I Did not Commit Adultery
Marital Conflict and the Law in Ontario in the 1870s
Published on 21. October 2025
Book
Hardback
432 pages
978-1-4875-1744-1 (ISBN)
Description
This book chronicles the breakdown of the marriage of Robert and Eliza Campbell, a couple living in Whitby, Ontario. Their case precipitated a six-year battle in the Ontario courts and the Parliament of Canada in the 1870s.
In the Court of Common Pleas, Robert Campbell successfully sued the man he alleged had seduced his wife for criminal conversation, and Eliza Campbell successfully sued Robert's brother James Campbell for defamation. Eliza Campbell failed, however, to get an order for alimony in the Court of Chancery. When this litigation was concluded, Robert Campbell petitioned Parliament for an Act of Divorce: the only way to get a divorce in Ontario before 1930. In 1876, he failed to persuade the Senate divorce committee that Eliza had committed adultery - the only ground for a divorce at that time - but Eliza succeeded in having an Act of Separation passed in her favour.
I Did Not Commit Adultery is a detailed study of how the law governed married women in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Along the way, Jim Phillips reveals the operations of the civil courts, the forensic skills of leading members of the Ontario legal profession, constitutional law, and parliamentary divorce, which has never before been examined in detail by Canadian historians.
In the Court of Common Pleas, Robert Campbell successfully sued the man he alleged had seduced his wife for criminal conversation, and Eliza Campbell successfully sued Robert's brother James Campbell for defamation. Eliza Campbell failed, however, to get an order for alimony in the Court of Chancery. When this litigation was concluded, Robert Campbell petitioned Parliament for an Act of Divorce: the only way to get a divorce in Ontario before 1930. In 1876, he failed to persuade the Senate divorce committee that Eliza had committed adultery - the only ground for a divorce at that time - but Eliza succeeded in having an Act of Separation passed in her favour.
I Did Not Commit Adultery is a detailed study of how the law governed married women in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Along the way, Jim Phillips reveals the operations of the civil courts, the forensic skills of leading members of the Ontario legal profession, constitutional law, and parliamentary divorce, which has never before been examined in detail by Canadian historians.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
19 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
717 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4875-1744-1 (9781487517441)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jim Phillips is a professor emeritus of law and history at the University of Toronto.
Content
Abbreviations and Short Forms
Principal Members of the Byrne and Campbell Families
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - The Town of Whitby, the Campbell and Byrne Families,
and the Campbell Marriage to August 1873
Chapter 3 - Robert Campbell's Separation from Eliza, August 1873
Chapter 4 - Eliza Campbell's Ejection from the Family Home, September 1873
Chapter 5 - The Campbells Go to Court 1: Robert Campbell v. George Gordon for Criminal Conversation, 1873
Chapter 6 - The Campbells Go to Court II: Eliza Campbell (Robert Campbell et ux) v. James Campbell for Defamation, 1874
Chapter 7 - The Campbells Go to Court III: Eliza Campbell v. Robert
Campbell for Alimony, 1874 -1875
Chapter 8 - Robert Campbell's Petition for Divorce, 1876
Chapter 9 - The Senate Divorce Committee 1: The Case for Robert Campbell
Chapter 10 - The Senate Divorce Committee 2: The Case for Eliza Campbell
Chapter 11 - The Senate Divorce Committee 3: Counsels' Speeches and the Committee's Report
Chapter 12 - Eliza Campbell's Separation Bill in Parliament, 1877
Chapter 13 - An Interlude, 1878
Chapter 14 - Eliza Campbell's Separation Bill in Parliament, Again - 1879
Chapter 15 - The Principals after 1880 - Winners and Losers
Chapter 16 - Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix 1: Eliza Campbell's Petition to the Senate, 29 March 1876
Appendix 2: Eliza Campbell's Separation Bill, 1877
Appendix 3: The Separation Act, 1879
Principal Members of the Byrne and Campbell Families
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - The Town of Whitby, the Campbell and Byrne Families,
and the Campbell Marriage to August 1873
Chapter 3 - Robert Campbell's Separation from Eliza, August 1873
Chapter 4 - Eliza Campbell's Ejection from the Family Home, September 1873
Chapter 5 - The Campbells Go to Court 1: Robert Campbell v. George Gordon for Criminal Conversation, 1873
Chapter 6 - The Campbells Go to Court II: Eliza Campbell (Robert Campbell et ux) v. James Campbell for Defamation, 1874
Chapter 7 - The Campbells Go to Court III: Eliza Campbell v. Robert
Campbell for Alimony, 1874 -1875
Chapter 8 - Robert Campbell's Petition for Divorce, 1876
Chapter 9 - The Senate Divorce Committee 1: The Case for Robert Campbell
Chapter 10 - The Senate Divorce Committee 2: The Case for Eliza Campbell
Chapter 11 - The Senate Divorce Committee 3: Counsels' Speeches and the Committee's Report
Chapter 12 - Eliza Campbell's Separation Bill in Parliament, 1877
Chapter 13 - An Interlude, 1878
Chapter 14 - Eliza Campbell's Separation Bill in Parliament, Again - 1879
Chapter 15 - The Principals after 1880 - Winners and Losers
Chapter 16 - Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix 1: Eliza Campbell's Petition to the Senate, 29 March 1876
Appendix 2: Eliza Campbell's Separation Bill, 1877
Appendix 3: The Separation Act, 1879