STRANGE BIGAMY CASE

Grey River Argus, 24 July 1923, Page 5

STRANGE BIGAMY CASE

Marriage To Cousin ADELAIDE, July 23. Reginald Kennedy, convicted of bigamy, appealed to the Full Court against the conviction. The evidence disclosed that Kennedy married his first cousin. Both were Roman Catholics, and his priest informed him that under the laws of consanguinity, of the Catholic Church, first cousins could not marry and the ceremony was no marriage. The parties never lived together. Kennedy, believing himself unmarried, subsequently married m other woman. The Court held Kennedy’s mistaken belief that the first marriage was invalid was based on an erroneous view of the law’, but that was no defence. Marriage between first cousins was lawful and binding, therefore the conviction must stand.