"WITH THIS RING I THEE WAD.”

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLII, Issue 11448, 30 January 1918, Page 7

"WITH THIS RING I THEE WAD.”

ROMANCE OF a SCOTS Marriage. WEDDING RING IN A CAB,

A reuiTkuhlo marriage story was told in the Court of Session, Edinburgh, recently, where Mr William B,n ij. i'B o« y or- Siilitli of Mel bourne, mid six otliers, sought a dec! iratiou of legitim tcv. according to the law of Scotl■■■ml ’ iti i.u action sgdust Lady Bowyer-Smith, of Twineham Court, no r M yw rds Heitli, Sussex, anti two others When Ui years of age, it was stated. Lady Bowyer-Smith in 1858 became attached to a man known to her as Jar William Smith, whom she met three ye is earlier, when lie was on a lishiug holiday at Blair Athol, '''o told her he was unmarried, and slu accepted his offer of marriage, She went to Leith, and, at her aunt’s suggestion, wrote to him in England inviting him to make her aunt's acquaintance. Ho arrived in Leith and s itisfied her aunt that lie was in a position to marry. In the afternoon during a drive in a cah he produced a ring and put it on the third linger of her left hand, using the words “With this ring I thee wed,” adding “You are now my lawful wife. ” She believed that she was entering on a valid marriage -ccording to Scots law. The honeymoon' was spent m London, and they travelled on the Continent and lived in Paris, returning to Engl nd in 1870 There wore 12 children of the union. Those born in England were registered as legitimate and those born in France wore baptised as legitimate. In 1859 she learned that her husband was Sir William BowyerSmith, Bart., but not till 1 STB did she le;ru that ho had a wife living. For the Hike of her children she consented to live as his wife on his promising to marry her if over he wore free. The lawful wife of Sir William died in 1875, and a week later ho fulfilled his promise to marry her, and they lived together till his dOith in November, 1883. Lady Bowyer-Smith subsequently married Mr William H. B. Stanford, a lieutenant in the Army. The action is alone defended by two children who were born after the marriage in 1875. They state that their parents were not domiciled in Scot! nd at the time of the marriage and had not lived there during the 21’days preceding. The alleged marriage would ..therefore have been invalid, even although both parties had at the time boon free to marry. Sir William was throughout his life a domiciled Englishman, and the law applicable to bis domestic relations is the law of England.