Record series

Index to Divorce Cause Books

VPRS 5335
1861 - 1975
Closed, Not set, Open
North Melbourne

Agencies

This record series was created by:
Agencies responsible for this record series:

Date Range

Series date range: 1861 - 1975
Series in custody: 1861 - 2002
Contents in custody: 1861 - 1976

Function / Content

This series provides an index to VPRS 5334 Divorce Cause Books and VPRS 283 Divorce Case Files. Details given are the names of the Petitioner for the divorce, the respondent and any co-respondents to the petition and the case number assigned by the Court.

Until 1861 in Victoria, divorce was a matter for the ecclesiastical courts as it was in England until 1857-1858. The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act 1861 conferred upon the Supreme Court of Victoria the jurisdiction in matters matrimonial and authority in certain cases to decree the dissolution of the marriage. This continued to be the case until the passing of the Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975.

This index facilitated access to entries in VPRS 5334 Divorce Cause Books and to files in VPRS 283 Divorce Case Files, both of which were arranged in registration (or case) number order.

How to use the records

The open portion of this series has been digitised. Access to the digitised records is available via consignment P5. Consult the consignment details and locate the volume covering the date range for which information is required.

Consignments P1 and P2 contain microform copies of some parts of this series. These copies have been superceded by the digital representations.

Consignment P3 contained initial digital versions of the index. These have been superceded by the images in P5, which are broken into date and alpha ranges.

Recordkeeping system

Entries were listed in the index primarily by year and secondarily by surname of plaintiff in the order in which petitions were set down by the Court.

Ballarat cases first appeared in VPRS 5335 Index to Divorce Cause Books in 1910. The word 'Ballarat' appeared in the column for case numbers. Cases for Ballarat (and Bendigo) did not appear to have been registered with case numbers. For Ballarat cases see VPRS 552 Divorce Case Files.

Consignments P1 and P2 of this series consist of microfiche copies of the Index