DIVORCE PETITIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19719, 19 August 1927, Page 14

DIVORCE PETITIONS.

UNDEFENDED CASES.

BUSY DAY AT THE COURT.

MANY MARRIAGE FAILURES. About 40 undefended divorce' petitions were heard in the Supremo Court yesterday before Mr. Justice Herdman. "We were married in 1919, and were happy until my husband developed nocturnal habits," said Florence Maude Haysom (Mr. Matthews), who sought a divorce from Herbert Haysom on the grounds of misconduct. "What do you mean by nocturnal habits?" the Judge asked, and Mr. Matthews replied: "He was out late at nights and would go away on his own." His Honor remarked that this was the first time he had heard this definition. A decree nisi was granted. Arthur Monro was the third party in the case in which Milton" Barnard Keane ■ (Mr. Dickson) sought divorce from Emma Blanche Keane, from whom he had been separated sinco 1923. Petitioner stated that his wife had lived in Australia and in New Zealand, as the wife of Monro. An admission to this effect by the wife was handed in. A decree nisi was granted. A divorce was sought by John Thomas Kite'(Mr. Sullivan) from lvv Hazel Kite, on the ground of misconduct with Joseph Ross, who was named as co-respondent. A decree nisi was granted. Misconduct formed the ground of a divorce sought by Agnes Eliza Binnie (Mr. Matthews),' against Alexander James Binnie. Petitioner said her married life had been made unhappy through the loose habits of her husband. He was at present serving a term of imprisonment, and she had been forced Iq support two of her three children. A decree nisi was granted. Drunkenness and Cruelty. Drunkenness and violent cruelty were alleged by Ida Lillian Roach (Mr. Sellar), who sought divorce from Thomas Michael Roach, to whom she was married in February, 1914. She stated that her husband went to the war without making any allowance for her. She left him in August, 1923. A decree nisi was granted. Similar trouble was described in the case in which Emma Jane Laurensen (Mr. Sellar) petitioned for divorce from Alexander Laurensen. The marriage took place in 1907 and petitioner stated that after 1919 her husband became an incurable drunkard. A prohibition order taken out in 1922 did no good. A decree nisi was granted. "My husband was drunk nearly every night almost from the time we were married," said Olive Robinson Curzon, who alleged drunkenness, cruelty and failure to maintain against William Robert Curzon. A decree nisi was granted. A Lengthy Absence. Desertion was the ground ot the petition of Janet Brash O'Neill (Mr. Glaister) for dissolution of her marriage with Frederick Slade O'Neill, who had left her to go to America on business in February, 1923, and had not returned. A decree nisi was granted. A mutual separation agreed on in August, 1919, was the ground of a petition by Minnie Bolero (Mr. Butler). Petitioner said she had married Martin Bolero at Russell in May, 1914. He went to the war, and returned in 1919. Shortly afterwards they had a dispute over the re spondent's conduct with another woman and they agreed to separate. A decree nisi was granted. On the ground of desertion Isabel Brown (Mr. Conlan) was granted a decree nisi against Maurice Stephen Brown, to whom she was married in 1908. Petitioner stated that respondent went to America in January, 1919, having become involved with another woman.

Wilmot Russell Russell (Mr. Thorne), of Helensville, who was married to Arthur Russell at Gisborne in August, 1914, sought divorce from him on the ground of desertion. A decree nisi was granted. A story of a wife who left her home suddenly, taking all her property and refusing to return, was told by Thomas Shaw (Mr. Singer). Petitioner said he had been married to Daisy May Shaw in August, 1921, and they separated in November, 1922. Respondent was earning her own living as a nurse. A decree nisi was granted. On the ground of a summary separation obtained at Whangarei in 1914 Bertha Mary Clark (Mr. Steadman) sought divorce from WNliam Henry Clark, to whom she was married in June, 1399. Petitioner said her married life had been very stormy, and she had obtained a judicial separation on the ground of cruelty. There were six children nf the marriage. A decree nisi was granted. A Brief Married Life. A marriage in which the parties remained together for only a brief time was disclosed by Arthur Herbert Mills (Mr. Ilolmden), house decorator, who petitioned for divorce from Charlotte Elizabeth Mills Petitioner stated that he had been married in London in March, 1916, and in the following , May they agreed to separate. A decree nisi was granted. Another marriage very quickly followed by separation was that of Samuel Keesing (Mr. Havnes) who was married to Mar garet Keesing at Auckland in April. 1900. There was one child of the marriage and from August, 1900, to the present time the parties had lived apart. A decree nisi was granted. A decree nisi was granted in the case in which Maria Hilda Litihina Bright (Mr. Moody) sought divorce from Bertram -John 'Bright on the ground of desertion. 4 On the ground of desertion dating from December, 1923, Barbara Emily Faulkner (Mr. Milne) petitioned for divorce from Wellington Thomas Faulkner. Petitioner stated that her husband had gono to Australia. fn May, 1924, she went to Australia with her father and mother to try to find her husband, but they failed to trace him. A decree nisi was granted. Further Petitions Granted. A divorce was granted to Katherine Stainforth Matthews (Mr. West) against Basil Garland Matthews on the ground of desertion. It was stated that petitioner was in Fiji and respondent in London. The parties had not lived together since 1912. The petition was granted. Decrees nisi on the ground of non-com-pliance with orders for the restitution of conjugal rights were granted to Alfred Price (Mr. Matthews) against Violet Blanche Price; to Florence Rose Muriel O'Shea (Mr. Matthews) against James Edward O'Shea; to Thomas Hastie (Mr. C. A. Snedden) against Ethel Constance Hastie. On the grounds of mutual separation decrees nisi were granted on the petit-ions of Harriett Maim (Mr Ready) against Arnold William Mann; of Walter Jane (Mr. C. A. Snedden), against Lavinia Jane; of Robert Raymond McEwen Kidd (Mr. Ready) against Mary Hilda Kidd: of Gladys Annie Clare Clark (Mr. Prendergast) against Wilbert Stanley Clark; of Elizabeth Payne (Mr. Bennett) against Alfred Payne: of Edith Ida Payne. (Mr Dickson) against Theodore Wallace Payne; and of Julia Samuel (Mr. Fotheringham) against Edward John Samuel.