Today7th March1826
19th Century · 7th March

Shrigley abduction: 15-year old Ellen Turner is abducted by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a future figure in the establishment of colonies in South Australia and New Zealand.

1826
Year of Event
200
Years Ago

The Shrigley abduction was an 1826 British case of a forced marriage by Edward Gibbon Wakefield to the 15-year-old heiress Ellen Turner of Pott Shrigley. The couple were married in Gretna Green, Scotland, and had travelled to Calais, France, by the time authorities were notified by Turner's father and intervened. The marriage was annulled by Parliament, and Turner was legally married two years later, at the age of 17, to a wealthy neighbour of her class. Edward Gibbon Wakefield and his brother William, who had aided him, were each convicted at trial and sentenced to three years in prison.

Source:Wikipedia — Shrigley abduction
Shrigley abduction: 15-year old Ellen Turner is abducted by Edward Gib — The Old Broadside