The Divorce Court and the Queen’s/King’s Proctor: Legal Patriarchy and the Sanctity of Marriage in England, 1861‑1937

Abstract

The office of H M Proctor, a curious aspect of English divorce procedure, investigated divorce cases based on collusion between the spouses and divorce cases brought by spouses whose own misconduct disqualified them from the right to divorce. On the basis of evidence provided by the proctor's intervention into divorce suits, the divorce court had the power to rescind divorce decrees improperly obtained. This essay describes the origins of this legal institution and delineates its impact on divorce during the Victorian period. The analysis considers the growing criticism of the proctor's powers during the first four decades of the twentieth century. English divorce law was originally intended to buttress both the power of the husband within the marital relationship and the power of the state over the family. The changing view of the proctor over seventy-five years reveals the tensions inherent in Victorian gender ideology and reflects changing attitudes towards the nature of marriage.