Thornhill v Thornhill

• Jurisdiction: Barbados
• Court: High Court (Barbados)
• Judge: Williams, J.
• Judgment Date: 05 July 1977
• Neutral Citation: BB 1977 HC 23
• Docket Number: No. 316 of 1977
• Date: 05 July 1977

High Court

Williams, J.

No. 316 of 1977

Thornhill

and

Thornhill

P. Williams for the plaintiff.

E. Mottley for the defendant.

Family Law - Children — Custody

Facts: The issue was who should have custody of two children of the marriage aged two and three — The children were cared for by the mother after the disintegration of the marriage and prior to her hospitalization resulting from illness

Held: That having regard to the tender ages of the children and the fact that the wife looked after the children for a period of time, the custody of the children should be granted to the wife.

Williams, J.

1 In this case I am asked to determine whether the wife or the husband is to have the custody of the two children of this collapsed marriage. Jill, born January 30th, 1974 and Hugh born August 13, 1975, were cared for by the mother until the end of February this year. On March 1, the mother was taken to hospital overborne by the stress and strain of the disintegrating marriage and since that date the children have lived with the husband's mother. The wife is now seeking their custody, the husband, now living with his mother, having refused to return the children to her.

2 The following passage taken from the report of S. (B.D.) v. S.C.D.J. [1977] 1 All E.R. 656 states the gist of the Court of Appeal decision in that case and affords some guidance in this case.

3 “The best interests of the child was the predominant consideration in custody matters, and if the interests of the child required that custody should...