigs claimed that trade with France was bad for England and developed an economic theory of overbalance, that
10710-519: The Whigs were vehemently against it and it had to be abandoned. In 1786, Pitt's government negotiated the Eden Agreement , a commercial treaty with France which led to freer trade between the two countries. All of the Whig leaders attacked this on traditional Whig anti-French and protectionist grounds. Fox claimed that France was England's natural enemy and that it was only at Britain's expense that she could grow. Edmund Burke , Richard Sheridan , William Windham and Charles Grey all spoke out against
10863-462: The Whigs, especially as her personal relationship with the Duchess of Marlborough deteriorated. This situation also became increasingly uncomfortable to many of the non-Junto Whigs, led by the Duke of Somerset and the Duke of Shrewsbury , who began to intrigue with Robert Harley's Tories. In the spring of 1710, Anne dismissed Godolphin and the Junto ministers, replacing them with Tories. The Whigs now moved into opposition and particularly decried
11016-599: The Younger 's new Tories. The foundation of both parties depended more on the support of wealthy politicians than on popular votes. Although there were elections to the House of Commons , only a few men controlled most of the voters . Both parties slowly evolved during the 18th century. In the beginning, the Whig Party generally tended to support the aristocratic families, the continued disenfranchisement of Catholics and toleration of nonconformist Protestants ( dissenters such as
11169-420: The assault: "...when I defied [his] threat he took another most extraordinary method – I was told one day that a servant had brought a message which he would deliver to no one but myself, and before I could order him to be admitted, in entered Sheridan, wrapped up in a great watchcoat, and after my servant had quitted the room he rushed up to me and with a ferociousness quite frightful bit my cheek so violently that
11322-456: The author's identity as Sheridan's from his handwriting. Sheridan accosted Harriet in public and made a scene any chance he could, reproaching her for not loving him enough and declaring his undying love for her. Despite his cruelty towards her, Harriet was kind to him on his deathbed in 1816. In return, Sheridan grasped her hand hard and told her he would haunt her after his death. Harriet, petrified, asked why, having persecuted her all his life, he
11475-414: The baby, whom they named Fanny Mortimer. Fanny "grew up at Devonshire House as a sort of foundling, inhabiting a nether world between the servants' quarters and the nursery. After Georgiana died in 1806, Harriet sent Fanny to private school and eventually saw her marry quite well. Fanny always suspected that either Harriet or Georgiana was her mother and never quite recovered from learning that her true mother
11628-558: The beginning of 20th century, bridewealth , rather than dowry was the common custom, which often resulted in poor boys remaining unmarried. Stanley J. Tambiah claims the ancient Code of Manu sanctioned dowry and bridewealth in ancient India (typically in Rohtak) and especially in Kadia families, but dowry was the more prestigious form and associated with the Brahmanic (priestly) caste. Bridewealth
11781-423: The betrothal. Angelo's motive for forswearing his betrothal with Mariana was the loss of her dowry at sea. In Victorian England , dowries were viewed by some members of the upper class as an early payment of the daughter's inheritance . In some instances, daughters who had not received their dowries were the only female heirs entitled to part of the estate when their parents died. If a couple died without children,
11934-470: The blood ran on down my neck – I had just enough sense to ring the bell and he withdrew." By 1802, Sheridan's despicable behaviour took an even more sinister turn, and he began harassing one of his few remaining friends, Harriet Spencer, Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough . In 1805, Sheridan had escalated his harassment of Harriet to anonymously sending her threatening letters; as they had been longtime friends and former lovers, Harriet quickly deduced
12087-653: The church door at the wedding. If the husband died first, which was frequent, there was a Widows dowry of one third of the husband's lands at the time of his marriage; the income, and in some cases, the management, of the lands, was assigned to her for the rest of her life. This concept is included in the Great Charter , and along with the recognition of female inheritance and absence of the Salic law , and women, particularly single women, holding many rights equivalent to those men held, manifests English law differing fundamentally from
12240-537: The coalition, the Whiggish elements of the new party progressively lost influence during the long leadership of former Peelite William Ewart Gladstone. Subsequently, the majority of the old Whig aristocracy broke from the party over the issue of Irish home rule in 1886 to help form the Liberal Unionist Party , which in turn would merge with the Conservative Party by 1912. However, the Unionist support for trade protection in
