DR. HUNTER AND HIS WIFE.

West Coast Times, Issue 202, 12 May 1866, Page 6

DR. HUNTER AND HIS WIFE.

Wo extract the following from the report of proceedings in the Resident Magistrate s Court, Dunedin, from the " Daily Times : "— • Edward Lyons v. Alexander Hunter. Claim, L 5 10s , for board and lodging, ■and goods supplied to the defendant's wife. Mr Macassey appeared for the plaintiff; Mr Prendergast, instructed by Mr Harvey, for tho defendant. The defendant pleaded " Never indebted." H • Mr Macassey said that ' this was a clai in for an amount due for board and .lodging, and the price of a pair of boots ,, — a debt incurred. Mrs Hunter had fora long period been living apart from her husband, having been forced to do ,so by his conduct towards her. The parties were man ied at Edinburgh, in ! 1844, and lived happily together for a number of years. After a lapse of time | the defendant emigrated, with the full ' consent of his wife, to Australia. Mrs I Hunter proceeded to join him in Melbourne, having received 'from him a ,remittauco to enable her to do so. On her arrival in the colony she found a , Mrs Lockhart in control of her lius1 buand's house, and that she had lost her place in his esteem and affection. This caused a contention- between them; and tho defendant having struck her i and otherwise ill-treatedher, eho was compelled to sop irate from him, doing so in September, 1853. At his request she again returned to his house, but even-" tu'ally had to fly for fear of her life. Again and again she returned to him, and the same treatment was repeated, till on one occasion she was strapped to a bod-post and horsewhipped, and it was given out that she was insane. She then submitted to medical examination, and wris declared to bo. of perfectly i sound mind. She continued to return to her husband, but on each occasion tho ill-treatment was renewed, and at last thero had been a ( final separation. Since that time frequent overtures had been made to her to return to his home ; but as the defendant persisted in considering her insane, she refused. The following evidence was given :—: — Janet Rochet Hunter : I am the wife of the defendant, Alexander Hunter. I know the plaintiff, and havo been lodging at his place since my arrival in Dunedin. I went thero on the 23rd of March. Tho money was to havo been I paid in advance One item in the claim is for a pair of hoots supplied to me at my request, I being in want of them. I left my husband in October, 1850, and have not received maintenance from him. We were married at Kdinburgh in 1844, and my husband emigrated in 1849. I followed him to Melbourne, and on meeting him found him a changed man, an.l that ho had given his affections to a Mrs Lockhart, who was installed as mistress of his house. Ho instructed tho servants to obey her and not mo, and they both ill used nip. I left h m, but he sent for me, and I roturncd. He continued his ill treatment, and I left him again. About a week •ifter I went to him and asked him to give mo some money. He told me to wait a bit, and assisted by Mrs Lockhart, he forced mo into a bedroom and strapped me down to the bed. They then horsewhipped me, saying that they would do so until I told them where my baby was. ; This was at his house at Brighton, and I was frequently soused. They gave out that I was insane, and I was closely watched. I made my escape in March, 1854. I went again to him with l.'r Singleton, who told him that I was not insane. The defendant asked mo to return, promising to treat me letter, and saying that he would dismiss Mrs Lockhart. I went to Brigh'on, but Mrs Lockhart soon returned, and in his absence starved me. On complaining to him of \\:v treatment, he took hold of me ,by the throat, saying that Mrs Lockhart would in future share his bed, and be his companion. This was the third separation. I returned again, on his promise to be kind to me, but his ill treitment continued. Ho told the servant that Mrs Lockhart was coming down again, and on various occasions he kicked and horsewhipped me. Refusing to maintain me, I took him to the Police Court, and L 4 per week, was decreed to me, which was subsequently reduced to L 2 10s. To please the Magistrate, but strongly against mv own will, I returned to his house again, and remained for about a month. Mrs Lnckhart came then, and Mrs Estel, a relation of her's, also. Starvation ond cruelty was tne cause of the fifth separation. He engaged a servantto watch me, telling her that I was out of my mind. He used to kick and beat me, sometimes for merely lvnding a newspaper. If ho met me, he would strike mo, aud force me into my room, saying that I was a disgrace to his house. He also kept me without necessaries. On one occasion I ordered a pair of boots, and the man came for payment. He refused to pay him, saying 1 was insane; and, assisted' by Mrs Lockhart, ho got me down, and took tl:o boots from off my feet, I again left him, and have since refused eveiy overture mado by him to return. He framed an enquiry in lunacy against me ; and Drs Reeves, Wilkic, Kffler, Black, 'and Thomas certified that I was perfectly sane. I commenced proceedings against him in the Divorce Court, and Judge Chapman decreed mo L 8 per month alimony. Previous to this he came to my lodgings at ton o'clock' at night, accompanied by two men, named Cox and King. He met mo as I was coming down the stairs, and calling out, " There she is," endeavored to put something over my head, and to seize me. My screams attracted attention, and I was rescued. I received a letter from him, offering me " an asylum," but I did not attend to it. A Mr. Pearson obtained a judge

