The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-03-20 00:00:00

ILLEGAL DETENTION OF A WfFE.

•BR A !THU A I 17; 1):71A plaintiff in this case-was
Jatites Braithwaite, formerly the keeper of a beer-shop, but now
an ostler- at V.enchil; the 'defendant keeps an inn at tow;WoOd,
:Wear Arahleside. was'alleged that the defendatnt had.wrong-
fully and ilregally'recetied'and'harboured the'lltdintiff's wife,
after receirivg due notice that'She had 16ft her husband's house
Withont his Consent' and contrary to his wishes, and the action
Was brought to coinyel hini" to give her 'up, and to recover ,da-
inakes for the injury sustained by the plaintiff by the'llisS other
Oinpatry':and services. The 'defe)ftlant pleaded, tirst, Chat he
*al'. not gol;ty, and,tsedondly,'lliat the )ilaintiff .had treated his
Wife with grPss crtielty iltid'vtoferice, and that-under the fear of
xrie.vous`hodily hdim .ghe haft leased to lice with 'him. any
longer.

.-'Messrs. CrtEsswaLL;and HntsomisoN appeared for the-plain-
.iff; froth the evidence-of Willise..Witnesses it appeared that he
and the defendant, about:kit 'or seven 'years ago,..triarrieri 'two
iiikters, who were then serVantiCar the Coininercial-ino,liendal.
The defendant had'no 'fan-lily by his wife, who died about the
'beginning May iitst year. 'Off the 'night of the 31st of May
the plaintiff's wife left h6me taking with her one child abouX
12 Mia's 'Old,' and' leaviiig'hehitut 'her another about' five years
of age. She went to the house of the defendant, who took her
in, engaged.ber to serve in the bar and. manage the house, and
wben.required by an attorney, on the part of the husband, to
send her home, •said, Recording to 'the statement of the attorney's
cl'qrk. *hp -served the
.notice; that he eared' neither' for the .hus-
baud or' attorney; that he had ,hired 111,r5.-Braithwaite• as his
servant, and would not let her go. From the testimony of
another witness it appeared that at an interview bet Ween the
parties, for the parpose of bringing about..an accommodation,
the defendant charged the plaintiff-with ill-treating his wife, and
s id
.that she refused to live wit/ Orlin any longer on that account.
The'plaintiff denied that he had tier, and insisted
upon her returning home,-and-on her tefusing to' o so, brought
theTteserit attinnakainst the defendant for harbouring ben
"Mr: AtEkistoElf, for the-defendant; cited two cases 'similar
to thepteSent,liarton r. 'Cartikright," reported in 2' Espitinose,'
and Philip r;Sanize; iii --Peake's-- Nisi Pries Reports, in which
it was held by Lord Kenyon that a parson receiving another's
wife into his house-froni motives of 'humanity, to protect her
from ill-usage on the part of the -husband, even if the alleged
misconduct of theLusband were nut proved, •was -not liable to
,aßtion for damages on the ground of wrongfully harbouring,
observing thatif it Were otherwise, married women Would have
no means of protection from the-cruelty of their husbands. '
Witnesses *ere then called to prove the .following facts:--
The plaintiff was a man of intemperate habits, And frequently
beat his wife when in a state.of intoxication. Early in
last he knocked her down, and afterwards turned her out into
the street at midnight. On that occasion she was received into
a'neiglibuttr's house, Where she spent the night. On the night
of the 31st of :May he beat her twice, turned .her out of the house,
and locked the door..against her. 'She was then advised to .go
to lierrhroiher-in-law's, at Low-wood. Wishing to take her in-
fant and her clothes with her and not daring to venture into
the presence of her .husband again, with the assistance .-of a
neighbour she procurihl a ladder, by means of which she got
upon'the roof of an outbuilding, 'clambered over it to herbed-
retina witlow,:throtigh 'which she entered,• and having by these
means obtained her infant and clothes, went in a gig the same
night:to Low-wood, win,re she has since remained, attending, it
appeared, to the business of the def'endant's house by day, but
sleeping in the 'cottage of tier
.parents. which is situated in the i
neighbourhood. 'Dy. Laird, it physician at Kendal, stated that
no the /oth of Mak: lie was sent fur by the plaintiff, Who 'told
him that his wife had- poisoned him, and showed .hint n.glass of •
liquor, which he said contained poison. It turned out to be
nothing but a IlniNture of porter and ale, the plaintiff,
.who
appeared tp be much excited, 'was pacified for a time. The
witness saw him *again on the 14th of hine, a fortnight after his
,Wife' had left him, and•found him labouring under Symptoms of
delirium tremens and insanity,' produned,Hio ,his opinion, by
Obits of intemperance.
Mr. Baron At oKusoN in summing up the evidence said, that 1
if .the found for the plaintiff' on the general issue of har-!
bowing ifteriiotice, he should like to have their opinion as to,
whether the defendant had acted on a bona
.fide belief in the
statement made by the wife respecting the cruelty and violence
alleged to have been used towards her by the husband.
The jury almost immediately found (or the defendant,
.amt
expressed their opiniOn, that he had 'aeted bona fide in the ie-•
presentation made 'by the plaintiff's wife.
This ease lasted till pa•st•two o'clock, and the rest of the day
was occupied by an action of trespass from the neighbourhood
Of taocustr, of no inte,rest phateser, qicepting to• the parties
,concerned." After three bowl had been taken up hi discussing
Atli merits, the matter was Settled hy the withdrawal of a Juni'''.
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