Girvan v. Griffin
Girvan v. Griffin
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
- The petition in this case was filed in' the court of chancery to have the'marriage of the petitioner on August 16th,' 1917, declared null and Void, on the ground, that the pretended marriage was not a real marriage, having been made in jest, as a vacation frolic and'without t willingness or consent to anything more than the formal ceremony.
The case was heard in the first instance by a special master. He reported to the chancellor that the petitioner was not entitled to the relief prayed for and recommended that the petition be dismissed. The master’s report was reviewed by one of the vice-chancellors. He approved thé report and concurred with the master. The-proof shows that the parties were not married in jest. A short resume of the testimony produced before the master will show that the decree of the court of chancery should be affirmed. At the hearing the petitioner was sworn, also, Ethel Maj Scholl, a chum of the defendant, one of the witnesses at the marriage ceremony, Rev. Walter Earle Lcdden, the clergyman who performed the ceremony, and Sarah E. Hindley, a witness to the marriage license, with whom the defendant was boarding, during the summer at Belmar. Two witnesses to the marriage ceremony, Mr. Chapin and Mr. Shattuch, were not produced as witnesses. The testimony of the other three witnesses produced at the hearing relate to collateral facts only. The petitioner and the defendant knew each other since November, 1914. The defendant was staying at Belmar, New Jersey. The petitioner went there on Saturday, August 11th, 1917. He sent the defendant a special delivery letter stating that he was coming. As soon as he arrived at Belmar he went to her boarding-house just to let her know that he had arrived. On Monday afternoon, the 13th of August, the petitioner made plans to go home. They had lunch and the petitioner said to the defendant, “I have to go
The chancellor has recently held, in the case of Bolmer v. Edsall, 90 N. J. Eq. 299, that corroboration is required in suits for nullity of marriage, as well as in those for divorce from the bonds of matrimony. In this case, there was no corroboration of the petitioner’s testimony, that the marriage ceremony was performed in jest.
The decree of the court of chancery is affirmed.
For reversal — Kong.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Hearsey Girvan v. Georgina Griffin, alias Georgina Williams, defendant-respondent
- Status
- Published