MARRIAGE TANGLE

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 January 1939, Page 10

MARRIAGE TANGLE

PROBLEM FDR JUDGE LONDON, December 1.7. "Il is difficult to imagine that ;t man may have a fresh wife every six months and get away with it,” said Mr. Justice Atkinson at Lewes Assizes.

j He was dealing witli this problem: I Is a man who marries a second time, believing his wife 1 to be dead, and who ] afterwards discovers that she is alive, | entitled to rely on the defence that his second “marriage.” was not: legal when he is charged with bigamy following a third “marriage.” The judge decided that he was not, but added: "If I am wrong about, that the Court of Appeal will put. it right,” He gave leave- to appeal. Thomas Joseph Teranor, aged 12, a hole! worker, was charged with biganiotisly marrying Lilian May Anderson at Oxford on July 12. .1930, and bigamously marrying Kathleen Florence Collins Davis at Chichester' on January 26 last.

He was also accused of making false entries for the purpose of procuring those marriages. and of stealj ing C 7 lit/-. i Air. Erie Neve, prosecuting, submitI ted that although Teranor might have I had no knowledge of his wife for seven 'years and that might be a defence to the first bigamous marriage, it could be no defence to the second. Otherwise a man could go up and down the county ruining women and say in defence that for seven years he did not know his wife was alive. Mr. Justice Atkinson said if the first bigamous marriage was believed to be legal, that did not. make it. a legal marriage.

It the man believed that it. was a l legal marriage and then married a sec- | ond time, could he then say: "By merciful providence that last marriage, of mine turned out. to be a had one?” Mr. Neve said, to pm. il. colloquially, pi man was entitled to ope bite, but not two. Alter the .judges ruling, Treattor pleaded guilty to the second higam-l ous marriage. mid no evidence was of-1 l ercd regarding the first allem-d big-1 unions marriage. The jury returned a forma] verdict j of not guilty on that count. | Treanor was sentenced to a tofu] of) I;’ months' imprisonment. 1