The Trial of elizabeth, calling herself Duchess Dowager of kingston, for Bigamy:* before the Right Hon. the House of Peers, in Westminster-Hall, in full Parliament assembled, 15th, 16th; 19th, 20th, and 22d Days of April:
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1776 |
| Docket Number | 551 |
| Date | 01 January 1776 |
| Court | State Trial Proceedings |
551. The Trial of ELIZABETH, calling herself Duchess Dowager of KrivosTow, for Bigamy:* before the Right Hon. the House of Peers, in Westminster-Hall, in full Parliament assembled, 15th, 16th; 19th, 20th, and 22d Days of April : 16 GEORGE M. A. D. MO. t [Printed under an Order of the house of Lords.] Monday, April 15, 1716. In the Court erected in Westminster-hall, fur the Trial of Elizabeth Duchess Dowager of Kingston, for Bigamy. ABOUT ten o”clock the Lords came from their own House into the court erected in Westminster-hall, for the Trial of Elizabeth duchess-dowager of ”Kingston, in the ”kennel. following: The Lord High Steward”s gentlemen attendants, two and two. See the Trials of Mary Minters, vol. 6, p. 273, and of Fielding, vol. 14, p. 1321, for the like offence. t " REX V. DUCHESS of KINGSTON. " Mr. Wallace had moved on the part of the defendant, for a Certiorari to be directed to the justices of Oyer and Terminer, at Hicks”s-hall, to remove into the Court an indictment found against her, at the sessions there, for bigamy ; apd, upon the motion, the court granted the " But now lord Mansfield took notice to Mr. Wallace, that the motion .was irregular. For a defendant has no right to remove an indictment of felony from Hicks”s-Hall, without the consent of the prosecutor ; and in this case” there was no consent, therefore his lordship said the writ issued improvide, and must be superseded. " Mr. Wallace said, the only object of removing the indictment was for the purpose of her being bailed ; but per lord Mansfield, the purpose for which it was intended, makes no difference. The next day Mr. Wallace moved the a Habeas Corpus, Mr. J ustice Aston having granted a warrant father apprehension (as had been settled amongst the parties, as the pro- . perest method to be takes) upon a certificate of the indictment being found. " The warrant and the return to it were read ; and then Mr. Wallace moved to bail her. mentioned the suit in the spiritual court, upon the proceedings there against Mr. Hervey, for jactitation of marriage, and also the proceedings in Chancery relating to her marriage ” all these proceedings were put into court, and en- tered as read. ”He observed, that she must, at all events, be tried by her peers, as Mr. Hervey was,now become earl of Bristol. " kb% Bearcroti, for the prosecutor, con. The clerks assistant to the House of Lords, and the clerk of the parliament. Clerk of the crown in Chancery, bearing the king”s commission to the Lord High Steward, and the clerk of the crow n in the King”s-beuelt. The masters in Chancery, two and two. The judges, two alai two. The peers eldest sons, two and two. Peers minors, two and Iwo. Chester and Somerset heralds. Four serjeants at arms with their maces, two and two. - sented to her being hailed, as there could be no doubt (he said) of her appearance to answer to the indictment. " Lord Mansfield, Though we should undoubtedly have bailed her, it is better to take it as upon the consent of the prosecutor ; and she must be bound to appear, in the House of Lords when required, to answer to the indictment, as well as to appear in this court. But as there is nothing against her in this court, her appearance here may be dispensed with for the future upon motion, without giving her the trouble of actually appearing here in court any more. - ` Bail was taken accordingly, herself being bound in 4,000/. and each of her time bail in , . c The recognizance was as follows:” England. Duchess dowager of Kingston, 4 who stands indicted by the name of Eliza, bed), the wife of Augustus John Hervey, esq. ” is delivered to bail, upon a writ of Habeas Corpus ad subjimendum, for her appearance in the court of our sovereign lord the king, before the king himself at Westminster,. on the first day of the next term, and so front day to day, until she shall he discharged by the said court, and not to depart the said court without leave ; and also for her appearance before our said lord the king in parliament, to answer to an indictment against her for fe- lony, whenever she shall be thereunto re- quwed. By the Court. Mallow.” " I have inserted this recognizance, verbatim, because there was found only a single instance of the like, (viz. of a recognizance taken in this court to appear in parliament) which was that of the earl of Orrery, taken and acknowledged before lord chief justice Pratt, on the 14th of March, 9 Geo. 1, for his appearance in the court of our lord the king, 1 dr A. D. 1776. Four serjeants at arms with their maces, two and two. The sedeant at arms attending the great seal, and purse-bearer. .Then Garter king at arms, and the gentleman-usher bf the Black Rod carrying the white staff before the Lord High Steward. Henry earl Bathurst, chancellor of Great-Britain, Lord High Steward, alone, his train borne. Ilis royal highness