{From reading "One-Leg-the life and letters of Henry William Paget", I was fascinated to learn that divorce was not as rare or as hard to get as I thought}

Actually, for the rich and titled, divorce was not that difficult. It was extraordinarily expensive though. As far as the gentry and the lower classes, divorce was utterly and completely out of their reach. Even if they had the money to divorce, their families would not have been able to live with the stigma that came with their society group (which was not so much the case for the aristocracy, though they wore their stigmas too)

In any case, a true divorce (by act of parliament) was exceptionally rare. Between 1670 and 1857 there were only 325 such divorces in England, and all but four of them were obtained by men. Between the dates of 1670 and 1799, there were only 131 divorces by private act of Parliament (the only true divorce which allows you to remarry) and virtually all instituted by husbands. Only 17 were passed before 1750. So whether or not one family happened to have four divorces in their family, that family did not reflect upon the rest of England, according to the statistics that we are aware of.

In any case, if the parties could afford the astronomical costs, the notoriety was a deterent against divorce. It would be interesting to note that Lady Holland , despite all of her wealth and power and personality, she was never allowed to set foot in Almack's or be presented at a drawing room.

Divorce a mensa et thoro was another type of divorce which, in actuallity, was really just a separation. It gained you a legal separation in the church courts. You did not have the right to remarry and a female petitioner had to prove adultery as well as life-threatening cruelty. This is a type of separation that the gentry might be interested, however, the social ramifications were largely prohibiting and the estranged wife could be faced with such penalties as losing her children to her husband, no legal rights whatsoever, loss of all personal property and real estate. And, if he chose to, the husband could drag the wife back to the house, a house she would have to ask his permission to leave.

Annulments were available and the parties were able to remarry in those cases. But the parties had to prove one of the following: the husband had been impotent for three years; the parties involved had a close family relationship; or one party had a prior contract with another person who was still living. Annulments were extremely hard to get.

Also, if your spouse went missing for more than seven years, the husband or wife could remarry. Unfortunately, if the husband came back, and you were already married, your second marriage becomes invalid. This was the type of "divorce" which the lower classes usually reverted to. The husband would obligingly disappear to some other town where they were not likely to meet again ;-)