A long list of his accomplishments, an income he expects her to have, and a closing verse.
Transcribed from original newspaper scans. Published by AseeksB.
A gentleman, aged 28, fair, curly hair, height 5 feet 7 inches, Christian, Conservative, very fond of music, science, literature, lawn-tennis, riding, and travelling, baritone voice, fair elocutionist, studied for M.D., adoption of profession unnecessary (through unexpected death of relatives), anxiously desires to have a young lady, with an income of not less than $2,500 a year, for a true and devoted life-companion. Would make a faithful, loving, and cheerful husband for one with a similarity of tastes. Should desire the lady to be sensible, of thoroughly healthy constitution, refined tastes, and of a blithe, loving, charitable, sympathetic disposition. In return, his whole life should be devoted to preserve the lady’s happiness. There is another soul I long to meet, without which life my life is incomplete. Oh! sweeter self! like me art thou astray, striving with all thine heart to find the way to mine; striving, like me, to find the breast on which alone can weary heart find rest! Address, Box 1129, Matrimonial Journal Office, Toronto.
| Newspaper | The Anglo-American Matrimonial Journal, Toronto |
|---|---|
| Date | December 1886 (Vol. 1, No. 1), page 2 |
| Section | Upper class (masculine), at three cents a word |
| Written by | A man, 28, unsigned |
| Addressed to | Young women with an income of at least $2,500 a year |
| Where | Replies to Box 1129, Matrimonial Journal Office, Toronto |
The Anglo-American Matrimonial Journal was a paper of marriage ads, run from an office in Toronto. Canadiana, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network’s digital collection, holds one issue: Vol. 1, No. 1, December 1886. Its ads are sorted by class and sex, and the price rose with the class: a cent a word for the lower class, two for the middle, and three for the upper. Replies went to numbered boxes at the Journal’s office, and a few box numbers are printed twice.
He lists his politics with his religion: in 1886 the Conservatives, under Sir John A. Macdonald, governed Canada. His is one of the longest ads in the issue, at three cents a word, and its closing lines, about a “sweeter self” astray and a weary heart finding rest, rhyme like verse but are printed as prose.
Public domain: published in 1886.
Transcribed from the page image on Canadiana and checked against the original; spelling and punctuation are as printed, and words broken across lines are rejoined. One letter missing from the print, in the second “devoted,” is restored.
Found an old personal ad we should add? Suggest one.
Browse the full archive · The Personals Dictionary · Personal ads in literature
The form is still open. Say who you are, what you want, and who it is for, and choose exactly who can see it. Free on iOS and Android.