MRS WAGSTAFFE'S TRIALS

Evening Star, Issue 12101, 6 November 1908, Page 6

MRS WAGSTAFFE'S TRIALS

A MUCH-WORRIED WOMAN. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, November 5. (Received November 6, at 7.55 turn.) Mrs Wagstaffe resisted an action brought by a Mrs Lloyd, an old friend, to recover arrears of an annuity promised' under threats of exposure connected with the late James Poole Wagstaffc’s first marriage. The jury found that this was a blackmaillng agreement,'and gave a verdict for defendant. [Mrs Wagstaffe. in order, to avoid the importunities of her husband’s relatives, surrendered herself. on a charge of bigamy. Ihe case was heard in November, 1906, and Mre Wagstaffe was formally found guilty, but no further action was taken against her, and her husband’s will in her favor was upheld. The details showed that as a young woman she had gone through the form of marriage with a wealthy, elderly gentleman named Wagstaffe, her first husband, a medical student, being then and still alive. Mrs Wagstaffe became a popular character. She is much respected in her English home, where she is a sort of Lady Bountiful to the tenants and villagers.]