‘Fair Wear and Tear’

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article traces the debate about the nature of marital cruelty evident in legal journals, newspapers and official papers in England between 1945 and 1960. It then explores the extent to which this debate influenced decisions in the magistrates' courts, where the majority of working-class couples still contested their marital rights. The article draws on evidence from records of four magistrates' courts in the industrial area of the North Riding of Yorkshire and demonstrates that whilst discourses about mental cruelty in marriage dominated the national debate, this seemed to have had little impact at a local level. Indeed, in the magistrates' courts examined there was more emphasis on the contractual nature of marriage rather than on individual rights and happiness.