Married women's property rights
Study note
In 19th-century Britain women had far fewer rights than men, and this was especially clear in the law on property. Until 1870, when a woman got married, her earnings, her property and her money all automatically passed to her husband. She had no legal right to keep them for herself.
This unfairness was gradually corrected by Parliament. Acts passed in 1870 and 1882 gave married women the right to keep their own earnings and property after marriage. So the dates to remember are 1870 and 1882, the laws that let wives hold on to what was theirs. Before those changes, a married woman's money simply belonged to her husband, not to the Crown or the state.
Memory tip: 1870 and 1882 Acts let married women keep their own earnings and property.
Practise this topic
Question 1 of 2
Before 1870, what happened to a woman's property and earnings when she married?
Show all questions and answers for Married women's property rights(2 questions with explanations)
Married women's property rights: questions, answers and explanations
1. Before 1870, what happened to a woman's property and earnings when she married?
- They were shared equally by law
- They automatically belonged to her husband
- They were given to the Crown
- They were taxed away
Correct answer: They automatically belonged to her husband
Until 1870 a married woman's earnings and property belonged to her husband.
2. Acts of Parliament in 1870 and 1882 allowed married women to keep their own earnings and property.
- True
- False
Correct answer: True
True. The 1870 and 1882 Acts gave wives the right to keep their own earnings and property.
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