Woman's World

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 216, 12 March 1914, Page 6

Woman's World

i REAL LIFE ROMANCE j RICH "ANKER AUDITS I'UDU IiIKL. I A roinautio story of the adoption ol j ii laborer's daughter )>v a rich bunker of | Cambridge and her subsequent marriage to an itaiian naval officer was unfolded in (lie Probate t'ourt' (London) recently. Tile action concerned the estate of lime. Emily Rose Perrin Bonnefoi, the la Honrs .laughter, The plaintiff:) wcr<! her sistirs and nephews and nieces, wim elalined to be the next of kin. The. defendants were the four daughters of Captain Joseph l'errin, late of tile Northainptoshire Regiment, a brother of Mine Honnefoi. Mr. Lewis Thomas. K.C., for the defendants, said the pliiintill's set up an intestacy, while the defendants sought to set up two documents cither as two j wills or as a will and what iu England would be a codicil to the lirst will. The ease was a peculiar one, as .the whole matter turned oil Italian law. Mine. Bonnefoi was born in 184! i the daughter of a laborer and innkeeper in Cambridgeshire. When a child she was adopted by a Mr. Michael Fostc:', of Little Shelford, and a banker of Cambridge. l'rom that time sli'e had practically 110 connection with the members |of her own family. In ISli.'i Mr Kos- | ter made a will leaving her considerable | property, and in ISfiS or 1870 he died, i MARRIED A CAPTAIN. I In September. 1808, she married u I captain in the Italian navy, and from that time became an Italian subject, re- ' taining her domicile until her death, I The husband died about two years later, j One of her brothers had entered the ■. British Army, and in 189S had become a quartermaster. Subsequently ho reached the rank of captain. He had four i daughters (the defendants). In 1898 he wrote to his sister, then at Venice, t and on December IS, ISIIB, she replied: Dear Brother, —You letter was indeed a surprise—quite a bolt from the blue —but so far from being vexed, it gave me sincere pleasure to hear »f your success in life and the position [ you have made for yourself without • any influence at all or money. The. struggle must have been a hard one. handicapped as you were in every way. Now it is all over, 1 hope you will live long to enjoy your success. 1 ' greatly rejoice to think of you as a fully-Hedged ollicer ill his Majesty's service. Our paths iu life are hardly likely to cross, and perhaps in many ways that is best. Your interests are all there and mine are here, but later on I should like to help your little sou, who, I hope, will follow his father's profession, j In January, ISDN, she wrote to her brother again, thanking him for a New Year greeting, and saying: I see your detachment is ordered to India, and are you going there? Please let me know. lam not asking this out of impertinent curiosity —but perhaps it is as well that I should not explain my reasons. Hut please when you write answer my question. Also tell ine the namo of .your litle boy. REMARKABLE LETTERS. On February 0, 1900, she said in a letter from Rome: Dear Joe,—By all means cash the cheque without delay, but if you are not in immediate want of money keep it for a rainy day. A letter from her in May of the same year contained the following:— I want to write to you and explain a little about certain matters of business which I should like you to know, and this note is only to say that I still have you in mind. Kiss little Jack for me. On October 7, 18!)!), lime. Bonnofoi wro,te the letter which Captain Perm's daughters propounded as a will. It was addressed to "My dear Joe," and in it lime. Bonnefoi said: 11' hat I told you I was going to write about was this: That at the present moment I am without a will {I destroyed one last year, intending to make another), and that, therefore, you are my heir, and, failing you, little Jaeky. I intend to make a will continuing this, but if anything should happen to me before, this is done, you are all right. Mmc. Bonnefoi also wrote to Mr. Eaden, solicitor, of Cambridge, giving him instructions to draft a will leaving all her property, after a few legacies to servants, to Captain Perrin, and, failing him, to his son Jacky. WILL NEVER EXECUTED. Counsel said that as a matter of fact the will was never executed. Captain Perrin and "little Jack" died, and on April 1-1, ly 10, Mmc. Bonnefoi wrote again to Mr. Eaden, asking him (:> draft a will leaving the bulk of her property to Captain l'errin's daughters. Mr. Bayford (for the plaintiffs): That document was never signed? Mr. Thomas: 1 1 agree. Mme. Bonnefoi, added counsel, died in 1911, but no document purporting to bo an English will could be found. An action in tho Italian courts had resulted in no definite judgment. After several expert witnesses had been called, it was announced that tho parties had come to terms. The documents put forward would be pronounced against, and plaintiff's would pay the defendants £3OOO in full satisfaction to all their claims against the estate, both in England and in Italy. There would also be an indemnity for costs. Mr. Justice Bargrave Deano pronounced against the documents and granted tho plaintiffs administration of tho estate. the domestic help problem One of the objections raised by girls to undertake domestic service is because of tho social position attaching to domestic life. They assert that domestics are looked down upon by many people, and that a "servant's" position is held to be lower than that of any girl in business, no matter what kind or how small, while the improved conditions ruling iu shops and factories offer inducements which domestic service cannot or does not give. Evidently there is some ground for the objection, for in Denmark there is a revolt against even the name of "servant." The leaders of thd domestics in Copehagen iiave been making herculean efforts to raise the social status of servants. It is complained that in comparison with other women who earn their own living, shopwomen, typists and governesses, they are looked upon as mere pariahs, and that this is certainly due to the fact that they are labelled with a name that had ita origin in prehistoric patriarchal times and is utterly unsuitable to mo-

deni eojidilons. Why, it i.-. asked, hiiould women who help m liniiic.voric tie termed "maids" and be addressed by their Christian name... wiiih; ihe.r sisters behind llie counter are cjlled ",. oani; ladies," and would intensely re,cut being addressed as "Annie" or "Mar;.-"? In accordance with these complaints, the Union has decided to MibMituie for the old title "maid servant" the new appellation of "house assistants." The latter part of this word, it is intended, hliall be a kind of least common denominator, to which particular affixes shall In- attached to describe particular kinds ot work. Thus the housemaid becomes a '-house assistant," the cook a "cook assistant," the nurse a "child assistant," and the general a "house help." The members of the Union will in fu ture only take a place on condition that the mistress absolutely adepts the new nomenclature, and to this n large number of Copenhagen servants also pledged themselves who are no., members of the Union, but share its views on the question of names. Judging from the letters appearing in the papers on the subject, the mistresses as a whole are by no 'means opposed to this ambition of their maids to better their social position. .Several are very modern in their attitude towards their servants, and are quite prepared to address them as "Miss" and drop the Christian name. In fact, it is done in several households already.