History Revealed

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE FEMALE DETECTIVES

Nell Darby explores why female private detectives came to be in such demand…

In 1858, the Matrimonial Causes Act of the previous year came into force. Although it is chiefly remembered for opening up divorce to the non-elites, it also had a significant side effect: it created a new market for private detectives, a market that would grow over the course of the next half a century and open up a new career path for many women.

The new law enabled both men and women to petition for divorce from their partner without the need for a private parliamentary act, as had previously been the case. Men could seek a divorce on the grounds of their wives’ adultery, but women, in this patriarchal, unfair society, had to not only prove that their husband had committed adultery, but also needed an additional cause, such as his having deserted her, or been cruel or abusive to her.

In order to prove adultery, a husband or wife’s word was not enough. They needed hard facts, and preferably a witness to back up their claims. But who would be willing to stand as a witness, and possibly appear

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