Sunday, January 31, 2016

Who Reported This Stuff?

Some of you may find this a bit inappropriate, but the facts are the facts! We find interesting court records while researching our ancestors. After discovering three cases with a common thread, I began to wonder, who reported these incidents and why couldn't the "guilty parties" have been more discreet during the mid-1600s?
(1) Bridget Very and Edward Giles charged and fined for fornication before  marriage. [Both  and had been married before and soon married].
(2) Thomas Very [son of Bridget above] and his wife brought before the court and charged with fornication before marriage. [They were engaged at thee time.]
(3) Peter Twiss and Presila Vinton were brought before the court 3x for the same charge. [OK, in this case Peter was married, and not to Presila.]

Did Puritanical colonial America have fornication police? Or were the culprits just bad about keeping it a secret? Just wondering!

No comments:

Post a Comment