12393-569: The complex and changing factional politics of the Restoration into the neat categories of 19th-century political divisions. In 1836, a private gentleman's Club was constructed in Pall Mall , Piccadilly as a consequence of the successful Reform Act 1832 . The Reform Club was founded by Edward Ellice Sr. , MP for Coventry and Whig Whip , whose riches came from the Hudson's Bay Company but whose zeal
12546-548: The convents as places to put their daughters. In the County of Bentheim in Lower Saxony , for instance, parents who had no sons might give a land dowry to their new son-in-law. It was commonly given with the condition that he take the surname of his bride, in order to continue the family name. Dowry was used in England. However, the right of daughters to inherit and of women to hold property and other rights in their own name made it
12699-564: The country against the Whigs and determined to rule without Parliament. In February, Charles had made a deal with the French King Louis XIV , who promised to support him against the Whigs. Without Parliament, the Whigs gradually crumbled, mainly due to government repression following the discovery of the Rye House Plot . The Whig peers, the Earl of Melville , the Earl of Leven , and Lord Shaftesbury , and Charles II's illegitimate son
12852-561: The country, Edmund Burke made a speech in which he claimed there were thousands of French agents in Britain ready to use weapons against the authorities. To dramatically emphasise his point he threw down a knife onto the floor of the House of Commons. Sheridan shouted, "Where's the fork?", which led to much of the house collapsing in laughter. In April 1798 he appeared at the trial in Maidstone of United Irishmen accused of treasonable conspiracy with
13005-403: The debts. Not only the bride's family, any person could donate his property as dowry for the woman. Two types of dowry were known— dos profectitia and dos adventitia . That dos is profectitia which was given by the father or father's father of the bride. All other dos is adventitia. Roman law also allowed for a species of dowry, called dos receptitia , which was given by some other person than
13158-610: The decline of the Liberal Party in the early 20th century, it was de rigueur for Liberal MPs and peers to be members of the Reform Club, being regarded as an unofficial party headquarters. However, in 1882 the National Liberal Club was established under William Ewart Gladstone 's chairmanship, designed to be more "inclusive" towards Liberal grandees and activists throughout the United Kingdom. The Liberal Party (the term
13311-439: The dowry had to be kept separate for it was expected to support the wife and her children. The wife was entitled to her dowry at her husband's death. If she died childless, her dowry reverted to her family, that is her father if he was alive, otherwise her brothers. If she had sons, they would share it equally. Her dowry was inheritable only by her own children, not by her husband's children or by other women. In archaic Greece ,
13464-463: The dowry in one lump sum. The practice of dowry in the Indian subcontinent is a controversial subject. Some scholars believe dowry was practiced in antiquity, but some do not. Historical eyewitness reports (discussed below) suggest dowry in ancient India was insignificant, and daughters had inheritance rights, which by custom were exercised at the time of her marriage. Documentary evidence suggests that at
13617-423: The dowry originally consisted of clothing for the bride, linen, and bedding. Linen became less common, a fact blamed on poor flax harvest and girls being poor spinners, but emphasis was added to the finest of the clothing, and a money dowry was sometimes added, particularly if the bride was regarded as having some fault. Prospective in-laws, usually concerned mostly with her working ability, grew more concerned about
13770-430: The dowry. According to Herodotus , auctions of maidens were held annually. The auctions began with the woman the auctioneer considered to be the most beautiful and progressed to the least. It was considered illegal to allow a daughter to be sold outside of the auction method. Attractive maidens were offered in an auction to determine the bride price to be paid by a swain, while in the case of maidens lacking attractivity
13923-524: The early 1760s, though she is best known for her novel The Memoirs of Miss Sidney Biddulph (1761). His Irish father, Thomas Sheridan , was for a while an actor-manager at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin, but following his move to England in 1758, he gave up acting and wrote several books on the subject of education, especially the standardisation of the English language in education. His elder brother
14076-464: The early twentieth century under Joseph Chamberlain (probably the least Whiggish character in the Liberal Unionist party) further alienated the more orthodox Whigs. By the early twentieth century "Whiggery" was largely irrelevant and without a natural political home. One of the last active politicians to celebrate his Whiggish roots was the Liberal Unionist statesman Henry James . The colours of
14229-503: The fact that many of the Tories still supported the deposed Roman Catholic James II . William saw that the Tories were generally friendlier to royal authority than the Whigs and he employed both groups in his government. His early ministry was largely Tory, but gradually the government came to be dominated by the so-called Junto Whigs , a group of younger Whig politicians who led a tightly organised political grouping. The increasing dominance of
