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9 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Who was Caroline Norton? (3)
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-She was the wife of MP George Norton
-They did not have a happy marriage… She found her husband boring and she did not attempt to hide her feelings, George beat her regularly -She was an upper-class woman who had influence with Tory politicians |
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What was the case of Caroline Norton? (8)
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-After George lost his seat in Parliament in 1830, he asked Caroline to try getting a job using her political contacts
-While doing this Caroline became close friends with Lord Melbourne, the Home Secretary -George suspected them of having an affair in 1836… And sued Melbourne for this an attempt for money...and lost LOL -He then refused Caroline entry to their home and sent their three sons to Scotland, so that all ties with her would be broken -After Melbourne died in 1848, a small amount of money was left for Caroline, who refused to give George the money -Then George refused to pay the money that would contribute to the upkeep of their sons -George refused to give Caroline a divorce, which would enable her to marry so William Stirling Maxwell, a man whom she had another relationship with for over 25 years -The situation was resolved in 1877 when George died, and Caroline married Sir Williams... And died three months later :O |
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What were the two Acts brought in as a result of Caroline Norton's work and campaigning?
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-Custody of Children Act of 1839
-Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 |
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How did Caroline campaign for a change in the mothers rights over her children? (6)
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-After George had lost his court case against Melbourne in 1836 and Caroline realised she had lost her children, she wrote a pamphlet called "the natural claim of a mother to the custody of her children as affected by the common law rights of the father"
-It was an articulate piece, which caught the attention of some MPs -In 1838, she began a campaign to get the the law changed -She persuaded Sir Thomas Telford MP, to support the cause, and he introduced a bill into parliament that would allow mothers, against whom adultery had not been proved, to have custody of their children if they were under seven years old, with rights of access to older children -Why are the House of Commons passed the bill, it was rejected by the house of lords -Undaunted, she wrote another pamphlet… And in 1839 Telford tried again and succeeded... Both houses passed the bill and it became law |
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What did the Custody of Children Act of 1839 say?
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A wife was entitled to the custody of children under seven, if the Lord Chancellor agreed that she was of good character
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What were the limitations of the Custody of Children Act of 1839? (2)
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-Women could not get custody of children over seven
-The law still assumed that custody of the children was the husbands right unless a wife protested |
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How did Caroline campaign for a change in law regarding marriage?
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-After she refused to give her inheritance money to her husband, and he countered by refusing to support their children, she began campaigning again
-She wrote three pamphlets in 1854 and 1855 concerning divorce and marriage -In 1857, partly as a result of her efforts, parliament passed the divorce and matrimonial causes act |
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What did the divorce and matrimonial causes act of 1857 say? (6)
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-Divorce could be granted by the law courts instead of, as before, by private at of Parliament, which was slow and expensive (divorce more accessible to poorer families now)
-A husband could can obtain a divorce if he could prove his wife had committed adultery -A wife could only obtain a divorce if she could prove her husband had committed adultery, and either bigamy, Rape, sodomy, beastiality, cruelty or long-term desertion -A Wife deserted by her husband could keep her own income -A wife was able to inherit and bequeath property the same as a single woman -A wife separated from her husband could sue, and be sued, in a civil court |
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What were some limitations of the divorce and matrimonial causes act of 1857?
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-The law gave no new rights to wives who continued to live with their husbands
-There was still a double standards in divorce… Husbands could divorce for adultery alone, whereas wives had to prove that their husbands had committed adultery plus another immoral act |
