DIVORCE DECREES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 29 November 1938, Page 3

DIVORCE DECREES

MANY GRANTED AT AUCKLAND PETITION FROM CLERGYMAN Hin.led Press Association! AUCKLAND. 28th November. About 50 divorce decrees, to be made or moved absolute after the expiry of three months, were granted by Mr Justice Fair and Mr Justice Callan in the Supreme Court. In most cases the decree was granted after proof had been given that the parties had been separated for more than three years. A petition for divorce on the ground of separation by mutual agreement was brought by the Rev. Dr. Cyprus Richard Mitchell against Lillian Mitchell. Petitioner said they were married in Melbourne in 1928 and a month later his wife and he left for Seattle, his intention being to get a Congregational Church there. They were of incompatible temperaments and agreed to separate in June, 1930. His wife obtained a position as house-mother at Pullman College. Washington, and he studied for the degree of doctor* of philosophy at Yale University. Petitioner said they parted on most friendly terms, agreeing to go their own way. After he obtained his degree he returned to Australia and she remained in the United States. In 1934 he went to Wellington to take charge of the Unitarian Church there, and remained there for nearly two years, when he came to the Unitarian Church in Auckland. He had been there nearly three years and intended to live permanently in New Zealand. Mr Justice Fair granted a decree nisi.