SUPREME COURT.—SITTINGS IN DIVORCE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4242, 24 October 1874, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.—SITTINGS IN DIVORCE.

Fbiday, October 23. (Before His Honor Mr. Justice Johnston and a Special Jury.) DUNN V. DUNN. This case was continued on the Court resuming at 10 a.m., and Mr. Travers proceeded with evidence in support of the allegations. Emma Mowbray sworn, stated : I have known Mrs. Dunn twelve or thirteen years, and have visited her at her mother's house frequently. I have stayed two or three weeks at a time at Terawiti. The family were on most affectionate terms. I have seen Mrs. Dunn occasionally since her marriage, and noticed a very great change in her a few, weeks after her marriage. She got much thinner, lost her spirits, and frequently came to my house crying. I went to see her once after her return from Terawiti the last time. After that I received a letter from Mr. Dunn asking me not to visit his house again, because I was more or le3s connected with the MoManaman family, and he wished to break off all acquaintance. Mrs. Dunn frequently spoke to me about her relations with her husband and fretted. I told her it might come right in time, but did not advise her to assert her rights. I saw her on the evening of the 3rd or 4th of June, when she came to my house about two o'clock, her face was very much bruised, and her lip was cut and swollen, and her eye was black - ; she was very much disfigured. There was also a black mark on her side, which I saw the next night. When she came to my house she was in a very exhausted state. I never saw anything in her conduct indicative of rebellion against her husband. She was by habit particularly neat and tidy. Her house was very tidy before her child was born. The housework with two children would be very considerable. William Mowbray, sworn, stated : I am trustee under the will of the late Mr. McManaman. I know the family well, and have known Mrs. Dunn since she was twelve years old. Before her marriage she enjoyed very good health, and was of a very lively and amiable disposition. I have noticed a great change, both in her health and spirits, since her marriage. She became thin and pale, and was frequently in tears. The family of McManaman were particularly happy and affectionate. Mrs. Dunn has no property of her own except under her father's will. The whole property is left to Mrs. McManaman as long as she remains a widow. At her death or marriage the prop»rty goe3 to the children, to be divided on the youngest coming of age. The property when last valued was put down at £6OOO. I should value it higher than that. Mrs. Dunn came to my house on the night of the 3rd or 4th of June. She was very much bruised about the face, and her eye .was black. She was in great distress. The injuries were very severe. She stayed at my house for four or five days. ' James O'Shea, sworn, stated : I remember Mrs. Dunn coming to my house one night about seven or half-past seven o'clock. She was bruised about the face, her eye getting black, and her lip cut and swollen. She was in a great state of excitement. I knew Mrs. Dunn before her marriage. I saw her on one or two occasions after her marriage; but noticed no change. James McManaman, sworn, stated : I am a brother of the petitioner. I remember the night my sister left her husband. I was in AVellington that evening. I was called by Mr. O'Shea to go to my sister. My mother has maintained her and her children since she has been living out at Terawiti. I have had conversations with my sister about her husband, and always advised her to try the best she could to get on with him, saying that he might change. Cross-examined : When I went to Dunn's in the afternoon he quarrelled with me, and tried to push me out through the door. I asked him why he did so, and he said it was because I tried to set his wife against him. Re-examined : None of our family ever tried to set my sister against her husband. I have ljoanl mj- mutner and sister advise her to do the best she could with him.

This concluded the personal evidence, and Mr. Travers then put in a quantity of documentary evidence on the matter of a separation, which had been in course of negotiation, but which Mr. Dunn had withdrawn from.

