Romantic Pursuits? Rethinking Courtship in Georgian Wales

Abstract

Existing histories of courtship in the long eighteenth century typically focus on it as a step on the road to marriage, exploring the rituals and emotions involved, or the consequences of frustrated courtship, such as breach of promise cases of illegitimacy. Few consider the immediate risks for unmarried women associated with courtship customs that allow or encourage premarital sex. Historians of sexual violence have identified these risks, but they rarely feature in histories of courtship. Using records from the Court of Great Sessions, this article explores the limited but tangible evidence of conjugal courtship customs in Georgian Wales, often referred to as ‘bundling’ or ‘courtship at night’. It then interrogates records of murder and sexual assault associated with courtship to examine the blurred lines between rape and seduction, which in Wales were further complicated by courtship practices that created additional vulnerabilities for women.