Here is a rundown by year of the most important laws passed in England to try to help out the situation of all women, especially working and middle class.  Just imagine what life would have been like before these laws were passed.  We read all the time about women who complain about being helpless.  How often is that claim believed?  Women were practically helpless and almost completely dependent upon either family or husband in the eyes of the law.  Unless a girl became a wealthy widow or stayed a pitied spinster she had no chance of being independent.  But as you will soon see, the road to change is a rough and repetitive one.
 

1839- The Infant Custody Act is passed.  It states that any woman who can enter a suit and prove herself innocent of adultery may have
                                            custody of children under seven years of age and periodic visitation with those under the age of consent
                                            (sixteen).  Of course most women weren't independently wealthy so they couldn't enter a suit and the act
                                            also kept justly, or unjustly, charged adulteresses away from their children with no similar provision
                                            towards unfaithful husbands.

1857- The Married Women's Property Bill (two versions)  One version of this bill declared that marriage laws needed a serious
                                            overhaul, that married women should have the same property rights as single women, and that
                                            women should have speedy access to the courts to gain protection for their property.  But this
                                            version dropped out of sight.  The other version didn't change the court system at all but did
                                            propose letting women control their own property after marriage, allowing them to dispose of it
                                            according to their will, and to apply the same inheritance rules to a deceased woman's
                                            belongings as to a man's.  This bill was approved on its second reading but dropped due to the passing
                                            of the Divorce Act the same year.

1857- The Matrimonial Causes Act- The Divorce Act, as it was called, gave courts the decision on who to award custody to.  This
                                            meant that women who had been found guilty of adultery could gain custody of their children if the courts
                                            thought that was what would be best.  But for this to occur a lady's husband had to be found guilty of
                                            adultery coupled with incest, bigamy, or cruelty.

1859- The Matrimonial Causes Act Amendment Act- This change allowed the courts to change the custody status of minors if they
                                            believed it was in the best interest of the children to do so.

1868- Married Women's Property Bill- This bill was very similar to the second version of the one in 1857 although an integrated
                                            committee of men and women designed it.  It passed by a tie-breaking vote but it then went under
                                            review and Parliament changed its makeup before it could be made law so the bill disappeared.

1869- Married Women's Property Bill- Still not ready to give up the bill of the previous year came back to be voted on again.  After
                                            much deliberation it was passed with a few amendments.  But the timing was wrong again.  There wasn't
                                            enough time left in the session to pass it so the bill went to languish more.

1870- Married Women's Property Bill- No this one isn't the same.  This was another version of the same idea but wouldn't give
                                            married women the same rights as single ones.  This bill went up against the older bill and the older bill
                                            had the staying power, finally making out into the House of Lords.

1870- The Married Women's Property Act- The House of Lords tore the bill apart but came out with a version that they agreed upon
                                            and endorsed.  Finally the bill was made law.

1872- Married Women's Property Bill- This bill wanted to amend parts of the act that people thought were still unjust.  It was only read
                                            once before it was dropped.

1873- Married Women's Property Bill- This particular bill was designed to defeat the bill of the previous year which had been brought
                                            back but neither one made it.

1873- The Infant Custody Act- This changed the law to let women petition for custody of children over the age of seven in extreme
                                            cases.  But poor women with no money for a suit still didn't have a chance.

1877- Married Women's Property Bill- Introduced only in Scotland, this bill wanted to separate a wife's income and property entirely
                                            from her husband's, thus being a bit more radical than the provisions in the English bills.

1878- Married Women's Property Bill- It was meant to be an amendment to the Married Women's Property Act of 1870 but was
                                            withdrawn from the agenda.

1880- Married Women's Property Bill- This was an attempt to assimilate English and Scottish law by introducing the Scottish bill in
                                            England.

1881- Married Women's Property Bill- Last year's bill re-introduced.  This time it becomes the Married Women's Property Act of 1882.

1882- Married Women's Property Act- Finally women have the same rights as men in regards to property and private income.

1886- Infant Custody Act- Though the planners wanted this bill to guarantee coequal rights for both parents they had to make do with
                                            the assurance that widows wouldn't lose their children, though they could have a co-guardian forced upon
                                            them through the deceased spouse's wishes.

(Adapted from "Women and the Law", source no longer available online)