Appeals and Divorce (1918)

Post date: Feb 04, 2014 4:53:46 PM

Extract from Parish Magazine of April 1918 the last one published during the war (magazine restarted in June 1919).

NATIONAL EGG COLLECTION.—Mrs. Leney requests the publication of the following items in addition to the list given in March Magazine:—80 eggs contributed by Mrs. Flint and Miss Fremlin between January 1st and February 21st (in addition to 16s. cash); and 1s. cash by Mrs. Richards.

In a letter addressed by the Admiralty, under date 28th February to Mrs. Leney, thanking her and her supporters in this parish for contributions of fresh vegetables and fruit to the Navy, emphasis is laid upon the constant monotony of routine in the strenuous life of our sailors during the 3 1/2 years of the war, and upon the value of a varied diet in any effort to relieve that monotony and hardship as well as for the preservation of health. " The percentage of sickness in the Fleet is lower than ever before, and the morale of the men is the highest possible."

The Navy works on ceaselessly and silently—its achievements cannot be published—but we do realise that if it was held up for only a few days we should be on the verge of starvation at home, our fighting forces abroad would be utterly disorganised, and the war would be lost. Whenever Mrs. Leney appeals for vegetables they will be forthcoming.

Here is another appeal worthy of response—it comes from Mr. E. A. Smith:—"Waste paper. Please save ALL waste paper you possibly can—newspapers, magazines, old books, envelopes, torn up letters, bills, brown paper, etc. It is worth as much per lb. now as sugar was before the war! If notified, the Boy Scouts will call anywhere at any time and collect such paper, or it may be sent to the schools. Spring cleaning affords an opportunity of turning out waste paper in the form of old books, etc. Do not burn such paper, but let us have it, as by so doing you are saving tonnage and helping your country."

Mention of spring cleaning is a reminder that Mrs. Livett will be glad at any time to receive goods for the annual rummage sale—anything that with a little trouble can be made useful will be acceptable.

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.

One word about the object of the Petition to Parliament that is being circulated in the Parish; it has one simple and single aim, namely, to enable parishioners to shew their opposition to the draft Divorce Bill that was printed in the Magazine last month. It has no other aim. It proposes no legislation. It leaves the question of future legislation entirely open, except that it expresses a hope that any such legislation will never follow the lines of the draft bill. It bases that hope upon a recognition of the fact that in extending facilities for divorce the provisions of the draft bill go far beyond the recommendations not only of the minority but also of the majority of the members of the Royal Commission published in their Reports; and upon the opinion that if such a bill became the law of the country family life and public morality would suffer disastrously. The Petition directs attention to this particular present danger, and calls for a united effort to meet it and defeat it. I appeal to anyone who is holding back from joining in this effort, on the ground that the Petition ought to go much further and demand the total exclusion of divorce from our country's laws, by a simple illustration : would they refuse to take their part in opposing the German advance in the West on the ground that we are unable at present to organise a successful opposition to the enemy in the Baltic and Russian states? But I am thankful to hear that the Petition is being numerously signed. In one district of the parish, the only one in which the canvassing of signatures has been completed, it has been signed I believe by members of every family. The success of the effort seems to be already assured. It would be grand if in the final result we could say that no home in the parish was left unrepresented in the protest against this insidious attack upon the sanctity of marriage. I would ask that all the copies of the Petition with signatures be returned to me by the first week in May.

G. M. L.

Rainfall—First Quarter :—

January 2'94

February 0'92

March 0'87

Inches. 4-73

A.L.

Notes:

The possibility of divorce, at a price but without a special Act of Parliament, came from the 1857 Divorce Act which allowed men to cite a wife’s adultery as a cause for divorce; women had to show their husband had engaged in bestiality, bigamy, incest, rape or cruelty as well as well adultery. During the late 19th century only 239 divorces a year in England and Wales took place, on average. Wateringbury’s first known divorce case was a high profile one in 1892 when E.O. Hanbury’s wife successfully petitioned for divorce, her husband contesting on the grounds he was temporarily insane due to drink. Hanbury was a partner with Jude in the brewing company.