GIRL TO REPAY £300

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21716, 3 February 1934, Page 2 (Supplement)

GIRL TO REPAY £3OO

WIDOWER S WOOING AT 54 UNUSUAL ENGLISH CASE MAN WINS HIS SUIT "An accident in the matrimonial stakes," was the description applied by counsel to an action in a Manchester Court recently, in which Mr. Alfred Ernest Brown claimed from Miss Edith Brittain the return of £3OO, which, he declared, was paid to her on a promise of marriage, which she failed to keep. . . Counsel for plaintifl said that Mr. Brown was 54 and Miss Brittain "4. Miss Brittain admitted receiving the money, and also that she refused to marry Mr. Brown, but denied that the £3OO was paid to her in consideration of marriage, and said it was a gift. Miss Brittain lived at the hotel with her mother and stepfather. Mr. Brown visited the hotel, and they were all extremely kind to him when his wife died in July, 1932. Hp genuinely desired Miss Brittain to marry him, and in May, while they were at a Manchester theatre, he asked her if she would do so. Mr. Brown drew Hypericin in a sweepstake on the Derby, and. won £3OO. He had told Miss Brittain that when they were married he would settle £IOOO upon her. Tha day after the Derby he called to sne Miss Brittain and she agreed to marry him. He then endorsed the cheque lor £3OO, and it was paid into her account. On June 21 Mr. Brown iook Miss Brittain to a jeweller's and bought her

an engagement ring, for which he paid £B7, and she Avore it. Counsel went on to say that Miss Brittain went to Blackpood for a holiday. Mr. Brown afterward noticed a cooling-off in her attitude, and she said she had been writing to a young man at Accrington for 12 months, and had arranged to meet him Avhen she went to Blackpool. While defendant was at Blackpool Mr. Brown wrote a letter, in which he stated that the remainder of the £IOOO would be placed to Miss Brittain's account on the day they were married, and the house would he built while they \rere on their honeymoon in Australia. There was no reply. On her return, Mr. Brown saw Miss Brittain at her home, and she remarked, " Oh, the engagement is off." She agreed to keep certain presents he had bought her, but insisted on returning the engagement ring, and said. " 1 will give you the £3OO back, too." Defending counsel asked Mr. Brown if he had offered Miss Brittain two £lO notes to get dresses to go to Ascot. Mr. Brown replied that he had not. Counsel submitted that the claim for the return of the money was merely

part of a campaign by plaintiff to punish defendant for refusing to marry him. Miss Brittain never wanted to marry plaintiff, but his generosity and his kindness made her anxious not to Tmrt his feelings. " It was monstrous to suggest she wanted to make money out of this deplorable affair," added counsel. ' Judgment was given for Mr. Brown, with costs.