1882
Women were expected to restrict their sphere of interest to the home and the family. Women were not encouraged to obtain a real education or pursue a professional career. After marriage, women did not have the right to own their own property, keep their own wages, or sign a contract. In addition, all women were denied the right to vote. Only after decades of intense political activity did women eventually win the right to vote.  1 Text of the Married Women's Property Act 1882 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database. Married women’s legal rights included the right to sue and be sued. Any damages a wife might pay would be her own responsibility, instead of that of her husband. Married women were then also liable for their own debts, and any outside trade they owned was subject to bankruptcy laws. After years of political lobbying, the Married Women’s Property Act addressed the grievances presented by English women. The Act altered the common law doctrine of coverture to include the wife’s right to own, buy and sell her separate property. Married women’s legal rights included the right to sue and be sued. Any damages a wife might pay would be her own responsibility, instead of that of her husband. Married women were then also liable for their own debts, and any outside trade they owned was subject to bankruptcy laws. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Married Women's Property Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c.93) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed women to be the legal owners of the money they earned and to inherit property. Before the Act was passed women lost all ownership over their property when they became married: “From the early thirteenth century until 1870, English Common law held that most of the property that a wife had owned as a feme sole came under the control of the husband at the time of the marriage”. By Jone Johnson Lewis. Property rights include the legal rights to acquire, own, sell and transfer property, collect and keep rents, keep one's wages, make contracts and bring lawsuits. In history, a woman's property has often, but not always, been under the control of her father or, if she was married, her husband. In the early years of the United States, following British law, women's property was under control of their husbands, with states gradually giving women limited property rights. By 1900 every state had given married women substantial control over their property. See also: dower, coverture, dowry, curtesy The Married Women's Property Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c.75) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that significantly altered English law regarding the property rights of married women, which besides other matters allowed married women to own and control property in their own right. Married women’s legal rights included the right to sue and be sued. Any damages a wife might pay would be her own responsibility, instead of that of her husband. Married women were then also liable for their own debts, and any outside trade they owned was subject to bankruptcy laws. The Married Women’s Property Act was a model for similar legislation in other British territories. For example, Victoria passed legislation in 1884, New South Wales in 1889, and the remaining Australian colonies passed similar legislation between 1890-97. Married women’s legal rights included the right to sue and be sued. Any damages a wife might pay would be her own responsibility, instead of that of her husband. Married women were then also liable for their own debts, and any outside trade they owned was subject to bankruptcy laws. The act dealt mostly with the earnings of married women and was not very specific about married women's property rights. A major loophole was that any property a woman had in her own name before marriage legally became her husband's property. Before the Act was passed women lost all ownership over their property when they became married: “From the early thirteenth century until 1870, English Common law held that most of the property that a wife had owned as a feme sole came under the control of the husband at the time of the marriage”. The Movement Spreads. In 1860, New York passed another law that allowed married women the right to their own earnings. After the Civil War, more laws were passed throughout the United States to equalize property laws between men and women, according to the Library of Congress. Until the mid-19th century, married women were considered possessions of their husbands and had virtually no control over their money or property. Thanks to the women's rights movement, this all changed.
http://nwhm.org/online-exhibits/rightsforwomen/introduction.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women%27s_Property_Act_1882 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women%27s_Property_Act_1882 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women%27s_Property_Act_1870 http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marriedwomensproperty/a/property_rights.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women%27s_Property_Act_1882 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women%27s_Property_Act_1882 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women%27s_Property_Act_1870 http://www.ehow.com/about_5271646_married-womens-property-act.html
when did married women get the right to own their own money