CO129-461 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1920 [5-7] — Page 389

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wife had told me nothing about it. My wife was in very great danger for two days, but recovered sufficiently to allow of our return to London on August 29th. The day after we arrived in London, she insisted on returning to her mother's house at Portsmouth and asked me to take steps to obtain a divorce. I did not want that, and we agreed to go to Portsmouth, and talk matters over with her mother. After that my wife insisted on having a separation, and refused to live with me again. After I had made several attempts at a reconciliation, she finally wrote me in November, 1919, and wrote that she would never live with me again either in Hongkong or England, and that the best thing I could do would be to get a separation arranged. I then consulted a lawyer and he wrote to her on November 19th requesting her to come up to London for an interview with him. She did not do so, and after putting it off several times, wrote me to say she was to undergo an operation which she did on December 20th, and that I could come down and fetch the boy. When recovered she still refused to come up to London to have matters amicably arranged, and employed a Portemouth solicitor on January 28th, 1920. She refused to agree to the terms of the agreement which was drawn up by my solicitor, and eventually summoned me for desertion on March 30th, 1920.

The Magistrate refused to make an order against me on seeing the letter referred to above, and no more evidence was pro- duced. I wrote to her on April 7th informing her that my passage was arranged and that I should be leaving for Hongkong in a few weeks, and suggested that she should come up to London and see the boy and myself before we left. She made no arrangements to do so until the day before we were to leave when it was too late.

I have allowed my wife £15 a month all the time I was on active service, and considerably more than that after my return home in July, 1919, until January, 1920, I addition I have paid various of her debts amounting to about £41, and an liable for doctor's and solicitor's bills amounting to considerably more.