The family life of bachelors: the single Spanish naval officers (1730-1900)

ABSTRACT

Family has traditionally been understood in terms of marriage, which represents the continuity and reproduction of kin. However, this premise has tended to underrepresent the value of an essential element of families and society: single men and women, far from being secondary actors, played essential roles for the welfare, protection, support and union of other relatives. Indeed, the family experience of these individuals provides a different point of view from which to observe families. The present paper aims to examine the family life of bachelors during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, using Spanish naval officers as a case study. This is a group whose social characteristics are of particular interest: they were men ‒ most studies focus on single women ‒ and they were not clergymen, the largest group of bachelors during this period. Their professional, behavioural and family roles, their individual and collective strategies, and their links with relatives are examined in this paper. Special attention is paid to their private relationships ‒ the main sources used are testaments ‒ and both quantitative and qualitative arguments are presented. Although the proportion of single officers dropped ‒ one third at the beginning of the eighteenth century and only 7% at the end of the nineteenth century ‒, they played a very important role within families throughout these centuries. They were very close to their parents and siblings, although they also had important ties with other relatives ‒ uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins. The relationships with brothers and sisters were especially noteworthy. One of the main conclusions is that single officers became interdependent agents within their families, that is, they were both protectors and protégés, which explains their importance within the family structure.

KEYWORDS:

• Bachelor
• singleness
• kin relationships
• family life
• 18th century
• 19th century

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Archival Sources

Archivo Histórico Provincial de Cádiz, notarial protocols of Cádiz and San Fernando.

Archivo Histórico Provincial de Murcia, notarial protocols of Cartagena.

Archivo Naval de Cartagena, notarial protocols of the Maritime Department of Cartagena.

Archivo Histórico de Protocolos de Madrid, notarial protocols of Madrid.

Archivo General de la Marina ‘Álvaro de Bazán’, notarial protocols of the navy in the Court.

Archivo Naval de Ferrol, notarial protocols of the Maritime Department of Ferrol.

Archivo del Colegio de Notarios de Galicia, notarial protocols of Ferrol.

Notes

1. AHPC, Cádiz, 2178, 145.

2. AHPC, Cádiz, 3615, 254–255; 883, 154; 4255, 19–20.

3. His brother Ignacio declared in 1769 to have given his brother Pedro 150 doblones, in addition to his proportion of his inheritance, ‘in return for which he has cared for me and his affection’. AHPC, San Fernando, 32, 260.

4. AHPC, Cádiz, 4494, 1489–1491; AHPM, Cartagena, 5761.

5. AHPC, Cádiz, 3662, 640–643.

6. AHPC, Cádiz, 1193, 215–218.

7. AHPC, Cádiz, 3146, 483–486; 3147, 416–418.

8. AHPC, Cádiz, 1656, 1824–1827; 1663, 737–740; 1669, 91–96.

9. Mayorazgo is the name of the property linked in the Castilian laws (entailed estate). They could not be divided or sold and were generally transmitted to the firstborn son.

10. AHPC, San Fernando, 249, 135–136.

11. AHPC, Cádiz, 250, 985–988; 260, 1678–1682.

12. AHPC, Cádiz, 290, 24–25.

13. ANF, Escribanía Ferrol, 31.

14. It is interesting to note that in Catalonia, where a different civil law applied, this sort of family behaviour was especially common among aristocrats and rich rural landowners. The central family line totally determined the family strategy of siblings in the eighteenth century and even the nineteenth century (Ferrer I Alòs, 1993).

15. ACNG, Ferrol, 1022.

16. ANF, Escribanía de Ferrol, 6.

17. AHPM, Madrid, 18672, 71–75; 18876, 104–110.

18. ANF, Escribanía de Ferrol, 15, 16, 17, 21.

19. APHC, Cádiz, 2221, 509–514.

20. AHPC, San Fernando, 3173, 392–399.

21. AHPC, San Fernando, 149, 575–576.

22. AHPC, San Fernando, 229, 214–219.

23. AHPMU, Cartagena, 5727.

24. ANCT, Testamentaría, 2426, 7.

25. AHPC, San Fernando, 142, 412–413.

26. AHPM, Madrid, 22351, 337–351, 353–356.

27. AHPC, San Fernando, 136, 32–39; 142, 341–344.

28. AHPM, Madrid, 22609, 202–204.

29. AHPC, San Fernando, 200, 382–385.

30. APHC, Cádiz, 3158, 868–873.

31. AHPC, San Fernando, 56, 127; 294, 76–79, 96–97.