Caroline Norton was a wife and a mother but was also a writer and social reformer in the 19th century. She fought desperately for the legal rights of women to be the same as men’s so that women could have custody of their children, seek a divorce, earn money, and own and inherit property.

During the 19th century a married woman had fewer rights than a single woman because upon marriage all her possessions and any future earnings belonged to her husband. Furthermore, any children born during a marriage were also the property of her husband, meaning that in the event of a separation or divorce, a woman could be denied access to her children as well as any input regarding their upbringing and education. Caroline strongly resented this unfairness in law and once her marriage broke down in 1836 and she lost access to her three young sons, she began writing pamphlets about the issues as well as raising awareness through her fiction. Consequently, she helped to promote awareness of the issues facing married women which eventually led to the Infant Custody Act of 1839, the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 and the Married Women’s Property Act of 1870.