Divorce
Until 1858 divorce could only be obtained by an expensive act of Parliament. Ecclesiastical courts could grant legal separations, but these did not permit either partner to remarry. From 1858 a new court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes was established, which became part of the High Court in 1875 in the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division. Indexes to divorce decrees absolute are held by the Principal Registry of the Family Division, who will undertake a search for a fee and provide copies of the decrees absolute if the divorce was granted in the High Court, or arrange for a copy to be sent to you from a county court. If you want to know the grounds for divorce you need to request details from the decree nisi as well.
Surviving divorce case files and papers are held in The National Archives in the series J 77
, with indexes in J 78. Most case files survive from 1858 to 1927, but only about 80% survive from 1928 to 1937. After 1937, only a tiny sample of some 250 files survive as examples of different types of divorce case. No case files survive after 1954.
