Some of you Canadianists may be aware that in 19th century Canada, the usual way to get a divorce was to go to the Senate of Canada and ask it to become a divorce court. But how did that happen? How did it work? Maybe it's another of those constitutional history details that make historians say "It's too picky and complicated, let's just handwave and skip across it."
Now historian and law prof Jim Phillips has put a catchy title on the whole thing. In I Did Not Commit Adultery, he's found a way to sort out the workings of the law of marital conflict through a deep dive into the unhappy marriage of Robert and Eliza Campbell, whose wrangles kept the courts and the Senate busy -- and the neighbours in Whitby, Ontario, talking -- for years and years.
I just received my copy and may have more to say about it when I have actually read it. Members of the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History can restart Campbell family gossip and celebrate my friend Jim and its other 2025 authors when it launches its new books next Monday.
