The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-21 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.—June 20.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
Sittings at Nisi Prius in Middlesex.—Before Chief Justice
Jervis and a Common Jury.

-REGLNBAL V. MARMAYSEE.-TRAFFIC IN FRENCH GIRLS

FOR IMMORAL PURPOSES.

The plaintiff in this case, Margaret Reginbal, a French
girl, formerly lived in a house of ill-fame, kept by the de-
fendant, Germain Marmaysee, and she sued to recover the
value of some clothes detained by the defendant, and also
about 701. for money due to her. The court was crowded
during the hearing of the case, and one of the galleries
were filled by French women, who seemed deeply interested
in the matter, and who more than once audibly expressed
their feelings. _ _

Mr. Serjeant Byles, and Mr. Massey Dawson appeared
for the plaintiff, and Mr. Serjeant Miller for the de-
fendant. . .

Mr. Serjeant Byles, in opening the case, said that the
plaintiff was a French girl, who formerly lived at Havre-
de-Grace, and she was something over twenty-one years of
age, and the defendant, like the plaintiff, was a native of
France. The name of the defendant was Marmaysee, but
sometimes he was called Germain, and sometimes Le Bron.
He was one of those persons in this country whom he might
describe as importing young ladies from France who were
to live in a house kept by him for a purpose which need not
be further mentioned. He had a great number of French
girls living there with him, whom he had collected in the
course of his business, for the importing of these girls was
as much a trade as the purchase of cattle in Holland was
.
the fact being that these poor girls, having lost their_ only
possession at an early age, were bought and sold in
France and imported into this country
.like any other
commodity, and they were,
under his
when immured within the
walls of the defendant, entirely and absolutely
control • they were not even allowed to stir out_ without_
expect
being attended by a person called a femme de confiance,
a near relative of his, or by some other duenna. The
you
arrangement was this—the defendl;
natc'sraeieda'bie‘ I
eillepplyinlouMrsteslf,araenctoonbee
to exert yourself to make yourse , n get as
ranch as you can ; one half of
uouf
mthuestcko
paid to you, out of which
half you will give to me. The expenses of each girl were
to be about 275. a week, but sometimes considerably more
than this was charged. The defendant kept a carriage, and
the ladies rode out in th© carriage, for their own benefit and
for his, and each lady was charged Se. for every ride in
the carriage, and this sum was set down in the expenses.
Sometimes also the ladies teak baths, and for each bath he
charged 2a. 6d., end 2d. for the towel ; and it was part of
the practice that they were not to be allowed to keep any
money themselves, but all their little savings were to be
entrusted to him as their banker. Every morning, at
breakfast, they had to state to him what they had earned
ou the preceding day; but as the money had been paid to
the femme de confianco, he took care to interrogate both
her and the ladies, and so make one a check against the
other; and he regretted to say that on every Sanday morn-
ing the establishment met, and then there was a regular
statement by them of the sums they had received in the
preceding week, and with the expenses with which those
sums were chargeable in the meantime. The girls, how-
ever, were not entrusted with any money, nor to see any
friend, and he would not allow them to receive any letter
from any person in England, although they were allowed to
receive letters from France. He was their banker, and
they wore not allowed to go shopping, for he soli them the
'articles they wanted, and when there was any money
coming to them he had some articles of finery to show them,
and to induce them to buy. Most of these girls were very
ignorant ; but it happened that his client could write, and
she had kept, a regular book for herself, and she would be
able to tell, them exactly what amount she had received
during every week, and what has been charged her for ex-
penses, and that would leave a balance duo to her of about
70/., which sum she ought to recover by the verdict of the
jury. Thu case would not depend upon her statement
alone, but he should be able to prove from other witnesses
circumstances which would leave no doubt that the defen-
dant was indebted to the plaintiff in the amount he had
mentioned ; and, in addition to this, he should ask for
their verdict for the value of certain articles of wearing
apparel which had been detained from the plaintiff.
Mr. Serjeant Miller sail he hoped he should have the
sanction of his lordship in suggesting, in order to avoid
going into the detail mentioned by his learned friend, that
some porton should say in private what amount, if any-
thing, this plaintiff was entitled to. It would save a public
discussion of these matters.
The Chief Jtvtice—As far as I am concerned, I think
that the time will not be in any respect thrown away—if
the statement of my brother Byles be at all correct—which
may be devoted to exposing such a dreadful state of
things.
Mr. Serjeant Miller said he had no object in interposing
but the public benefit.
Mr. Serjeant Byles continued—He should make this as