This closed the petitioner's case. The Attorney-General opened the case for the respondent briefly, and called James Dunn, the respondent, who was . sworn and deposed : I was married to Mrs. Dunn in November, 1871, and had known her for about two years previously. I lived with my mother before my marriage. My wife had come to the house before our marriage, and she knew that she would live there with my mother. For the first week or fortnight, my mother was away; but my wife knew that she 1 was coming back. At Christmas, my wife 1 and myself went out to Terawiti, and returned i with my wife's sister. Up to this time, there . had been no unpleasantness between my wife ', and mother. The night we returned from Terawiti, at about 12 o'clock, we found my 1 mother apparently out of her mind. She left • the house, and I followed her and saw her go into the house of an acquaintance. She had not previously, nor has she since, shown signs 1 of insanity. My wife never complained about ' my mother; the latter never returned to live i in the house. Her raving was chiefly about . my wife's family and about me. She said unpleasant and unreasonable tilings. She re--1 moved her things next day, and said she had 1 been staying against her will. My wife's ■ sister still remained. My mother said she had , been sick in bed for two days during our absence, and had been unhappy. She seemed to 1 be put out about my marriage, saying that my wife had only married me so that my house could be a convenience for her family. My i mother was never brought back to live in the house after the occurrence mentioned. I bought, at my mother's, desire, a cottage adjoining for her to live in. I afterwards brought her back to my house on a visit, and my wife would not speak to her, giving as a reason, that her own mother had ordered her never again to let my mother enter the house. My mother kept a cow and fowls, and gave us milk and eggs. My wife was in the habit of going to see my mother frequently. This continued until my wife's visit to Terawiti in December, 1873. For five or six months before my wife went to Terawiti, my mother used to wash my clothes, and sometimes the baby's clothes. Previously, my wife'did not complain to me about the work, and require assistance. Immediately before the birth of the first child, Bhe asked for assistance, and I asked her to get a nurse. Her mother brought Mrs. Dougherty, whom I paid £1 a week and a bonus of £l. My wife told me she refused to take the extra pound, and left it with her. When I said that my wife's sister was to go away, I said it was because her mother had no right to give orders who should come and stay with us. I did not shake my fist at my wife when I told her this. It was not so late as 9 o'clock when her sister went away. My wife said, Well; if you won't let my sister stay, I'll go away. Next day Mrs. McManamen came to my house and seized me by the collar, and said, I have come to take away my daughter. She was scolding and sometimes crying, and threatened to throw mo in the fire. She repeated that she would take away her daughter. I said no, that my wife and I were living happily together. She admitted having told her daughter not to allow my mother to come in the house. She said that there had been an understanding that I should keep her children at school, and that I had invited them to come in and stay. I said there was no such arrangement or understanding, nor had there been. My wife never told me she had made such an arrangement. The affair about the boots was months after this. I am certain she used the expression about throwing me on the fire on this occasion. There was nothing said at this time about wool. Mrs. McManamen ÜBed to go to my house frequently after this while I was away at the office. There was no quarrel between my wife and myself up to the birth of our first child. She was pettish sometimes. Before the birth of the child the affair of the boots occurred. One Saturday evening she asked

