BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2913, 17 June 1878, Page 2

BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.

Mat v. Eotton.—This .was an action, tried before Si* J. F. Stephen, Q. 0., at Devizes. The plaintiff, twenty-fire.- ii the eldest daughter of the rector of All Cannings, near Devizes, and the defendant the son of a deceased bank manager.; .The defendant, a Cambridge undergraduate, failed to get through his " Kttle go," and the plaintiff's brother, a great friend, of his, who had been more successful, undertook to " coach " him for a fresh attempt. During the Christmas vacation thedefendant went with his friend to All Cannings on a Monday, and, after going to one or two balls and dancing a good many dancei with the plaintiff, one of her engagement cards being tendered as evidenoe of the fact, he became engaged to her. Some •- difficulty was raised by the . parents, Jj^ft? at last the engagement was agreed to "By all partita. The defendant _st S6 work again to get through his " I'ttle go," but without success. A great deal of correspondence pasced, and it was urged' Tor. the defence that the engagement had Wen broken off, as, in answer to a letter from her asking if he wished to break it eff, he wrote saying 1 he did, nnd no other letters passed for ten months; At the end of the tea morilhs there was,a farther correspondence ' between tbe defendant and the plaintiff's father, the latter aaking the former whether he waa going to carry out his engagement, and the defendant answering that he understood the whole matter was gone off. He, however, subsequently stated that his grounds for breaking off the engagement were that the plaintiff was not truthful, an accusation founded on t*ie ground that in, a letter of hers she had stated that she hid travelled with her brother from Bath to Devizes, whereas, in fact, she had only done so from Trowbridge, as her brother, who joined her at Bath, arrived so late that he had to jump into the first carriage he could, and only changed into her car* riage when he got to Trowbridge..-. This accusation against the lady was alleged to be the reason why the action was brought. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for £1000.