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Note that this entry is a product of its time, and should be read in that context. Footnotes have been omitted to make the text easier to follow. Also note that scanning and editing may have introduced a few errors into the transcription. Because of these errors, if you need to use this information in an academic paper, please consult the original, available at many libraries.

This continues the entry under "Women" in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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The movement for removing specially the older disabilities has progressed at such different rates in various countries that it is impossible to do more than note here the chief distinctions remaining under English law in 1910.

Civil Rights ? The age at which a girl can contract a valid marriage, in English law, is, following the Rothan law, twelve; she is thus two years in advance of a boy, who must be fourteen. Under the Infants Settlement Act 1855, a valid settlement could be made by a woman at seventeen with the approval of the court, the age for a man being twenty; by the Married Women's Property Act 1907 any settlement by a husband of his wife's property is not valid unless executed by her if she is of full age, or confirmed by her after she attains full age. An unmarried woman is liable for the support of illegitimate children till they attain the age of sixteen. She is generally assisted, in the absence of agreement, by an affiliation order granted by magistrates. A married woman having separate property is, under the Married Women's Property Acts 1882 and 1908, liable for the support of her parents, husband, children and grandchildren becoming chargeable to any union or parish. At common law the father was entitled as against the mother to the custody of a legitimate child up to the age of sixteen, and could only forfeit such right by misconduct. But the Court of Chancery, wherever there was trust property and the infant could be made a ward of court, took a less rigid view of the paternal rights and looked more to the interest of the child, and consequently in some cases to the extension of the mother's rights at common law. Legislation has tended in the same direction. By the Infants' Custody Act 1873, the Court of Chancery was empowered to enforce a provision in a separation deed, giving up the custody or control of a child to the mother. The Judicature Act 1873, § 25 (10), enacted that in questions relating to the custody and education of infants the rules of equity should prevail. The Guardianship of Infants Act 1886 largely extended the mother's powers of appointing and acting as a guardian, and gave the court a discretion to regard the mother's wishes as to the custody of the children. The Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women) Act 1895 enabled a court of summary jurisdiction, to whom a married woman has made application, to commit to the applicant the custody of any children of the marriage between the applicant and her husband, while under the age of sixteen years.

The most remarkable disabilities under which women were still placed in 1910 were (I) the exclusion of female heirs from intestate succession to real estate, unless in the absence of a male heir; and (2) the fact that a husband could obtain a divorce for the adultery of his wife, while a wife could only obtain it for her husband's adultery if coupled with some other cause, such as cruelty or desertion.

Suits in which either necessarily or practically only women are plaintiffs are: breach of promise, affiliation (g.e.) and (though not nominally) seduction (g.e.).

The action for breach of promise may indeed be brought by a man, but this is very rare, and its only real interest is as a protection for women. It may be brought by but not against an infant, and not against an adult if he or she has merely ratified a promise made during infancy; it may be brought against but not by a married man or woman (in spite of the inherent incapacity of such a person to have married the plaintiff), and neither by nor against the personal representatives of a deceased party to the promise (unless where special damage has accrued to the personal estate of the deceased). The promise need not be in writing. The parties to an action are by 32 and 33 Vict. c. 68 competent witnesses; the plaintiff cannot, however, recover a verdict without his or her testimony being corroborated by other material evidence. The measure of damages is to a greater extent than in most actions at the discretion of the jury; they may take into consideration the injury to the plaintiff's feelings, especially if the breach of promise be aggravated by seduction. Either party has a right to trial by jury under the rules of the Supreme Court, 1883. The action cannot be tried in a county court, unless by consent, or unless remitted for trial there by the High Court. Unchastity of the plaintiff unknown to the defendant when the promise was made and dissolution of the contract by mutual consent are the principal defences which are usually raised to the action. Bodily infirmity of the defendant is no defence to the action, though it may justify the other party in refusing to marry the person thus affected. Where the betrothed are within prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity, there can be no valid promise at all, and so no action for its breach.

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Part of a collection of etexts on women's history produced by Jone Johnson Lewis. Editing and formatting © 1999-2003 Jone Johnson Lewis.