14382-586: The fall of the Talents ministry in 1807, the Foxite Whigs remained out of power for the better part of 25 years. The accession of Fox's old ally, the Prince of Wales, to the regency in 1811 did not change the situation, as the Prince had broken entirely with his old Foxite Whig companions. The members of the government of Lord Liverpool from 1812 to 1827 called themselves Whigs. By 1815, the Whigs were still far from being
14535-509: The fanatical conventiclers in Scotland, who were known by the name of Whigs: The country party found a resemblance between the courtiers and the popish banditti in Ireland, to whom the appellation of Tory was affixed. And after this manner, these foolish terms of reproach came into public and general use; and even at present seem not nearer their end than when they were first invented. The precursor to
14688-434: The father or father of the bride's father, in consideration of marriage, but on the condition that it should be restored back to the dowry giver, on the death of the wife. The bride's family were expected to give a dowry when a girl married, and in proportion to their means. It was customary for the bride's family and friends to pay promised dowries in installments over three years, and some Romans won great praise by delivering
14841-412: The favour of fashionable London. It went on to become a standard of English literature . Shortly after the success of The Rivals , Sheridan and his father-in-law Thomas Linley the Elder , a successful composer, produced the opera The Duenna . This piece, warmly received, played for seventy-five performances. His most famous play, The School for Scandal , premiered at Drury Lane on 8 May 1777. It
14994-514: The field with a portion of his antagonist's weapon sticking through an ear, his breast-bone touched, his whole body covered with wounds and blood, and his face nearly beaten to jelly with the hilt of Mathews' sword'. Mathews escaped in a post chaise . Eight days after the bloody affair the Bath Chronicle was able to announce that Sheridan was out of danger. Later that year, Elizabeth and the 21-year-old Richard eloped and set up house in London on
15147-527: The followers of Lord Chatham , who as the great political hero of the Seven Years' War generally took a stance of opposition to party and faction. The Whigs were opposed by the government of Lord North which they accused of being a Tory administration. While it largely consisted of individuals previously associated with the Whigs, many old Pelhamites as well as the Bedfordite Whig faction formerly led by
15300-426: The franchise and ended the system of " rotten and pocket boroughs " (where elections were controlled by powerful families) and instead redistributed power on the basis of population. It added 217,000 voters to an electorate of 435,000 in England and Wales. Only the upper and middle classes voted, so this shifted power away from the landed aristocracy to the urban middle classes. In 1832, the party abolished enslavement in
15453-501: The government to recognise the role of public opinion in parliamentary debate and influenced views of representation and reform throughout the 19th century. Whigs restored their unity by supporting moral reforms, especially the abolition of slavery. They triumphed in 1830 as champions of Parliamentary reform. They made Lord Grey prime minister 1830–1834 and the Reform Act 1832 championed by Grey became their signature measure. It broadened
15606-587: The groom's family gave the bridewealth, it tended to be given back as dowry to the bride as part of her conjugal estate. Michael Witzel , in contrast, claims the ancient Indian literature suggests dowry practices were not significant during the Vedic period. Witzel also notes that women in ancient India had property inheritance rights either by appointment or when they had no brothers. The findings of MacDonell and Keith are similar to Witzel, and differ from Tambiah; they cite ancient Indian literature suggesting bridewealth
15759-624: The heir presumptive, if allowed to inherit the throne, would endanger the Protestant religion, liberty and property. The first Exclusion Bill was supported by a substantial majority on its second reading in May 1679. In response, King Charles prorogued Parliament and then dissolved it, but the subsequent elections in August and September saw the Whigs' strength increase. This new parliament did not meet for thirteen months, because Charles wanted to give passions
15912-465: The influential House of Lords leader the Duke of Portland , Rockingham's nephew Lord Fitzwilliam and William Windham , were increasingly uncomfortable with the flirtations of Fox and his allies with radicalism and the French Revolution. They split in early 1793 with Fox over the question of support for the war with France and by the end of the year they had openly broken with Fox. By the summer of
16065-513: The king's Episcopalian order in Scotland. The word Whig entered English political discourse during the Exclusion Bill crisis of 1679–1681: there was controversy about whether King Charles II's brother, James, Duke of York , should be allowed to succeed to the throne on Charles's death, and Whig became a term of abuse for members of the Country Party , which sought to remove James from
