The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-29 00:00:00

LONDON LAW COURTS.

COURT OF CHANCERY, MONDAY, Nov. 25.
Mr. Richards applied to the Lord Chancellor in a matter
relating to a ward of the court. The application was upon the
petition of the father of a young lady, which stated that she was
entitled to a considerable fortune under the will of a person de-
ceased, and that she had been made a ward of the court; that,
under an oiler of the court, an allowance had been directed for
her maintenance and education while she was at a boarding
school, and that, on her having arrived at a fit age for being re-
moved from that establishment., she had been placed, with the
concurrence of her father and with the sanction of the court,
under the care of a Mr. John Read, of Lambeth. The reason
of her being so placed rtas, that her father was not then in a
situation which enabled him to receive his daughter in his own
house, and he_had therefore intrusted her to the care of Mr.
Read, whom he had believed to be a proper person to afford her
protectiou, and the payment of the young lady's future allow-
ance was directed to be made to Mr. Read. The petitioner fur-
ther stated, that he had very lately sent his son to Mr. Read's
house to inform his daughter that he should take her under his
own care, when Mrs. Read informed the son that the young
lady was married to her (Mrs. Read's) son. As this marriage,
if it had taken place, was wholly without the sanction of the
court, and as, therefore, a contempt had been committed, the
learned counsel now moved that the parties implicated in it
shOuld be ordered to attend.

The Lord Chneelior immediately ordered Mr. and Mrs.
Read, their son, and the young lady, to attend the Court forth-
with.

At the rising of the court it was announced that some of the
parties were in attendance, in obedience to his lordship's sum-
mons. Mr. and Mrs. Read appeared on the floor of the court,
in front of the seat occupied by the King's counsel.
The Lord Chancellor then asked Mr. Read if his son was in
attendance ?

Mr. Read replied, that his son had gone out of town in the
morning with the young lady who was the subject of this appli-
tltion.

His lordship asked if the son was any relation to that young
lady ? _

Mr. Read replied, the only relationship subsisting between
them was, that his son was her 'husband.

His lordship asked how long they had been married ?
Mr. Read replied about three months.
The Lord Chancellor.—Was the marriage solemnized with
your knowledge or consent?
Mr. Read.—l knew nothing of it till after it had taken place.
I did not consent to it; on the contrary, I would rather have
followed my son to his grave than that it should have taken
place. (This mas said with considerable warmth.)
The Lord Chancellor.—Sir. this is not the place nor the oc-
casion in which it is necessary for you to display any excitement.
You are beie Al answer my questions. You say your son has
been married tiree months. When did you first learn that he
was married?

Mr. Read.—Very shortly after it had taken place.
The Lord Chancellor.— I-1 ave the parties been living together
in your house *ver since?
Mr. Read.—They have.
The Lord Chancellor.—What is your son?
Mr: Read.—He is udder articles to a solicitor,
The Lord Chancellor.—Has he any fortune?
Mr. Read.--Sione but my earnings.
The Lord Clancellor.—The young lady has a large fortune.
Did you know that, and that she is a ward of this court?
Mr. Read.-1

The Lord Cancellor.—Did you communicate to this court,
whose ward she, is, or to her father, who had intrusted her to
your care, that the marriage had taken place any time before
S'aturday last.

ilr. Read.--I did not make any communication at all; my
wife did.

The Lord Chancellor then asked Mrs. Read whether she had
made any such communication, and she replied she had not un•
lil Saturday.
The Lord Chancellor.—Mr. Read, you must have known,
and your son, who you say is a clerk to a solicitor, must have
known, that such a proceeding as this marriage was a high con-
tempt of this court. Why did you not, during the three months
that have elarsed since you knew of it, and during which the
husband and vife have been living under your roof, make any
communication either to the court or to the young lady's father?
Mr. Read slid, with great warmth, that he was unwilling to
state all he had to say respecting the father, but that, if be was
pressed, he could make such disclosures respecting, him—
The Lord Chancellor interrupted him and said—Mr. John
Read, standing here as you do to answer for your own conduct,
it ill becomes you to make the assertion you have just uttered
against an absent man, in the face of this court and the public,
and which you know, being so spoken, is calculated to inflict
a perhaps irreparable injury to his character. Then, turning to
the register, lordship said, " I order Mr. Read to stand com-
mitted, and that the affidavit which has been filed in support of
the petition shall be served upon Mrs. Read and the other par-
ties when they can be found."
The tipstaff advanced to take Mr. Read into his charge, and
the court broke up.