ACTIONS FOR DIVORCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17780, 13 May 1921, Page 7

ACTIONS FOR DIVORCE.

EIGHT DECREES GRANTED.

MARRIED A YOUNG WIFE.

OLD MAN'S PETITION.

Eight divorces were granted by Mr. Justice Adams in the Supreme Court yesterday.

'I he unhappy marriage of a man whose wife was 50 years his junior was described by Walter Charles Martin (Mr. Houston), who sought a divorce from Daisy Frances Martin on the ground of desertion. Tho marriage took place in 1899, when the petitioner wac 49 years old and the respondent 19. There were two children, both girls. Petitioner said that at first the marriage was quite happy. Towards the end ol 1915 his wife said she would like to go to Sydney to have an operation performed. He gave her £100 for her expenses. On the morning of her departure informed him she was never coming bacK, and she wanted a divorce. He told her that if she was still of the same mind in a year's time he would let her have it. He wrote to her twice appealing to her to come hack for the sake of the children, and ho offered her £350 a year if she would. One letter was returned unopened. " Nursed a Grievance."

I In the course of the letters, the pctii tioner said: " I have always loved and ! cared for you. I have gone over the years | we have lived together, year by year, and j they were not all unhappy years by any i means. It has not been altogether the wide difference in our ages that has brought about the trouble, but rather the difference in disposition. ... I know full well I should have put myself on one side long ago and given all my love and care to you, and this terrible thing would not have happened. But instead of that I have nursed a grievance which made me unhappy." " I Could Never Go Back."

In letters to the petitioner the wife wrote: "I hate doing it, but I could never go back, never. If I were starving it would be just the same. ... It would be a living death. lam happier now than T have ever been, just earning my own living. The feeling of independence is like new life to me. ... I know you were good to me, only I could not pay the price. ... It has nearly broken my heart to give the girls up, and I think you will admit I never faded in my love for them, but I failed in all else, and I could never forget your words that I stayed only for the money, when all these years it has been my girls that have kept me from this step. ... If you can forgive and forget, I shall always be grateful, and I should like yon to know that if I ever did have anything to forgive, I have done so. . . . You mention the girls coming over to see me, and there is nothing would give me greater happiness, but, why, oh, why do you always talk about the expense. I cannot remember your ever doing anything" in your life without first bewailing the cost. ... I am forced to believe you love your money the most."

A decree nisi was granted. Sequel to Bogus Marriage.

i A sequel to a recent criminal prosecution in which a " mock marriage" between a young was revea'ed was provided in the petition of Clementina Neary (Mr. Dickson) against A'bert Edward Neary. The petitioner siid she was married in Auckland in 1909, had one child, and was deserted by her husband in 1916. Reference was made to the conviction of a young woman on a charge of making a false declaration, in registering the birth of a child, that she was married to Neary. It was stated the woman did not know at the time that a marriage ceremony performed was a bogus one. In reply to the Judge counsel said the man who posed as the clergyman was not prosecuted, owing to the fact that the time allowed by law had expired. His Honor said the offence was a very serious one. A decree nisi was granted. " He never made a home for me," said Dulcie Margaret Petterson (Mr.' Sinper), in her evidence against Olaf Alfred Patterson. Petitioner added that her husband went to Sydney in 1914, and promised to send for her and the two children, but had not done so. A decree nisi was granted.

Husband's Drunken Habits. A husband's drunken habits and failure to maintain his wife formed the ground of a petition by O ive Graham (Mr. Singer) against Sylvester Auckland Graham. Petitioner said she was married in 1909 and because of the respondent's drunkenness and neg'ect she had to leave him in 1914. There were two children. A decree nisi was gTanted. A statement that the parties lived together fair'.y happi'y for 13 years, but that the husband then began to drink to excess and finally deserted his wife, was made during the hearine of the petition bv Bertha Georgina Brown (Mr. McL''ver) for dissolution of her marriage with Thomas Brown. The petitioner said she had maintained herself since 1916. A decree nisi was granted. Desertion was the ground upon which James Appleby (Mr. Houston) sought a divorce from Isabella Jane Appleby. Petitioner said the marriage took place in 1899, and in 1915 his wife left him because she was tired of him. The Judge granted a decree nisi. In consequence of the failure of Margaret Busse'l to with an order for restitution of conjugal rights, John Russell (Mr. Singer) was granted a decree nisi.

* In similar circumstances Muriel Selina Nhrden (Mr. piekson) was granted a divorce from Ephraim Norden.