Ex parte Christina [1940] TOLawRp 3; [1908-1959] Tonga LR 34 (1 October 1940)

[1908-1959] Tonga LR 34

EX PARTE CHRISTINA: AN ADULT

(Civil application: Stuart C. J. Pangai, October, 1940.)

Application to amend Register of Births.

This was an application to amend the Register of Births by altering the name of the applicant's father as shown in the Register.

Namoe Tautua'a gave evidence that:-

1. She was the mother of Christina (the applicant) who was born at Ha'apai on 3rd May, 190S, and that her father was Henry Wright a New Zealander.
2. That the applicant was illegitimate and that she (her mother) had registered the father's name as Oliseni Naiata, which was incorrect.
3. That Mr. Wright had maintained the child and paid for her education.
4. That Mr. Wright had publicly recognised the applicant as his daughter on many occasions and had once, at Pangai, gathered all the European residents together and announced that the applicant (who was then 18 years of age) was his daughter.

The applicant also gave evidence.

Mr. Wright was deceased at the time the application was made.

STUART C.J. The Court orders:

That the name Oliseni Naiata be deleted from the column "father" in the Register of Births and the name "Henry Wright" be inserted or such variant as may be discovered in any deed issued to Mr. Wright, for which searches are being made in the Land Office, to the satisfaction of the Assistant Registrar of Births.

Wright is found as a fact to be the father of the applicant and to have admitted the same with wide and intentional publicity prior to his death. It is regretted that he did not formerly register an adoption, and there is no doubt that he did his best to adopt the applicant according to the rough and ready methods of the period.

The applicant is Tongan by strict law; but she should be New Zealand by moral and convenient tests: she is European in outlook, training, habits, and all essential matters.

She is obviously fit and suited for adoption by a relative of her father.