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Author Topic: Divorce and the Poor Law  (Read 478 times)

Offline arthur51

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Divorce and the Poor Law
« on: Wednesday 28 November 07 14:57 GMT (UK) »
Has anyone knowledge of how Poor Law Gauardians determined the proper settlement of a female inmate who had been divorced?

Offline stanmapstone

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Re: Divorce and the Poor Law
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 28 November 07 15:23 GMT (UK) »
Hi Arthur51 , welcome to RootsChat :)


What date are you referring to? In 1857 an Act of Parliament first introduced the possibility of being granted a divorce in a civil court in England and Wales, before 1857 a divorce could only be granted by a private Act of Parliament. Even after 1857 a divorce was expensive and out of the range of ordinary working people. The cost was 120GBP if uncontested but up to 800GBP if contested, and took about a year.
The cost remained prohibitive for many until the introduction of legal aid for divorce in 1950 and no-fault divorce in 1969.

Stan
Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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