A. LANCASHIRE BEEACH OF PROMISE Damages E259.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 200, 23 April 1887, Page 5

A. LANCASHIRE BEEACH OF PROMISE Damages E259.

On Wednesday inoi uin;:, .\i; Lew X Williams, Q.C., and a jiuy u in the !■ h lillh Court, at. MiincliLsL 1 , to.i- i s the di'iiiaci/..^ in a Miir. bi ought by Vuiha (!u»igiiiti Martin, attendant at Mump.i Restaurant, Oldham, against Joseph Platt, aKo of Oldham, for breach of prom is • of marriage. The action had been brought in tlu- High Court, and judgment had been allowed tv go by default, after which £25 had been paid into eonit. Air K. Ascot, .solicitor, appeared for the plaintiff, and the defendant neither appeared nor Mas he represented. — Mr Ascroffc said that this action was brought by the plaintiff to recover damages. Judgment was signed by default, and the jury had now to assess the damages she had sustained. The interlocutory judgment was signed on the 22nd December, and on tho 10th January £25 pound was paid into com t, and that was not sufficient. The young lady was one of the principal attendants at the Mumps Restaurant, M'hcre the defendant was in the. habit of taking his meals. He was an architect and surveyor, and paid £100 before he was articled. When he had served his articles his employers thought so highly of him that they returned the £100. They did not ask for exemplary damages, but only for what they M r ere faii-ly entitled to. The young lady had to a certain extent been publicly engaged since 1882, and as defendant had chosen to break off the engagement she considered she was justified in letting qhe reason be known. From the letters that would be read it would be seen that this was not by any means a case of mere flirtation ; and he might mention that the letters began with two or thiee sheets dwindled down to a little halfpenny po-tcaid (laughter.) Dividing the letter into ihiee bundles he might describe them as belonging to three periods, like the flowers. There was the budding period, before the engagement, then there was the flowering period, and last of all came the peiiod of decay, represented by the halfpenny postcard (renewed laughter). The letters at first commenced " My dearest Georgina,'' and ended " From your ever faithful lover." On Nov. 21st, 1882, he wrote: — "You may be sure, my darling, tnat I missed our walk on Sunday night, for I did so dearly love to be with you. Ido so long to have you near me always, and am looking forward with hopefulness to the time when I shall be able to make you my dear, dear wife.'' That justified the girl in going with him. In the same letter he Avrote further — " I know that you are and m ill be ti ue to me, and I will at all times remember that you are my promised wife, and I will be faithful to you." He (Mr Ascroft) did not refer to the letters to expose the man, but to show by his words how the plaintiff cared for him, and how her health had been affected. On the sth December the plaintiff wrote :—": — " I long for the time to come that I may take you in ray arms and press your dear lips to inine,and to hear you tell mejagain with those pretty lips that you love me with all your heart." In his next letter the defendant seemed to have developed a religious turn of mind, so that they had both a religious man as well as a man of good position, for he wrote :—": — " 1 pray every morning, dearest that God may see fit to restore my darling to strong and roburst health ; and my dear Georgy, you must pray for the same. " In his next letter the defendant wrote :—": — " lam looking forward to the time when I shall have you all to myself. I have taken your engagement ring to be repaired." Writing at Christmas, 1885, the defendant said :—": — " Do you know I do so long to see you, my darling, and have such lots of sweet kisses which I know you will let me have." (laughter). The "decay" period began on April Ist, 1886— on "All Fool's Day"— when the defendant wrote: — "It is not so much the matter that occurred on Sunday night as the constant accusing me of seeing someone else that has annoyed me." Then the defendant went on making appointments, breaking them, and inducing the girl to give him up, and at length he told her that he was married. The plaintiff gave evidence in support of the above statement ; and said that she was twenty-two years of age ai.e the defendant twenty-five. He had told lor that ho was earning £3 a week and commission. The jury gave a verdku for £250, for which the assessor certified.