A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1178, 15 May 1884, Page 3

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

The statement made in the cable news from London last week, to the effect that a barrister named Thomas Hugh Shortland, formerly residing in Auckland, had been arrested at Plymouth, charged with the murder of his wife, ‘ with whom he had been living till a recent date,’ has aroused the suspicion that the accused ra ;y possibly be Hugh Rutherford Shortland, a scion of one of the most illustrious of New Zealand families. His father. Dr Shortland, was for many years Assistant Protector of Aborigines, has been, and is still perhaps, the highest authority extant with regard to Maori and the early history of the colony, and has earned a reputation for hi* writings on both subjects. The young man is also a nephew of Lieutenant Willoughby Shortland, who was Acting Governor after Captain Hobson’s death, and first Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, Dr Shortland and two sons are now re siding in Parnell. Hugh Rutherford Shortand is a young man, 25 years of age, and was educated at one of the great public schools of England. In 1880 he returned to Auckland along with his father and his brothers Willoughby and Fred, and entered the office of Walter J. Hill as an articled clerk with a view of studying for the law. At that time he made himself obnoxious to his fellow-clerks by his adoption of a tone and manner of patronising commiseration for their necessarily bo nighted condition through want of proper educational facilities. He was exceedingly galled after going up for the Barristers’ General Knowledge examination to learn that he had been plucked. Up till this time he had been bachelorising with his father in Parnell, but shortly afterwards he suddenly departed for England. He reappeared in Auckland during 1882, and having, in the meantime, passed an examination at Home, which was accepted by the authorities there as equivalent to the passage of the Solicitors’ Preliminary Examination, he re-entered Mr J. Hill’s office as a means of preparing for his ‘final.’ From this time up till his departure for England at the end of July last he resided in Auckland. Twice he notified his intention of going up for examination, but each time he failed to do so. On the first occasion he said he had mistaken the date, and he left suddenly for England. As the second one approached he took his departure via Safi Francisco against his father’s will. Since that time ho has not been heard from. The grounds on which the suspicion that he may be the Shortland referred to in the telegram rests are these : —lst. He is the only Shortland who is known in Auckland ; 2nd, his mother and family reside in Plymouth, where the alleged murder took place ; 3rd, though not a barrister, his position as a law student might cause him to be considered so ; and 4th, he has never been heard of since he wont Home, although his family are in Plymouth. Against the supposition is the fact that his name was Hugh Rutherford, not Thomas Hugh, as stated iu the telegram; and that so far as his relatives know, he was unmarried when he left Auckland, and no intimation was ever received that he had taken unto himself a wife. Dr Shortland, of course, is grief stricken at the possibility of the suspicion being true.