I had another writer send me a message to ask what would happen to a peer if he and a young lady ran off to Scotland together. “I wish to know if there is a legal means to punish him for abducting her. Would the law of the land punish him?”

First, it was important to clarify whether the girl had gone willingly with the man or whether it was a true incident of abduction.

In reality, there were fewer options for this type of crime. Again, some issues are whether the “abductor” was an actual peer or was he, say, the son of a peer?

This information might change a bit depending on the options above: peer vs. son of a peer. Remember, a son of a peer was not extended the privileges of his father.

If the abductor was a peer, one could engage a good barrister who would move for a warrant for the peer’s arrest for abduction. The man would be arrested and kept in a jail until transported to the Tower of London to await trial. If Parliament was not in session, it could take, at least, a fortnight to build the room for the trial.

The lawyers could argue as to whether or not this was to be a trial in the House of Lords (meaning for a peer) or one in the regular court at assize (for the son of a peer, but “could” extend to the peer himself).

The truth is the barristers and the court system could, figuratively, tie him up legally for a long time. A peer might be under house arrest rather than detention in the Tower, but a good solicitor and/or barrister could keep him tied up in legal wrangles for a time, not counting the expense of lawyers. Worse yet, this would all be reported in the newspapers, which is where the “real trial” was taking place – a “trial” of a “jury” of the man’s actual “peers.”

If the issue was, by chance, a matter of debts rather than abduction or some such crime, the family or friends could buy up the man’s debts. A peer could not be thrown into debtors’ prison, but could have property confiscated and sold out from under him, so it would be advisable to secure as much of the property as possible.

The privilege of peerage regarding punishment was partially a protection for rank.

In many ways being shunned by the society of his peers and blacklisted by many . . . cast out of Society was a greater punishment.

In that day and age, being sent to Coventry was more serious for many than jail. “To send someone to Coventry is an idiom used in England meaning to deliberately ostracise someone. Typically, this is done by not talking to them, avoiding their company, and acting as if they no longer exist. In essence, and by modern parlance, to ‘blank’ someone. Coventry is a cathedral city historically in Warwickshire. The origins of this phrase are unknown, although it is quite probable that events in Coventry in the English Civil War in the 1640s play a part. One hypothesis as to its origin is based upon The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. In this work, Clarendon recalls how Royalist troops that were captured in Birmingham were taken as prisoners to Coventry, which was a Parliamentarian stronghold. These troops were often not received warmly by the locals.” [Send to Coventry]

The man would probably escape to the Continent before any charges could be laid, anyway.

Not all crimes allowed a use of privilege, which was close to the Benefit of clergy that everyone else could use without the farce of the neck verse. The woman’s father or guardian would generally have to bring the suit. Unless she was of age, the charge would be abduction.

The problem would not be that the man might escape punishment by privilege of peerage so much as that a trial would ruin the woman. All would assume he had raped her during the time they were together. Also, many would feel her male relatives should challenge the man to a duel, rather than to demand a trial. The trouble with duels is that the bullets do not know right from wrong, and the young lady’s family would be the ones in trouble if arrested for dueling.

For the most part, the punishment of the peer is unlikely to be more than social shunning and a monetary fine, assuming the woman was returned unharmed. There would no need to hang the man, in the view of the peerage, and, naturally, they would not wish to set a precedence regarding transporting a peer.

The trouble is that there were few degrees of punishment: They ranged from the stocks or pillory to a short stay in jail to hanging or to transportation. What should have been the punishment if two foolish people ran off together? Most assuredly, if the woman was truly kidnapped and did not leave her home of her own free will, the situation escalates.

It would degrade the whole peerage to have the man undergo anything except hanging, and that punishment was designed for murder and treason. Legally, the House of Lords cannot rescind his peerage. He is still “Lord So-and-so” until he takes his last breath, whether that is in 5 years or 50.

So while the law did not excuse the peers from punishment for their crimes, other circumstances did. It would be assumed a large fine would take care of the matter, and the lord’s fellow peers would keep their daughters away from him and likely suggest he take a long sea voyage until the matter could be forgotten. The peer would find his social circle diminished, as none wanted to have known an abductor one’s their daughters.

If, by rare chance, the girl’s family or the authorities brought charges against the peer’s ally, the girl would still be the one to suffer, for all would know the peer and the woman had been together on the road to Scotland for several nights. Her reputation would be in shreds. Over the years, some parents and guardians forced girls to marry the abductor to reduce the scandal. The distance to Scotland meant the couple had to spend a couple of nights on the road . . . approximately 5 nights from London to the Scottish border and Gretna Green. Perhaps more, depending on the weather.

It is not any privilege of peerage that would stop a trial moving forward, it is the scandal it would cause for the young woman. She would be ruined. This is one of these “fun” cases where, I might suggest, her betrothed (if she had one before the abduction) and her relatives would get to extract their own “special” punishment. Such would be a scene I might enjoy writing.

Some Interesting Sources to Pursue for Actual Cases:

Clandestine Marriages: Five tales of abduction from the 17th and 18th centuries

Elopement in Georgian England: Catherine Grierson and Thomas Thomasson (1781)

Henry Fielding’s attempted abduction of Sarah Andrew

Kidnap and Attempted Murder in the 18th Century: Viscount Valentia’s ancestry