the duke of Cumberland, his train borne. The Lords being placed in their proper seats, and the Lord High Steward upon the woolpack, the House was resumed. The clerk of the crown in Chancery, having his majesty”s Commission to the Lord High Steward in his hand, and the clerk of-the crown in the King”s-bench, standing before the clerk”s table with their faces towards the state, made three reverences; the first at the table, the second in the mid-way, and the third near the woolpack ; then kneeled down; the clerk of the crown in Chancery, on ids knee, presentee” the Commission to -the Lord High -- Steward, who delivered the same to the clerk of the crown in the King”s-bench to read : then rising, they made three reverences, and returned to the table. And then proclamation was made for silence, in this manner: Serj. at Arms. Oyez, oyez, oyez! Our sovereign lord the king strictly charges and commands all manner of persons to keep silence, upon pain of imprisonment. Then the Lord High Steward stood up, and spoke to the Peers. L. H. S His majesty”s Commission is about to be read: your lordships are desired to attend tolt in the usual manner; and all others are likewise to stand up uncovered while the Commission is reading. All the peers uncovered ”themselves ; and they, anti all others, stood up uncovered, while the Commission was read. " GEORGE R. 1, George the third, by the grace of God, of” Great-Britain, France, and Ireland king, defender of the faith, and so forth. To our right trusty and right well-beloved cousin and counsellor Henry earl Bathurst, our chancellor of Great-Britain, greeting. Know ye, that whereas Elizabeth the wile of Augustus John Hervey, late of the parish of St. George, Hanover-square, in our county of Middlesex, esq. before our justices of Oyer and ”Perm/nee, at Hicks”s-hall, in St. John-street, in and for our county of Middlesex, upon the oath of twelve jurors, good and lawful men of the said county of Middlesex, then and there sworn and charged to enquire fiir us for the body of the said county, stands indicted of polygamy,*and before the king himself at Westminster, on the first day of next term, and so from day to day until he shall be discharged by the said court, and not to depart that court without leave, to answer to those things which, on the behalf of our said lord the king shall be objected against Lim; and also for his appearance from time to time, until he the said Charles lord Orrery shall be discharged by due course of law, before our lord the king in parliament, whenever by our said lord the king he shall be thereunto required, to answer to those things, which on behalf of our said lord the king shall be there ohjected against him." Cowper”s Reports, p. 283. Upon occasion of these proceedings against the prisoner in the following Trial, Mr. Bar-grave was consulted on the part of the prosecution. With his wonted zeal he composed, previously to the trial, a most elaborate, learned, and able discourse Concerning the Effect of Sentences of the Courts Ecclesiastical in Cases of Marriage when pleaded or offeredin evidence in the Courts Temporal,” which several years afterwards he published in his Collection of Tracts relative to the Law of England.” In this discourse he has accumulated a vast mass of judicial decisions and legal reasonings respecting the two main questions of law which were made in this case, viz. 1. Whether a sentence of the spiritual court against a marriage in a snit fur jactitation of marriage is conclusive evidence so as to stop the counsel for the crown from proving the said marriage in an indictment for polygamy ? 2. Whether, admitting suck sentence to be conclusive upon such indictment, the counsel for the crown may be permitted to avoid the effect of such sentence by proving the same to have been obtained by fraud or collusion? In addition to what will be found in this report of the trial, I must refer the reader for farther illustration of the- law respecting these two questions to that treatise of Mr. Hargrave ; which it is to be hoped will be incorporated into Iris valuable Jurisconsult Exercitatiunes” now in course of publication. Mr. Leach has inserted in his Cases in Crown Law a very brief note of this case, exhibiting the decision of the Court upon the two questions which I have just stated, and also upon another question which was agitated, viz. Whether a peeress convicted by her peers of a clergyahle felony is by law entitled to the benefit of the statutes, so as to excuse her from capital punishment, without being burned in the hand, or being liable to any imprisonment? I 357] for Bigamy. The yeoman-usher of the House. The barons, two and two, beginning with the youngest baron. The bishops, two and two. The viscounts and other peers, two and two. The lord privy seal and lord president. The archbishop of York and the archbishop of Canterbury. " Polygamy, or, as it is more frequently, though improperly, called, bigamy, (which only - means having two wives in succession,) consists in having a plurality of wives at the same” time, and was originally considered as of cycle; s...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
DYC Fishing Ltd v Perla del Caribe Inc.
