File:Alice Lynch trial file (1884) (22740839237).jpg

On November 22 1881 Alice Lynch and Charles Monkton made fraudulent statements before the Registrar of Marriages in Auckland which would see a child married against her will, and ultimately lead to their imprisonment.

Emma Howell, aged 12, had no idea what was in front of her when her sister Alice and Alice’s de facto partner Charles Monkton took her into the registrar’s office and told her she was going to be married off to the 36 year old Monkton. Before they went in, Alice told her she was going to sign the intention to marry record as Emma’s mother and record her age as 15. Monkton was a prominent photographer who had travelled all over New Zealand in his work, so when the case ultimately went to trial it generated a lot of publicity.

A portion of Emma’s statement to the Police is as follows: ‘I did not know what marriage meant. I was boarding at the Convent and was taken out and slept that night at my sister’s house. The accused (Alice Lynch) told me I was to be married next morning. I recollect being married … I saw the accused write her name in the Marriage Book as my mother. She stated to the Registrar my father was dead, she said she was my mother. Upon that we were married. It was not true that my father was dead. I had been living with the accused since I was a little girl. My mother died when I was four years old. I used to call the accused mother. I had not had a conversation with Monkton before the marriage except that if I did not marry him my sister and I would have nowhere and would have to go on the streets. I lived with Monkton some time after my marriage … I did not correct the accused when she said she was my mother because she told me not to. I did not realise I was a married woman after the ceremony.’

It can only be imagined what Emma went through having been thus procured for Monkton but after a year or so she managed to escape and go to the police. He was jailed for two years and Alice Lynch for 18 months. When Emma filed for divorce she spoke of her hatred for her husband but was turned down in her petition for divorce. The only possible grounds for a woman to obtain a divorce was physical cruelty which she couldn’t prove. In declining her petition the judge expressed sympathy and told her it was unfair but the law was clear on the matter. She was only able to remarry after Monkton’s death.

Shown here is the indictment against Alice Lynch in her trial file.

Reference: R12483625 AAOM W3265/2306 Queen v Alice Lynch 1884

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