16218-493: The late 1750s and the early 1780s. Even the Whigs ceased to be an identifiable party, and Parliament was dominated by competing political connections, which all proclaimed Whiggish political views, or by independent backbenchers unattached to any particular group. The North administration left power in March 1782 following the American Revolution and a coalition of the Rockingham Whigs and the former Chathamites, now led by
16371-458: The law of the Continent, especially the law of the Holy Roman Empire . Thirteenth-century court records are filled with disputes over dowries, and the law became increasingly complex. The English dowry system permitted most noble families to marry off their daughters and thereby gain extended kin and patronage ties. Marriageable daughters were a valuable commodity to ambitious fathers, and
16524-408: The liberal political stance of the Whig Party and its middle-class constituents". Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), a leading London intellectual, repeatedly denigrated the "vile" Whigs and praised the Tories, even during times of Whig political supremacy. In his great Dictionary (1755), Johnson defined a Tory as "one who adheres to the ancient Constitution of the state and the apostolical hierarchy of
16677-453: The line of succession on the grounds that he was a Roman Catholic ( Samuel Johnson , a fervent Tory, often joked that "the first Whig was the Devil".). Eventually, Country Party politicians themselves would start describing their own faction as the "Whigs". In The History of England , c. 1760 , David Hume wrote: The court party reproached their antagonists with their affinity to
16830-410: The majority of Sub-Saharan African societies that practice "homogenous inheritance" in which property is transmitted only to children of the same sex as the property holder. These latter African societies are characterized by the transmission of the " bride price ", the money, goods or property given by the groom or his family to the parents of the bride (not the bride herself). Goody has demonstrated
16983-537: The next year, large portions of the opposition had defected and joined Pitt's government. Many of the Whigs who had joined with Pitt would eventually return to the fold, joining again with Fox in the Ministry of All the Talents following Pitt's death in 1806. The followers of Pitt—led until 1809 by Fox's old colleague the Duke of Portland—rejected the label of Tories and preferred to call themselves The Friends of Mr. Pitt . After
17136-519: The oldest available records, such as the Code of Hammurabi in ancient Babylon , the dowry is described as an already-existing custom. Daughters did not normally inherit any of her father's estate. Instead, with marriage, the bride got a dowry from her parents, which was intended to offer her as much lifetime security as her family could afford. In Babylonia, both bride price and dowry auctions were practiced. However, bride price almost always became part of
17289-408: The ongoing threat of a French invasion of Britain. The same year Sheridan's brother-in-law Thomas Linley , a young composer who worked with him at Drury Lane Theatre, died in a boating accident. Sheridan had a rivalry with his fellow playwright Richard Cumberland and included a parody of Cumberland in his play The Critic . On 24 February 1809 (despite the much vaunted fire safety precautions of 1794)
17442-467: The other. On 17 December 1783, Fox stated in the House of Commons that "[i]f [...] a change must take place, and a new ministry is to be formed and supported, not by the confidence of this House or the public, but the sole authority of the Crown, I, for one, shall not envy that hon. gentleman his situation. From that moment I put in my claim for a monopoly of Whig principles". Although Pitt is often referred to as
17595-485: The parents die, and the joint family partitions, this jointly held wealth was then divided among the married sons, such that ultimately, the bride's dowry given to the joint family returned to her and her husband as their "conjugal fund." Schlegel and Eloul expanded on Goody's model through further statistical analysis of the Ethnographic atlas. They argue that a major factor in determining the type of marriage transaction
17748-724: The parties, supported by her moderate Tory ministers, the Duke of Marlborough and Lord Godolphin . However, as the War of the Spanish Succession went on and became less and less popular with the Tories, Marlborough and Godolphin were forced to rely more and more on the Junto Whigs, so that by 1708 they headed an administration of the Parliament of Great Britain dominated by the Junto. Anne herself grew increasingly uncomfortable with this dependence on
17901-466: The past. Later on, several members from the Whig party came to oppose the protectionism of the Corn Laws , but trade restrictions were not repealed even after the Whigs returned to power in the 1830s. With the succession of Elector George Louis of Hanover as king in 1714, the Whigs returned to government with the support of some Hanoverian Tories . The Jacobite rising of 1715 discredited much of
