ROMANTIC BIGAMY CASE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 747, 11 August 1876, Page 3

ROMANTIC BIGAMY CASE.

—o A rather romantic bigamy case occupied the attention of the Ballarat Police Court recently, in which a farmer named Peter Thomas, on the Smythesdale Road, was the defendant. The wrongs of the “injured woman” as represented in the Argus correspondence, were first before the court some time ago, when she sued Thomas for the support of herself and child, and on that occasion she said that after being Thomas’ wife for 12 pears, he one day coolly told her that she was getting too old-looking for him, and that he meant to put her away and substitute a young lass for her, which threat she said he carried out, and married the girl; but as it transpired that Mr Thomas had thus been married twice, the Bench made no alteration in the case then, but directed the attention of the police to the facts as given. The police took action, and hence to-days proceedings. From the evidence it appeared, by tho statement of Matthew Williamson, that he came to this colony 19 years ago. Before ho left homo he was a lay reader in the Episcopalian Church of Llanarth, in the parish of Gwemeth, Cornwall, England, and while in Llanarth he saw the present Mrs Thomas married in name of Julia Phillips to one John Rogers by the Rev. William Tucker, Church of England minister, in Llanarth village church. He knew both Rogers and his bride well, and the present defendant is Rogers’ uncle. In 1557 he boarded at Golden Point, Ballarat, with the same John Rogers and his wife Julia, who were then living together. About the end of 1847 he lost sight of them both altogether, but in May, 1868, ho saw John Rogers working in a prison gang outside the Ballarat gaol. Mr Magee, tho governor of the gaol, knew Rogers had been there as prisoner for some offence, and that the record showed that he had arrived in the colony in the Red Jacket in 1855. Tho marriage of Julia Rogers to Peter Thomas was proved to have been celebrated by the Rev. Stanton Wcagh in 1864 in presence of witnesses, who were also called. Tho Rev. Joshua Soppctt then proved that he had, at Ballarat, on the 3rd of April, 1875, married the same Peter Thomas to Jemima Huges, in presence of witnesses, who were also called. The Bench said that as the first wife had contracted marriage with Thomas as a married woman, it was no marriage in law, and no charge of bigamy could lie. They therefore dismissed the case.