From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Divorce Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:05:35 +1200 THANKS Bill and Gus, My Gt Gt grandad william Knight a baker left england in 1860 for Australia with a wife Ann Smith of Werwell ,Hants m. 1854 he was born 1815 they married St Marys ,Southampton . (. In a newspaper cutting in Hamshire Independant 5/1/1854 in wedding colum it reads William Knight esq of Northamptonshire) I have been to archives in Northampton 3 times during trips to England during the past 15 years and searched for this William of mine without luck. Hes buried in Waipori Cemetry in New Zealand where he died 1865.Ive been able to check the Ann Smith side but cant find him anywhere. My Grandfather told me once that he must have had a dark background as no one new much about him. This is why Im now trying to track down any William Knights who were in fact Bakers.William married Ann Smith when he was 39 years old so that is a late marriage and would give enough time for another relationship.I cant find him anywhere in England in 1851 census not to say I havent missed him Ann smith however Is in Stratford Sub castle in Wiltshire in 1851 Anway thank you for sendin this info it seems to point out it would have been difficult for people to get a divorce. Im not so muc tryingto dissolve the marriage between Wm Knight and rebecca by either death or divorce( run away ?) in 1853 but that is the date he wuld need to do so if he was to go to Southampton in 1854 and be married Ha Ha Brickwalls are fun arent they. Thaks and any more ideas you guys have would be appreciated. Kind egards Russel Knight From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Divorce Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:28:23 -0500 Russel, Don’t know if this will help – or even be of interest – but here is the complete piece I have on Divorce in England. I realized that it makes some mentions of Courts and other places where divorce records may be found in England - so thought I would send the whole piece on the outside chance it may be of help. Bill Churchill ******************************* Divorce Records Before 1858 Legal Records Information 43 1. A Brief History of Divorce Under early Catholic Church law there was no such thing as divorce. Death was the only agent for the permanent dissolution of a valid marriage. Marriages that were found on investigation to be invalid could be put aside (as was the case with Henry VIII). By the end of the sixteenth century, England was the only European Protestant country to have no divorce law as such. There was no legal change in the law of divorce before 1857. Fundamental changes in practice and attitudes came only in the twentieth century. In practice, however, various ways were found to separate partners in unsatisfactory marriages, through custom, the church courts, the common law courts and parliament. There were five main methods: Private Separation Desertion and Elopement Wife Sale Judicial Separation by the Ecclesiastical Courts Full Divorce by Act of Parliament 2. Private Separation The conditions of separation were drawn up in a private deed between the husband and the trustee of the wife, the latter having no legal personality in common law. They settled into a common form by c.1730, and included provision for children, and some legal safeguards for the wife, the husband giving a bond to provide a maintenance allowance. Deeds of separation may be found enrolled in the Close Rolls in C 54, although you will need the names of the parties to find them in the contemporary 'indexes' at the PRO. By the late seventeenth century (and perhaps before) cases were brought in Chancery in an attempt to enforce the deeds against defaulting parties. You will need the names of the parties and the approximate date, to trace cases before Chancery in the various C series. There may also be records of the deed, and family correspondence, amongst family or estate records. These collections are usually held locally. The passing of the divorce act in 1857 did not affect the use of these deeds as the law made no provision for the ending of marriages on the grounds of incompatibility. 3. Desertion When little or no property was involved this was the simplest solution. However neither party was free to legally marry again, although bigamous marriages took place. There are occasionally applications for relief by the deserted wife among the Quarter Sessions records held locally, as under statute law a deserted wife became chargeable to the parish. 4. Wife Sale This was a form of public separation, which took place on market day, usually with pre-arranged bidding. Since many of these marriages were based on informal contract, this was a wholly different type of 'marriage' and 'divorce'. It fulfilled the function of providing a symbolic transfer of person, property and responsibility. There could even be a deed of sale, though survival of these is extremely rare. Reports of wife sales may occasionally be found in Quarter Sessions records held locally, and in local newspapers. 5. Judicial Separation by the Church Courts Judicial separations were authorised through the church courts, usually in a suit between the husband and wife before the local consistory court. The cases so started were rarely fought to a finish, as they were often started in order to bring one of the parties to agree to terms. There were several different types of judicial separation, the most common being separation from bed and board, (a mensa et thoro) which was granted for adultery and/or life threatening cruelty. Many people chose to enroll judicial separations in the decree rolls of the Court of Chancery (C 78): this made them a matter of legal record in the common law. Ecclesiastical court orders directing payment of money could also be enrolled up to six months after being made. Records of the consistory courts are held locally. There was a right of appeal to the archbishop's court. The records of the Province of Canterbury's Court of Arches are available at the Lambeth Palace Library, and those of the Consistory court of York at the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research. Further appeal was to the High Court of Delegates (DEL) until 1834, and to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (PCAP) from 1834 to 1858. On appeal, the case would be suspended in the lower court, and transcripts of all the records transferred upwards. Thus the PRO holds various divorce records from some local church courts, in DEL 1, DEL 2, PCAP 1 and PCAP 3. The main series of Cause Papers, which include allegations and petitions, can be found in DEL 2, Cause Papers c.1600 to 1834. The papers are arranged by case and term, and consist of bundles of papers relating to each particular case. Details can include: the authorisation of the judges and a formal statement of the terms of the appeal (usually based on faults in the previous legal proceedings, rather than on the intrinsic justice of the case), a note of any appearance by the parties and their statement, the warrants or monitions for hearing and a copy of the citation. The early papers can be in Latin, with occasional depositions in English. A good deal of the material is in a standard legal form, but it is possible sometimes to obtain personal details about the parties concerned. The accounts of proceedings can sometimes run to hundreds of pages. The Case Books in DEL 7, 1796-1834, and PCAP 3, from 1834, contain bound volumes of printed proceedings and also may contain manuscript records of the judgement given. 6. Full Divorce by Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament were used for centuries to regulate difficult situations among the nobility and gentry, caused by bigamy, adultery, pre-contract of marriage, etc. However, the first true parliamentary divorce did not come until 1670, between John Manners, Lord Roos, and Lady Anne Pierpont, which created a precedent for parliamentary divorces on the grounds of the wife's adultery. Divorce acts are held by the Parliamentary Archives: there are a very few examples in the PRO, in C 89 and in C 204. For the Roos case, see C 89/15/20and C 89/15/21. 7. Criminal Conversation This was a civil suit in the court of King's Bench, for the recovery of damages against the lover of the adulterous wife. Many reports of sensational trials found their way to the newspapers, both national and local, from the late eighteenth century. Many trials were covered in some detail by The Times. In 1809 the House of Lords ordered that the transcript of a preliminary trial for criminal conversation should accompany every divorce bill brought before it. This suit was illegal in Scotland. 1. The courts >From 11 January 1858, the new London-based Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes heard all divorce and matrimonial cases (such as restitution of conjugal rights, legitimacy, protection of earnings). In 1873 it was reformed into the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the Supreme Court of Judicature. The real opening of divorce to all classes took place in the 1920s, with the extension of legal aid, and the provision of some local facilities. In 1922, ten assize towns were named as suitable for the hearing of certain kinds of divorce. From 1927, petitions could also be filed in 23 district registries instead of solely at the Principal Registry in London, while cases could be heard in 18 assize towns as well as in London. This option proved increasingly popular: within 10 years nearly a quarter of all suits were started at district registries of the Supreme Court. The county courts were finally able to hear divorce suits in the late 1960s. Most divorces now take place at county courts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (ri2288) Last Updated: 21st November 2000| © Crown Copyright 2000 _________________________________________________________________