* Divorces

[Pollowick]

Is there a central searchable data set that hold recent divorce records? Probably from 1970 onwards ...

I am looking for a couple that occurred in the early 70's and around 1980 ish ...

[Valkrider]

If you are asking about UK records AFAIK they are subject to the 100 year rule so I don't think you will find them available. You may well find something in the newspapers though.

[Russell]

Pollowick - have a look at The National Archives guide at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help ... -research/

Case files are now destroyed after 20 years, so you are unlikely to find anything other than the decree held by the Court

[LornaCraig]

If you are asking about UK records AFAIK they are subject to the 100 year rule so I don't think you will find them available. You may well find something in the newspapers though.

No, there is a not a 100 year rule, but availability be limited after 1937. To quote from the Nat Archives site:

The National Archives holds case files for all divorces from the Supreme Court 1858-1937 – very few case files survive after 1937. No case files survive from the district registries set up in 1927.

This doesn't help with cases dating in the 1970s, but it is possible to get copies (for a fee) of cases within the dates held at the National Archives. I did so recently.

[Valkrider]

Thanks @Lorna for updating my knowledge, memory is not what it used to be it is a b...er getting old. There are some divorce records, with full court papers, on Ancestry, early 20th century ones. They do make interesting reading in some cases.

[Pollowick]

Thanks for all the comments. I would have hoped that there would be a searchable central database held containing just the primary details - I am not really interested in the case details. There is no restriction on the press printing the details of every application for a divorce and the Office of National Statistics produces reports https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... wales/2014 which suggests they receive details from all the courts.

I did find that I can ask the courts to search for a fee of £65 which will cover a 10 year period - so again they must have a list.

All I would need is the date and exact names of a divorce such as:

Mr John Smith and Mrs Mary Smith Divorced on 1 June 1981. Possibly with additional information such as Married on 1 March 1975 - Mary Smith formerly known as Mary Brown

[mjashby]

The ONS collates and interprets statistical data from information submitted by the Court Service. It actually has no direct interest in the people involved so has no reason to maintain any form of 'register of individuals', as that does not fall within it's remit.

The Court Service is the agency responsible and it does not produce a publicly available 'register' of divorce cases but, as you have found out, they will do paid searches for specific cases; and provide some documentation (the Decree Absolute), for a fee, which no doubt has been set a level to deter any casual enquiries and/or 'commercial'/other organisations, that might be able to use the information for less than reputable purposes if it were publicly available 'en masse' for living individuals. Look for Form D440 on the Court Service website for more information.