1882] MR. DUDLEY FOX. 91 



which had belonged to Mr. Fox, an old and exceedingly 

 wealthy inhabitant of Uttoxeter, then recently deceased. 

 Amongst the legal proceedings arising out of this ques- 

 tion, was the consignment of Mrs. Fox, who had been 

 married to the deceased gentleman a very short time 

 before his death, to the care of a jmy of matrons of 

 Uttoxeter, until the birth of a posthumous child of which 

 she declared herself pregnant, and who, it was contended 

 on her behalf, would be the heir or heiress of Mr. Fox's 

 estates. The novelty of this proceeding, taken by direc- 

 tion of the court, excited considerable interest at the time, 

 and has since been referred to in several works on Medical 

 Jurisprudence. In due time the child (^Ir. "VV. J. Fox) 

 was born, and when, after protracted litigation, involving 

 trials at Nisi prius at Stafford, Chester, and Gloucester 

 Court of Appeal, the case was given in his favour, the joy 

 of the people of Uttoxeter, who all along had been faith- 

 ful to the cause of the widow and to the fatherless, knew 

 no bounds." 



