The Case of the Contested Divorce
Before 1857 a marriage could be dissolved only by an Act of Parliament, the cost of which was prohibitive to all but the extremely wealthy. The 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act provided a much cheaper method by giving the High Court of Justice jurisdiction to grants divorce decrees. This meant that people in humble circumstances could petition for divorce. One such person was William Hopkins, a labourer from Whitehouse Common, who instructed Sutton Coldfield Solicitors Messrs Eddowes & Son to obtain a dissolution of his marriage in 1900. This article, based on a file of papers found in the Solicitors’ office in 1977, recounts the progress of the divorce case from petition to hearing, and throws some light on legal practice in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era.
- Author: Kerry Osbourne (SCLHRG)
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