'He shall prick that annual blister: marriage with deceased wife's sister' sings the Queen of the Fairies in Iolanthe.This was indeed a blister. The Marriage Act of 1835 specifically prohibited such marriages but there seems to have been constant pressure to revise this. A Bill was introduced in 1842, but defeated.
Quite coincidentally, I came across the attached recently in a newspaper of 1859 which shows that another attempt was made then. The thought of the lay peers interpreting the Bible and basing the law of the land on the Old Testament is, to me, pretty scary.
It was not until 1907 that an Act was passed allowing a man to marry the sister of their deceased wife. I wonder how many rushed out to do so.
