CHAPTER VIII.

I. NECESSARY DOMICIL-WIFE.

LXXIII. WE have now to consider the case of those persons who are comprised under the first class, the domicil of whom is determined by operation of Law.

LXXIV. First of the Wife (a).

The maxim of the Roman (b) and of Continental civilians, and of this country and of America, is, that, as the wife takes the rank, so does she the domicil, of her husband; and the widow retains it, by the same analogy (c), after the death of her husband. If, however, the widow marry again, her domicil will be that of her second husband; and, according to the Canon law, she had a right to be buried in the place of sepulture belonging (d) to the domicil of her last husband.

(a) Disabilities of American Women married abroad, by W. H. Lawrence, New York, 1871.

As to the national status of married women according to the present law of England (33 Vic. c. 14 and 35 & 36 Vic. c. 39), see vol. i. p. 653, Appendix.

(b)" Item rescripserunt mulierem quamdiù nupta est incolam ejusdem civitatis videri cujus maritus ejus est, et ibi unde originem trahit non cogi muneribus fungi."-Dig. lib. 1. t. i. 38. "Mulieres honore maritorum erigimus, genere nobilitamus, et forum ex eorum personâ statuimus; et domicilia mutamus."-Code, lib. xii. t. i. 13.

(c) "Vidua mulier amissi mariti domicilium retinet, exemplo clarissimæ personæ per maritum facta. Sed utrumque aliis intervenientibus nuptiis permutatur."-Dig. lib. 1. t. i. 22. "Sin autem minoris ordinis virum postea sortitæ fuerint, priore dignitate privatæ, posterioris mariti sequentur conditionem et domicilium."- Code, lib. x. t. xxxix. 9.

(d)" Mulier autem quæ plures viros habuit successivè, si sepul

LXXVI. This doctrine of the widow's title to the domicil of her husband was successfully sustained by one of our most eminent civilians against the lawyers of France, in the question of the disputed succession to the personal property of Henrietta Maria, widow of Charles the First.

LXXVII. The French lawyers claimed the property for the Duchess of Anjou (e), her daughter, alleging that Charles the Second, the Duke of York, and the Princess of Orange (the other children), were excluded and disabled by the "droit d'aubaine," which took effect because Henrietta Maria had died domiciled in France.

They reasoned in this manner: that the Dowager Queen of England was a Frenchwoman, the daughter of Henry the Fourth, from whom she had received a "dot" of one hundred thousand crowns; that having fled from England in 1645, she purchased a house in France, and lived there for twenty-five years, till the time of her death, visiting England only twice during that period, and dying in her French residence; that she was, therefore, a domiciled native of France; and that the acknowledged rule of "mobilia sequuntur personam" must be applied to the question of succession to her personal property.

LXXVIII. It was argued, on the other side, by Sir Leoline Jenkins, that it was a clear proposition of public law that the wife followed the domicil of her husband; that she always continued to do so; and that no length of absence from her husband could affect this right; that the Queen Dowager of England originally went to France in obedience to the order of her husband, at the time. when England was embroiled in civil war; that she afterwards resided there for the sake of her health, having

turam non eligat, est cum viro ultimo, cujus domicilium retinet et honorem tumulanda."-Decretal. lib. iii. t. xii. c. iii.

(e) Better known in our history as Duchess of Orleans.

returned to France for the purpose of attending the marriage of her daughter to the Duke of Anjou; that she had always herself considered England as her domicil; that there she had a palace (Somerset House), moveables, and officers, who received their wages there; that during her absence she had laid out considerable sums in the reparation of Somerset House; that her letters to her son, Charles the Second, demonstrated that ill health alone prevented her from closing her life in London; and, lastly, that it did not become France, which held that all the great nobles of the kingdom and officers of the Crown were domiciled at Paris, the metropolis of the realm, to deny the application of the same principle to the Queen Mother of England, and to refuse to consider her as an integral part of the Royal Family of that Kingdom.

LXXIX. The reasoning of Sir L. Jenkins prevailed. It is obvious that the main argument is founded upon the widow's retention of the marital domicil: the point of her residence in France, having been for the most part that of an exile and compulsory, does not seem to have been much pressed, though it is glanced at; but her latter residence is said to have been under the constraint of ill health (doit être estimée fortuite, passagère, et mesme contrainte par son indisposition) (f).

LXXX. The betrothed, though in many respects enjoying the privileges of the wife, according to the Roman and Continental law, remained, in respect to her domicil, as before her betrothment (g).

LXXXI. I am not aware of any decided case in Eng

(f) Wynne's Life of Sir Leoline Jenkins, vol. i. p. 19; vol. ii. pp. 665-70. Both the statement of the French lawyers and Sir Leoline's reply are in the French language.

