What I meant in my convoluted way was that on Ancestry.co.uk where I got my ggrandfather's court comittal details from it gives all kinds of criminal court details mixed together from the register, including civil liabilty cases so the unreadable word she asked about could be 'liability' as in civil liability, for the unpaid maintenance.

...and to try historic online Sheffield newspapers for reports if she didn't get any joy from Sheffield Archives, as I got my information from there, which gave far more info than official records did on that maintenance topic. Its surprising what the local newspapers reported on then, which would not be considered newsworthy today. Gossip was news in those days.