NOTORIOUS ADVENTURESS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 1039, 11 June 1924, Page 11

NOTORIOUS ADVENTURESS.

TWICE DIVORCED IN ONE DAY. VICTIMISED IN BIGAMOUS MARRIAGE, An adventuress with an amazing past, was, at the, Bournemouth I'oiice Oourc, sentenced to three months' imprisonment (.says a London exchange;. She was Margaret Williams, u -woman of many ttiiasea, who lias been posing in Bournemouth as the daughter or Major-General Sir John Hanbury Williams. A detective arrested her at a private hotel, where sua was thought to be a doctor, and where she had engaged looms for "Sir Berkeley Moynihan, the King's physician, and Lady Moy»iihan." Margaret Williams, or "Una the Untruthful," as she is often called, is well known to the police as one of the most fascinating, dangerous, .women criminals hi the country* CLAIMED A TITLE. She has swindled men out of thousands of pounds, has illegally practised as a medical practitioner, has committed bigamy with a brigadiergeneral, and has been divorced twice on the same day. "Your record is so bad that it doesn't seem much good saying anything to you," observed the magistrate. Williams has often claimed relationship with distinguished families, and she, is so accomplished a liar that she lias rarely failed to carry conviction. Once she described herself as the daughter of the late Major-General Keogh, and on another occasion said she was "Lady Hanley," explaining that the title had been bestowed on her by the King. Her story then was that she was the daughter of a fleet surgeon of the Royal Navy who had been killed while tending the wounded at Gallipoli, and had b-.eii awarded the posthumous honour of knighthood. RUINED HER FIRST HUSBAND. It was revealed in court that the prisoner was in reality the illegitimate daughter of a woman named Bowen, who died at her birth. Williams received a good education, and at the age of 18 secured employment as a clerk in London. A year later she married an agricultural chemist named James Alexander Hanley, whom she ruined by her extravagance. About "this time she plunged into a career of crime. She victimised a number of young officers, and obtained a sum of £3185 from one alone. Her husband, horrified on discovering the truth, separated from her. She promptly went to Scarborough, enjoyed herself for a while in the most expensive hotels, and then went to Cardiff, where she contracted a bigamous marriage. Her victim was Brigadier-General Oliver de Lancy Williams. She described herself for tiie purpose of the marriage as "Margaret Patricia Crawford, widow, M. 8., B.Sc, London." General Williams, on discovering how he had been deceived, applied for : a nullity decree. On the day it was j granted'the woman's legal husband I was successful in obtaining a divorce ion the ground of his wife's misconduct with the general. MASQUERADE AS DOCTOR. She once actually obtained a post as a locum tenens in Maida Vale. Her imposture was not discovered for a month, and during that time she had attended operations and signed three death certificates. She was prosecuted at the instance of the Medical Defence Union and was fined £BO and £2l costs. In default of payment she went to prison for two months. While serving this sentence she was arraigned at the Old Bailey for bigamy and received a sentence of six months in the second division. No sooner was she out of prison than she again began to masquerade as a doctor. This timo she described herself as "Dr. Joan Heatheote Williams, Regional Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health." Two further convictions at Bristol and Weston-super-Mare, were the next episodes in her varied career. NINEPENCE LEFT WHEN ARRESTED. She went to Bournemouth after her release from Exeter Prison. At first she seems to have made an attempt to earn an honest living, for she abandoned her usual lofty pretensions, and was content to work as a second cook in an hotel. When she found herself out of employment, owing to staff reductions, she soon went back to her old ways. Her stoiy at the private hotel where she engaged rooms for Sir Berkeley and Lady Moynihan, was accepted without demur.

She was arrested and convicted for obtaining food by false pretences and ordering articles from a chemist (who thought she was a doctor) with no intention of paying. She had only 9d on her when she was taken into custody. Looking at her as she stod in the dock, it was hard to imagine her in the role of a successful and accomplished adventuress, which she undoubtedly is. She was not remarkably well dressed, but the police know that she has had a wonderful wardrobe, and they believe that she has still a stock of most expensive clothes stored away in some part of the country.

_ She can hardly be described as beautiful, for she has prominent upper teeth and a drooping mouth, which gives her a sulky and discontented expression.