nearly as he could a dry matter of account. He had said
that under the money demand, ho believed he should be
able to show what this young person, the plaintiff, had
earned, and what portion of that amount ought to be de-
ducted. As he had told them, the plaintiff had bought of
the defendant various articles of female apparel, such as
petticoats, stocking., Stc„ and, in addition to those, there
was one article, a riding habit, in reference to which there
were several pleas. This young lady, having now left the
establishment of this gentleman, was endeavouring to earn
her living in, at all events, a Less disreputable manner, and
was about making her appearance at one of the public
riding schools of the metropolis, and she therefore wanted
this riding habit, and she had been obliged to hire for her
use another riding habit. He understood that the riding
habit had. been sent to a party where she had lodged, that
a squabble had ensued, that the attorney's clerk had at-
tempted to throw it into the house, and that by some means
it had been lost ; and therefore they should not ask for the
"thing itself, but only ask to recover the value of it.
The following witnesses were then called :
Edward Moons, a labonrer in the London Docks, proved
that he had served on the defendant a notice to deliver
these goods belonging to the plaintiff, and the defendant
said he would not give them up. Witness told defendant
he understood ho owed her 701., and that under those cir-
cumstances keeping her things was rather too bad. The
defendant said he did not owe her so much ; he might owe
her 301., but not 701.
Cross-examined—He knew Mr. Levine, who was con-
ducting this case, but he had not appeared for him as a
witness in any othei case than this. He did not appear on
the prosecution of an indictment against Mr. Colbert.
Margaret Reginbal was sworn and examined through Mr.
G. Albert, the interpreter. She stated that she came from
Havre de Grace, and was a native of Saffleur, in Normandy.
She had been sent to England by M. le Conte. Ho was
not the person who had seduced her, but he was one of
his friends. She did not know what sort of a place she
was coming to in England when she came to the defend-
ant's, bat thought he was a perfumer. It was on
the 27th December last that she came to England. The
defendant, who called himself Germain le Bron, told her
some time afterwards that he had paid 81. for her to M. le
Conte. She found out at last what sort of a house M. le
Bron kept, but not knowing any one in London, and hav-
ing no other course open, she determined on remaining.
He told her that one-half of the money was to be hers and
one-half his, but from her half her expenses were to be
paid. He did not say how much the expenses would be
altogether, but he said the expenses for board and lodging
would be about 30s. a week, and that she was to pay. She
remained, there some time, and whilst there she was not
allowed to go out unless accompanied by the femme de
confiance, who was the sister-in-law of M. le Bron, and
lived in the same house with him. Witness was not al-
lowed to receive letters from anybody in London, but
she was allowed to receive letters from France. She
had not been allowed to make any purchase from a
shop, but the defendant sold her all she wanted, and
never allowed her to buy anything out of doors.
Sometimes the gentlemen paid money to witness, and
sometimes to the femme de confiance, in witness's presence.
When witness received money, she gave it to the
femme de confiance, and every morning she wrote down
what she had done the night before, and that book
she now produced. Germain, the defendant, inquired
of Hermandine, his sister, every morning what had
been earned, and she told him, and gave him the money
before witness. Every Sunday morning they made their
accounts up for the whole week with Hermandine ; and
then it was settled how much for the defendant, how much
for the girls, and how mu It for expenses. Witness, while
there, was called Blanche. She received various sums
from gentlemen ; sometimes 11., sometimes 21., simetimes
3/. From the 27th December, when she arrived at the de-
fendant's, until the end of the month, she earned 71. The
first week in the new year, from the Ist of January to 7th
inclusive, she earned as fellows—the first day 31., second
day 31., third day 31., fourth day 4/. fifth day 41., sixth
day 31, and the seventh day 31., making for the week 231.
The defendant never explained the expenses, but said they
were so much. The first week in the year the expenses
were 41. 55., and the expenses were always kept back. The
defendant had never given her any money at all, and, de-
ducting the expenses, he now owed her, according to her
account, 701. She left him on the 3d or 4th of April, and
asked for some money and her clothes before she left. He
said he had none to give her. She asked for her riding
habit and he said he had none to gave her. She wanted
the riding habit, but he refused to let her have it, and she
never had had it. She left him because one day she asked
him for money, and ho would not give her any. Her linen
was at a "male washerwoman's." She wanted money to
buy several articles because some that he had sold her were
too dear. She had been practising riding since she left Le
Bron's house, She had learnt riding because she was tired
of her mode of life and wanted to get rid of it. She thought
tmilaret
asbrei_nlight h
be engaged at a theatre. She had had to
PePadmug habit since about 18 or 20 times, and had
crowitcah for ss eac tim it.
living with, M.Cal Mr. Serjeant Miller—She had been
a, and he kept a house for women to
receive men at. She herself had done so at that house,
which was under th
had been living therees ut'veillance of the French police. She
aboute four or five months before she
laefor
came to London.aeuthis she had lived at Marseilles,
at a house of the same
yrel,ro yM. Lucie. She
bad lived there nearly ater, Previousv-n2 to that she had
been at Paris with her sis
washerwoman.was a She
bad been at Lyons, and hed also an immoral house
wilatevearablcV in Belgium.
there for about a year. She had
When she was first seduced she
/21
and years old, was now 234 years old. At each of the
mentioned she was under the surveillance place
mentioned had
When she left France shoendicel notsknOw as comirtilo.ictso-
a house of ill-fame in
but she hadiba
d been to the tgea-
tre in London only once, been to casinos accora-
dant's sister. She used to go
panied by the defendant to these
She Lad taken lesson • • •
s in riding from
places in a carriage.
Mr. Allen, a riding master whilst living in defendant's
house, for those lessons,
house, and the defendant paid and also
for the riding habit. She understood her linen had gone
to the laundress, who said he would not give it up with-
out being paid but he offered it to her for washing it, allowed. to take
if she would pay for it. She was only_
ant told her if
defend
her clothes and a few things away. The her in prison.
she wanted to go away from him ho wou
ld put
He had not shown her her accounts entered into a book
every week. She saw him write, and he said to
her,
you
have so much, there is so much for expenses, and then there
is so much for you and so much for me. He did not show
said
her the book, but he was looking at the book when he
it. She did not look at it. He did not show her that she
owed him a balance of 61. when she went away. He never
spoke of it till she asked him for money. When she left
she went to Madame Caroline's, and lived at her house.
She was a lodging-house keeper, and let apartments.
Witness knew that she let apartments to any one coming,
but she did not know that they were let to women to re-
ceive men. Since she had been at Madame Caroline's, she
had regularly walked Waterloo-place.
Mr. Serjeant Miller—Who walked with you at Waterloo-
place ?
The Chief Justice-_.I suppose you are now coming to the
point ; that is, that the defendant La2t her there and paid
her the money. (A laugh.)
Cross-examination resumed—When she walked Water-
loo-place she was accompanied by Madame- Caroline, be.
CUM she did Dot know anybody else, she had never seen