Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857
On 28 August 1857, passage of the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857. The Act legalized divorce and protected a divorced woman’s property and future earnings. The grounds for divorce for men was adultery (in legal terms, criminal conversation), for women adultery combined with bigamy, incest, bestiality, sodomy, desertion, cruelty, or rape. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Articles
Kelly Hager, “Chipping Away at Coverture: The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857″
Related Articles
Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act”
Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”