The Warwickshire Herald. — 1885-08-08 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

CURIOUS HISTORY.  In the Chancery Division on Tuesday, before Mr. Justice Chitty, in the case "Re Ullee," Mr. Romer, Q.C.,applied for an injunction to restrain the marriage of a girl 10 years of age, and that the mother might be appointed the guardian of this and three other children. In 1870 the Newel, Ni ram of Bengal came to this country to prosecute certa.n claims against the Indian Government, and while here he met • woman in a humble sphere, whom lie married according to Mahometan rites, and told her she would be Begum of Bengal. Of this marriage, which Mr. Romer claimed was illegal in English law, six children were born, two of whom died, and the remaining four are two boys and two girls, the ter aged respectively 14 and 10 years, and the former nine and seven. In 1880 the British Government undertook, among other matters, in settlement of the Nawab's claims, to pay 10,000 rupees annually to each of the boys, and 20,006 rupees to each girl on her marriage or attaining the age of 21 years. The daughters' porti..n had now accumulated to I:4,006 for each of them. Subsequently the Nawab took a second English wife in the same manner as the first, which led to quarrels with the first wife, and ultimately the Nawab returned to India, taking with him the second English wife and the four children by the first wife. lie died in India in November, 1884, after making a will, by which he appointed Mr. J. L. O'Beirne guardian of the children. The bays were sent to this country to be educated, under the care of Mr. Mowbray Walker. The girls were in India, where the Princess Vaheedoonissa, aged 10, now residing in the harem of her halfbrother, has been contracted to be married to the present Nawab. It was stated in the case that the late Nawab had altogether 76 children. The English mother of the four children objected to this proposed marriage, which will practically exclude her for ever from any rel-tion with her child, and being in an independent position now, she desired to resume her maternal control over all the children. She had made an affidavit stating if the money payable to the children should be intercepted, the intended marriage would fall through. Pointing out that if the girls were married according to Malionietan it meant the seclusion in a harem for the remainder of their natural life, Mr. Romer contended that the legal custodian of illegitimate children was the mother. Mr. Macnaghten, Q.C., and Mr. Medd, for the trustees of the award of the British Government in 1880, the executors of the Nawab Niram's will, and the present custodian of the children, Mr. Walker, contended that the children having been acknowledged by their father had the Mahometan status of legitimacy. Mr. Justice Chitty, in view of the importance of the case, reserved judgment.  It is announced that a new monster ironclad, which will have the name of Hambert I. is to be constructed at the arsenal of Venice. A despatch from :Nice announces the suicide them of a Russian Prince, Alexandre Gagarine, in consequence of enormous losses at Monaco. This makes the twentrninth suicide since the commencement of the year from the same cause. - •  The dead body of a woman unknown has been found at Whitefield railway station, near Bolton, in a terribly mangled condition, one portion of the corpse being found at some distance from the other. Some of the clothes she had worn were afterwards found entangled in the machinery of a locomotive. It was impossible to identify the body, but it is be. Bated to be that of a tramp. A girl only 17 years old, a Paris telegram says, has just been condemned to 20 years' penal servitude in La Vendee for having murdered her father in a most brutal manner. It appears that the girl fro. quently quarrelled with the deceased because he was averse to her going out to service and to her keeping oompsny with a young man whom she wanted to marry. Eventually she beat his brains out with Or -mAndien beam used for carrvina buckets.