Obtaining Records of Divorce Decrees
The Public Record Office supplies
information on divorce decrees for England and Wales
Information from Archives L3; Divorce post 1858
The National Archives holds records which might contain the information you
require, and we can:
• Either search for it on payment of a fee and supply you with the information
(if found), or
• Enable you to search for the information in other ways
Please send as much information as you can. The following details are particularly
important:
• The full name of the husband*…………………………….…….………….…….
• The full name of the wife*…………….……………………………………………
• The approximate date of the divorce* …………………..………….…..………..
If you have all of the information marked with an asterisk*, the standard
charges for
our searches will apply and these are shown on this leaflet. If you do not
have this
information, the standard charges will not apply, as the search time will
increase by
a large amount, and therefore the search will require a very high fee to
be paid.
Please contact us if you still want to proceed at: enquiry@nationalarchives.gov.uk
1. Divorce Case Files
Standard charge: £30
Catalogue references: J 77 and J 132
The record series J 77 contains the divorce and matrimonial cause files.
The series
J 132 contains a sample of divorce cases between 1938-1973 in which the official
solicitor represented an infant or a person of unsound mind.
Information that this source should reveal:
Files in J 77 normally contain items such as
• The petition
• Copies of any relevant certificates (For example: marriage certificate)
Information from Archives L3
• Details of whether the plaintiff is applying as a poor person
(after 1878 women
who could not afford divorce were able to apply for a separation and
maintenance order in some circumstances)
• Affidavits
• Decree nisi
• Decree absolute
• Cross references to any earlier or later petition
Most files have been stripped of any other material.
Files in J 132 normally contain:
• Correspondence with solicitors, medical and welfare authorities
and other interested parties
• Copies of various court documents including petitions, answers, affidavits
and orders
For cases after 1938, you can check whether the file for a case survives
in J 77 and J 132 by searching for the names of the parties in The National
Archives’ online catalogue.
Factors affecting success of a search:
Names of divorcing couple and approximate date of divorce are
essential.
1858 – 1927: Almost all files from this period survive.
1928 – 1937: The National Archives holds files only from the Central Registry
in
London for these years (for example: divorces started in the main London
court).
The files for the 20% of divorces that were started in local
registries no longer
survive. Many divorce cases started in London were actually heard locally.
Therefore
you have an 80% chance of finding a divorce file.
1938 onwards: You are very unlikely to find anything: almost
all divorce files for this
period have been destroyed. From 1938 a few specimens of the files (for each
year)
in J77 have been selected in order to illustrate the changing nature of divorce.
The
National Archives has a 2% random sample of files in J 132.
2. Certified copies of the Decree Absolute
These records are in the custody of the Principal Registry of the Family
Division.
They can be contacted at:
Principal Registry of the Family Division
Decree Absolute Section
First Avenue House
42-49 High Holborn
London WC1V 6NP
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Information from Archives L3
Tel: +44 (0)20 7947 7015
For a fee, they will send you a certified
copy of the decree absolute.
If the divorce took place within the last 5 years, you can contact the county
court
where the divorce took place for a cheaper copy of the decree.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Alternatively, enquirers can write to:
Principal Registry of the Family Division
First Avenue House
42-49 High Holborn
London WC1V 6NP
England
Tel: (20) 7947 6000