11 Ga. 324 | Ga. | 1852
By the Court.
delivering the opinion.
Dr. Mitchell was then, and is now, in possession of some thirteen slaves and other property; and the things bought were suitable to his circumstances and condition in life. At the time of the separation, no provision was made for the wife. Subsequently, to wit, in February, 1850, a partial divorce was granted to her ; and by the verdict of the Jury, an allowance for past maintenance was decreed by the Jury.
Upon this testimony, is the husband liable for the debt?
We think the proof that the wife was constrained to leave the house of the husband, on account of mistreatment, is sufficient to make him chargeable for her maintenance. She was ejected from his domicil with a letter of credit for necessaries.
. Chancellor Kent lays down the rule explicitly, that if the tradesman furnishes the goods to the wife, and gives the credit to her, the husband is not liable, though she was at the time liv
Mr. Bright says the husband has been held not to be liable where the dealing with the wife took place on the credit of another ; and where the tradesman made out the invoice and accounts to the wife, and drew bills of exchange for her to accept. Bright on Husband, and Wife, 18.
Clancey maintains the same doctrine. Treatise on Hus. and Wife, 25, 26.
The principle thus stated is fully sustained by all the reported cases. See Holt vs. Brien, 4 B. & Ald. 252. Montague vs. Benedict, 3 B. & C. 631. S. C. Montague vs. Barron, 5 Dowl. Ry. 532. Harvey vs. Norton, 4 Jur. 42. Freestone vs. Butcher, 9 Car. & P. 647. Metcalfe vs. Shaw, 3 Camp. 22. Bentley vs. Griffin, 5 Taunton’s Rep. 356.
In the case in 3d Campbell, Lord Ellenborough declared that it was a plain ground, that if the goods were not supplied on the credit of the husband, that he was not liable.
On a writ of error, to reverse a judgment of the King’s Bench, it was decided in the Exchequer Chamber, that assumpsit against the husband for money lent to the wife, at the request of the wife, was not maintainable; because, it appeared on the record, that the contract was made with the wife and the credit given to her, and not to the husband. Stone vs. MacNair, in error, 7 Taunton, 432. 4 Price, 48.
Being satisfied then, that the general liability of the husband is repelled by the proof which goes to show that the credit was given to the wife, and that the plaintiff looked to her alone for payment, the cause must be sent down for another trial.