me to go with Miss Dougherty and herself, to go out and buy a pair of boots. I declined, saying that there was not time before dark, but if she went she had better not go farther .than Manners-street. She went out, and returned with a pair of boots in about an hour and a half or two hours. She went to bed in a pet, without speaking to me. I burned the boots, but put no kerosene on them. I told her the next morning. Wo had a laugh over it, and I told her to get another pair. I went with her to get another pair. It is not a fact that previous to the birth of our first child I got into sulks for three or four days at a time and refrained from sleeping with my wife. lam not a total abstainer. There was no wine in the house when we were first married, and my wife never asked me to have any in the house. She knew I objected to it. Previous to the birth of the first child I got six or seven gallons of sherry wine. I don't remember being informed that my wife was ordered port wine. Within a short time after our marriage my wife told me that her mother had provided wine, and said it had better be sent for. I persuaded her to do without it, and give her friends tea when they called; she agreed with me. • Afterwards I discovered several bottles of wine in a cupboard. I left them on the table to show my wife that I saw she had broken faith. Next time I went to the cupboard I saw the bottles had been replaced there. My wife never told me that it was port wine she wanted at her confinement. I emptied the wine out when I saw it had been replaced. I told my wife about it afterwards, and she said her mother had sent it there against her will. My wife told me she did not approve of the nurse's treatment of the child. My wife and mother were on the best of terms up to the time of my wife going to Terawiti, and my mother constantly supplied food for the baby, and used to look after it whenever my wife wished to go out. When my wife was at Terawiti she used to write saying that she wished the new house was finished that she might be back, as she was happier with me. I used to reply to her letters, and at length wrote telling her to come back, that I was fretting for her and the baby. She replied setting me at defiance, sayiug that she would not come back to live with my mother. She came into town shortly after, and I saw her at my mother's, and we had dinner. I showed her over the Dew house, and asked her to return home. She said she would not live with my mother, and the house we had been living in was not good enough. I urged her to come back, but she still refused, and would not be friendly. I wrote to my wife after this, saying that since I had received her defiant letter I had not slept a wink, and that if she did not return shortly she might expect to hear of me as mad or worse. I'got no reply to that letter. When I went out to Terawiti to see my wife I asked her to get dressed and come home. She cried, give me the baby. I said I wanted to see the baby. She then attempted to take it from me. I stepped off the verandah and through a wicket, "and she clutched the baby's dress over the wicket. The baby began to cry, and Mrs. McManamen came, and as soon as she saw me she took a step back, and called, Dave ! Dave ! here is Mr. Dunn murdering my daughter, which she kept repeating, and came towards me when David came. At this time I was not illusing my wife,_ I was not touching her. When my wife saw Ashdown come she said if I would give her the baby she would come home. I gave her the baby, and she went into the house, leaving her mother and myself at the wicket. Mrs. McManaman abused me, and said If I had a doctor I would give you in charge for manslaughter ; how dare you come and take the baby without coming to me. I laughed at her, and followed my wife on to the verandah. I then turned abont and accused Mrs. McManamen of having turned my wife against me. She came towards me scolding and ultimately struck me in the face with her fist, and kept flourishing her hands in my face. She .said my mother was a vile, lying, mischiefmaking woman. When she struck me I struck her over the knuckles with a stick. We then all went inside. I found my wife determined not to return, although I repeatedly urged her to. I asked my mother-in-law to leave us alone, and she would not. I said I would complain to Mowbray, as he had control over the place. I then wanted my wife to give me the baby, but she would not. I went round behind the table towards her, and tried to take the baby away. She tried to keep the baby from me, and leaned . over it, and I tried to pull her back from it to take it away. Her sister then seized me by the coat and screamed, and Ashdown came and I let go. I did not seize her by the throat, nor did I do so outside previously. We then sat and talked until she consented to go home if I would allow her to go and lie down for a short time. She then walked out of the room to the bedroom, and lay down. She got flushed and excited, but there was no complaint about her throat. I sat beside her for an hour. Whenever she made an attempt to prepare to come away her mother prevented her. I fondled my wife, and had my arm round her neck, and kissed her repeatedly. Eventually I left, and my wife ran after me and clung to me, wanting me to stay. I said it was then too late for her to go that night. She wanted me to go back to the house, and she would come with me. I said it was of no use—that as soon as she got back to her mother her courage would fail. I then went away, and for some days afterwards I-wrote trying to arrange for her coming home. I sent out a trap for her. She wanted to remain at Terawiti for her confinement, and I was adverse to it, being so far from a doctor. I got Mr. Paterson to go out for her, and when he returned he said he could not undertake the responsibility of bringing her in, as she was too weak In May, Mr. Paterson and I brought my wife home. This was after her confinement. When we met I made an attempt to kiss her, but she avoided me. Mr. Paterson said, She does not want to come home. I asked why, and she said because I had said such things about her people. I asked her if she had treated me fairly about the baby. I said if she woidd not give the children up or come home I would take legal process to recover them. She complained of my having hurt her throat on the previous visit. I said I never touched her neck, and if it was hurt it must have been on the gate or the point of my stick when I tried to take the baby. She said it was done inside the house, and that David Ashdown saw it and could prove it. Eventually we came into town. After the previous visit to Terawiti, Mrs. McManaman said to me that she would never let her daughter come back to me ; that she had consulted a solicitor, and that she would keep the boy until he was twelve years old, and would make me pay. I said that my wife and I had been on the best of terms until she set her against me. Miss McManaman, who was present, said, And so she is yet, Mr. Dunn ; only it's your mother. She is always watching us when we go in to town. The night my wife and I returned, she was very distant in her manner. I wanted her to go and look at the new house, but she would not. She went to bed eai-ly, and took the two children to bed with her, and I slept at the foot of the bed. The next night I objected to sleep in that way, and said she should' put the baby in a cot, which was at the side of the bed. She did not do so, and I had to sleep as before. A 'towards, when I spoke on the matte she would not have any more childr She made up a bed in another rooir that I should sleep there or she wot should have the other. I did not j ( her after this. She always repelled', dearments of mine. During the ten da; my wife's last return, the friendly interc; of visits between her and my. mother did continue. I gave my wife , full liber quarrel with my mother whenever she p One evening when I told my wi' Mr. and Mrs. Paterson were coming t' Baid, Go back and tell them not Sh 3 complained that she had no freshment to offer them. Tr ever, and the child was chris' day we were invited to dii son's; but I did not go becaOn the night of the 3rd of sitting on my knee, and »,,, and trying to persuade her \, me as she had been before She sprang up and struck me. The'tw

