MAN WITH MANY WIVES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18771, 26 July 1924, Page 2 (Supplement)

MAN WITH MANY WIVES.

PASSION FOR WEDDINGS.

MAERIED FIVE TIMES.

I THREE YEARS IN GOAL.

The first iquestion a spectator generally asks when a bigamist comes up for trial is: "What do the women see in him?" There was no need to ask this' question, however, says a London paper, when a man, known to have married at least five women, made his appearance before the Common Sergeant, afr the Oid Bailey. Tall and soldierly in appearance, with a countenance radiating good-humour, this breaker of hearts had used the gifts Nature had given him to bring sorrow to others. ■ ■■~•; Known to the police as Reginald Chas. Symonds, a bookbinder, the accused was charged with bigamously marrying- Miss Kate Millar and Miss Lizzie Potts. In addition, it transpired' that he had also " married " a Miss Evelyn Ida Green in 1914, while his wife was still alive. Here were the elements of one of the strangest matrimonial tangles ever revealed at the Old Bailey. Symonds. who seemed to have no regrets for the ruin he had brought into so many lives, is one of those peculiarly-constituted individuals , who seem to take a fiendish delight in deceiving trusting women. He seems to have been remarkably adept in the art of making love, for it is known that he has "married " at least five times, and probably more if the truth could be got out of him. ./''; Story of Two Marriages. So far as the police definitely know, ,JC5 on was firsfc married in 'October, 1908, when he courted Ellen Jane Wintle. a native of Gloucestershire. He married her in the name of Henry Wood,-and they lived together for some years. The union, however, was a very unhappy one,' because of his habit of playing the gallant to every,attractive girl he met. Ultimately he deserted his wife altogether in the t early part of 1914, when he went to London to look for work. Symonds next turned up at Carshalton, Surrey, where he made the acquaintance of Miss' Evelyn Ida Green. . Believing him to ■ be a bachelor, she " married " him in October, 1914. They lived together for some months. ■;" Symonds next enlisted in the Royal Engineers in July, 1915, and after serving at home for some months, went into a military hospital at Croydon, suffering from some minor ailment. Confinement in a hospital, however, soon proved, irksome to this modern Don Juan, and without asking permission lie came up to the West "End of London and hired a smart horse from a job-master on the understanding that he was going.to ride it in Hyde Park. Symonds'was then ..in officer's uniform, and an incurable propensity for " swank " led him to ride the horse all the way to Carshalton, where he enjoyed, quite a riotous time until the police arrested him for stealing the animal. Tlrst Sentence for Bigamy. The detective in charge of the case knew something about Symonds' past life, and was also aware that he already I had a wife living. So when he discovered another " wife " in Carshalton, inquiries were made, with the result that Symonds appeared at the Old Bailey in January, 1916, charged with bigamy. He received four months' imprisonmant for this, and at the termination of the sentence was discharged from the Royal Engineers because of his conviction. A short spell in prison, however, did not worry a"man who had a perfect mania fdr marriage. The following September Symonds reenlisted in theN&F.A., and it was while he was in the uniform of that regiment 4bat he met Miss Kate Millar, 1 of Poplar, and "married " her a month later. Miss Millar had not the slightest idea'of the trouble that was coming her way, and though her life with Symonds was rather unsatisfactory, she made the best. of a bad job and consoled herself with thfe thought that her husband would settle down after the war. After serving in the Artillery for nearly two years Symonds was transferred to the R.G.A., and after the Armistice was put into the R.A.S.G. But before this he had already contracted yet another bigamous marriage. This was with Miss Lizzie Potts, whom he "wedded" at the Paddington Registry pffice in July, 1918. Mi ss Millar lost trace of him' altogether. In addition to those whom he actually married, he is known to have courted fully a dozen other girls. To some of them he proposed marriage and borrowed money from them on the strength of it, while he is known to have pawned jewellery belonging to other girls to keep himself while absent from his unit. Further Love Adventures. Symonds was next heard of as a farrier in the employ of the Paddington Borough Council, but his old habit of absenting himself from work without permission resulted in his dismissal. Toward the end of last year the old passion to seek further adventures in love came upon him. He persuaded Miss Potts, with whom he was living, to raise some money for him on the pretence that he wanted to set up in business for himself, but what he actually did with it was to clear off to Norwich and begin courting another woman who had taken his roving fancy. This proved a somewhat longer job than • he had anticipated. Money ran short, and so he took to theft, with the result that the Norwich police arrested him for stealing a bicycle. For this offence Symonds was sent to prison for three months, and while he was serving his sentence a letter was received by the police, in which it was stated that he had also been guilty of bigamy. The information given in the letter enabled the London police to discover that Symonds, who had already been convicted of bigamy, had twice repeated the offence. The marriages with Miss Millar and Miss Potts were discovered, with the result that he again appeared at Oid Bailey on a charge of bigamy. The Judge who described Symonds as "an unmitigated scoundrel," sentenced him to three years' penal servitude. Up to this time he had been laughing merrily but on hearing the sentence the smiles left his face. .