DIVORCED FOR BIGAMY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1258, 13 June 1914, Page 4

DIVORCED FOR BIGAMY.

THRICE-MARRIED DEFENDANT, Three times married, Frederick Rhodes was the subject of a remarkable story in the London Divorce Court recently. His second wife, Catherine, secured a :;i wnwe ot h!s bigamy in America. When Rhodes’ fist wile died he married h«»r ‘T ’or. the present petitioner, in Sep.i-n her, 19x0. They lived in London, and then n the Malay Peninsula, and again in England. In May, 19x1, the husband left for British Columbia, ostensibly to earn his living. He corresponded with his wife until December, 1911, when his letter showed au entire change of feeling towards her. He spoke of going to Mexico on some “marauding expedition.” But circumstances showed that he never went at all, and on December 9th he wrote his wife : “I have nr.; ui* ;41 the reparation I can to von. I have secured an American ciivoice on the ground of six month?’ separation in case I get into difficulties, and it comes out who I am.” The wife never received notice of the divorce proceedings, and inquiries led to the. conclusion that no divorce advice was obtained. Later he wrote his wile : “It I get through alive and manage to secure any money I will come home and get married again if you will have me, but don’t want the rest ot the family around next time.”

Nothing more was heard of him until July, 1912, when petitioner ascertained that her husband had “married” a young woman in California. In April last year, petitioner received this letter Irom her husband, saying : “Dear Kitty,—When I declared in 1911 in a letter from San Francisco that I was leaving for Mexico, I was deceiving you. I had come to the conclusion that we were not suited to each other, but did not then care to tell you so. But that is a fact. I will never come back to you again, nor even to England. I have been the last eighteen months in California, but shall now probably leave for another part of the world. You must understand I deserted you deliberately. Hope you will soon be able to forget. This is the last letter I shall ever write to you. and it will be useless for you to try and get in touch with me.” An affidavit by Alice Mabel Berwick was read, in which she declared she went through a ceremony of marriage with the respondent on December 30, 1911, in California. She had since given birth to a child.