Preceden

Adultery & Same Sex Marriage

Main

World War I

28 July 1914 - 11 November 1918

World War II

1939 - 1945

Commissions

Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce

1909 - 1910

Wolfenden Committee

1954 - 1957

Reviews laws against homosexual activity and prostitution

Acts of Parliament

The Addison/Campbell Divorce Act 1801

1801

Jane Campbell managed to divorce her husband Edward Addison on the grounds of adultery with her sister. She also managed to obtain custody of their children.

Matrimonial Causes Act 1857

1857

Divorce proceedings transferred from Parliament to a court of law

Matrimonial Causes Act 1923

1923

Makes adultery by either husband or wife the sole ground for divorce

Matrimonial Causes Act 1937

1937

Reforms divorce law

Legitimacy Act 1959

1959

Extends right to legitimacy

Sexual Offences Act (England and Wales) 1967

1967

Allows homosexual acts in private between men over the age over 21

Divorce Reform Act 1969

1969

Marital breakdown accepted as grounds for divorce

Matrimonial Causes Act 1973

1973

Family Law Reform Act 1987

1987

Removes all remaining distinctions between children born to married and unmarried parents

Civil Partnership Act 2004

2004

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013

2013

Key Cases

Cowen v Cowen 1946

1946

"Not complete unless male seed passes to woman" - Purpose of marriage

Baxter v Baxter 1947

1947

"Consumate - interpreted as is in common parlance" - Procreation not principal end of marriage

P. (S.E.) v. P. (D.D.), 2005 BCSC 1290 (Canada)

2005

Adultery - can include same sex infidelity

Party in Power

.

1866 - 1868

Earl of Derby

.

Jan 1868 - May 1868

Disraeli

.

May 1868 - 1874

Gladstone

.

1874 - 1880

Disraeli

.

1880 - 1885

Gladstone

.

1885 - 1886

Salisbury

.

Jan 1886 - May 1886

Gladstone

.

May 1886 - 1892

Salisbury

.

1892 - 1894

Gladstone

.

1894 - 1895

Rosebery

.

1895 - 1902

Salisbury

.

1902 - 1905

Balfour

.

1905 - 1908

Campbell-Bannerman

.

1908 - 1916

Asquith

.

1916 - 1922

Lloyd George

.

1922 - 1923

Bonar Law

.

1923 - 1924

Baldwin

.

Jan 1924 - May 1924

MacDonald

.

May 1924 - 1929

Baldwin

.

1929 - 1935

MacDonald

.

1935 - 1937

Baldwin

.

1937 - 1940

Chamberlain

.

1940 - 1945

Churchill

.

1945 - 1951

Attlee

.

1951 - 1955

Churchill

.

1955 - 1957

Eden

.

1957 - 1963

Macmillan

.

1963 - 1964

Douglas-Home

.

1964 - 1970

Wilson

.

1970 - 1974

Heath

.

1974 - 1976

Wilson

.

1976 - 1979

Callaghan

.

1979 - 1990

Thatcher

.

1990 - 1997

Major

.

1997 - 2007

Blair

.

2007 - 2010

Brown

.

2010 - 2014

Cameron