The Great Brady Bunch Train Wreck, Or "And a rogue"
Sometimes you start reading a Victorian divorce case and you can see the train wreck coming from a long, long while way, and you want to shout, "No, Martha Mary! Run away fast now!" Only all this happened 150 years ago and everyone involved is long since dead and so I just keep reading, wincing, and making notes for my database.
In 1864, the widow Martha Mary Evans, mother of six children under 14, fell in love with a handsome young widower named Robert Raymes, a single father of four children. Now, while the late Mr. Evans had died suddenly and intestate, he left Martha and their kids a substantial amount of property, in particular the three oil and colour shops he had founded, which, despite their somewhat confusing name, were "victualling stores" or, essentially, your local neighborhood liquor and beverage mart. Martha had gone on to open up a fourth shop herself.
Martha was a prudent woman, so before her marriage to Robert she arranged for, essentially, a pre-nuptial agreement. Since legally all of her property would come under Robert's control after their marriage, she wanted him to sign a contract guaranteeing apprenticeships in the stores for her four male children and at least 50 pounds each for all of the children, backed up by a 300 pound bond. He agreed to all of this readily. However, when a court case came up regarding her late husband's estate, Robert pointed out that, if they were already married, he could handle the whole lawsuit and "take care of everything for her," without having to wait for the pre-nuptial contract to work its way through the various signatories and bureaucracies. He could always sign the contract afterwards!
I suspect my perceptive readers can see where this is going. Two weeks after their hasty marriage, Martha is in London and decides to pay a visit on Robert's brother, since he wasn't able to come to the wedding. The senior Raymes brother has some words of advice for his new sister-in-law. "Watch out; my brother's a scampand a rogue and he told me last week he plans to abscond to Australia next week." ["and a rogue" is crossed out in the original affidavit.]
Martha goes back to confront Robert, who is still in the country theoretically preparing his kids (whom she has not met yet!) for the move to her townhouse. She finds Robert with his parents and his sister; he yells at Martha, hits her, and admits that he was planning on moving "someplace where he would never be found" because "he thought that she had far more property and fewer debts." However, his parents convince them to temporarily reconcile, and they go back to London together. As far as I can tell, she still hasn't even seen his four putative kids.
After another few weeks, Robert a. has transferred all the money in her bank account into her name; b. told all her suppliers that he is her new husband, meaning that they will no longer offer her credit in her own name but only accept cash on hand; c. took money from various of the tills; d. sent checks to a mysterious "Mrs. Blake"; e. left Martha's home and told her to forward all correspondence to Mrs. Blake's box at the post office.
Martha sues for divorce and a petition for the protection of her finances, demonstrating that she can't keep making her customary 100 pounds a week (about U.S. $15K!) unless she can get her suppliers to start giving her liquor on credit again. Despite the fact that she can prove neither real abandonment, simply claiming that Robert Might Be in Australia, nor adultery, nor cruelty beyond one slap in front of his parents, the judge grants it anyways.
In 1864, the widow Martha Mary Evans, mother of six children under 14, fell in love with a handsome young widower named Robert Raymes, a single father of four children. Now, while the late Mr. Evans had died suddenly and intestate, he left Martha and their kids a substantial amount of property, in particular the three oil and colour shops he had founded, which, despite their somewhat confusing name, were "victualling stores" or, essentially, your local neighborhood liquor and beverage mart. Martha had gone on to open up a fourth shop herself.
Martha was a prudent woman, so before her marriage to Robert she arranged for, essentially, a pre-nuptial agreement. Since legally all of her property would come under Robert's control after their marriage, she wanted him to sign a contract guaranteeing apprenticeships in the stores for her four male children and at least 50 pounds each for all of the children, backed up by a 300 pound bond. He agreed to all of this readily. However, when a court case came up regarding her late husband's estate, Robert pointed out that, if they were already married, he could handle the whole lawsuit and "take care of everything for her," without having to wait for the pre-nuptial contract to work its way through the various signatories and bureaucracies. He could always sign the contract afterwards!
I suspect my perceptive readers can see where this is going. Two weeks after their hasty marriage, Martha is in London and decides to pay a visit on Robert's brother, since he wasn't able to come to the wedding. The senior Raymes brother has some words of advice for his new sister-in-law. "Watch out; my brother's a scamp
Martha goes back to confront Robert, who is still in the country theoretically preparing his kids (whom she has not met yet!) for the move to her townhouse. She finds Robert with his parents and his sister; he yells at Martha, hits her, and admits that he was planning on moving "someplace where he would never be found" because "he thought that she had far more property and fewer debts." However, his parents convince them to temporarily reconcile, and they go back to London together. As far as I can tell, she still hasn't even seen his four putative kids.
After another few weeks, Robert a. has transferred all the money in her bank account into her name; b. told all her suppliers that he is her new husband, meaning that they will no longer offer her credit in her own name but only accept cash on hand; c. took money from various of the tills; d. sent checks to a mysterious "Mrs. Blake"; e. left Martha's home and told her to forward all correspondence to Mrs. Blake's box at the post office.
Martha sues for divorce and a petition for the protection of her finances, demonstrating that she can't keep making her customary 100 pounds a week (about U.S. $15K!) unless she can get her suppliers to start giving her liquor on credit again. Despite the fact that she can prove neither real abandonment, simply claiming that Robert Might Be in Australia, nor adultery, nor cruelty beyond one slap in front of his parents, the judge grants it anyways.
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