Finding aid databases

Copy despatch to the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs from the Minister for External Affairs, 23 November 1929, relating to the expenditure incurred by the British Vice-Consul at Suez in connection with the death of Miss MJ Plunkett. The despatch states that applications have been made to Countess Plunkett directly and to her legal adviser but these have not ensured payment of the account. The despatch states that the matter is now receiving further consideration.

s 5926

Despatch

Copy letter to the Secretary, Department of External Affairs [from the Secretary, Executive Council], asking if there are any further developments in the matter of the expenses incurred by the British government in connection with the death of Miss MJ Plunkett.

s 5926

Letter

Letter to the Secretary, Executive Council, from the Secretary, Department of External Affairs, 4 February 1930, stating that the Minister for External Affairs intends at an early date to bring before the Executive Council the particulars of the case of the expense incurred by the British Vice-Consul at Suez in connection with the death of Miss MJ Plunkett.

s 5926

Letter

Memorandum, 8 February 1930, on the expense incurred by the British Vice-Consul at Suez in connection with the death of Miss MJ Plunkett, issued by the Department of External Affairs for consideration at the next meeting of the Executive Council. This gives details of the death of Miss MJ Plunkett and the subsequent refusal by Countess Plunkett to honour the expenses incurred. The memorandum suggests that the debt be paid from public monies.

s 5926

Memorandum

Note to the Secretary, Department of External Affairs, from [the Secretary, Executive Council] stating that the outstanding amount owed to the British Vice-Consul at Suez in connection with the death of Miss MJ Plunkett will be paid by the Government out of the contingency fund.

s 5926

Note

Extract from Cabinet Minutes, 10 February 1939, stating that the outstanding amount owed to the British Vice-Consul at Suez in connection with the death of Miss MJ Plunkett will be paid by the Government out of the contingency fund.

s 5926

Extract

Copy despatch to the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs from the Minister for External Affairs, 22 February 1930, relating to the expenses incurred by the British Vice-Consul at Suez in connection with the death of Miss MJ Plunkett. The despatch states that the Irish Free State having made every possible attempt to secure payment from Countess Plunkett and having failed, have now paid to the Vice-Consul at Suez the amount of the balance due from the Countess. `I regret very much indeed that the Vice Consul should have been so badly treated by one of our citizens'.

s 5926

Despatch

Copy despatch from Passfield, Dominions Office, to the Minister for External Affairs, 22 March 1930, expressing thanks to the Irish Government for meeting the expenses incurred in connection with the death of Miss MJ Plunkett.

s 5926

Despatch

Illegitimate Children (Affiliation Orders) Act, 1928. This act was designed to force the father of an illegitimate child to contribute to the support of the child. The act defines the word mother as `any of the following persons who is with child or has been delivered of an illegitimate child, that is to say, any single woman or any widow, or any married woman living separate from her husband, and includes any married woman not living separate from her husband who before her marriage was delivered of an illegitimate child…'

s 5931

Act

Memorandum issued by the Department of Justice, 14 October 1929, on the Illegitimate Children (Affiliation Orders) Act, 1930. `It is doubtful if anybody would be found to question the wisdom or justice of enabling the mothers of illegitimate children to compel the fathers of such children to contribute to their support. Many unfortunate unmarried mothers are denied the shelter of their own families and it is possible that some of them, who might otherwise reform, drift into the prostitute class in a spirit of despair induced by the hardships they suffer. It can be readily appreciated that girls of the domestic servant class who get into difficulty find themselves in a position of great hardship trying to earn their living and to maintain an illegitimate child away from their ordinary place of work. A weekly contribution from the father of the child would ease this situation considerably. It is not impossible too, that the ability to obtain an affiliation order may lessen the number of infanticides'.

s 5931

Memorandum