The Defiance of Frances Dickinson

Peta's Review 

But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.

George Eliot’s closing words in Middlemarch poignantly articulate the fate of so many women in the nineteenth century, and indeed of women throughout history. Thankfully historians and literary scholars have begun to search those unvisited tombs, and through their diligent research and commitment, have been able to give voice to many of the women who made a significant difference to their communities and to the wider society. One such recovered voice is that of Frances Dickinson, a young woman trapped in an abusive marriage. Refusing to accept her lot, Dickinson boldly fought society, the law and the disfavour of her family and friends in order to free herself from further cruelty at the hands of her husband, John Geils. And it is quite the story.

Wendy Parkins tells the story of eighteen-year-old Frances Dickinson, who impulsively married Lieutenant John Geils, leaving her home and her widowed-mother to live with John’s family in Scotland. However, wedded bliss quickly turned into the cruel and coercive behaviour of her husband.  Dickinson suffered miscarriages, beatings, sodomy and the humiliation of her husband’s many dalliances with various household servants. After her pleas to John, his family and even her mother to be released from the marriage went unheard, she decided to take legal action. The trial, Geils v. Geils (1846 – 1848) was a sensation: newspapers reported daily court proceedings and town gossip ran rife. Dickinson was vilified by a public that accused her of everything from deception to immorality, on the assumption that no virtuous woman would surely make such allegations against her husband.

But she stood strong. In 1848 she was granted a judicial separation from her husband, the most beneficial outcome for women then available under English law. Not satisfied, however, and wanting full custody of her four daughters, she then applied for a full divorce in Scotland. When the divorce was finally granted in 1855, she travelled extensively. She married Gilbert Elliott, Dean of Bristol, in 1863 and under the pseudonym Frances Minto Elliott, wrote a series of popular history and travel books. She numbered among her good friends the novelists Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope. She died in Italy in 1898, aged 78.

Thankfully, due to Wendy Parkins’ excellent research, this courageous woman does not rest in an unvisited tomb. The novel The Defiance of Frances Dickinson is a testament to Parkins’ diligent and methodical work. She has used original court documents, newspaper reports and extant witness depositions to flesh out the story of Dickinson’s life and court battles. The Defiance of Frances Dickinson is a well-researched, well-written account of an extraordinary woman who braved humiliation and vilification in order to expose the truth of her brutal marriage. An excellent book club choice.

Publisher's Review 

A woman who braved public disgrace to expose a brutal marriage.

1838, England: When eighteen-year-old heiress Frances Dickinson impulsively marries Lieutenant John Geils, she soon discovers there is much about her husband she did not know. A cruel and violent man, John keeps Frances in isolation on his family's estate in Scotland, while spending her fortune and preying upon their maids.

Frances yearns to break free from her marriage but the law is not on her side. Only when John's abuse escalates can she set in motion a daring plan to secure her freedom.

A story of gaslighting, control and one woman's fight, The Defiance of Frances Dickinson reveals the truth behind one of the most sensational divorce trials of the nineteenth century.