LADY WHO RECEIVED 1000 LOVE LETTERS

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3461, 13 October 1913, Page 6

LADY WHO RECEIVED 1000 LOVE LETTERS

£IOO DAMAGES AWARDED IN BREACH 03T PROAIISE.CASE.

AGAINST A CANON’S SON-

COUNSEL AND STORY OF AN

ORIENTAL ‘ ‘ WIGWAAI. ’ ’

An extraordinary story of the dual life of a canon’s son was described, in the London Sheriff.’* Court recently, as briefly received by the cable news, at the time. Aliss Ethel Aland Bellord, daughter of an independent gentleman, living in Deanery Road, Forest Gate, brought an. action against Lawrence Anson Firth, described as a master mariner, now. of Rangoon, Burmah, for breach of promise of marriage. The case had been remitted from the High Court for the assessment of damages, judgment having allowed to go by default.. Miss Bellord, it was stated, had received as many as 1000 love letters from the defendant. One of them covered 140 pages of notepaper, and the lady had to pay Is 3d extra 'postage upon it. Air Abinger, who appeared for Miss Bellord, described the case as a remarkable and extraordinarily .cruel one. His client was the daughter of a man of independent means, and made the acquaintance of the defendant when she was twelve years of age and lie was twenty-two.. This friendshop ripened and grew apace until, when the young lady was just upon eighteen) years of age, the defendant proposed marirage.. He was accepted, and she received an invitation to visit his parents. She went to Durham, where she was received by the vicar, liis wife, and the whole family as the future daughter-in-law of the house. The visit was extended to seven weeks.

In the following year, 190 S, the defendant received an. appointment as commander of a tug under the Port Trust at Rangoon, in Durham, at £250 a year. He wrote the most passionate love letters to the lady, said counsel, and it he were to read one or two in full they would he in court all day. There was a multitude of hieroglyphics in the shape of crosses with which nearly every page was interlaced, anti it would seem that this man was red-hot fn liis affections for his client. SOAIE EXTRACTS. Counsel proceeded to read extracts. One was: Aly own precious Darling,—That last kiss at Durham Station seems such a long time ago. . . Aly own darling, I think ir ts so sweet of you to keep that ring on your dear finger. ... Weren’t those lovely evenings we had together? I wonder if '-ou remember how many kisses we gave each other? If we had as many shillings we should be well off. . . ■ Your kisses are what I crave for more than anything else on earth. They are more precious than the best jewels. All these letters were signed “T.allie,” said counsel. Another, written in December, 1910, from Rangon, read:— Aly own Sweetheart, —I love you just the same as ever. You are the only woman in this world I shall ever love. Ido love you so. . . I am sending you a little snapshot. . This life out here you have no idea of. It is like being in the hot place itself. .. . Darling. I love you. I do, do, do. Darling, I want you, I do. Sweetheart, I love you, I do. Defendant, said counsel, also sent the plaintiff the following, dated July 24, 1910: I, Lawrence Anson Firth, do hereby take my solemn oatli and give my word of honor that I will take to be my wedded wife Ethel Alaud Bellord whenever she so wills it, this being my one sole ambition in life, and the" one wish that I live for. There was an interval between the letter of December, 1910, until February of 1912, and then the defendant wrote in reply to a letter, from the plaintiff, stating that he did not know that his not writing would have affected her so much. Life was so different opt there, he said, and he had a “cross to bear.” MARRIED A BURMESE AVOAIAN. The plaintiff, acting under advice, wrote to the commissioners at Rangoon, and received information, stated counsel, that he was living with a Burmese woman in Rangoon. “At the time he wrote his last letter,” said Mr Abinger, “lie had fallen a victim to the charms of a dusky lady, whom he apparently preferred to this English girl. He had had a family of three children by her, and load shortly before sent the yo v mg lady a card representing the charms, in color, of an Oriental lady. “

“He goes to live in an Oriental wigwam,” said counsel, “if I may rise the term, without any bonds of matrimony.” All tMS time the plaintiff had been collecting her trousseau, and had spent a lot of money upon it. When she receivod the news of what the defendant w&s doing she collapsed, and had to be attended by a doctor. The plaintiff, an attractive-looking young woman, dressed in black with a lace collar, broke down while giving evidence. She stated that when defendant left England in 1908 it' was ararnged that they should be married in 1911, when he came hack. She had not yet completely recovered from the shock she had when she heard that her fiance was living with a Burmese woman in Rangoon. Little by little she had been preparing her trousseau, buying various articles which she thought she would need. Altogether it had cost her £34. The case was undefended, and the jury awarded damages to the plaintiff of £IOO.