ment against him in the County Court, Melbourne, for a debt incurred by me. He paid me the money decreed to mo in the Divorce Court, until the 5h November, 1868, when he left Melbourne for Now Zealand. Ho had not paid me any since, and thero is now two years and h half due. I did not know that he was going to New Zealand until he was gone. I never will live with him again, as I should be in danger of my life and liberty. — By Mr Prendergast : I first knew of my son's death by seeing the notice in the " Otago Daily Times." Since my husband left Melbourne havo supported myself by needlework and dressmaking, and by keeping lodgings. I have received money from my relations in Scotland. In 1*856 I i received L 45 an.l L3O each year up to 1861, when I jreeived LSO. When my husband went to Scotland I took a situation as housekeeper. I commenced the proceedings in the Divorce Court in 18G3. I have not gond on with the case for want of moans. I obtained some money from my friends for my law expenses, but spent it in furnishing my house. It was my brother Lord Handyside who sent me money. My family are wealthy. I have no property, nor have I interest in any, as I gave my patrimony to my husband on my marriage, Mr Prendergast said, that no doubt this was a distressing case, but matters had reached such a point, that its publicity oould not be avoided. Thj defence was, that Mrs Hunter had not been justified in leaving her home, and that thereforo the defendant was not liable for her debts. Her husband believed her to be of unsound mind, and ho might have had her placed in restraint. A kindly feeling towards her, and a hope that she might recover, had caused him not to do so, and he was not bound to inour expense, and suffer anxiety to prove that she was of uusound mind. Ho choso rather the usual course of throwing round her his protection and care, had offered her a home, and had always been ready o receive her as his wife. Alexander Hunter, examined : I am tho defendant in this case. The statements made by my wife in giving her evidence are for tho most part utterly untruo. I know Mrs Lockhart. She was my housekeeper. There is no truth in Mrs Hunter's statement that I had improper intercourse with Mrs , Lockhart. It is one of the many imaginary crimes sho has charged me with; cruelty, starvation, attempts to poison her, keeping concubines, and every imaginary wickedness. I distinctly deny tho charge of adultery with Mrs Lockhurt or with any other person. I have been a most virtuous and honorable man towards my wife. Her statement about tying her to the bed and horsewhipping her is utterly untrue. I never, on any occasion, used the least violence towards her. I have used gentle force, such as any man would use in removing her from one room to another, when she lias been behaving strangely. I have no doubt that sho is of unsound mind. It was well known in Edinburgh, whore she was under the surveillance of medical men. I never kept her vithout meat. She has stated a thousand times that I did so, but it is a creation of her i imagination. I did not, when sho returned in 1854, take her by the throat and put her out, nor, did I make use of tho words she states I did. I never told tho servants not to obey her, except when 1 sho would give some ridiculous orders. She would sometimes stop the dinner, or order the furniture to be moved out of the house. When she acted in this trrational manner, I instructed the servants not to comply with her request ; but they were to treat her with all possible respect. She has taken numberless proceedings against me ; but has never produced a wituess. The results of those proceedings, which were against me, were cancelled by an action which I brought against two Magistrates, Messrs Smith and Sturt for perversion of justice, and in which I recovered damages. I have never issued an enquiry in lunacy against her, or even thought 6'f doing so. I never kicked her, never lifted my foot to any woman in my life. I wrote her a number of letters, requesting her to return to her home. In the one in which the word " asylum" occurs, the context will show that I did not mean a lunatic asylum. When I intended to go to Scotland I told her so. Mis Hunter has always had from L 260 to L 260 a year, private income, which camo from the family property, and she has alqo since her marriage received three legacies. All I received from her or h«»r family, was under LSOO ; but it was all I asked for. I have never exerted my rights in regard to her property, and I know that her income has not ceased. I was arrested on board the Donald M'Kay, on a charge of desenion. I offered in Court to leave LI SO for her outfit and passage ; but she refused to accept it. I made it my first duty when I returned to Melbourne, to wait upon her. Her statement about my attempts to seijse her is entirely imaginary ; on the occasion referred to I took two friends as witnesses with me, and asked her to come and liye with me. She became very' violent, and then made the same stato ment as now. Sho was examined by five surgeons in Edinburgh, who certified to her insanity. I now reside iv George-street, [have only one servant. Mrs Lockhart is not with mo. Mrs Estcll kept my chambers hero. Sho is now married, bhe has stated that I came out to Sydney ; that is untruo. l never was there. By Mr Macassey — I came out in the ship Victory. I deny almost everything she has stated. The Magistrate, in [giving judgment, saidrrThis has been a painful and protr&ofcKl

case. The law was laid down, tliut " whenever tho wife has once left Uor husband under justifiable circumstances, she is not bound to return upon the invitation of the latter, and the husband's liabilities for necessaries lurnished to her cannot be determined by a request on his part that she will again return to his protection. The defen-, dant had set up that his wife was insane. If she was so, and he declines to take steps to prove it, the inference must be that she was not of unbound mind. It was for him (the Magistate) to decide whether Mrs Hunter was justified in leaving her husband. The Magistrate in Melbourne had bound the defendant to keep tho peace, and he would not have done so without cause. He was sorry to have to come to the conclusion that the defendant had treated his wife somawhat improperly ; but from the evidence he .was of opinion that such was the case, and that she was justified in leaving him. s lie would therefore give judgment for ' plaintiff, for amount claimed with costs. Mr: Harvey gave notice of the intention to appeal.

, Since rho Bank of Now Zealand orocfed their assay offico, the work of smelting gold haß to some extonfc passed from tho bands of privato gold smeltore. Mr T. R. Prootor, , who has hitherto beon in tho habit of doing tho groator portion of this trade, remarks tho past month to havo been unusually dull, re* suiting no doubt, from the aboyo cause. It speaks volumes, howover, for tho West Coast goldflolds, that one single parcel he suiolted producod nearly 1650 ounces. Mr Proctor reports tho beach diggings, from whence tho amalgam mainly comes, to bo improving within tho last two or three weeks. Tho p.s. Yarra loft here for tho Grey on. Saturday to attend on the Lord Ashley. Sho arrivod at tho G-rey after a two hours run, and immediately receiving tho passengers, left again, for tho roadstead, when sho transhipped paa> sengora to tho Sydney steamer, and started for Hokitika, arriving in the roadstead at 8 p.m. She went alongsido tho Gothenburg and took lin tho remainder of that vessel's feargo for Hokitika, and returned into port.