Divorce in 1900. Expensive?

[Philip I]

How much would it have cost a wife to divorce her husband in 1900 for bigamy? Was this an option only open to those with money, or was it common?

[Guy Etchells]

It would not have been easy for a wife to divorce her husband in 1900.

She would have to not only prove his adultery, but also one other marital offence.
In addition divorce was still expensive (even though it was cheaper than in earlier years) with no legal aid.
Cheers
Guy

[raineshoe]

We had a divorce in 1888 and from the documents it was very expensive. The pair concerned were basically labourers so I don't know how they afforded it, although the lady that Henry ran off with was clearly a little richer so whether she paid I don't know. I was surprised that they hadn't just disappeared into the night and popped up somewhere as man and wife. Their marriage certificate states they are both widowers and I know they divorced.

So it does seem it is open to all if they had the money and could prove the case.

Incidentally, if you go the National Archives site there are loads of divorces listed so I think it was more common than you think. It was certainly more common than I ever thought.