Evening star., 1923-10-21

erins expedition to the north of the
Bulgarian lines that he was forced by
machine trouble to descend. and was
taken prisoner and held in captivity
at Sofia until the restoration of peace.
But on his release. In November.
1918 and his return TO England. he
refused to live with his wife, and
when, not long afterward. he was
cited as correspondent in divorce
case. the evidence was so incontro-
vertible that Lady Torrington found
no trouble whatsoever in securing
from the divorce court a decree re-
leasing her from her matrimonial
bonds In the trial, Lady Torrington
| insisted that the wreckage of the
marriage was due mainly to his
habits and to his extravag gance. With
regard to the latter, 1t was shown on
the occasion of his last appearance in
the bankruptcy court, that even at
the time of their marriage he was
already in his wife's debt tC the tune
of over 100000. and that it was this
| consideration, rather than any in
fatuation. that induced him to then
settle upon her. for the term of her
life. his ancestral home and his en-
tire entailed estate.
& *
l. Votes Court is a beautiful place,
surrounded by some of the grandest
trees in that garden county of Kent.
The mansion is filled with family
relics. including the cabin chair in
which the unfortunate Admiral John
Byng, fourth son of the first viscount
Torrington, was shot in 1857, in
Portsmouth harbor, on the quarter
deck of his own flagship. after being
sentenced to death by court-martiaI.
The court, which was composed of
admirals, acquitted him of the charge
of cowardice which had been brought
against him, but issued a verdict to
the effect that he had not done his ut
most to relieve the Island of Minorca
when bes eyed by the Spanish and
French fleets. According to the arti-
cleS of war, the court had no alter
native but to sentence him to death
on this account. But the members of
the court. without one exception. rec
commended him to the mercy Of the
sovereign on the ground that he had
been sent to sea with a small squadron.
poorly manned, inadequately armed and
in such a shameful condition as to rem
der defeat by superior force inevitable,
and that at most he had been guilty
of an error of Judgment IN refusin g
to accept the re- possibility of engage
ing the enemy in the face of certain
QeSlTuCllOI however. h1ng George
II, with his traditional obstinacy. de-
clined to listen to a word in his be-
half. This, too, although the very
fact of the services of the admiral $
father might have be- considered as
emitting the ill-fat-d Off er to con-
sidera ton at the hands OF his sover-
eign, for his father, Sir George Byng,
WIS raised to the peerage, first as
baron and then as Viscount Torriug-
ton, for his brilliant naval Victories
over the Spaniards off Cape Passaro
and at Messina.
Another son of the first Viscouut
Torrington and an ancestor therefore
of the present Lord Torrington was
Sir Robert Byng, Governor of Barba-
dos, and from whom the Earls of
STAFFORD .nd also the present goyer-
nor genera; OF Canada, Gen. Lord
Byng. are descended. The present
Earl of STAFFORD, other wise Edmund
Henry Byng, is one of the Australian
state governors, and the late Earl of
Strafford was married to the former
Miss Cora Smith of New Orleans and
widow of Samuel Colgate of New
York. AS Lord Torrington has no
children, the next heir to his peerage
and to his baronetcy and to his en-
tailed estates is his cousin, Lieut. Col.
Arthur Byng, a veteran of the South
African war of quarter of a CEN
tury ago.