50 DIVORCE DECREES IN AUCKLAND

Southland Times, Issue 23678, 29 November 1938, Page 7

50 DIVORCE DECREES IN AUCKLAND

MINISTER INCLUDED IN NUMBER (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, November 28. About 50 divorce decrees to be made or moved absolute after expiry of three months were granted by Mr Justice Fair and Mr Justice Callan in the Supreme Court. In the majority of cases the decree was granted after proof had i been given that the parties had been separated for- more than three years. A petition for divorce on the ground of separation by mutual agreement was brought by the Rev. Dr Cyprus Richard Mitchell against Lillian Mitchell. The petitioner said they were married in Melbourne in 1928 and a month later his wife and he left for Seattle, his intention being to get the Congregational Church there. They were of incompatible temperaments and agreed to separate in June 1930. His wife obtained a position as house mother at the Pullman College, Washington, and he studied for the degree of .doctor of philosophy at Yale University. The petitioner said they parted on the most friendly terms, agreeing to go their own way. After he obtained his degree he returned to Australia and she remained in America. In 1934 he came to Wellington tc take charge of the Unitarian Church there and remained there for nearly two years, when he came to the Unitarian Church in Auckland. He had been here nearly three years and intended to live permanently in New Zealand. Mr Justice Fair granted a decree nisi.