A gradual recognition of rights

As a reflection of the changing mood of the time, the legal status of married women begins to improve. Even though the 1832 Reform Act, which extends voting rights to certain property-owning and property-renting men, fails to include women, in 1839 the Infants and Child Custody Act allows divorced or separated women to request custody of children under the age of seven. But the mother loses that right if she is proved to be an adulterer.

In 1857, the Matrimonial Causes Act/Divorce Act is a major watershed. It establishes the roots of divorce law that would develop for the next 150 years. For the first time, courts can order a man to make maintenance payments to a divorced or estranged wife, and a divorced wife can inherit or bequeath property, sue or be sued, and enter contracts.

However, a man can get a divorce simply on the grounds of his wife's adultery, whereas a woman must, in addition, prove desertion, incest or extreme cruelty. These extra requirements for the woman to prove would not be removed until 1923.