SOCIAL

• The Divorce Reform Act of 1857 allowed divorces based on adultery, but not other grounds such as cruelty or desertion.
• The Matrimonial Causes Act (1857) allowed divorce only if adultery could be proven or one partner had committed bigamy, incest, sodomy, bestiality, rape, attempted murder, desertion, cruelty, insanity, imprisonment for two years or more, or venereal disease.
• The Marriage Act of 1857 made it easier for people to marry outside of the Church of England, although it still required a religious ceremony.
• The Marriage Act of 1836 required couples to obtain a marriage license from an Anglican church, which was expensive and difficult for nonconformists to afford.
• 1861 post office accounts allowed WC people to put away savings with 2% interest
• Poor laws- set up workhouses which were hated. Dated back to Elizabethan era. Abolished in 1834 approx