Allison Taylor

What was the significance of marriage and divorce in the nineteenth century?

The Marriage Act of 1753 made it difficult to marry someone from a different class.

The Marriage Act helped to distribute the wealth between classes.

Male and female relationships were defined by courtships which were then followed by marriage.

After marriage, the men would go back to work and leave the women at home to take care of the family.

The census for this time period shows that there was a shortage of men, so some women were not able to find an acceptable husband.

The 1882 Marriage Property Act, allowed women to be able to keep their property instead of it all being left to their husbands.

All of a woman’s wealth was also passed on to her husband before the Marriage Property Act.

Most women did not wear the traditional “white” dress that most brides do today.

The women who were in the lower class made do with what clothes they had. They would often spruce up their dresses with items such as flowers.

Women often wanted to be married in June since it is named after the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno. It is said that she would bring happiness to everyone that is married within her month.

"Marry in May and rue the day, but marry in September's shine, your living will be rich and fine.” is an old English Proverb about marriage.

It was considered to be out of the question to be married on Sunday.

Since Queen Victoria's wedding in 1840, white has been considered the traditional color for wedding gowns.

The grooms were also concerned about what they wore on their wedding day. Grooms in the 1800s usually wore a frock coat of blue or another dark color. This change in the mid 1800s though, and coats became the preferable item of clothing to wear.

The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 gave men the right to divorce their wives if they were caught in the act of adultery.

Women were not allowed to divorce their husbands if they were being unfaithful.

After a couple was divorced, the children went to the husband and the mother could be denied access to the children if the father chose to do so.

Divorce rates significantly increased during the mid nineteenth century.

Divorce rates began to level off towards the end of the century.