Re: Sweetness at the Bottom of the Hangman's Mustard

jette.goldie@gmail.com said:
> the house was gifted (technical term) to the bride in the matrimonial
> settlement? (more common than you'd guess - at least in Scottish historical
> deeds)

Could be, but I don't remember that being mentioned.

> BTW, yes a man could take his wife's name even in the 1950s, just as he
> could in the 1750s or the 1350s. There is no law that says a woman
> *has* to take her husband's name, it's just convention

Heck, I dunno if there was ever a law anywhere about who takes whose's name.
Social convention can be stronger than law, and some things Just Aren't Done.
And again, I dunno what the social conventions were in that corner of England
at that time. My ignorance in these matters is shining bright for all to see.

Wayne