Offences Against the Person Act 1861 is where Parliament in Britain. This act had no laws on the criminalization of violence against assaults. personal injury, short of murder. The judges did very little or nothing at all. In the 1800s Queen Elizabeth made it where you could not lock up or beat your wife that could lead to death is reason enough for divorce. The Matrimonial Causes Act 1878 helped people of violence in marriage to separate orders if her husband created aggravated assaults. This was due to woman's emancipation, seen as leveling up morals and aim to prevent sinfulness. This shows how a man could treat a woman however he wanted with no consequences. Before these were even put into place women were seen as property. Even with these legislations it is still was virtually impossible for a woman to get a divorce. Many women were probably stuck in an abusive relationship. 

Sources:

"History of Domestic Violence and Legislation in the UK." ukesseys.com. 11 2018. UKEssays. 12 2020.   https://www.ukessays.com/essays/criminology/literature-review-domestic-violence.php

"Offences Against the Persons Act 1861." Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, 29 Sept. 2020.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offences_Against_the_Person_Act_1861#:~:text=The%20Offences%20against%20the%20Person,of%20Great%20Britain%20and%20Ireland.&text=It%20is%20essentially%20a%20revised,Act)%2C%20incorporating%20subsequent%20statutes.

McKenna, Kelly. "The Changing Nature of UK Divorce Law." The Changing Nature of UK Divorce Law\ In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress, 5 Aug. 2019, https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2019/08/the-changing-nature-of-uk-divorce-law/#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20Matrimonial%20Cause%20Act,judicial%20separation%2C%20not%20a%20divorce.&text=The%20Divorce%20Reform%20Act%201969,marriage%20has%20broken%20down%20irretrievably.