Stephen Cretney was a practising solicitor in the City of London from his graduation until 1965. Thereafter, he held academic posts, becoming Quarrell Fellow and Tutor in Law at Exeter College Oxford, in 1969. Beween 1978 and 1984, he served as a Law Commissioner before becoming Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bristol University. From 1993 until retirement he was a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Queen's Counsel honoris causa.

...will be of consuming interest, not merely to family lawyers but to everyone who seeks novel and illumination insights into the social and political history of the last 150 years. It is a staggering and triumphant achievement...and now it is available to all

• Table of Cases ; Table of Statutes ; Table of Statutory Instruments ; An Explanatory Note on Parliamentary Procedures ; Introduction ; PART I. THE LEGAL FAMILY: MARRIAGE ; 1 Weddings ; 2 Marriage: Eligibility ; 3 Legal Consequences of Marriage: Property Regimes ; 4 Other Legal Consequences of Marriage: Conjugal Rights and Remedies ; PART II. THE ENDING OF MARRIAGE: DIVORCE ; 5 Ending Marriage by Judicial Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 ; 6 The Campaign for Reform of the Victorian Divorce Law ; 7 The Ground for Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 ; 8 The Family Justice Process 1900-1970 ; 9 Irretrievable Breakdown as the Ground for Divorce: The Divorce Reform Act 1969 ; PART III. ENDING RELATIONSHIPS: THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES ; 10 Marital Breakdown: The Financial Consequences ; 11 Maintenance, the Magistrate's Court and the State ; 12 The Ending of Relationships by Death: The Financial Consequences ; 13 Unmarried Couples: The Legal Consequences of Ending the Relationship ; PART IV. CHILDREN, THE FAMILY AND THE STATE ; 14 Parentage ; 15 Children's Legal Status: legitimate or Illegitimate? ; 16 Parents and Children: Legal Authority in the Family ; 17 Legal Adoption of Children, 1900-1973 ; 18 The State, Parent and Child: 1) before the Welfare State ; 19 The State, Parent and Child: 2) the Welfare State and Child Care Legislation ; 20 The State, Parent and Child: 3) Child Care Legislation at a Time of Transition, 1969-1989 ; PART V. THE FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEM AT THE MILLENNIUM ; 21 The Family and the Law: Reform of the English Family Justice System Towards the End of the Twentieth Century ; Bigraphical Notes ; Sources and Select Bibliography ; Index

Stephen Cretney was a practising solicitor in the City of London from his graduation until 1965. Thereafter, he held academic posts, becoming Quarrell Fellow and Tutor in Law at Exeter College Oxford, in 1969. Beween 1978 and 1984, he served as a Law Commissioner before becoming Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bristol University. From 1993 until retirement he was a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Queen's Counsel honoris causa.

...will be of consuming interest, not merely to family lawyers but to everyone who seeks novel and illumination insights into the social and political history of the last 150 years. It is a staggering and triumphant achievement...and now it is available to all

• Table of Cases ; Table of Statutes ; Table of Statutory Instruments ; An Explanatory Note on Parliamentary Procedures ; Introduction ; PART I. THE LEGAL FAMILY: MARRIAGE ; 1 Weddings ; 2 Marriage: Eligibility ; 3 Legal Consequences of Marriage: Property Regimes ; 4 Other Legal Consequences of Marriage: Conjugal Rights and Remedies ; PART II. THE ENDING OF MARRIAGE: DIVORCE ; 5 Ending Marriage by Judicial Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 ; 6 The Campaign for Reform of the Victorian Divorce Law ; 7 The Ground for Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 ; 8 The Family Justice Process 1900-1970 ; 9 Irretrievable Breakdown as the Ground for Divorce: The Divorce Reform Act 1969 ; PART III. ENDING RELATIONSHIPS: THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES ; 10 Marital Breakdown: The Financial Consequences ; 11 Maintenance, the Magistrate's Court and the State ; 12 The Ending of Relationships by Death: The Financial Consequences ; 13 Unmarried Couples: The Legal Consequences of Ending the Relationship ; PART IV. CHILDREN, THE FAMILY AND THE STATE ; 14 Parentage ; 15 Children's Legal Status: legitimate or Illegitimate? ; 16 Parents and Children: Legal Authority in the Family ; 17 Legal Adoption of Children, 1900-1973 ; 18 The State, Parent and Child: 1) before the Welfare State ; 19 The State, Parent and Child: 2) the Welfare State and Child Care Legislation ; 20 The State, Parent and Child: 3) Child Care Legislation at a Time of Transition, 1969-1989 ; PART V. THE FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEM AT THE MILLENNIUM ; 21 The Family and the Law: Reform of the English Family Justice System Towards the End of the Twentieth Century ; Bigraphical Notes ; Sources and Select Bibliography ; Index

Stephen Cretney was a practising solicitor in the City of London from his graduation until 1965. Thereafter, he held academic posts, becoming Quarrell Fellow and Tutor in Law at Exeter College Oxford, in 1969. Beween 1978 and 1984, he served as a Law Commissioner before becoming Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bristol University. From 1993 until retirement he was a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Queen's Counsel honoris causa.

...will be of consuming interest, not merely to family lawyers but to everyone who seeks novel and illumination insights into the social and political history of the last 150 years. It is a staggering and triumphant achievement...and now it is available to all

• Table of Cases ; Table of Statutes ; Table of Statutory Instruments ; An Explanatory Note on Parliamentary Procedures ; Introduction ; PART I. THE LEGAL FAMILY: MARRIAGE ; 1 Weddings ; 2 Marriage: Eligibility ; 3 Legal Consequences of Marriage: Property Regimes ; 4 Other Legal Consequences of Marriage: Conjugal Rights and Remedies ; PART II. THE ENDING OF MARRIAGE: DIVORCE ; 5 Ending Marriage by Judicial Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 ; 6 The Campaign for Reform of the Victorian Divorce Law ; 7 The Ground for Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 ; 8 The Family Justice Process 1900-1970 ; 9 Irretrievable Breakdown as the Ground for Divorce: The Divorce Reform Act 1969 ; PART III. ENDING RELATIONSHIPS: THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES ; 10 Marital Breakdown: The Financial Consequences ; 11 Maintenance, the Magistrate's Court and the State ; 12 The Ending of Relationships by Death: The Financial Consequences ; 13 Unmarried Couples: The Legal Consequences of Ending the Relationship ; PART IV. CHILDREN, THE FAMILY AND THE STATE ; 14 Parentage ; 15 Children's Legal Status: legitimate or Illegitimate? ; 16 Parents and Children: Legal Authority in the Family ; 17 Legal Adoption of Children, 1900-1973 ; 18 The State, Parent and Child: 1) before the Welfare State ; 19 The State, Parent and Child: 2) the Welfare State and Child Care Legislation ; 20 The State, Parent and Child: 3) Child Care Legislation at a Time of Transition, 1969-1989 ; PART V. THE FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEM AT THE MILLENNIUM ; 21 The Family and the Law: Reform of the English Family Justice System Towards the End of the Twentieth Century ; Bigraphical Notes ; Sources and Select Bibliography ; Index