Divorce and Child Custody c1900

[Serafina]

A couple of questions that I hope people can help me with.
1) How easy was it to get divorced in 1900-10 (Edwardian) Britain (London)?
2) What sort of stigma would be attached to a woman who got divorced and did not remarry in that time (though the husband does)?
3) Did women have any rights to child custody after divorce at that time?

[merrihart]

From what little I read it was:

1. Very difficult. You had to prove either your spouse's unfaithfulness or inability to conceive children.

2. A women during that time was more likely to not remarry, and stigma was attached to her the instant the papers were drawn up for the divorce, though I have read of women who did get remarried. They still had it tough, either way.

3. Women were not granted custody of their children. That only started changing in the 60s & 70s (at least in America).

I may be wrong (I often am :P ).

[Tundra]

Some women did get remarried. It was possible, depending on the circumstances of the divorce, and on her wealth, talents, etc. But one of the big problems was that she was not married, yet not a single woman (so she couldn't really go and socialise in the same way single women could), and she was not a widow... it was like a limbo status and social wise.
I'm pretty sure that if a woman left her husband because of abuse, and then got a divorce, the children would stay with her... most of the time. Unless the husband wants to contest it.