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Fishguard and Goodwick Education…

A St David's Election Cry.

TREVINE.

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Local Charities.

A Fair-day Squabble.

A WELL-KNOWN FOOTBALLER. --

LETTERSTON.

ECHOES.

FISHGUARD ROUTE.

Preferred the Militiaman.

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Preferred the Militiaman. WOMAN'S TRIP TO FISHGUARD, AND A BIGAMY SEQUEL. At Gorey (co. Wexford) Quarter Sessions last week, George Stafford, of Moneylawn, surrendered to his bail, and was put forward on the eharge of having, on the 29th Novem- ber, 1907, feloniously married Margaret Red- mond, at Ballyoughter, his first wife being then alive. Mr John R Cooper, Crown Solicitor, prose- cuted, and the accused was represented by Mr Brennan. When the charge was formally read out to him, the accused pleaded guilty. No petty jury had, therefore, to be sworn. Mr Brennan, speaking for the accused, said that in pleading guilty to this indictment on his behalf, he would like to point out that the circumstances of the case were extremely sad. The accused, was married to his first wife, Sarah Curley, in Wicklow in 1898, and they lived together for some time after the marriage. They lived at first with the wife's parents, but as the accused had to go a con- siderable distance every day to his work they took a house of their own. The wife, after a little while, got discontented, and returned to her parents, and although Stafford made sev- eral entreaties to her she would not come back to live with him. There was one child born to them before they separated. She went away to Kingstown with a militiaman named Marshall soon afterwards, and the ac- cused lived by himself for some years. One day when Stafford was in Kingstown, he saw his wife going with this other man, and he understood that she had some children by this militiaman. The last news Stafford heard about her, after her departure from Wicklow, was that she had gone across to England with this man Marshall. Abour four years ago he got a letter from Edinburgh purporting to come from Marshall which sta- ted that Sarah Curley was dead. He (Staff- ord) believed that this news was true, and about a year afterwards he married the sec- ond woman, Margaret Redmond, at Bally- oughter, and there were two children born of that marriage. It had been shown in the de- positions already made that the accused was stated to be a good, kind husband. He (Mr Brennan) firmly believed that Stafiord con- tracted the second marriage in the firm con- viction that his first wife was dead, and that the letter he got from Edinburgh was genu- ine. The man bore a very good character. Head Constable McGarry was sworn as to the character of the accused. He gave evi- dence as to having arrested him, when the accused pleaded guilty and said he would make a clean breast of the whole thing. On making enquiries he found that Stafford's first wife, Sarah Curley, was at the present time living at Fishguard with Marshall. He knew the accused to be a decent man, and from what he could learn from the other police the character he bore in the district was very good. Mr Brennan It is, altogether a very sad case, your Honor, and I .would ask your Lord- ship to deal with it as easily as you can. Judge Barry, addressing the accused, said he was charged with the very serious offence of bigamy. It was one of the most serious things a man could be charged with to dis- grace the ceremony of matrimony, and bring < shame and disgrace upon a virtuous woman. r As a matter of fact, a marriage carried out like that was not a ceremony at all. Accused A policeman in Wicklow advised me twice against going to see and look after this woman, my first wife. I did all I could to make her come back to me. His Honor That does not justify you in getting married to another woman. Your guilt is just the same, but under all the cir- cumstances of the case, you will be kept in custody until the rising of the court.

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