A Brief Summary, in Plain Language, of the Most Important Laws Concerning Women: Barbara Leigh Smith (Bodichon)
Quotation: “This [a vinculo matrimonii] divorce is pronounced on account of adultery in the wife, and in some cases of aggravated adultery on the part of the husband. The expenses of only a common divorce bill are between six hundred and seven hundred pounds, which makes the possibility of release from the matrimonial bond a privilege of the rich.” (Bodichon, page 6)
Comment: This quotation comes from the section on page six titled, “Separation and Divorce”. While Bodichon discusses two types of divorce, one being a separation and the other “an entire dissolution of the bond of matrimony”, she discusses the latter in more detail. I was unaware that couples could not get a “full” divorce unless they involved the House of Commons and the House of Lords. However, what I found most surprising was how expensive it was for couples to get a “common divorce bill”. As Bodichon states, the price makes divorce a “privilege of the rich”. This makes me think of how many women were unable to get a divorce because of the cost. I also think that the laws dictating divorce as well as property can serve as an explanation as to why some women remained single.
Question: I wonder if women in lower classes found other ways to get around divorce bill expenses. I’m also curious as to what the divorce process looked like for couples who didn’t align with the Church of England, as they may not have held the same beliefs regarding the sanctity of marriage.
Both great questions. There’s an old article by Olive Anderson that discusses the way divorces did happen in apparent distinction to these laws: Anderson, Olive. “State, Civil Society and Separation in Victorian Marriage.” Past & Present, no. 163, 1999, pp. 161–201. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/651172. Accessed 30 Jan. 2023. It will raise more questions, I think, about why just reading the statutes won’t give a complete picture of the law at the time.