BIGAMY

[majm]

PART TWO OF TWO

Nine years later, Ken dies.    Debbie learns of his death from the newspaper announcement  and yearns for a part of his estate.  Elaine  and Debbie go to court.  Elaine wins, Debbie is admonished by the judge because in effect she is claiming that the children of her current marriage are illegitimate. Debbie is told to pay all the court costs, including Elaine’s.  The court rules that Debbie is the “de jure wife” and that Elaine is the “de facto wife”

Debbie appeals to the higher court.  The full bench hears the appeal.  They support the earlier judgement and again award costs to Elaine, and  the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court reiterates that Elaine is the ‘de facto wife’ while Debbie is the ‘de jure’ wife.   By this time, Queen Victoria was already well and truly a widow of many years.

Within two years of Ken’s death, Elaine dies.  Ken’s five children had all been given “their share” by Elaine, and then they abandoned Elaine.   Debbie lived a long life and died many many years after.  Her d.c. does not show her earlier marriage to Ken, however the informant was a business partner of one of Ken’s children by Cathy. 

All the events above happened in the 19th Century, in the British colony of NSW, and specifically within the geographical boundaries of one particular C of E parish within Sydney Town.  The press coverage extended to the other colonies, including New Zealand.   I have not ever looked to see if that press coverage extended to “The Home Counties”. 

My research has extended as far as to finding the judges’ notebooks and reading these in detail, a running commentary as the trials progressed.   I was alerted to the story when I was a child and one of my grandparents told me about WWI and Gallipoli and I asked if I was related to the Regulars and the Turks that she spoke of.   She explained that I was related to the “Regulars”, (the original ANZACs) but not the Turks.  She did say though that I was related to another chap who had been called “A Regular Turk” because he had troubles with his keeping his trousers on.  (Oral history can be very obtuse, but often there’s a smattering of truth in it) ...

Ken was the one I wrote about in my earlier posts, the one charged with bigamy, found guilty and then pardoned.   One of the newspaper headings referred to him as a “Regular Turk” , which in itself was an interesting ‘label’ to research in the days before the internet, and of course immediately reminded me of my Gran’s story.  Despite all the many certs, probate packets, court records, etc, it was that particular headline that “clinched” all my reseach, and put the “meat on the bones” ...   

Cheers,  JM (a direct descendant of Ken and Ann)

[empayton]

My GGrandfather was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight. He died 2 years into his sentence. He had many aliases and it is a struggle to get the whole story. Strangely there was a good article about him in a New Zealand paper of all places.