Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-07-09
ROMANTIC, VERY.
An EnglishwOman, Daughter OF an Ex-
Mayor of Southampton, Comes to the
Atlantic to Sue New Yorker for
Breach of Promise to Marry Her-Her
Trials in the Great American Me-
trOpOlis-His Wife and Children.

New York World: On July LIST, Miss Geor-
glana Gertrude Lobb, through her counsel,
Mr.. +. G.. Ripley, brought suit in the supreme
court against William John Taeg Hunsdon,
tor obtaining four thousand dollars from her
by fraud and deceit, The next day she
brought suit in the court of common pleas
against Hunsdon for twenty-five thousand
dollars Tor breach of promise of marriage.
The plaintiff, according to her story and her
| lawyers, is a lady OF refinement. belonging
| to good English family. Her father, Joseph
| Lobb, was banker in Sout hampton, Eng
| land, and was for three years mayor of that
| city and deputy-heutenant. In 1873 Miss
Lobb spent the summer at Chale, watering
place on the Isle of Man. While there she
| met the mother and sister of the defendant
and subsequently the defendant him
| self. He Is man about forty-five years
| OF age, and she Is thirty. Hunsdon has re-
| Gently been In the advertising business at No.
| IA Park place, in this city, his speciality be-
| ing the letting of spaces at ferry approaches,
| the sides of railroad tracks and the like. He
comes of A good English family and is a
| British subject. His name, when Miss Lobb
| first knew him at Chale, was William John
Iagg, and he is usually known by that name
| still, though in December last he applied to
the court of chancery in England to have his
| name changed to Hunsdon. The acquaint
| ance between Miss Lobb and Hunsdon RI
pened into an attachment, and they engaged
themselves to each other, subject to the APP
prevail of Mr.. Lobb Soon after their en-
gagement Hunsdon returned to America
About January, 1876, Mr.. Lobb died, leaving
something of an estate, and about the same
time Miss Lobb received from the estate of
an uncle legacy of five thousand dollars In
July, 1876, Hunsdon returned to Southamp-
ton Tor the express purpose of marrying Miss
Lobb, and at his request a day was set for the
wedding. About three days before the day
fixed Hunsdon returned from a trip to Lon
IL al
that his solicitor had told him that if he mar
RED her then and her fathers estate proved
to be insolvent, he, as her husband, would be
responsible for her portion of the debt. There
was no foundation of truth in the statement,
but Miss Lobb trusted him implicitly and cor
sented to postponement. He proposed that
he should return at once to America, whith-
er she should follow him soon after, and that
they should be married upon reaching this
country. Her money, five thousand dollars,
which was IN bank, next became the subject
of discussion, and Hunsdon suggested that,
as he was a man, 1t would be safer in his
charge than in hers. Without a suspicion,
she drew the money and gave it to him. He
sailed for America in September 1876, and
she followed in January, 1877. She boarded
tor time on Washington square, spent the
summer In the country, in New Jersey, and
for several months has been living at No. 226
West Eleventh street. Hunsdon for time
after her arrival was very attentive, but his
visits became less and less frequent When
ever she urged him to fulfill his promise of
marriage he put her off on one plea Or
another. He said her fathers estate was
not settled or his own affairs were not in a
condition to admit of his marrying. Mean
while his habits excited her curiosity. He
could never be found at his place of business
at No. IL Park place, and his name was not
In the directories. He avoided telling her
where he lived. If she inquired he would
say that he had no regular abode. His adj
vertising business kept him so much out of
town that it dld not pay him to live in one
place. He lived at hotels. now in one quar-
ter OF the town and now in another. His last
interview with Miss Lobb was about the mid
die of June. She then asked him if he ever
intended to marry her, and if so, when. He
replied that he never intended to marry any
woman. Two or three days later she stated
the foregoing facts to Lawyer Ripley, giving
him several papers; letter written by Huns
don, July IA, 1876, In which he asked her to
name the wedding day; a memorandum of
the amount OF money she gave him original
ly, and the sums he had given her from time
to time since then, aggregating about one
thousand dollars, with an agreement to give
her stated sum each week; letters from
Hunsdon and his mother, sister and aunt
which showed on their part high regard for
Miss Lobb, and printed notice he had given
to the English court relating to change in
his name. Mr.. Ripley tried for two or three
days to find Hunsdon, but could never catch
him at his office or learn when he would be
in, or where he had gone. At length he en-
ployed detective to watch for him. Next
door is telegraph station. The detective
had a message already to send as follows:
III. Is In, and as soon as he saw the man
enter his office he sent the dispatch. Mr..
Ripley went over Immediately. Hunsdon at
first denied that the engagement had been
ba I'd baA hrol-
Oft by Miss Iobb, and gave the date. Then
he referred Mr.. Ripley to his counsel, Mr..
Henry Nicoll. On June Oath the detective
followed Hunsdon to the house near the COR
ner of Seventy ninth street and Ninth
avenue. Hunsdon would walk hastily out of
his office for block or two, face suddenly
about and retrace his steps, hurry around
corner and board street-car. Once he went
to an elevated railroad station and Jumped
aboard at the last moment. When he reached
Fifty-eighth street he sat in the car until all
the passengers had left, when he walked up
through Central park, frequently turning
about as If to satisfy himself whether he had
before seen any one then near him. The de-
tective learned that in the house whittier
Hunsdon went there lived Mr.. and Mrs. Tagg
and their two children, one about five years
old. Mrs. Tagg answered to her name when
the detective inquired for her, and seemed to |
be very estimabl", lady-ike woman. To |
settle the question Of marriage, Lawyer Rip |
ley employed female detective belonging to |
Pinkerton's agency. On June 28th, she APP
piled for sewing to Mrs. Tagg. She staid |
some time, and among other questions asked |
her how long she had been married. Mrs. |
Tagg said: NEARLY six years" Lest Huns |
don should learn of the evidence obtained |
against him, the papers were drawn with all |
dispatch. Tuesday morning Judge Daniels |
granted an order of arrest for him, and fixed
his bail at FIVE thousand five hundred dollars
The detective again watched at the office for
Hunsdon, and upon his arrival sent word to |
Deputy M 'Ilhargy, who arrested him. Judge |
Larremore in the second suit fixed bail at |
two thousand dollars. Being unable to OBJ
tain bail, Hunsdon was locked up in Ludlow
street jail. Miss Lobb thinks that his wife
was with him in Europe in 1876, when he
urged her to name the day for the wedding.
She has no relatives in this country, and the
money held by Hunsdon is all she has.