18054-463: The period from roughly 1714 to 1783 the "long period of Whig oligarchy". During the American Revolution , the Whigs were the party more sympathetic to American independence and the creation of a democracy in the United States. By 1784, both the Whigs and Tories had become formal political parties, with Charles James Fox becoming the leader of a reorganized Whig Party arrayed against William Pitt
18207-425: The property within the nuclear family. Close family are the preferred marriage partners so as to keep property within the group. There is a scholarly debate on Goody's theory. Sylvia Yanagisko argues, for example, that there are a number of societies including parts of Japan, Southern Italy, and China, that do not support Goody's claim that dowry is a form of female inheritance of male property. She notes that Goody's
18360-492: The publicity the duel had received, refused to accept his defeat as final and challenged Sheridan to another duel. Sheridan was not obliged to accept this challenge but could have become a social pariah if he had not. The second duel, fought in July 1772 at Kingsdown near Bath, was a much more ferocious affair. This time both men broke their swords but carried on fighting in a 'desperate struggle for life and honour'. Both were wounded, Sheridan dangerously, and he had to be 'borne from
18513-426: The reign of George III , who hoped to restore his own power by freeing himself from the great Whig magnates. Thus George promoted his old tutor Lord Bute to power and broke with the old Whig leadership surrounding the Duke of Newcastle. After a decade of factional chaos, with distinct Bedfordite , Chathamite , Grenvillite and Rockinghamite factions successively in power and all referring to themselves as "Whigs",
18666-694: The road"; this sounded to the English like "Whig", and they came to use the word "Whig" or "Whiggamore" derisively to refer to these people. During the English Civil Wars , when Charles I reigned, the term "Whig" was picked up and used by the English to refer derisively to a radical faction of the Scottish Covenanters who called themselves the Kirk Party (see the Whiggamore Raid ). It was later applied to Scottish Presbyterian rebels who were against
18819-458: The root of paraphernalia ) and is referred to as paraphernal property or extra-dotal property . A dowry may also have served as a form of protection for the wife against the possibility of ill treatment by her husband and his family, providing an incentive for the husband not to harm his wife. This would apply in cultures where a dowry was expected to be returned to the bride's family if she died soon after marrying. In contemporary Greece, dowry
18972-473: The side of the American Colonials in the political debate of that year. He is said to have paid the burgesses of Stafford five guineas apiece to allow him to represent them. As a consequence, his first speech in Parliament was a defence against the charge of bribery. In 1787 Sheridan demanded the impeachment of Warren Hastings , the first Governor-General of India . His speech in the House of Commons
19125-427: The theatre burned down. On being encountered drinking a glass of wine in the street while watching the fire, Sheridan was famously reported to have said, "A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by his own fireside." Sheridan was the manager of the theatre for many years, and later became sole owner with no managerial role. In 1780, Sheridan entered the House of Commons as the ally of Charles James Fox on
19278-400: The throne—a position known as Jacobitism .) Later, the Whigs came to draw support from the emerging industrial reformists and the mercantile class while the Tories came to draw support from farmers, landowners, royalists and (relatedly) those who favoured imperial military spending. By the first half of the 19th century, the Whig manifesto had come to encompass the supremacy of parliament ,
19431-655: The time of marriage, and which remains under her ownership and control. Traditionalist dowry is an ancient custom that is mentioned in some of the earliest writings, and its existence may well predate records of it. Dowries continue to be expected and demanded as a condition to accept a marriage proposal in some parts of the world, mainly in parts of Asia . The custom of dowry is most common in strongly patrilineal cultures that expect women to reside with or near their husband's family ( patrilocality ). Dowries have long histories in Europe , South Asia , Africa , and other parts of
19584-523: The time, it was to last beyond the demise of the coalition in December 1783. The coalition's untimely fall was brought about by George III in league with the House of Lords and the King now brought in Chatham's son William Pitt the Younger as his prime minister. It was only now that a genuine two-party system can be seen to emerge, with Pitt and the government on the one side, and the ousted Fox-North coalition on
19737-481: The trade agreement on the same grounds. Ashley claimed that "[t]he traditional policy of the Whig party from before the Revolution [of 1688] down to the time of Fox was an extreme form of Protectionism". The Whigs' protectionism of this period is today increasingly cited with approval by heterodox economists such as Ha-Joon Chang , who wish to challenge contemporary prevailing free trade orthodoxies via precedents from
