Filling in the Details

A few weeks ago I published a post about the divorce of my great grandfather James Nicholas Clark from his first wife Eliza (nee Hawley).  Until recently my only documentation of this divorce came from newspaper reports of the court proceedings and James's marriage certificate to his second wife Pricilla (nee Mulholland) which describes him as a divorcee.

Then I was exploring new records available on Ancestry and saw they had listed Victorian Divorce Records 1860-1940.

I immediately did a search of this specific record set for James Clark and came up with a listing for his divorce, complete with a link to the original documents.

Viewing the record was the bonanza - some 55 pages of statements and court proceedings and other documents.  Full details of the circumstances of the marriage and its breakdown, dates and addresses, and the final Decree Nisi that dissolved the marriage.  

These documents fill in the detail of the marriage breakdown and subsequent divorce and are a wonderful find!

Divorce Procedings

Until fairly recent times, divorce was fairly rare and a difficult and lengthy process to navigate.  One of the few pre mid 20th century divorces in my family if that of James Nicholas Clark and Eliza (nee Hawley).  The couple, who married in 1886, had two children before their marriage broke down and they separated in 1891, Eliza leaving the children with their father.

Divorce then was a lengthy process, and was not finally granted to James until 1897, six years after the couple separated.  While James alleged his wife had committed adultery as well as abandoning him and their children, he was unable to provide the court with proof of this, despite naming two men who Eliza had lived with since their separation.  As a result, the divorce was granted on the grounds of desertion only.

There is no mention in the report below of Eliza attending the court or responding in any way to the allegations made against her.

Caulfield & Elsternwick Leader, Sat 14 August 1897, p2.