The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-03-05 00:00:00

Lrgal.

THE YELVERTON CASE.

A trial which him fur some days last been proceeding
in the Court of Common Pleas in Dublin claims pre•
'citrate, in point if interest, over legal matter more
inanediotely domestic It is an action brought by •
Mr. The!wall to receiver • mini of 0.59 odd for
necessaries supplied to defendant's wife. The defendant
is the Hon. Major Yelverton, heir apparent to the
Viscounty of A witiniore. Ily his ideas the ilefendaut
denies that the laity to whom the necreasaries are
alleged to have leen suet 1,,,1 is his lawful wife. The
lady. whim for the preseets, at lest, we will designate
it,.. Tele erten, is therefore intereated in the highest
degree in the success of the plaintiff, who, indeed, hoe
heels inclined by her to firing the action in order to
try the important queation rsiseil by defendent's
nitidnet and by his idea. On the other heed, the
defendant has in the decision of the matter an
interest far greater than the amount of the debt. inns
-
much as shwa: his alleged marriage he had contracted
another. 'Therefore the detigion of this questi. 0 of
liability fora debt will collaterally declare *bother or
not the Hun. Major ifelverton has committed bigamy.
If so, it follows as a further consemence that his
second niarriage. is 41.'40. Miss Teresa faingwortie
afterward* Mr. Yelverton the first, is a lady of family.
with an income of 1:200 pet . and eameally
mimic the •equaintatice id the Major ene night upon the
paisdite by meson 110111 1141Ologile to Folko.-totte. 10 1867
the holy. being iii E iolo.rgli, Was ,i,its.l he the Mdjor,
whe urip her a seen t wardsee. Slid ex•
lainei to her the facility for the projeet hy
the law if tirotlimil. She old refused, lie read to her
, the martiade service, and claimed her RA limo wife 111100
the ground that aulticient u reitionial hail heed% perforn;el
by such reading. Miss Lonzworth. 110VrItlitiola, de-
clined to live with him as his wife, and tel to Wales to
escape hie importunities. While she was there he fre-
quently a site to her, and at length pre•aileel on her to
cross to Ireland, in order to lee married by • Roman
Catholic prieet. Ti. till% Moe at length consented. pro •
aiming secrecy, and they were married, accureing to ,
the forms of the Roman Catholic Church, by the Rev. '
it,. Mooney, perish priest, at Rostrevor, Ireland. Miss
Longworth, it way be here mentioned, was a Suntan '
Catholic.
On Mrs. Yelverton's marriage she requested from her
husband a half of the itail which hail originally served
as their mutual introduction. After the alleged war.
Hese Mrs. Yelverton agreed to go ahrodd with her hrus-
band. by wh elle was left at Bordeaux in consequence ,
of his leave of absence having expired. He Fluidly
aft rwards wrote to her in the nest ClOtow ring Winds.
Mis. Yelverton, being left in a situation which only
the feet of her marriage could relider unequivocal.
"MAW 'cry appealingly to her husband, hut received no
answer. She beard he was at Leith. She went there
and met with his brother. She appealed to hini to
declare their marriage. He said lie woe • ruined man,
sod asked her to go to Australia. She refused. He
then said, if she went to Glasgow, he might uhmege to
come to her. He left her. On the 26th of June he
went through the ceremony of marriage with the
widow of the celebrated Professor &tweed Forbes of
E linhurgh. Mr. Yelverton still enjoyed the respect of
the world. Women of fortune sod r •nk refused to
believe the defendant's lying story. Mr. Theisen had
known her as the wife of M .jor Yelverton. He
supported her, and he now brought Major Yelverton to
the bar of justice to compel liim to discherge this duty
of social life. They had, tinder the baud of the priest,
the certificate of the marriage.
