Married Women’s Property Act

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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Since Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69) women had been considered to be “covered” by their father or husband: women had no moral, political or economic rights of their own, but were subsumed into the identity of the male responsible for them. Following the limited success of the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act (1857) and the Marriage Act (1870), women struggled through the Married Women’ Property Committee to achieve full legal recognition. The Married Women’s Property Act of 1882 was a milestone along this road, recognising the right of women to hold property of their own and to act in all ways as an independent legal agent in financial matters. See our entry on the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857.

Since Blackstone’s

Commentaries on

122 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Married Women’s Property Act". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 February 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5775, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5775 Married Women’s Property Act 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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