19890-426: The usual practice was to give a bride price ( hédnon ( ἕδνον )). Dowries ( pherné ( φερνή )) were exchanged by the later classical period (5th century B.C). A husband had certain property rights in his wife's dowry. In addition, the wife might bring to the marriage property of her own, which was not included in the dowry and which was, as a result, hers alone. This property was "beyond the dowry" (Greek parapherna ,
20043-523: The victor in wrestling or boxing or running or someone who excels in any other manly exercise. Arrian, Indika in Megasthenes and Arrian, 3rd century BC The two sources suggest dowry was absent, or infrequent enough to be noticed by Arrian. About 1200 years after Arrian's visit, another eyewitness scholar visited India named Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī , also known as Al-Biruni, or Alberonius in Latin. Al-Biruni
20196-444: The work is done by women. These are the societies that give brideprice . Boserup further associates shifting horticulture with the practice of polygamy , and hence bridewealth is paid as a compensation to her family for the loss of her labour. In plough agriculture farming is largely men's work; this is where dowry is given. In contrast, plough agriculture is associated with private property and marriage tends to be monogamous, to keep
20349-487: The world. A dowry is the transfer of parental property to a daughter at her marriage (i.e. "inter vivos") rather than at the owner's death ( mortis causa ). (This is a completely different definition of dowry to that given at the top of the article, which demonstrates how the term ‘dowry’ causes confusion.) A dowry (or dower ) establishes a type of conjugal fund, the nature of which may vary widely. This fund may provide an element of financial security in widowhood or against
20502-619: Was Charles Francis Sheridan . His paternal grandfather was The Rev. Thomas Sheridan from County Cavan , who was a close friend of Jonathan Swift . While his family was in Dublin, Richard attended the English Grammar School in Grafton Street . In 1758, when he was seven years old, the Sheridans moved permanently to England. He was a pupil at Harrow School from 1762 to 1768. At the end of his 1768 school year, his father employed
20655-454: Was Henry Brougham , the talented lawyer, who had a relatively modest background. Hay argues that Whig leaders welcomed the increasing political participation of the English middle classes in the two decades after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. The fresh support strengthened their position in Parliament. Whigs rejected the Tory appeals to governmental authority and social discipline and extended political discussion beyond Parliament. Whigs used
20808-482: Was a womanizer . He had recorded affairs with Frances Crewe, Lady Crewe (he dedicated his 1777 play The School for Scandal to her), and a disastrous affair with Harriet Spencer , beginning in 1789. Sheridan's affair with Harriet was disastrous for her, as the worst-case scenario actually happened: her abusive husband Viscount Duncannon walked in on Harriet and Sheridan having intercourse. Violently enraged, Duncannon immediately wanted to divorce Harriet. Divorce in
20961-439: Was a form of inheritance to daughters. In traditional China, the property owned by a family, if any, was earmarked for equal division or inheritance by sons only. Dowry was the only way assets were transferred to a daughter. It included immovable property such as land, and movable property like jewelry and fine clothing. The dowry she brought with her was typically sequestered from the property of her husband and other male members in
21114-580: Was a gifted apologiser and made promises to his wives and lovers he knew he would never keep. Sheridan sexually harassed and assaulted women. An example of this is his sexual harassment and then assault of Lady Webster, later known as Lady Holland, Elizabeth Fox, Baroness Holland . After falsely accusing her of having an affair with a man she "did not care for in the least", he threatened to ruin her by telling society of her imaginary affair. When Lady Webster did not submit to his advances, he retaliated by later assaulting her in her home. Lady Webster herself recorded
21267-417: Was a mere governess." To his contemporaries, Sheridan was as known for his dazzling wit, lively humour, and political acuity as for his duplicitousness, vindictive nastiness, and general profligacy. Sheridan was a social-climber who had no qualms about backstabbing friends to maintain his social status amongst actual aristocrats and to gain power in Whig society. Perhaps the best summary of Sheridan's character
21420-466: Was an Islamic era Persian scholar who went and lived in India for 16 years from 1017 CE. He translated many Indian texts into Arabic, as well as wrote a memoir on Indian culture and life he observed. Al-Biruni claimed, The implements of the wedding rejoicings are brought forward. No gift (dower or dowry) is settled between them. The man gives only a present to the wife, as he thinks fit, and a marriage gift in advance, which he has no right to claim back, but
21573-469: Was around this time that the great Whig historian Thomas Babington Macaulay began to promulgate what would later be coined the Whig view of history , in which all of English history was seen as leading up to the culminating moment of the passage of Lord Grey's reform bill. This view led to serious distortions in later portrayals of 17th-century and 18th-century history, as Macaulay and his followers attempted to fit
