Mrs. Elmsley Granted a Separation Order

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 737, 9 August 1929, Page 1

Mrs. Elmsley Granted a Separation Order

CRUELTY NOT STATED NO MAINTENANCE ORDER Letitia Anne Elmsley was granted a separation order against her husband, Peter Alexander Elmsley, a farmer, of Waerenga, by Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., at the Magistrate’s Court this morning. jy£R. R. E. FAWCETT, for Mrs. Elmsley, asked for tlie order on tlie grounds of persistent cruelty, but Mr. Noble, representing respondent, objected. He was quite Satisfied tbat. the order should be made by consent but not on the grounds of cruelty. Mr. Noble suggested tbat the order be made on account of intention to fail to maintain and, to this, Mr. Fawcett was agreeable. The magistrate asked whether a guardianship order was asked for in respect to the two children, but Mr. Fawcett said that he did not think his client in a fit state to take care of them. Counsel also waived the question of a maintenance order and costs.

Elmsley was acquitted at the Supreme Court on Monday on a charge of failing to provide his wife with the necessities of life, so that her life was endangered, and the case excited wide interest on account of the pathetic story told in the Magistrate’s Court by Mrs. Elmsley. The application tor separation was first called before Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., last Friday, when an adjournment was made on account of the non-appearance of defendant or his counsel.