- 1700-1857: Parliament passes 314 Private Acts of Parliament for divorce.
- 1753 - Marriage Act: All marriages to take place in a church or chapel of the Church of England.
- 1836 - Marriage Act: Allows religious nonconformists and catholics to marry in their own places of worship.
- 1839 - Custody of Infants Act: Allowed mothers to petition for custody of their children up to the age of seven.
- 1857 - Matrimonial Causes Act: Divorce proceedings transferred from Parliament to a court of law.
- 1861 - Offences Against the Person Act
- 1864, 1866, 1869 - Contagious Diseases Act: Impose controls against prostitution, but are later repealed.
- 1870 - Married Women's Property Act: Declares money and property earned by a woman in marriage is her own.
- 1873 - Infant Custody Act: States that custody must depend on needs of children.
- 1878 - Matrimonial Causes Act: Allows women victims of violence in marriage to obtain separation orders.
- 1882 - Women's Property Act: Allows women to have absolute control over their own money and property.
- 1885 - Criminal Law Amendment Act: Aims to protect young women from vice.
- 1908 - Incest Act: Defines incest as a crime.
- 1909-1910 - Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce
- 1923 - Matrimonial Causes Act: Makes adultery by either husband or wife the sole ground for divorce.
- 1925 - Summary Jurisdiction (separation and Maintenance) Act: Extends grounds on which either married partner could obtain separation.
- 1926 - Legitimacy Act: Allows children to be legitimated by subsequent marriage of their parents.
- 1926 - Adoption Act: Introduces tighter regulations in adoption procedures.
- 1954-1957 - Wolfenden Committee: Reviews laws against homosexual activity and prosecution.
- 1959 - Street Offences Act: Stricter control on street prosecution.
- 1959 - Legitimacy Act: Extends right to legitimacy.
- 1967 - Sexual Offences Act (England and Wales): Allows homosexual acts in private between men over the age of 21.
- 1969 - Divorce Reform Act: Martial breakdown accepted as grounds for divorce.
- 1976 - Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act
- 1976 - Adoption Act: allows adopted children access to their original birth certificates.
- 1987 - Family Law Reform Act: Removes all remaining distinctions between children born to married and unmarried parents.
- 1994 - Criminal Justice and Public Order Act: lowered the age of consent for gay men from 21 to 18; in 2001, it was lowered to 16.
- 2004 - Civil Partnership Act: Gave same sex couples the same legal rights and responsibilities as married heterosexual couples.
- 2013 - Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act: In 2013, Parliament passed this Act, which introduced civil marriage for same-sex couples in England and Wales. The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales took place in March 2014.
(In the post above, I have noted my findings for further use, all information is from the link at the top of this page.)
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