AN INTERRUPTED WEDDING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 969, 21 March 1911, Page 4

AN INTERRUPTED WEDDING.

In the class of fiction dear to Mary Jane, the heroine is not infrequently rescued from the villainous matrimonial clutch at the very steps of the altar, 'mt in real life such dramatic happ'-aungy are few and far between. At St. Luke’s Church, Sheffield, two months ago, however, there was a matrimonial drama in real life. The heroine of the piece was a bujsom lassie of twenty named Miss Lily Connell, and the villain of the piece one Albert Butcher. No hero put in an appearance.

Lily and were in process ot being made one by the Rev. EA. Sturdy, and that worthy had all but completed his task. Bride and bridegroom had plighted their troth, the ring had been placed on the bride’s finger, the clergyman had pronounced the words, “ Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder,” and Lily and Albert had just kneeled down to receive the final blessing, when a shrill shout of “Stop the wedding!” rang through the church. And down the aisle rushed and elderly woman waving a paper and shrieking at the top of her voice, “ Stop the wedding! He’s a married man.” It was the bridegroom's mother, and the paper she exhibited was the certificate of her son’s marriage to another woman in 1909. After carefully examining the document Mr Sturdy demanded of the bridegroom whether his mother’s allegation was true. At first he denied it, but eventually admitted that he had been married and that his wife was still alive. Whereupon the clergyman ordered the bride to take off the ring. This the horrified girl did and then sank fainting into her father's arms.

The ceremony, of course, ended at this point, and with a few stinging words to the bridegroom the clergyman left the marriage party to their own devices. Strange to say, the Connells allowed the would-be son-in-law to accompany them back to their home, but in the evening his real wife and his two sisters appeared on the scene, and he went off with them.

Next day Butcher was arrested and now stands remanded on a charge of bigamy.