Re McGrath (Infants)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Court | Court of Appeal |
| Judgment Date | 1893 |
| Year | 1893 |
| Date | 1893 |
Infant - Guardian - Removal by Court - Religious Education - Welfare of Infant -
The Court has jurisdiction to remove a guardian of infants appointed by their mother after the father's death, under the power conferred on her by the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1886, if it is satisfied that it is for the benefit of the infants so to do.
The jurisdiction of the Court in relation to infants extends to infants who are not wards of Court, and who have no property; but such jurisdiction is limited to the appointment and removal of guardians, and does not extend to making schemes for their maintenance or education.
A journeyman tailor, who was a Roman Catholic, in 1876 married a woman who was a Roman Catholic. There were five surviving children of the marriage, all of whom were baptized as Roman Catholics. At the date of the hearing of the appeal they were aged as follows: a boy aged sixteen, three girls aged respectively fifteen, thirteen, eleven, and a boy aged six. The father died in 1888, and was buried as a Roman Catholic; but during his life he expressed no wish as to the religion in which his children should be brought up, and appeared indifferent on the subject. During his life his children, with his knowledge, sometimes attended Roman Catholic and sometimes Protestant schools. The eldest boy, with his father's consent, was sent to an industrial home conducted on Protestant principles. He was now in domestic service, and professed himself a Protestant. The three girls were principally educated at Roman Catholic schools. After the father's death a benevolent lady, a member of the Church of England, gave the mother, who was in very poor circumstances, regular pecuniary assistance; and in November, 1889, the mother executed a deed under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1886, by which she appointed this lady guardian of the three girls and the youngest boy. Before her death the mother professed herself a Protestant. The two younger girls were taken some time after their father's death from the Roman Catholic school at which they then were, and all three girls were placed by the lady at a Protestant industrial home; where they still remained. The younger boy lived with his mother's brother, who was a Roman Catholic, and attended first a board school and afterwards a National school.
In November, 1891, an aunt of the father, who was a Roman Catholic, acting as next friend of the four younger children, took out a summons asking that the guardian might be removed and the next friend and a Roman Catholic lady appointed joint guardians of the children:—
Held (affirming the decision of North, J.), that, having regard to all the circumstances, it would not be for the welfare of the children that the guardian should be removed, and that no direction ought to be given as to the religious education of the children. The summons was accordingly dismissed.
THIS was an appeal from an order of Mr. Justice North, dismissing a summons taken out by Margaret Macauliffe, as next friend of four infants, under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1886 and the
The facts are fully set forth in the previous report, and the following short statement will be sufficient for the purposes of the present report.
Both the parents of the infants were dead, and were both originally Roman Catholics. The father was a journeyman tailor. They had five children: a son, who was born a few weeks after the marriage, and the four children who were the subject of the present application, namely, Mary Margaret, born in February, 1877; Elizabeth, born in August, 1879; Catherine, born in June, 1881, and Thomas Michael, born in 1886. All the children were baptized as Roman Catholics. The eldest boy was brought up in a Church of England school, and was now in domestic service. He made an affidavit saying that he was a Protestant, and intended to continue in that religion.
The father died in June, 1888; he was attended by a Roman Catholic priest on his death-bed and was buried as a Roman Catholic. During his life he appeared to be indifferent to religion, and did not interfere with the religious education of his children, nor did he express any wish as to the religion in which they should be brought up, or appoint any guardian for them. After his death, the family being in very needy circumstances, they were relieved by Mrs. Scrimgeour, who was a Protestant, and she obtained work for the mother and assisted the family with pecuniary relief until the death of the mother, which happened in July, 1891. On the 1st of November, 1889, the mother executed a deed under the provisions of the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1886, appointing Mrs. Scrimgeour guardian of the four younger children after her death. The eldest girl had been educated partly at Roman Catholic and partly at Protestant schools; the two younger girls had been educated at a Roman Catholic school, though they sometimes went to a Protestant Sunday school, and were, at the time of their father's death, at Nazareth House, a Roman Catholic institution. After their...
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