The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-07 00:00:00

CROYDON.

The presiding magistrates, Messrs. Adams, Barclay,
and Lucas, were occupied for a considerable time in
the investigation of a case arising out of the alte-
ration in the bastardy clauses of the Amended Poor-
law, which have only just come into operation, and
the professed object of which are to give greater
facilities on the affiliation of illegitimate children, and
to throw some portion of responsibility from the
mothers of such children upon the putative fathers.
It will be seen, however, that from the difficulty of
procuring what is sound corroborative testimony of
the evidence of the mother, it is almost impossible to
make out a case against the father, and the hardships
created by these clauses in the original Poor-law re-
mains unabated.

A young man named Stephen Smith was sum-
moned by a girl named Emily Peake, to show cause
why he should net have an order made upon him to
support an illegitimate child, of which she had been
delivered, and of which he was alleged to be the father.
Mr. Penfold, the clerk to the bench, in answer to
a question from the chairman, explained that the
proceeding was taken under the last Poor-law Amend-
ment Act, which had just come into operation, and
under which the mother of the child, or her friends,
were empowered to take this step to compel the father
of an illegitimate child to support it, without any in-
terference on the part of the parish.
The complainant, a respectable-looking girl, appa-
rently about eighteen years old, was then sworn, and
she deposed that she was delivered of a female illegi-
timate child on the Ist September, and the defendant
was the father of it. She was unable to support the
child herself, and therefore desired that the defendant
should have an order made upon him to support it.
In answer to questions from the bench, the com-
plainant said that the defendant had been keeping
company with her for some time, and she expected to
have been married to him. The intimacy between
them which led to the birth of the child took place
on the 24th December.
The magistrate said that the complainant had so
far made out her case as to swear that the defendant was
the father of her child, but they could not act upon
that declaration unless it was corroborated by other
testimony. They therefore wished to know what
evidence she could produce in support of her state-
ment.
The complainant said that she wished her mother
and sister to be examined.
The mother was accordingly sworn,_ and in
answer to questions put to her, stated that all she
knew upon the subject was that the defendant had
been keeping her daughter company for two or three
years, end that he broke off the connexion about two
years ago, and then renewed it again of his own ac-
cord last December. She never saw anything im-
proper take place between her daughter and the de-
fendant, and when she discovered her daughter was
in the family way, and she informed her the defend-
ant was the father of the child, she went to him and
asked him what he intended to do, and he then denied
that he was the father of the child, and said he could
not approve of paying anything towards its support.

Mr. ADAMS asked the mother whether defendant
had always denied to her that he was the father of the
child ?—The mother said that he had.
Mary Anne Peake, an elder sister of the com-
plainant, was next examined, but she was unable to
prove more than that the defendant had kept company
with her sister for a considerable time, and that
having broken off the connexion with her for a year
and half, he came to her mother's house on the 24th
of December, and in the evening her sister and the
defendant went out for a walk about seven o'clock,
and did not return until after nine, but she did not
know where they went to.
The CHAIRMAN inquired whether the witness had
ever had any communication with the defendant upon
the subject? The witness said, that three or four
days before her sister was confined, she went to the
defendant and told him she was very ill, and at the
same time charged him with being the father of the
child. He hesitated a little while, and then said that
the child was not his, but he told her he would come
and see her sister. He did not, however, do so.
The complainant was then recalled, and
The CHAIRMAN having explained the law to her,
told her that the magistrates had no power to assist
her, unless she gave them some corroborative proof of
the truth of her statement. They wished, therefore,
to know whether she had any further evidenle to
offer, or whether she had anything more to state to
the bench in corroboration of her testimony?
The complainant said she had no further evidence
to offer, but again asserted that the defendant was
the father of her child.

The BBNCII, after a short deliberation, expressed
their opinion, that the statement of the complainant
had not been sufficiently corroborated, and they
therefore discharged the summons.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.
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