Bigamy

The poor man's divorce - an article from 1909:

"From The North-China Herald, 4 September 1909
(refers to domestic law, rather than to British residents in China or elsewhere,
except for a brief comment at the end
and the item concerning a Court action in Hong Kong)"

in 1857 the Ministry of the day, by great exertions, carried the Bill which is now the Act of twenty and twenty-one Victoria c. eighty-five. Notwithstanding the hostility it excited, the Bill proposed little more than a consolidation of jurisdictions; and proceedings in the Divorce Court have now, with few exceptions, the same object and result as the former proceedings in Parliament and in the civil and ecclesiastical Courts. Full divorce is granted on the principles usually recognized by the House of Lords; and the other remedies are such as might formerly have been granted by the ecclesiastical Court.This Act, however, has not made it possible for the poorer classes to obtain divorce. In an undefended case the costs amount from £40 to £60, while in other cases they may amount to hundreds of pounds. The argument is sometimes advanced that the process of in forma pauperis should be followed where the petitioner is unable to pay, but in such a case only the Court fees, from £6 to £8, would be saved.

read more in the article

and "poor man's divorce" - Google Search

"poor man's divorce" - Google Groups

discuss it in Google Groups : soc_genealogy_britain_moderated
(another one of my own creations)