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Thomas Badger, Solicitor & Coroner

Notes & Queries

Thomas BADGER (1793-1862), a solicitor was for upwards of thirty-three years one of Her Majesty's coroners for the county of York and the honor of Pontefract. He married 20 May 1819 at Rotherham, by license, to Mary Smith (1799-1859) of Sheffield.who died 13 June 1859, age 61 in Rotherham

Mr. Badger was a native of Tinsley, where he was born July 14th, 1793, son of Thomas Badger and Alathea. After passing some time in the offices of Messrs. Harrison and Radford, of Derby, he was articled to Mr. Joseph Wheatley, solicitor, of Rotherham. On the expiration of his articles, he was taken into partnership by Mr. Wheatley, and for several years he carried on his profession under the firm of Wheatley and Badger. The partnership being dissolved, he practised alone with considerable success.

He was the agent of the Whig candidates for the Rotherham district from a period prior to the passing of the Reform Bill until his death in September 1860.

Children of Thomas and Mary Badger (Nee Smith):

Henry Parkin BADGER (1823-1864) marr. Esther Sarah WRIGHT. Read more »

Children of Henry Parkin and Esther Sarah Badger (Nee Wright):

Thomas Wright Badger

Thomas Wright Badger married Ida Vigars in 1881, he was 34, she was 20.

In 1882 Thomas Wright Badger was living in Whiston and practising as a Solicitor in Rotherham and Sheffield in partnership with Frederick Parker Rhodes, under the name Badger, Rhodes & Co. He was also a Wine & Spirit Merchant with Alan Badger, trading as Hutchinson Badger & Co.

On 9th September, 1882 a notice in the newspaper recorder Bankruptcy Annulled.
Christopher John Lowes?, Walbrook, London, Solicitor.
Bankrupts (Notices of Adjudication and First Meetings of Creditors.) Bankruptcy Act, 1869.
Thomas Wright Badger, Whiston, Yorkshire, practising as a solicitor, Rotherham and Sheffield. In partnership with F. P. Rhodes under the style of Badger, Rhodes, and Co., and carrying on business as a wine and spirit merchant, Rotherham, with Alan Badger, under the style of Hutchinson, Badger, and Co. - September 27th 1882, Sheffield.

Divorce

On 4th March 1886, Mrs. Ida Badger, whose maiden name was Vigars, presented a petition for the dissolution of her marriage with Thomas Wright Badger on the ground of his desertion and adultery.

Sir J. Parker Deane, who, with Mr. H. Bargrave Deane, appeared for the Petitioner, stated that in this case the proofs of the adultery charged against the respondent had been obtained by a French detective, and the manner in which that agent had discharged his duty was worthy of imitation by his brothers of the profession in England. The English detective went from place to place after the person he was watching, and presented to those who employed him voluminous notes of his observations. M. Charles Vandal, the French detective in this case, acted in quite a different style. He did his business, in a very short time without encumbering himself with notes; and there was something charming in the way he brought his mission to a conclusion. In August, 1885, the respondent, as he was smoking a cigar on the Boulevard des Italiens, was pointed out to M. Charles Vandal. A few days afterwards the detective was at Rennes as the respondent arrived there in the train from Paris, and followed him to a hotel, took a public conveyance, and drove in it to a house occupied by women of loose character. M. Vandal followed him, entered the house at almost the same moment as Mr. Badger, and saw him ascend to the first floor. In about 20 minutes the respondent left the house with a woman whose name M. Vandal had ascertained, and drove with her to a restaurant. M. Vandal followed them, and as they were entering the restaurant he advanced, raised his hat, laid his hand on his breast, and, presenting his card to the respondent, addressed him:

"Mr. Thomas Wright Badger, here is my card, on which you will find my name and my address in Paris. I was employed to watch you with the view of obtaining evidence against you in divorce proceedings instituted by your wife. I have been making observations, and I believe I have irrefragable proof. That being so, I withdraw, and have the honour to wish you a very good morning."

He thought it would be found the M. Vandal had made a correct estimate of the weight of the evidence he had obtained to bring home the charge of adultery.

From the evidence of the petitioner and of Mr. Henry Badger, brother of the respondent, it appeared that the petitioner and respondent were married in Yorkshire on the 27th of April, 1881, she being at that time 20 and he 34 years old. He was a solicitor by profession, and on the marriage he made a settlement of £11,000 on her, which turned out to be worthless. Towards the end of 1882 he got into financial difficulties, and he, she, and their infant child went to Spain, where they took up their residence in a small village near Barcelona. He remained there with her for about two months, during which time he was constantly quarrelling and expressing his dissatisfaction with her. He said to her that he wished the child was dead. It was very ill, and he refused to call in a doctor to see it. She had to go for a doctor herself; they had no servant. One day in November he announced to her that he would leave her on the following day. He added that he might come back to her, but he did not tell her where he was going. He left her no money, but she had some, and within 4 or 5 days she arrived at Paris, and from there telegraphed to Mr. Henry Badger. She had never seen her husband since. Mr. Henry Badger, on receipt of the telegram, went from this country to Paris, where he found his sister-in-law in a state of deep mental distress and her infant very ill. He brought them both home. He saw the respondent in England afterwards, and was aware that from here he went to Australia, where he remained for only 3 or 4 months. Subsequently he went to America, and later, turned up in Paris, where he was pointed out to the French detective by the petitioner's brother. M. Charles Vandal bore out the statement of Sir J. P. Deane as to what he could prove; and Marie Besnard, the woman in whose company M. Vandal had seen the respondent, was examined, and corroborated the testimony of that witness.

The President pronounced a decree nisi, with costs, the petitioner to have the custody of the child of the marriage.

Edith Badger

Edith Christine Badger daughter of Wilfred Badger, Barrister and Solicitor, of Christchurch, New Zealand, (formerly of Rotherham), married on 2nd September, 1908 at Linwood, Christchurch, New Zealand, to Charles Reginald Ford. The bride was Granddaughter of the late Henry Parkin Badger, Solicitor, and Great Granddaughter of the late Thomas Badger, Solicitor and West Riding Coroner, both of Rotherham and Sheffield, Yorkshire.

Source: Newspaper Extracts and Family

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