Definition
The Married Women’s Property Acts (MWP Acts) were a pair of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1870 and 1882, respectively. The aim of these laws was to change the legal recognition of married women to allow a wife to retain ownership of her wages and inheritance and manage property for herself.
The Acts were variously supported by organizations including the Law Amendment Society (later merged with the Social Science Association), and the Langham Place Group as well as the especially formed Married Women’s Property Committee. Support also came from periodicals like the English Woman’s Journal (1858–1864) along with books and pamphlets by women including Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Caroline Cornwallis, Frances Power Cobbe, and Annie Besant.
The passage of these Acts contradicted the previous common law nonexistence of women after they married and the consequent forfeiture of all rights and property. This meant that wives could retain control over property they...
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References
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Wenneker, J.C. (2021). Married Women’s Property Acts. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Victorian Women's Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02721-6_316-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02721-6_316-1
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