Rosemary Collins reports on data releases and genealogy news
Project compiling divorce database secures funding
A historian has received funding for a new project researching divorce in Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Dr Jennifer Aston (pictured below), an associate professor in history at Northumbria University (northumbria. ac.uk), has been awarded over £200,000 by the Economic and Social Research Council to explore the history of divorce between 1858 and 1923.
In 1857 the Matrimonial Causes Act was passed, making it possible for the first time for couples to divorce without the passing of a private Act of Parliament. However, the Act allowed men to obtain a divorce if their wife had committed adultery, whereas wives had to prove that their husbands had committed cruelty, desertion, incest or bigamy as well. In 1923 the
Matrimonial Causes Act
allowed either party to obtain a divorce solely on the grounds of adultery.
Over the next two years Dr Aston will work with The National Archives in Kew, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, and the charity Women’s Aid to create a fuller picture of the impact of the 1857 Act.
In particular, she will be exploring the issue of domestic abuse, the origins of child custody and mediation, the cost of divorce, and the development of the family-law sector.
One of the major
outcomes of the project will be a new database, designed in collaboration with the Institute of Historical Research in London, which will include not only statistical data gathered from court records, but also more personal details about the individuals whose names are featured.
This would include not only the petitioners and their children, but also the lawyers who were involved.
Dr Aston commented, “I’m interested in finding out more about the people behind the statistics and what their stories can tell us about the true impact of the Matrimonial Causes Act on Victorian families and society.”
Manuscript attributed to Shakespeare’s sister
A manuscript discovered 250 years ago in William Shakespeare’s birthplace was written by his sister Joan, an academic has said.
A tract in which the writer, a “J. Shakespeare”, pledges to die a Cat