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(g) "Ea quæ desponsa est ante contractas nuptias suum non mutat domicilium.”—Dig. lib. 1. t. i. 32. And J. Voet observes : Quamvis multis in partibus juris nostri sponsa uxoris loco sit, veluti in injuriis, dotis privilegio, dotali fundo aliisque, domicilii tamen intuitu contra est; cum desponsata ante contractas nuptias suum domicilium non mutat."-lib. v. t. i. s. 92. Wharton's Conflict of Laws, s. 43.

land upon the question of the domicil of a wife divorced a mensa et thoro; but on principle it seems to me that there can be little doubt that in England, as in France, it would not be that of her husband, but the one chosen for herself after the divorce (h).

Voluntary separations have not been holden to give the wife the right of choosing a domicil in proceedings for a divorce.

LXXXII. There is another exception to the general rule mentioned by French jurists; namely, that where the husband is under an interdict (interdit), or an idiot, or a madman (i), and the wife is appointed his guardian

(h) See, however, Dolphin v. Robins, 7 H. L. C. p. 390 ; s. c. 3 Macqueen, H. L. C. p. 563, in which Lord Kingsdown seems to have entertained some doubt on the subject.

"Le domicile d'une personne est aussi celui de sa femme. Comme la femme dès l'instant de la célébration du mariage passe sous la puissance de son mari, elle cesse en quelque façon d'avoir propriam personam, et elle ne fait plus qu'une même personne avec son mari. Elle prend, dès cet instant, son domicile, celui de son mari devient le sien, et elle devient, dès ce jour, sujette aux statuts personnels du lieu de ce domicile, quoiqu'elle n'y soit pas encore arrivée. Ceci n'est pas contraire à ce qui sera dit ci-après, que la translation de domicile d'un lieu à un autre ne peut s'effectuer que lorsqu'on y est arrivé; car ce principe a lieu à l'égard du domicile propre qu'une personne se propose d'établir, et non à l'égard de ce domicile que la femme ne s'établit pas elle-même, mais qu'elle tient de son mari. Lorsqu'une femme est séparée d'habitation par un jugement, qui n'est suspendu par aucun appel ni opposition, elle peut s'établir un domicile qui lui devient propre." (This is the language of Pothier's Introd. aux Coutumes, p. 4.) According to the existing French Code, tit. iii. art. 108"La femme mariée n'a point d'autre domicile que celui de son mari.'

M. Marcadé observes, in his recent Commentary upon the French Codes (last edition, vol. i. p. 287), "Il y a cependant une exception à la disposition de notre article, pour la femme séparée de corps. Celle-ci en effet étant formellement autorisée par le jugement de séparation à habiter séparément de son mari, la doctrine et la jurisprudence, dans le silence de la loi, ont établi qu'elle recouvrait, par là, le droit de se choisir un domicile propre ; c'était aussi là, sous l'ancienne législation, le sentiment de Pothier."

(2) "Il est même un cas particulier" (says the same author) "où la femme mariée peut avoir son domicile propre, sans être séparée de

(tutrice), she may choose her own domicil; and so, according to the same law, where the husband is transported, or condemned to an infamous punishment; as would also, probably, be the case in England.

LXXXIII. The French Courts have most justly decided that the wife legally separated from her husband may choose her own domicil: "Considérant que, par la sépara"tion de corps, la femme a été déliée de l'obligation "d'habiter avec son mari, qu'il est évident qu'elle recouvre "le droit de choisir un autre domicile où elle puisse transporter son établissement et le siège de ses affaires "(k). LXXXIV. In the English Courts there have been decisions bearing upon the question of the domicil of the wife when living apart, but not legally separated, from her husband.

A married woman had power to appoint a fund by writing under her hand or by will. For thirty years previous to, and up to the time of her death, she resided in Paris separate from her husband; but there was no legal divorce or separation. Her husband was domiciled

corps: c'est quand le mari est interdit, et que sa femme est nommée sa tutrice. L'interdit, en effet, aux termes de notre article, ne peut avoir de domicile propre, il est domicilié chez son tuteur. Le mari donc, dans notre hypothèse, sera domicilié chez sa femme."

Cochin, in his argument on the Duchess of Holstein's case, observes, "Qu'elle n'en pouvoit avoir d'autre que celui de son mari; mais depuis que par la séparation elle est devenue maitresse du choix de son domicile, elle l'a fixé à Trelon," &c.-Euvres, tome viii. p. 12.

The Sardinian Code allowed, by implication, the wife, divorced à mensâ et thoro, to choose her own domicil. "La donna maritata non ha altro domicilio che quello del marito, salvo che ne sia legittimamente separata di corpo e d'abitazione.”—Codice Civile, tit. iii. s. 71. The modern Italian Code is to the same effect: "La moglie che non sia legalmente separata ha il domicilio del marito; [divenendo vedova lo conserva, finchè non ne abbia acquistato un altro." (Art. 18.) Cf. the Dutch Civil Code, tit. iv. art. 78: "Eene getrouwde vrouw, welke niet van tafel, bed, bijwoning en goederen is gescheiden, heeft geene andere woonplats dan die van haren man."]

(k) Arrêt du 23 Novembre, 1848; Dalloz Ann. 1849, ii. 9. Rogron's Code N. expliqué, i. 194-5.