MARRIED A STRANGER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15375, 9 August 1913, Page 2 (Supplement)

MARRIED A STRANGER.

WANTED A FARM, NOT A WIFE ■'.-'.' -- .' ■ A DrvoncE on ; the grounds of • cruelty , was sought at Dublin, by Mrs. Anne Madden, of Ratlikeale,. County - Limerick, from \ her husband, Michael Madden, a farmer. Mrs. Madden was first married.* in 1903 to Thomas Collins, who had a farm of [48 acres at Bally william, near Rathkeale, which had been purchased for £651,, and on which, there was payable only a small annuity. When she marriud Collins she brought £130 into the place. . Collins died in 1909, and in February, J 1910, she married her present husband. He had been a native of County Limerick, ';'■ but had been working on the .'; tramwayis under * the - London County Council. ;; Counsel' ] said he gathered that Madden heard about V the; widow and her farm; 7 because it was perfectly plain that he married the farm and not the widow. ■ His Lordship : She is complaining that he married her.

Counsel replied that she thought he was: marrying her., but ever since the marriage ] he had Deen doing his best to get rid of: the woman, whom he looked upon;as an encumbrance on the ; farm. On the marriage in February, 1910, the 4 petitioner most foolishly assigned the : farm and stock and everything on the place to him in consideration of £150—£lb0 for a farm which was worth £1000. The very next' month, March, he began to tell: her she was only, a lodger in the, house, ,'that: ire.could put her out at any moment, and Ji© proceeded: to assault her-, ; by catching her by the hair of the head, /which was ;i sometimes pulled out. He dragged her about, struck her in the face, kicked her, : and called her the vilest names.;: She was forced to fly out of the house several times and seek the protection of the police. In July or August, 1912, the . respondent;/ introduced a brother of his named John into ]'. the house, and counsel had no doubt that to; a great extent the terrible friction between this married pair was due to; John's presence. The respondent had got the farm, and wanted to keep the* brother there and get. rid of the wife. [' •• " ,"' The petitioner, a middle-aged woman,: gave evidence bearing out counsel's statement. - "'''-"VV'-'-'-O"''''.'-. '■:'"'■■'■■■'i -"'r-: ■;■''.•;

Mr. Powell: What was Madden before you married . bam?—Oh, T. didn't know the man at all. (Laughter.) ; His Lordship : How did yoa come to marry him? —Petitioner : I knew him only for about two weeks, and didn't know what he was. Mr. Powell: Hal ho been working> in England ?—1 'know nothing further about him. After the mv.rriage, said the petitioner, he began to bent her, and threw her outside the door "many; a time a day." .: . .' , . , In cross-examination petitioner admitted that she had been bound over; to keep the peace at the instance of her husbanu.. uia you admit at the petty sessions putting salts in the kettle containing the boiling water for the tea?—l didn't do ft. Did you say it was no harm to do it? Yes, and euro it is no harm. (Laughter.) You told the magistrates ib was a most healthy thing to take? —Certainly. \ V" Petitioner admitted that her flvst husband, Collins, had summoned her for assatilt and she had summoned: him. She had frequently summoned her present; husband and he had summoned her. - . His Lordship suggested a settlement between the parties, pointing out that iv the case proceeded the whole of the- farm property would be lost in litigation. : Mr.. Fleming, K.O. (for respondent) ; The'.wife': demands £20 a year as a charge on' the lands, and the husband cannot pay that/: Mr. Powell, K.C. : He must remember that the farm was the wife's. : Mr. Fleming : My client refuses absolutely to pay that. His Lordship : If he does-he will find himself in the workhouse. :,The :re- - ; spondent then agreed to pay his wife 7s 6d a week, and a separation was arranged by consent.. ■-, ':.:■.'■-i^-^i P. I V: