to make his wife a victim of his own sordidness.” Words from George Bishop, Every Woman Her Own Lawyer: A Private Guide in All Matters of Law, of Essential Interest to Women, and by the Aid of Which Every Female May, in Whatever Situation, Understand Her Legal Course and Redress, and Be Her Own Legal Adviser (1858). More (emphasis in original):
What a Wife may do with a Miserly or Penurious Husband.—When a husband, by reason of penuriousness, meanly refuses to supply his wife with necessaries suitable to her rank and condition, the wife may obtain them of any tradesman or tradesmen, and the husband must pay the bills of the same.
On the other hand (emphasis also in original), A Wife can not maliciously run her husband into debt.