BREACH OF PROMISE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18333, 24 February 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)

BREACH OF PROMISE.

AN AMAZING INSTANCE, ; ; 1

WOULD-BE BRIDE GETS £300. - i'l A defaulting; bridegroom, whose 'v Bl 1 man" knew nothing of the proposed wgpi ding, was one of the figures 'in:: an actjJ t ait Leeds recently arising "out of th o tered romance of a young Leads woman It All the arrangements, even to the ad " dressing of boxes to contain the cake aitW cards for friends, wore made by the n*?. ■ but when everything was readyforTjj? m ceremony he could not bo found. . ~ < y^'s? The discoveries which were then ni'&tfpt by • the_ bride, Miss Dorothy Fisher * • described in the Leeds Sheriff's Cotirt Mr. Arthur Willy, M.P., who ■ said iSS~ r addresses on the cake boxes were |J»V to be fictitious. , "This is the moat extraordinary cm* t' have known in 30 years' experience " u ■ said, when, on behalf of Miss Fisher 1 V s '"- sought damages for breach of promi^ Defendant was described as F» Stanley Naylor, -a blouse manufacture?' of Nottingham. • tfr' Counsel explained that the cersmrn,., '■ was fixed for October 3 at St. Stt*lj2?l : ?.'- Church, Kirkstall, Leeds, where : V - Fisher's father was landlord of the V per Gate Hotel. A proposal of mari £ r. was made last May, and Naylor, who * . 40 years of age, said he was Jiving at'isfe ' United Services Club, at Nottingham ' 1 He went to Leeds two or three timet' i week, usually staying at an hotel in tjM 1 city,, buit he also spent several week-end f ® at his sweetheart's house last summer '1 He spent his holidays .it BridlingtonV 1 1 with Miss Fisher and some friends, I tinued counsel. Later he invited her/ Nottingham, taking rooms at a H hotel. Hb also took her to London fcp'B a day, and on the visit arrangement H were made for the wedding to take 'pU, f| on October 3. Naylor himself arraa«2 m Tor the publication of the banns si* ® Mr Willy. . ' ffrl

Wedding Dress Cost £40. ' The bride's family made extensive p reß . arations for the wedding, and £170 wn spent on her trousseau, including £40 f I a wedding dress. On the Monday befog the date of the wedding lie was <ctpecUi to go to Leeds for the week, and brin»fl' his best man, rooms having been Jf ranged for at the Great Northern Hotel He did not arrive, but wrote a saying that he would come next day. 0. Tuesday lie wired that he was coining on Wednesday. Miss Fisher went to the station to »«!»;•• him, but he did not. turn up. She got on the telephone and spoke to" 4 Mr. Burl who was supposed to be th» "best man." _'wiP

Mr.* Burley, said counsel, kn^l nothing about the proposed weddirie&M Moreover, an accidental remark by him led the girl - to fear that Naylor was tdv- ' ried. She wired to her sweetheart, and'*?. had a reply that ho could not get a • and was writing. „ '/ v m Thereupon she set off by motor with - fter brother-in-law and a friend and atrived at Nottingham, where she fciini: I that some of the addresses he had piitlilfi the cake boxes were false. v 1 She returned to Leeds, still clinging t# the belief that he would turn up for mliii wedding, but he did not appear." Fortunately, continued counsel, Mitt - * Fisher did not herself .go to the church, but the clergyman and ,some friends weni there ■ . JsSgßft Wile and Two Children. A later visit to Nottingham revest ■■ the fact that Naylor was a married man , living with his wife , and two children, » On first being challenged he,; admitted v: that he was married, but said he had not seen his wife for six years, and was tinder the impression that he could marry. Later he wrote an extraordinary letter to' Miss Fisher, in . vrhich he said:— ' "I am a married nan, but I thought!" was free. I, am still prepared .to get v special licence." | v ,' ' Mr. Willy added that Navlor had '$&?-! the effrontery to take Miss Fisher rro®tfe:! his works 'at Nottingham. 'He traded?'' under the name of Frank C. Skelton ani ] Co., Ltd. The company was said to ban gone into voluntary liquidation. 1 The . Acting-Under-Sheriff said Naylor" ! could have appeared to explain- his hi# haviour, but had" not" done so. He'anS® I with Mr. - Willy that it was a most ex-] traordinary case. V All the circumstances seemed -&- he 33 bad as they could be. ' *'■, , Mr. illy said Naylor had promised the woman £100 towards her expenses, 8 ® ' la( * • not received a copper. v The jury awarded £300 damages. ...--.rj'yy; ■"! v. •'"'pi-