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Before 1857 a husband who wanted to divorce his wife for adultery had to

1. Sue her in the Consistory Court for divorce a mensa et thoro, which is what we now call judicial separation;

2. Sue the alleged adulterer - not the wife - to judgment in the Court of King’s or Queen’s Bench; and after both of those

3. Get a Private Bill through Parliament.

It was of course only for the rich, and in today’s terms it was thoroughly sexist. But if the parties were agreed, and they usually were, and the solicitors knew their job, it took eight to ten months.

And every document was handwritten.

Cf. our new super-dooper computerised system and 383 days, and despair!