Breach of Promise

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7044, 31 December 1932, Page 9

Breach of Promise

SUSSEX CRICKETER

GIRL GIVEN £175 DAMAGES

A susses cricketer, Parks, was sued for breach of promise of marriage and damages by Miss Edith Berry, aged 25, whose counsel said that tho couple were neighbours in Hayward’s Heath, and formed a friendship in 1926, becoming engaged in 1929. Parks cooled off last summer, and the final break came when he left Miss Berry sitting in a pavilion alone for three hours while rain stopped play. Parks declined to explain his inattention, and said, “We had better part.” Parks’ counsel said that like every popular cricketer, Parks received great attention from girl cricket enthusiasts, which Miss Berry resented, leading to many quarrels. He added that Miss Berry was spiteful, and threatened to ruin Parks’ cricket career. Mr. Justice Hawke, summing up, said he gathered that cricket was rather important in Sussex, and that a successful cricketer in the county would be regarded as a bit of a catch. Tho jury might decide that a certain amount of glamour attached to Parke, which Miss Berry might have expected to share, but had lost, after waiting for six years. Money and happiness were on a different plane, ho added, but Miss Berry was entitled to something for her disappointment. The jury awarded Miss Berry £175 damages.