Arranged Marriages

Ever Wonder What “Dollar Princesses” Were and Why They Were Called That?

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Me and my enquiring mind was at work again this week. I ran across an article the other day that caught my eye that you might find interesting as well. It happened around the turn of the century and centers around British royalty and American wealth.

The cash-strapped English noblemen found it very difficult to keep living in the luxury they’d been accustomed to. They struggled to maintain huge estates in the face of dwindling wealth that had always sustained them. They owned a lot of land and castles but had little capital. What were they to do? They looked across the pond to bright and shiny America and its new money.

It didn’t hurt that these rich Americans had beautiful unmarried daughters. Not at all.

Pixaby – Annie1loves1you

It didn’t take long for deals to be struck – titles in exchange for money. A publication called Titled Americans listed eligible British bachelors who would be interested in marrying their own dollar princesses. Between 1870 and 1914 a whopping 454 American heiresses had married into the aristocracy.

Among the list was Consuelo Vanderbilt whose father was railroad tycoon William Vanderbilt. He provided a dowry of 1.6 million dollars as well as an income of two million in stocks. (Roughly $96,000,000 today) That was a lot of money. Against her wishes, Consuelo married Charles Spencer-Churchill. It was not a happy union. He was in love with another and promptly told her so. Despite that, she had an unhappy marriage, she gained a place in British society as Duchess of Marlborough and became a voice for women’s rights. After living apart for several years, they divorced and she married the love of her life, a French aviator named Jacques Balsan.

Jennie Jerome was another whose father sought a good marriage for. She married Lord Randolph Churchill and became Lady Churchill. They had a rocky marriage to start with but made a go of it and stayed together until he died. One of their sons was Winston Churchill. I never knew he had an American mother! Jennie threw herself into the marriage and played in influential role in her husband’s political career in addition to diving into women’s social issues.

circa 1880: American heiress Jennie Jerome, daughter of Leonard Jerome and later Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

I’ll mention one other. Nancy Langhorne who married Viscount Waldorf Astor. Nancy became a distinctive presence among British society and after her husband was elevated to the House of Lords, she ran for his seat in the House of Commons and became the first woman to occupy that seat for quite a few years.

This practice was actually reverse marriages of convenience but for the men.

Some marriages worked and some didn’t. Also, some resented the arrangement and never tried to make it work. The Americans and the Brits have always kind of been linked together. History is crammed packed with nuggets like this. I never get bored of diving in and seeing what I can find.

How about you? Do you find history as dull and boring as a piece of limp cheese? Or do the stories come alive in your mind and you want to know more?

Next month, I’ll have the release of my new western romance – Cade’s Quest. I can’t wait. Oh and my sister, Jan Sikes, who is also a writer will share my post on August 19th. We’ll have giveaways! It’ll be fun!

Cade McIntyre sets out to find his lost siblings and bring them home—only to discover danger at every turn…and an unexpected chance at love. But will he find heartache or hope?

This is available for preorder now. CLICK HERE

So, get ready for a party next month. Much love.

Linda Broday

Arranged Marriages and a Give Away!

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In my latest book, my heroine, despite watching some of her friends find love matches, is resigned to the fact that she should marry well and within her class. She’s been raised to do it, and it’s hard for her to go against this. And no wonder. Families back in the day had a lot of say when it came to marriage of one of their own. If you were part of high society, such as my heroine, you came with a generous dowery that was incentive for a prospective groom to propose. When it came to money and marriage, the finances were discussed by both parties and many had to have a prenuptial agreement.

My heroine’s other dilemma was the fact her friends found love matches with those below their social class. This was a hard pill for her to swallow as marriage was encouraged only within one’s class. If you wanted to move up the social ladder, you were called an upstart. Too far up and you were a gold digger. On the other hand, to marry someone in a lower social class was considered marrying beneath oneself. In some cases, you could wind up a laughingstock. Love had to be stronger than one’s bank account to warrant such a move.

In the east arranged marriages were more common, and quite often the couple only met a few times, or not at all, prior to the wedding. Meanwhile out west, where arranged marriages were becoming a thing of the past, the mail-order bride took over. Once again two people were getting married without knowing each other. They got hitched then hoped for the best!

Through history and into modern times, the practice of arranged marriages has been encouraged by a combination of factors. In some countries there’s the practice of child marriage, two people betrothed at birth. When they come of age, they marry. There are also late marriages, tradition, culture, religion, poverty and limited choice. There were also things like disabilities, wealth and inheritance issues and political, social and ethnic conflicts

Arranged marriages began as a way of uniting and maintaining upper class families. Eventually, the system spread to the lower classes where it was used for the same purpose. Remember that rule about marrying in one’s own class?

Back in Victorian society, women had one main role in life. Get married and take part in their husbands’ dealings, interests, and business. Before marriage, they would learn domestic skills such as cooking, washing, and cleaning, unless they were from a wealthy family. Is it any wonder my heroine is fighting between finding true love and marrying the man her parents found for her? He’s wealthy, his family powerful. He’s even not bad to look at. Unfortunately, he also has terrible allergies and the personality of a door stop. What’s a debutante to do?


I’m giving away one free e-copy of my yet to be released, A Match for the Debutante, to one person from the comments below. Most of us don’t know anyone who had an arranged marriage or was a mail-order bride, but it’s fun to ask ourselves the question, could we marry someone we barely knew? To ask ourselves this question living in the 21st century, most of us would say nope! But if you lived in the Victorian era, could you do it?