The Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 extended the grounds for divorce so that both women and men could end their marriage on the basis of desertion or cruelty, in addition to the existing single ground of adultery. Section 2 provided that a petition for divorce could be presented to the High Court by either the husband or the wife on one or more of four grounds: that the respondent since the celebration of the marriage had committed adultery; that they had deserted the petitioner without cause for a period of at least three years; that they had treated the petitioner with cruelty; or that they were incurably of unsound mind. Although the reform did not bring about divorce by consent, the expansion of the grounds from one to four meant that fewer women and men were locked in loveless marriages, and were now able to seek a divorce.
The full version of this landmark is written by Penelope Russell