Olive Stevenson, Australian Husband-Beater Wielded a Big Stick - 1927

FULL TEXT: Sydney [Australia] – Judgment was given to-day by Mr. Justice Owen in the Stevenson divorce suit. On March 7 last year Richard Stevenson, a North Coast farmer, was granted a decree nisi for the dissolution of his marriage by Mr. Justice Davidson. On the ground of desertion, the suit being undefended. Later the wife, Mary Olive Stevenson, appealed to the Full Court and was granted a new trial because she said she had no opportunity of defending her husband’s petition.

At the hearing before Mr. Justice. Owen each party petitioner on the ground of desertion, the wife alleging cruelty. She further declared that he was too friendly with a widow and on one occasion she declared, she dressed herself was a man and paid a surprise visit to the widow when her husband was with her and gave him a “good thrashing with a big stick.”

The husband was granted decree nisi and ordered to pay the costs.

[“Thrashed; Husband - North Coast Divorce Case,” The Northern Star (Lismore, Australia). Jun. 21, 1927, p. 5]

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For more cases see: Domestic Violence: Non-Lethal Female on Male

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