Patterns of divorce behaviour in England are not well documented. Apart from the limited data provided annually by the Registrar General, and secondary commentaries on these, our knowledge comes almost entirely from a single paper which is now becoming historically dated (Rowntree & Carrier, 1958). There has been no social survey of a specifically divorced population, and the paper referred to is the only example of analysis based on court records. The present paper derives from work currently in hand which is utilizing survey interviews, court records, autobiographical materials and other documentary sources, to obtain new kinds of information about divorce. More specifically, what follows is based in part on data from the Registrar General's annual reports and, in part, on a provisional analysis of the court records of 1000 undefended divorce suits occurring in a provincial city during the years 1966–68.