With reference to this certificate of marriage, and to
the ceremony itself, a strange sees, took place on the
exeininetion of Father Mooney, the officiatiug priest,
who Was called as • witness for the plaintiff, and who,
after admitting-the word way seem strange, but is
here &optic ads-that both parties attended at his
chapel, knelt before the altar, that he read the service,
asked the parties respectively whether they would
uccept each other as man and wife, denied all knowleilp
of having seem a ring, but saw " (Yelvvtou)
"just turning his fingers round on tier fingers" :-
Did you put questions of that sort to them ? The
questien I put to hies was, what was his religious
belief? He said: " I am not much of anything."-1
asked hiin a hat did lie niewi by that, and I said. " Are
you • Roman Catholic ?" " I Rill not." lie said. "What
are you ?" lucid, and then the holy odd. " Den't mind.
lie is not confirmed yet. He went with me frequently
to I.llllCOa of Catholic worship, hut lie is net canfinued
vet." I add. " What are your' and he sold' "I am a I
Protestant Catholic." Are you sure the word " Catho-
lic" wes used I am-Are you also sure the word
was used? Protestant Catholic. -But
" Proiestant" was used ? It was.
The witness received TIO Irvin Mrs. Yelverton. This,
he aeknowledged, was not the usual fee for a renewal of
contra. t, as he terms the ceretuoily performed. Ile was
then asked in croas•esausination, whether he had made
any vier% in the register of marriage in reference to the
usxurretem, wid replied-No entry .4 that knot, and the
lady would not allow, we to inekean entry. She asked
me to enter it in my privete register. I told liar I had
no register but a public one, and she said that would es-
t ore their secret.
Chief Justice-And it MY not entered ? It was not
entered.
Nevertheless. he had subsequently given Mrs. Tel.
verton a certificate of her lawful usarriage, a fact which
he attempted to explain.
The evidence of the rev. gentleman is stated to have
been received with repeeted hies& from his auditors.
The next witness was • justice of the peace,who deposed
to Imeing, at a dinner, bantered the Rev. Mooney as to
" the scrape he had got into" about this marriage. This
witness *aye :-
He intimeteil to me, in a very siguificint manner, that
tie hail made them Wall Ned wife. He sail lie hail in-
curred no moleddetical censure. To take a rem out of
hien, and at this moth our instance, I told him what
was the law on the sulijict of ;marrying a Protestant
and • Catholic. He feared that lie would be trawl.
ported.
A member of the Scotch bar spoke as to the marriage
law of lila country, end deposed that a mutual minsent
was stillectit by such Isw. wtliout the presence of •
third party. to euestituse sels uso.rri ge. An acknow•
leigturiit of such consent ie an acknowleelginent of the
neerriege, and, stiorouvcr, habit and repute is in itself
*efficient.
The defendant, Mejor Yelverton, underwent a long,
exweination, end on Vliedneaday was ens...examined-
hv Mr. Solvent Sullivae, when the following quietness
were put :-
Major Yelverton, did you ever love Teresa Long-
worth ? I did.- Did you ever love her purely and
honourably ? Nut entirely.-A juror said he had not
beard.
Serjeant Sollivaid -I repeat my question ; did you
ever loin Teresa laingworth eerily and honourably ?
No.-Then tour love for her Was always founded in dis-
honour. Yes. - With the iletereduatien fium the first
to seduce tier? Ni in a loud toins.)-But your lore
wds all founded on dishonour ? Yea? -Ex plein iii.
that. When I beiten the correspondent* with her it
was with no other olqect, either dishonourable or other'
vine. I continued thet eurreepunden a with her. When
I wet her at Galata I we carried away hy pession, and
then first conceived the design of making tier icy mi.-
ire's-In the convent of Galata? In the convent of
tialuta, air.-She wearing the robes of a Sister of
Mercy? True. air. -In attendee...ll on the Fick and
.lying sof the efitilta Tree, sir.- And you cons
mewed the notion, then, of takin4 her from that holy
work and taking lice as your mistress? I conceived Use
notion of in iking her my wiatreas, but not from that
holy 'lava.-'1 teepees you thought as your inistresa she
could as well lorforin the works of chatty? The kindest
hearted women in the world sometimes are mistresses.
To be sure! That's your notion on the subject.-Did
you inteod to wake her your mistress on that occasion,
and to dishonour her in that convent No.-Nu.
But you fennel the design of making her your mistrals?
I formed the desire, sir.-The "desire," end not the
•' design ?" "Design" Is as strung wiurl, er.-And desire
is • weak one, is It. The " idea," sir, I think, was the
word I used.-The ideal I ask you did you form the
? I can't call it design. -But you conceived the
idea of making her your mistrera I did.-And you
determined (rum that moment to carry it out? I de-
termined from thst moment nothing, sir.-You hail
road her letters and knew she was an orphan! Yea.--
An,! • lady? What 1-A gentlewomen ? A gentle-
woman! I don't know, sir, what your definition of •
gentlewoman is exactly.-Will you MII us what your
own in? A woman of gentle blood. (Slight murmur.)
