On November 27, 1879, Kristján Guðmundsson, a farmer from Drangum in Snæfellsnes, was summoned before the County Sheriff of Snæfellsnes and Hnappadal. Also, Kristján’s wife, Ragnheiður Halldórsdóttir, and a woman named Ragnhildur Kristín Bjarnadóttir, who had been a maid at the farm for some time, were summoned before the magistrate.
At that time, it was forbidden for people to have children out of wedlock or to have any kind of sexual union.
Kristján and Ragnhildur were certainly not a married couple, but had, in recent years, had three children, and when they, together with Ragnheiði, were called before the magistrate, there was strong suspicion that Ragnhildur lived in Drangi. Ragnhildur and Kristján had already been reprimanded for this, and so all three were called before the magistrate.
Ragnheiður explained to the magistrate that Ragnhildur certainly still lives in Drangi. Ragnhilda and Kristján’s children lived on the farm and Ragnheiður told the sheriff that she could not raise the children without Ragnhilda’s help.
Ragnheiður strongly requested that Ragnhildur be allowed to stay in the house to avoid chaos.
Kristján confirmed his wife’s words and told the sheriff, according to the Snæfellsnes and Hnappadal County Court book:
“He had to take her home to look after their children and she’s been there day and night ever since.”
Kristján also specifically noted that:
“It would be through his wife’s wish and persuasion that (Ragnhildur) stayed here on the farm.”
Following these statements, the magistrate decided to formally indict Kristján and Ragnhildi.
The jugement
The sheriff passed sentence on January 20, 1880. He considered it fully proven that Kristján and Ragnhildur had continued:
“Their scandalous cohabitation, while they received the legal warning to divorce under penalty of perjury.”
The sheriff paid no attention to the words that Kristján had ordered his wife Ragnhilda to stay at the farm:
“Because he is both obliged and able as a teacher to dismiss the mother of his child when the authority requires it for legal reasons.”
The sheriff didn’t think it would be a sentence reduction for Kristján and Ragnhilda that everything would be turned upside down on the farm if she was fired. He was, however, willing to show Ragnhilda some degree of mercy, as she was an “uncommitting and uncommunicative woman” and to a large extent dependent on her master’s will.
It was thought that she had probably disobeyed orders to stay out of town or she wouldn’t have had any more homes to sell.
In light of all this, the magistrate considered it fair to sentence Kristján to fourteen days in prison and Ragnhildi to eight days in prison.
However, the magistrate decided not to include the part of the sentence that ordered them to stay away from each other in the future, even though they were likely to continue:
“Fornication between them, after which it is still not considered proper to impose a ban with this judgment.”
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