Elspeth and John Rhŷs' daughter, Myfanwy, attended the college in Bangor where she lived at the women's hall. Hughes was concerned that their daughter was leaving the hall to visit Violet Osborn.[3] Osborn had arrived at the Hall in 1891 when she was 25. She had lived at the hall for a year but she then decided to not live in the hall and moved to Sackville Terrace.[4] Hughes spoke, in confidence, to Myfanwy's mother Elspeth Rhŷs who was a teacher and a prominent campaigner for the education of women.[5] Elspeth said that she was told that the elder Osborn was not good company for Myfanwy. She was "unfavourably brought-up", untruthful and not "pure-minded".[4] It was against the rules for students staying at the halls to visit students who lived elsewhere and Osborn's character was questioned. News of this conversation spread and Violet Osborn and her supporters were concerned at the implication on her reputation. Hughes had expressed doubts about Violet's intentions and her integrity. The hall's governor's asked Frances to explain herself but she refused to reveal her sources.[3] The Senate stood by Violet Osborn and the governors of the halls of residence backed Frances.[4]
Her brother Hugh Price Hughes wrote to The Times in 1893 pointing out that Frances had been mistreated. He supported her view that students who decided to opt-in to staying at hall should not mix with those who opted-out. He added to the fuss by using the phrase "unattached" to refer to women students who were not in hall. The implications of the term implied a lack of supervision and the college objected. Henry Reichel wrote to The Times to complain, but the term "unattached" was re-used by the media as they continued to report the matter.[4] Frances also wrote to the Times and she won a libel case against the Weekly Dispatch.[3]
Two of Bangor's professors were involved in the case. Edward Vernon Arnold married Violet Osborn. The other was Evan Keri Evans [cy] and eventually had to resign his position.[3]
