Alfred Stephen Divorce Extension Act

Description

Philip William May (1864 – 1903) was an English born cartoonist who worked in Sydney and Melbourne for three years in the late colonial period. During this period, he produced over 800 drawings for the Bulletin, which combined satire, sympathy and accurate detail of the contemporary political personalities and events.

The Divorce Extension bill was introduced to the Legislative Council in 1886 by Alfred Stephen, who was a strong advocate for extending grounds of divorce. The bill sought to extend grounds to cover desertion, habitual drunkenness, imprisonment for at least seven years, and assault. Although the bill was rejected, he reintroduced every session of the Legislative Council until it was passed in the session of 1891-1892 as the Divorce Amendment and Extension Act.

Identification

Artist

Phil May

Medium

Lithograph on paper (reprinted)

Date

1882

Collection

Drawrings & Lithographs