Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2011
Wright's article has two themes running through it: a discussion of the meaning of De Manneville and a history of custody in England from medieval times onward set against historians' theories of family development. Comment on her article then is best divided into two parts. I begin with her wide-ranging history, for here she makes an indisputable contribution to women's history that needs only notice and emphasis.
1. In a sense, the settlement to a woman's own use was an interference with coverture made by the judiciary. But this only permitted the abridgement of coverture by others than the wife and involved no general setting aside of coverture.