LONG ARM OF LAW

Evening Star, Issue 23136, 9 December 1938, Page 1

LONG ARM OF LAW

THEIR GRIMES FOUND THEM OUT For bigamies committed many years ago—in one case 30 years and in the other 24—two middle-aged women have been sent to gaol in Scotland. One month’s imprisonment was the sentence passed by Sheriff Brown at Hamilton on Mrs Isabella Livingstone M‘Dougall, or ? M‘Gilvray, aged 65, whoso offence was revealed when she applied for a widow’s pension. Mr J. C. Paterson, prosecuting, explained that in November, 1903, the woman, then a farm servant, aged 20, married a man named M'Gilvray. It was an irregular marriage, and was registered before the sheriff. A child was born later.

A year or two afterwards M'Gilvray went to Canada, leaving the mother and the child to their own resources. He returned in a few months, but did not live with his wife. Before he died in Glasgow in 1913 Mrs M'Gilvray visited him.

At this time Mrs M'Gilvray was a bigamist, for she had, in 1908, gone through a form of marriage with William Gillies, a ploughman, to whom she described herself as a spinster. Again it was an irregular marriage. The couple lived as man and wife until Gillies met with a fatal accident on the railway near Kilsyth in January this year. When the Department of Health received an application from Mrs M'Gilvray for a widow’s pension in May of this year, they noticed that she described herself as Isabella Livingstone M'Gilvray. That gave rise to suspicion, as she had previously stated that her maiden name was Livingstone. Investigation revealed that she had been bigamously married. Mr Alex. Cruickshank, defending, declared that Mrs M'Gilvray had already suffered deeply. She had brought up her son, who was now happily married. Imposing sentence, Sheriff Brown said that while he took into account the fact that the offence was committed 30 years ago, bigamy was a very serious matter. In th#second case, Mrs Mary Ann M'tJonigle, or Coyle, aged 56, pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to having committed bigamy 24 years ago. She was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment. Lawfully married in 1899, when only 17 years of age, Mrs Coyle separated from her husband six years later. In 1914, explained Mr James Adair, who prosecuted, she “ married ” a man whom she had known only a month, and they lived together until quite recently. Defending solicitor stated that the bigamous marriage had been a happy one until six weeks before the court appearance of his client.