...take advantage of his own wrong…’ Abouloff gives primacy to the rule laid down by DeGrey CJ in the case of the Duchess of Kingston (1776) 20 St Tr 355 when he said ‘Fraud is an extrinsic, collateral act, which vitiates the most solemn proceedings’. 67 Later, Abouloff was adopted in Vadala......
-
Donohoe v Browne
...ACT 1961 S37(1) CIVIL LIABILITY ACT 1961 S37(2) CIVIL LIABILITY ACT 1961 S38(3) CONSTITUTION ART 34.3 DUCHESS OF KINGSTONS CASE 20 HOW ST TR 355 HARGRAVE V GOLDMAN 110 CLR 40 JACKSON V GOLDMAN 81 CLR 446 MURPHY V HENNESSEY 1984 IR 378 1985 ILRM 100 ORD V ORD 1923 2 KB 432 RAMSEY V PIGRAM......
-
R (Prudential Plc) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax
... ... of the special or general commissioners before serving a notice under either subsection ... could only remove such "a fundamental human right" if it "expressly stated" that it was doing so, ... LAP, in accordance with the decision of the House of Lords in Morgan Grenfell ... 15 ... the Supreme Court of the United States as "full and frank communication between attorneys and ... , which is therefore best left to Parliament, and (ii) Parliament has legislated on the ... "any private advice or secret of his calling or employment": Creditors of Wamphray v Lady ... was disposed of by Lord Mansfield in the Duchess of Kingston's Case (1776) 20 St Tr 355 , ... to give evidence against the Duchess on her trial for bigamy, saying: "I do not know how far any ... and attorneys and, in the very early days of the doctrine, the scriveners who drew up ... ...
-
Paul Baxendale-Walker v APL Management Ltd
... ... THE HON Mr Justice Henry Carr ... Case No: ... Mr Baxendale-Walker's properties, Burleigh House, on the basis of Mr Baxendale-Walker's arrears ... If interest payments were made within seven days of falling due, and no arrears were outstanding, ... 16 At a pre-trial review in the County Court Proceedings, on 24 ... which are not relevant to the issues before me. Paragraphs [5] and [6] of the Order of Judge ... 24 On 25 April 2017 a claim was also commenced in the Superior ... proceedings in the County Court at Kingston (the “Possession Proceedings”) in respect of ... occasion and is binding on the parties: Duchess of Kingston's Case (1776) 20 St Tr 355 ... of action estoppel may not apply in its full rigour where the earlier decision did not in ... This would exclude from this right other parties who may have an indirect interest ... ...
-
EZEWANI & ORS V. ONWORDI & ORS.
...parties, as the present case before this court, different considerations are bound to arise. In the old case of R. v. Duchess of Kingston 20 St Tr 355: (1776)1 East, P.C. 468: (1775-1802) All E.L.R. Rep. 623 the principle was firmly established that judgments upon the same matter and betwee......