BOY PEER'S FALSEHOOD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19418, 28 August 1926, Page 2 (Supplement)

BOY PEER'S FALSEHOOD.

STORY OF SECRET WEDDING, MIS-STATEMENTS AS TO AGE. A FINE OF FIFTY POUNDS. ECHO OF NIGHT-LIFE ROMANCE. In sensational fashion was re-echoed in London, recently, the romantic marriage of a young poor and the pretty daughter of a lady well known to frequenters of London night clubs. The couple concerned were suddenly missed by their friends in the Went End of London in March last, and a great stir resulted when it became known that they had been secretly married, and had departed to spend their honeymoon on the Continent. It now transpired in a prosecution before the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House that the peer made a false declaration for the purpose of obtaining the licence for the ceremony. He gave hig age as 22, whereas he is only 19. It was a romance of London night life that provided Edward Southwell Russell, Baron de Clifford, with a beautiful young bride, and incidentally ran him fcul of the law. He was married to Miss Dorothy Evelyn Meyrick, daughter of Mrs. Meyrick, known as the " Night Club Queen." That the couple had been close friends was well known in the circles wherein they moved, but few among their acquaintances had any idoa that a serious love affair existed between them until information leaked out that they had been married.

For some time before the wedding Miss Meyrick acted as manager of the Manhattan Club, in Piccadilly. Sho was educated at a girls' school near Brighton, and at Girton College, Cambridge. Immediately on leaving Girton she joined her mother in providing entertainment for late revellers in London. Baron do Clifford's mother was the boautiful Gibson girl, Miss Eva Carrington. On the death of Lord de Clifford, her first husband, following a motor accident, she married Mr. Arthur Stock, who died in the war, and her third marriage was to Mr, Vernon Tate, a wealthy landowner. The so-recent romance had a surprise when the young baron was summoned for " Having on March 10 last, for the purpose of obtaining from the Bishop of London a licence for the marriage between himself and Dorothy Evelyn Meyrick, knowingly and wilfully made a false oath as to his age, contrary to tho provisions of the Perjury Act." Mr. V. Frampton appeared to defend, and Mr. A. E. Clayton was for the Public Prosecutor. Story ol tho Marriage. Defendant, a tall, slim, fresh-com-plexioned, fair-haired youth, wearing a light grey suit, answered his nnmo immediately it was called, and stood at the solicitor's table. The young Lady do Clifford attended with her husband, and sat with hire at the back of tho court until he stepped forward. She is a darkhaired girl, and was fashionably dressed. Mr. Clayton remarked that the Lord Mayor was empowered under Soction 28 of the Criminal Justice Act to deal with the case summarily if he thought fit. The offence Was one punishable by a maximum fine of or six months imprisonment. Defendant declared at tho register office before a Mr. Cave that be was born on January 31, and was a bachelor, aged 22. This statement he signed, having t'ead it through, in the name of "Edward Russell." The statement was later embodied in aii affidavit which ho read through and iiigned. Asked when he had perused it if ho understood it, hp replied that the contents were true. He added he desired to be married at the Parish Church of St. Marylebona. The same night he saw the vicar ' there, and skid ho was going for his honeymoon the next day on the Continent, and it was arranged the marriage should take placo on the morrow, March 11. Again defendant gave the same particular:; He gavo his father as " Jack Russell, deceaaed, of the profession of engineer." The true facts, remarked Mr. Clayton, were these: Defendant's true name was Edward * Southwell Russell, and ihia father's true name was Jack Southwell Russell. Tho young man, who was the 26th baron, was born on January 31, 1907, and wan, therefore, 19 and a few months at tho time of his marriage. Being an infant, he required the consent of his guardian—his mother—who knew nothing about the marriage, and never consented to it; Counsel understood sho never would consent to it. The marriage was duly solemnised at the church, and the falso statements were entered in the register. Lord Clifford and his wife immediately afterwards left for tho Continent. Appeal foi "A Romantic View," Mr. Frampton, for the defence, appealed to tho Lord Mayor to j,ake "a romantic view" of the case. Ori hehalf of defendant he would plead guilty. The declaration that tho young man signed was of a legal nature, and Mr. Frampton did not think he would fully realise ne was making an oath as to his age. " I doubt very much," added counsel, " whether anyone on the eve oi bis marriage would be in a position to scrutinise a document like this and fully realise what it meant." The contents were not in tho simplest terms, and a layman might think he was swearing that there was no impediment of blood relationship. The Lord Mayor suggested that defendant was a man of means, to which Mr. Frampton replied: " No, he is not a man of means yet! Ho has to earn his own living at present. All he has been in receipt of is a discretionary allowance from trustees," Defendant was 19. and probably felt fre was equal to anyone aged 21 or 22. He fell in love with'a charming lady, and was desirous of marrj-ing her. Thinking the courso of true love might not run smooth, and that objections would bo raised, he did quite a foolish thing. Mr. Frampttin expressed the hope that the Lord MayAr would not think that in doing this in order to expedite the marriage he believed he was doing anything criminal. It would have been quite easy for him to have taken up temporary residence away from homo for three weeks and then to havo been married in a register office'. Then the !>ecrot would need to have been kept for only 12 months in order to avoid making it a penalty under the a law, but the young man went straight to a popular church in the district where the bride was living, and on the same day that they wero married the announcement appeared in the papers and the bride's mother was interviewed. An Inexcusable Offence. Mr. Clayton asked the Lord Mayor to deal with the case summarily. Mr. Frampton: Elsewhere a little homily would be read to my client, and he would be discharged. Hoping that will be the course here, 1 should also bo glad to havo the case settled in this court. Mr. Clayton: I don't think you should speculate. In pressing his plea Mr. Frampton remarked, " In the City of London many youngsters of 19 have carried on business when they ought not to have done, have had romantic careers, and have evsn become Lord Mayors." " Yes," retorted the Lord Mayor. " but they adopted straightforward means, I am quite unable to take your view cf the matter," He added that Lord de Clifford had taken a course that every man in the street know was wrong. There was no excuse at all, and he should not be doing his duty if he did not impose tho maximum penalty of £SO and ten guineas costs. Fourteen days were allowed in which to pay the fine.