PECULIAR POSITION

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 191, 8 May 1924, Page 8

PECULIAR POSITION

MAN LEAVES TWO WIDOWS PROBLEM FOR THE JUDGE By Telegbaph—Press Association. Christchurch, May 7. A peculiar position has arisen in connection with the disposal of the estate of tho late Fred William Collins, of Edgeware Road, St. Albans, tt baker. He left a will bequeathing £l5O a year to “my wife.” It is now found that he had two wives, one in England and one in New Zealand —one legal wife, and one illegal one. Mr. Justice Adams, in the Supreme Court, was asked to decide which will benefit under the will. _ Collins married Charlotte Jane Smart in the parish church of Bilston, Staffordshire, in 1885, and lived with her for about three years. Then he left her, and she never saw him again. She still lives at Bilston. He camo to Now Zealand, and, in Christchurch, in 1889, went through a marriage ceremony with another woman, who appeared in the proceedings as Emily Sophia Collins, his widow. He often referred to her in Christchurch as “Mrs. Collins.” His will Vas made shortly before he died in April, 1922. The Judge was asked whether, in the event of deciding in favour of the New Zealand wife, the English wife would be entitled to any provision under the Family Protection Act. Both women were represented, as w/11 as several nephews and nieces, who are beneficiaries in the residue of the estate. . . . The hearing is unfinished.