Caroline Sheridan Norton’s left an abusive marriage in 1835. She then turned her skill as a writer into a lobby for legislation that would enable mothers in England to get custody of their young children.

Research:

• Reynolds, K. D. "Norton [née Sheridan], Caroline Elizabeth Sarah [other married name Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Stirling Maxwell, Lady Stirling Maxwell] (1808–1877), author and law reform campaigner." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  25. Oxford University Press. Date of access 20 Mar. 2023, <https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-20339
• Oliphant, Margaret, et al. “Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's Reign - A Book of Appreciations.” Ballantyne. 1897. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36641/pg36641.txt
• Norton, Caroline. “A LETTER TO THE QUEEN ON LORD CHANCELLOR CRANWORTH'S MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE BILL.” Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. London. 1855. Accessed oline: https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/norton/alttq/alttq.html
• “NORTON, CAROLINE (1808–1877).” English Heritage. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/caroline-norton/
• Holmes, Ann Sumner. “The Double Standard in the English Divorce Laws, 1857–1923.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 20, no. 2, 1995, pp. 601–620., doi:10.1111/j.1747-4469.1995.tb01071.x.
• Langley, Samuel. “The Laureateship.” Daily News. May 15, 1850. https://www.newspapers.com/image/390815598/?terms=%22Caroline%20Norton%22&match=1
• Abramowicz, Sarah. “English Child Custody Law, 1660-1839: The Origins of Judicial Intervention in Paternal Custody.” Columbia Law Review, vol. 99, no. 5, 1999, pp. 1344–92. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1123459
• Diane, Atkinson. “The Criminal Conversation of Mrs. Norton.” London. Preface Publishing. 2012.
• Norton, Caroline Sheridan. “A Plain Letter to the Lord Chancellor on the Infant Custody Bill.” London. 1839. Accessed online through Indiana University: https://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/vwwp/view?docId=VAB7126&chunk.id=d1e495&toc.id=&brand=vwwp;query=#docView
• Tomalin, Claire. “Several Strangers: Writing from Three Decades.” Viking. 1999.
• Forster, Margaret. “Significant Sisters: The Grassroots of Active Feminism, 1839-1939.” Vintage Books. 2004.
• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Caroline Norton". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Jun. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caroline-Norton
• Norton, C.N. “ENGLISH LAWS FOR WOMEN IN The Nineteenth Century.” London. 1854. Accessed online through University of Pennsylvania: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/norton/elfw/elfw.html