-Has &location anything to do with it, think you 1
With making a lady? Yes, flare manners anything
!li, say to it, think pm They here, sir. -Have 16CCUIll•
! plialimenta anything to any to it? They have.-Belief
religion?iii They hare.-Did you know that Teresa
Lungwortli was au accouiplislied woman? I thought
so how her lettere-certainly, sir, that WY my
opinion.
After some dissuasion, witness said-What I said to
Miss LODit wurt.l was, Liwttniarriage wss ail impossibility,
end I suggested another curt of connection. - Odiel
Justice ; Ito you wean at Getter.' Straubeezeo's ? I du.
-Serjeatit Sullivan : In Lady Straubensees's home ou,
an mincer of the British army, suggested this connectien
to Miss leingworth.-Chief Justice: Is that what you
Kay ?-Witues*: Yes, my lord, I aims sorry to may-
Chief Justice You told her marriage was impoadble,
and you proposed to her to 1101:0010 your wetness.-
Witnexs : Very nearly that, uiy lord.
It now being half-pad five o'cloek this court adjourned.
As the proceeding.' teriumated • continued lame wee
heard from the galleries, while in the hall and vicinity
..f the court the crowd ling red apparently fur the
purpose of uhtaining a sight of the defendant as lie was
leaving the court,
Ws. Yelvertain after leaving the court on Tuesday,
returned to the Orealsoli Hotel, where she le iww atop.
ping. She was taking elariiiiiigly ihl, owing to the ass
eitemen: attendant on her Wei and trying exaudeation.
Or. Stokes was called in mid erescribed for her. On
m 'king inquiries its the evewieg it was tumid that she
WRN welch letter.
A gentleman, while parsing on Wednesday (ruin the
four courts, was mistaken for Mr. Yelrerton. In a few
minutes • large crowd collected round hoist, yelling,
ahoutaug, and biasing, lie declared repeatedly that he
was lot Mr. Yelverwn, amid that the crusd was mia-
taken. All would not du ; and as the people were
getting every 111011Iela 1110115 exalted, lie had ki run for
protectims ititu a alnip on OrlisontlNUßy.
Tito rssees correspondent Worms us that the court
was ilennly thronged every day, and that crowds watt
liutaido in the hope of getting in or hearing_ something
of the preceeditip. On Thursday, when Mr.. Yelter
ton drove in her carriage with her friends from the
wort to the Gresham Hotel, where *he is staying, she
was followed by hundred' of persons, who cheered her
loudly on time way, and as she mitered the hotel she was
treated by the crowd with the wannest dewonstretions
of respect. Oil the other Land, Major Yelvertun is
obliged to leave the court is a private manner.

. •
widow lady residing in tl.e country, and in the course
of la‘t year mine to London sod ped a visit to Mr.
31.4,11 C. • genth•man rusi•ling in Cliaiiceryd me. She
told that genticinan that her Km was at Bristol, anal
vile wanted him to .../1111 tip to 1•011(11111 for the purpose
of being pre .enteil to the Queen, but she did not know
how to do au, becau.e she was afraid if sin:leant hint down
money to pay his passage he would spend it in another
way. Mrs. Stone was at that time about to go into
the country to i.ee her daughter. who was residing near
Bristol, and offered to briug the young gentleman
up with her, and accordingly it was agreed that
Mrs. Stone's suggestion should be carried oat. The
youtiug rustgu was brought op to London, and at fret
apartments were taken for loin by his mother at the
Blue Posta tavern, and subsequently at the defendant's,
where during his stay lie had articles to the amount of
£4l 1:44. 24, and on the occasion of his going tai be pre.
wanted to the Queen the plaintiff lent !dui half a CTOWII
to pay his cab fare. The Men lent hail paid £lO off the
account. leaving the amount how sued for.
Mr. Pearce. at the conclusion of the case, submitted
there WWI HY 04141 Inwle out against the mother. as the
good* were proved to have been sold to the ion.
The lAA Chief Baton aaid the goods were supplied
by the direction of the mother, and there was evidence
for the Jury ;
thou which Mr. Pearce said he could net proceed
further, as his client •••• not in court.
The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for !be
summit claimed.