A New Methodological Approach to the History of Divorce, 1857-1923
What is the project about?
High-profile divorce cases regularly grab headlines and public attention and their circumstances (not to mention the public response to them) can reveal much about social norms and behaviours. Much contemporary family law legislation can be traced directly back to the 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act, yet historic data about the lived experiences of the men, women and children who appeared before this first family court is currently unknown.
A New Methodological Approach to the History of Divorce, 1857-1923, is a project that will generate vital new evidence on the early history of the modern family court system. Using an innovative multidisciplinary methodology which combines digital humanities with feminist legal theory, and economic and social history. With an ambitious programme of dissemination, the project will advance academic knowledge across disciplines, enrich the work of archivists, family historians, and genealogists, and shape the future campaigns of policymakers and stakeholders seeking to reform the family court system.
This project is funded by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) New Investigator award. It will address 4 key research strands (1) History of divorce and domestic abuse; (2) Economic cost of divorce; (3) Child custody and mediation; and (4) Development of the family law profession. An innovative relational database, designed by the Principal Investigator (Dr Jennifer Aston), will enable the systematic examination of petitions made to the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes from its establishment in 1858 to 1923.
What are the project's aims?
The innovative, multidisciplinary methodology used in this project will transform not only our understanding of petitions made to the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes (held at The National Archives) but also of 19th century society more broadly. In addition to policy and public facing outputs, the database will also form the basis of a field-defining monograph on the lived experience of divorce in 19th and early 20th century England and Wales. Crucially, the database will also act as a gateway to the Divorce Court Records, allowing scholars including human geographers, linguists, criminologists, psychologists, social scientists, historians, and legal scholars to create their own cohorts from the Divorce Court Records for the first time, thus inspiring new research in multiple sectors and ensuring an afterlife for the project.
The data will contextualise contemporary issues but, more importantly, through a collaborative workshop with policy makers and third sector groups including the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), and tailored policy reports, it will also influence new practice direction. The Principal Investigator, Dr Jennifer Aston, will also collaborate with project partner The National Archives, to engage with groups outside the academy, notably the family history and genealogy community and raise awareness of the rich information contained in the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Records.
