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4. That Percy Kingham (elder brother of the late Harry Claude Kingham), in a private letter to his sister (Ethel Hopkins), has asked for charge of the infant Margaret Vera Kingham.
The following is the extract from his letter to his sister embodying this request :-
"Drummond, Natal, South Africa, April 20, 1906. "I feel very strongly regarding the dear baby Vera that was saved; but, although we know that the child will receive from you the tenderest care and attention, we think that perhaps it is not quite right to keep the child in such a country, therefore we beg for charge of same. As you are aware, Ethel, our ideas regarding religion are not so extreme as yours, but still we strive to do right, and, I hope, we do so. Consequently you could rest assured that the baby would be carefully reared and brought up, even as well as poor Harry and his wife would wish. I should. not make this proposal had I not immediate hopes of leaving my present line of business for good. I greatly dislike it, and hope in the near future to devote our whole time to farming wattles."
It should be added that Mrs. Percy Kingham appends a postscript to another letter, dated the 12th May, hereafter quoted, in which she says:-
"I would so much like to leave Vera with you and Fred as a substitute for Harry and Tavic and Grace (murdered February 1906), but I am not trying to persuade Percy, as he thinks differently, and looks at it more in a business-like way that is, as a guardian, he thinks the child should live with us."
And further, Mrs. Edmiston, in writing to her niece, Ethel Ada Hopkins, in a letter from Hastings, dated the 3rd July, 1906, says :—-
"I am sure Alice (Mrs. Percy Kingham) does not agree, because she said she was not used to children."
5. That this desire of Percy Kingham for guardianship of Margaret Vera Kingham has not been approved by members of Harry Claude Kingham's family (as is shown by extracts from letters given above under heading (2) (a), (i), (iii), and (iv)), and it ought to be added that any petition for guardianship by him would be strongly disapproved of by relatives on the mother's side-i.e., by members of the Pownall family.
6. That your petitioners are not aware whether Percy Kingham, with knowledge of the disapproval of relations on both the father's and mother's side will press a claim for the guardianship of Margaret Vera Kingham.
If, however, such a claim is pressed, your petitioners desire to make the following statement :-
Percy Kingham, in a letter to his sister, Ethel Hopkins, in asking for charge of the child, says in letter, dated the 12th May, 1906 :--
"I am going to ask you to give us charge of the dear baby as you know we at present are childless, and the baby would be to us a priceless treasure, its bringing up à true labour of love. I am asking this--
(1.) As I am the child's legal guardian.
"(2.) As the country you are in is too unsettled for the safety of the baby, and although you and your husband may deem fit to remain, it is not fair to the child to keep it there.
"(3.) Because. if possible, we would be as true and careful parents to the baby as ever poor Harry and his wife would have been."
With regard to the first reason, we presume that in this case there must be legal appointment before there can be a legal guardianship.
With regard to the second reason, it ought to be mentioned that Percy Kingham lives in a disturbed part of Natal, and that quite recently he had boxes packed up in readiness for flight if necessary. Also hearing in mind the strain of the tragedy of the 25th February last, it appears to us that to remove the child to that disturbed region would not be for her good.
With regard to the third reason given just above, we desire to express a fourfold
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objection. This objection is based on (1) social; (2) moral; (3) financial; and (4) religious grounds.
1. Social-Percy Kingham's somewhat rough past, with its varying fortunes, ventures, and speculations, cannot have fitted him in character for looking after Margaret Vera Kingham, who up to the present date has been brought up simple, though refined, way.
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Enlisting about seventeen years ago, Percy Kingham served in India, and subse- quently in South Africa. Since leaving the army he has been in several lines of business. At present he keeps an hotel. This also he now wants to relinquish, in order to go in for farming wattles.
Further, neither Percy Kingham nor his wife have ever seen Margaret Vera Kingham; also Percy Kingham had not seen his brother, the late Harry Claude Kingham, for fourteen years, and had kept up no correspondence with him.
2. Moral-The hotel (where at times Percy Kingham and wife indulge in card-playing), with its constant changes, could not, we think, supply a moral atmosphere, calculated to promote the highest good of a missionary's child entirely unaccustomed to such surroundings. Indeed, Percy Kingham himself implicitly admits some unsuitability in a letter already quoted (Extract 4 (1)), where he says:-
I should not make the proposal (asking for charge of Margaret Vera Kingham) had I not immediate hopes of leaving my present line of business for good. I greatly dislike it.'
3. Financial.-It does not seem that Percy Kingham could well support and educate Margaret Vera Kingham. Quite recently he was in financial difficulties. His creditors wanting payment, he sought (though unsuccessfully) through power of attorney sent to friends in England to raise money on a small prospective legacy.
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4. Religious. Percy Kingham and his wife, who is of German nationality, are opposed to missionary work. This is borne out by an extract from a letter of Percy Kingham's wife to Ethel Hopkins, dated the 18th May, 1906. In this she says, Harry's (Harry Claude Kingham) murder makes us hate all about missions." Evidently, therefore, they could not train a missionary's child as a missionary would desire. Further, in religious views and practice they are very different from the late Harry Claude Kingham and wife. It seems to us, therefore, that however much Percy Kingham might desire to be a suitable guardian to Margaret Vera Kingham, it is not possible for him to be such, and that for the fourfold social, moral, financial, and religious reasons given above.
Your petitioners therefore pray that the claim of Percy Kingham for the guardianship of Margaret Vera Kingham, infant, may, if definitely made, be disallowed.
And that your petitioners, Herbert Edward Pownall and Frederick John Hopkins, may be appointed guardians of the infant, Magaret Vera Kingham, sole surviving daughter of the late Harry Claude and Octavia Mary Kingham.
True copy
(Signed) E. C. WERNER.
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