[CIVIL SITTINGS].

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 147, 21 June 1880, Page 2

[CIVIL SITTINGS].

This Day. Sca>fe v. Bo.ddinyion and others. Mr Fell appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Percy Adams for Willliaui Boddington, Agnes Boddington, and Robert Boddington, sen., the defendants. The following jury was bworn :— J. W. Barnicoat (foreman) W WeHs, A Muir, T. Cawthron, J. Gully. li' Wcller, J. llochfort, S. H.Pike, C. H. Brownj R. Levien, J. H. Cock, and J. S. Cross, jun. Mr Fell, in opening, stated his case as follows :— Mr Scaife, the plaintiff, was the trustee for the creditors of William Boddington, who had been the landlord of the Bellgrove Inn, and was brother-in law to Mr Sedgwick and Mr Gowland, tanners. In 1875 Sedgwick and Gowland were indebted to the Bank of New South Wales, which required some security from them before granting further accommodation. They undertook to get a bond from William Boddington, and this was executed in January, 1876, and was to cover £800 of whatever overdraft the Bank might grant, the parties to the' bond being Robert Boddington, sen., William Boddington, and Sedgwick and Gowland. Matters went on, and Sedgwick and Gowlaud's positiou became gradually worse, uutil the security was pressed for by the Bank, which, in 1879, made a formal demand for the amount covered by Boddington. In April of that year Boddington, it now appeared, executed a deed conveying his property to his wife. Immediately after making the formal demand the Bank commenced an action, and everything was ready for the trial at the first sittings of the Court in December, 1879, but on the 12th of that month, a day or two before the trial was to commencs, William Boddington signed a declaration of insolvency. In the statement of his accounts hi 3 creditors were thirteen in number, and the umount of his liabilities was set down at £1138, of which £800 was owing to the Bank. The assets consisted of household furniture and effects £50, stock-in-trade £30, and book debts £150, in all £230. The creditors did not approve of this, and called the debtor before them and cross-examined him aa to what ho had done with his property, as he had always had the reputation of being a man of means. Then came out all about, the deeds of settlement upon his wife. It appeared that when he gave the deed to the Batik he certaiuly was a man of fair means. Ho had bought one piece of land for £410, and another for £180, and these were in his possession, one of them being encumbeced to the exteut of £100. He also had a quantity of horses, cattle, and farm implements, valued at about £SCO The creditors wanted to know what had become of all this property, when it appeared that in 1879 u'e had settled it all on his wiftf, except book debts, furniture, and stock-in-trade. lie had, in fact, divested himself of all his property but these. It further appeared that Mrs Morrison, the owner of • the Bellgrove Inn, had £50 rent due to her, which nearly absorbed the furniture and stock-in-trade. Mr Scaife had endeavored to realise the book debts, and had so far succeeded in getting in £30 ss, and hoped to pet in'£2o more," and this was the total result- of a man who ,was. worth at.least £1000. It wtjs on account of this that the. creditors sought to have the deeds of settlement on his wife declared fraudulent and void. Mr Scaife was then called, and examined as to tie results of tho sale of furniture &c, and of the book debts, and cross-examined by Mr Percy Adams with a view to showing

that there was a probability of more of the book debts being realised, and that he had not offered the lease of the. /Bellgrove Inn for ;sale. . " '--.■"? Richard Jenkins gave evidence as to the bond to the Bank, and also to the effect that he appeared as a creditor for £200. Sedgwick and Gowland had pressed him, when acting manager in Nelson, to extend the overdraft to £1000, but this he had declined to do. lie had, however, advanced them £200 of hia own, for which he received Boddington's promissory note. On tbi; 10. h January, 1876, he gave Sedgwick thebond to take to the Boddingtona. It was brought back. to him signed by Robert Boddington, sen., and W. Boddington. It was then in the same state as now, except that the bits of paper were not on the sWls. He could swear to the signature of W. Boddington. \ Thebond was here put-i n with wafers affixed to it. Mr Percy Adams objected to its being put in, on the ground that the attesting witness to W. Boddington's signature had not been called, and that the document had been tampered with-by -.affixing the wafers. His Honor : On what authority do you object ? , .••'.■ , , Mr P. Adams : I -think; the -signature ought to be attested. : His Honor : But it is of no use for you to think unless you are prepared to produce authority for your opinion. I think bond is'admissable. In cross-examination,' Mi; "Jenkins stated that between 1873 and 1875 Sedgwick arid Gowland had a fluctuating account, but never had a large credit balance. Of the £200 lent by him he had received £86. All the blanks oq the bond except the dates -^were filled in- before it .was sent to Boddington.: He was perfectly qure that the seals were on this 1 bond' when- it 'was v sent to Bod- ; dington. They were there when Sedgwick executed the bond on bringing it back from Boddington. The papers were not on the seals then, and he did not know of their being there untiLhe saw the document six months Mr Boulton,- (eller dt the Bank, deposed to making the necessary 'preparation of the bond and to attaching the wafers to it before banding it over toMr Jenkins, by whom it was handed to Sedgwick to take to Boddihgton. The wafers-were on it when it came back. He put the papers_6n them- By order of the manager. Cross examined i Could possitively swear that the whole of the seals were attached to the bond wheu Jenkins handed it to Sedgwick to take to Boddington. Michael Hunt, the sheriff's officer of the Supreme Court, stated that he was employed to take possession of Boddington's chattels, at the Bellgrove Inn. Buddington refused to give up the letters and books, and said that everything else belonged to Mrs Morrison Subsequently he allowed him to take the inventory (produced). This closed the evidence for the plaintiff. Mr Percy Adams, in opening for the dofence, stated that in December, 1875, the bond was executed, and it was not until two years and three quarters later that any demand was made. Then Sedgwick and Gowland became bankrupt, and the Bank put the bond in force. His Honor : You appear now to be entering upon a question of law, and therefore one which is not for the jury to decide. Mr Adams continued: Boddington failed in 1879, and evidence was taken under bankruptcy, and all his property except that included in the settlements to his wife was sold. Now the trustee was contending to upset those settlements, but he contended that at the time of making the settlements, his liabilities, exclusive of the sureties to the Bank and Mr Jenkins, which were not then debts, amounted to only £81 12s, while his assets were worth over £400. It wa? a strong point in his client's favor, and totally against the assumption that he intended to defraud the Bank, that instead of putting away his money he purchased the land with it, which he had settled on bis wife. [The case was still proceeding when we went to press.]