21726-412: Was by Sir Gilbert Elliot, Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto who observed to his wife: "He employs a great deal of art, with a great deal of pain, to gratify, not the proper passion in such affairs, but vanity; and he deals in the most intricate plotting and under plotting, like a Spanish play." By 1789, Sheridan's two-faced cunning made him despised by most of Whig society. Like most of
21879-511: Was chiefly devoted to securing the passage of the Reform Act 1832 . This new club, for members of both Houses of Parliament , was intended to be a forum for the radical ideas which the First Reform Bill represented: a bastion of liberal and progressive thought that became closely associated with the Liberal Party , who largely succeeded the Whigs in the second half of the 19th century. Until
22032-486: Was considered reprehensible and forbidden by Manu and other ancient Indian scribes. Lochtefeld suggests that religious duties listed by Manu and others, such as 'the bride be richly adorned to celebrate marriage' were ceremonial dress and jewelry along with gifts that were her property, not property demanded by or meant for the groom; Lochtefeld further notes that bridal adornment is not currently considered as dowry in most people's mind. The above analysis by various scholars
22185-526: Was described by Edmund Burke , Charles James Fox, and William Pitt as the greatest ever delivered in ancient or modern times. In Commons, Sheridan was known as an engaging, and often entertaining orator. His speeches at the Hastings impeachment were later published as a 59-page booklet. In 1793, during the debates on the Aliens Act designed to prevent French Revolutionary spies and saboteurs from flooding into
22338-419: Was determined to continue his persecution after death. "Because I am resolved you shall remember me." After enduring a few more minutes of his terror, Harriet fled the room. Three days later, Richard Brinsley Sheridan died alone. He also wrote a selection of poems and political speeches during his time in parliament. Whigs (British political party) Factions: The Whigs were a political party in
22491-537: Was employed to care for the child at his Wanstead home. The baby had a series of fits one evening in October 1793, when she was 18 months old, dying before a doctor could attend. She was interred beside her mother at Wells Cathedral . In 1795, Richard B. Sheridan married Esther Jane Ogle (1776–1817), daughter of the Dean of Winchester . They had at least one child: Charles Brinsley Sheridan (1796–1843). At one time Sheridan owned Downe House, Richmond Hill in London. Sheridan
22644-478: Was first used officially in 1868, but had been used colloquially for decades beforehand) arose from a coalition of Whigs, free trade Tory followers of Robert Peel and free trade Radicals , first created, tenuously under the Peelite Earl of Aberdeen in 1852 and put together more permanently under the former Canningite Tory Lord Palmerston in 1859. Although the Whigs at first formed the most important part of
22797-451: Was paid even in brahma- and daiva-types of marriage associated with the Brahmanic (priestly) upper caste. Dowry was not infrequent, when the girl suffered from some bodily defect. Property rights for women increased in ancient India, suggest MacDonell and Keith, over the Epics era (200 BC – 700 AD). Kane claims ancient literature suggests bridewealth was paid only in the asura-type of marriage that
22950-435: Was produced at London's Covent Garden Theatre . It was a failure on its first night, and John Lee 's performance as Sir Lucius O'Trigger was criticised for rendering the character "ridiculous and disgusting". Sheridan rewrote the play and presented it again a few days later, with Laurence Clinch replacing Lee in the role. In its reworked form it was a huge success, immediately establishing the young playwright's reputation and
23103-449: Was removed from family law through legal reforms in 1983. The Romans practiced dowry ( dos ). The dowry was property transferred by the bride, or on her behalf by anyone else, to the groom or groom's father, at their marriage. Dowry was a very common institution in Roman times, and it began out of a desire to get the bride's family to contribute a share of the costs involved in setting up
23256-405: Was restricted to the lower castes, who were not allowed to give dowry. He cites two studies from the early 20th century with data to suggest that this pattern of dowry in upper castes and bridewealth in lower castes persisted through the first half of the 20th century. However, it is more likely that marriages involved both reciprocal gifts between the two families, claims Tambiah, so that insofar as
23409-443: Was sometimes called wreath money , or the breach of promise . Providing dowries for poor women was regarded as a form of charity by wealthier parishioners. The custom of Christmas stockings springs from a legend of St Nicholas , in which he threw gold in the stockings of three poor sisters, thus providing for their dowries. St. Elizabeth of Portugal and St. Martin de Porres were particularly noted for providing such dowries, and
#197802