did so was because I had said she. was not behaving like a" woman of flesh and blood at all. When she struck me, she went over to the opposite side of the room. I sat still and said, Do not strike me again, or you'll como to grief. I then walked across and kissed her. On the last day there was something about a photograph of herself, which I had colored and given to her to put in her album. I complained of her giving the portrait to her sister, and told her that I had burned it. I had burned it- When I remonstrated with her about giving away the photograph, she said she would do as she liked about it, that I did not seam" to value the original. I said she was doing all she could to annoy me, and drew her attention to the filthy state of the carpet and bedroom, and the house generally. The room was very iiutidy and dirty. I thought the house was left intentionally dirty and untidy. I did not call her a dirty —, and did not say to the child, Sonny, what a— — your mother is. I used no such expression. I said the place was only fit for pigs. She then threw the milk at me, and I got up and beat her, and pulled her wedding-ring off. She then went out. I did not use foul expressions towards her during the teu days of her last stay with me. When my wife made up a bed in another room for me, she locked the door of her bedroom against me. I was not in the habit of keeping, my wife from going to amusements. We -used to go to entertainments; but several times when she wanted to go to concerts, I did not allow her. Mr. Traveia cross-examined the witness at some length. Farquhar McLeod sworn, stated : I lived near Mrs. McMauaman's both before and after her daughter's marriage. Some little time after the marriage Mrs. McManaman told me she did not like the elder Mrs. Dunu living, with her daughter, and that she would try to get her put away from the house. Rev. James Patersou, sworn, stated : I have known Mr. and Mrs. Dunn during the time of their married life, and was in the habit of calling on them, but I did not notice anything unfriendly between them. In May, 1874,1 went with Mr. Dunu to fetch Mrs. Dunn in from Terawiti. She showed extreme reluctance to tome home. One day after that I appointed an evening to go with Mis. Paterson to spend an evening with them. Mrs. Dunn seemed dull, and in low spirits. Cross-examined : I went out to Terawiti on a previous occasion, at. Mr. Dunn's request. I saw Mrs. Dunn, and she was quite unfit for the journey home. On one occasion I was shown some of Mr. Dunn's letters to his wife, but after reading the first page of one, I put them aside, and said I would rather not read any more, they were too painful. I was shocked. When I told Mrs. Dunn my errand in going to Terawiti, her eyes filled with tears, and she said, Mr. Paterson, if you had come to ask me to go to gaol for five years, I should have been better pleased. I said, if such is your feeling, I cannot try to persuade you. You must decide for yourself. Her mother also said she must decide for herself. She afterwards went out with me to where Mr. Dunn was waitiug. They had a conversation, and she asked him to allow her to keep the cliildren, or one of them. He would not, and asked me to go over to the hou3e and demand the children. I said it would be an unpleasant scene, and I would rather not. When Mrs. Dunn saw that her husband was determined either to have her home or separate her from the children, she consented to go home with him. We then all came in to Wellington. I visited Mrs. McManaman's at Terawiti before Mrs. Dunn was married, and I entertained a very high opinion of the family, particularly of Mrs. Dunn. I also knew Mr. Dunn previously, and entertained-a very high respect for him, which I have not even now lost. I think he is laboring under some delusion in this case.

This completed the evidence for the respondent. The Attorney-General addressed the jury -briefly, contending that there was no evidence of cruelty on the part of the respondent to justify a separation. It must Jj3 admitted that he had struck his wife, but' it was in the passion of the moment, brought on by her conduct. There was no evidence, he said, beyond the statement of the petitioner that they had lived unhappily together. The learned gentleman also briefly reviewed portions of the evidence.

Mr. Travers replied at considerable length, in an able speech. His Honor summed up, and directed the jury as to the issues they had to decide. After a short retirement the jury returned •with a verdict to the effect that the respondent was guilty of acts of cruelty towards the petitioner, and that she left him by reason of such cruelty. The Court then adjourned at 6.30 p.m.