Alfred Cox

Convicted of bigamy

On 22nd July 1866, Alfred Cox married Ann Bowles at Johnsonville. Their daughter Ann Amelia was born later the same year.

In February 1867, Alfred was charged with ‘feloniously intermarrying’ with Ann, as his wife Ellen Cox was still alive. The newspaper reported that Alfred’s alias was ‘Rover’ and that he was a shipwright. Both Alfred and Ann were well known in Porirua and its neighbourhood and so the public section of the court house was crowded with spectators when Alfred was placed in the dock.

Thomas Fancourt, a Church of England clergyman living in Porirua Road stated that he married Alfred and Ann and produced the marriage register. He had written Alfred into the register as a ‘bachelor’ because that is what Alfred described himself as.

Ann, who was described as ‘a young and slender looking girl’ (she was just eighteen) was put in the witness box. The magistrate thought that her evidence could not be taken until they had established whether the first marriage had been proved. The case was held over for a week and Alfred remained on remand. The required witness arrived in Wellington on 4th March and produced a certified copy of Alfred’s marriage to Ellen Anderson on 5th November 1863 in Auckland. Alfred was then fully committed for trial.

At the trial, Mary Ann Adamson gave evidence that her sister Ellen Anderson married Alfred Cox and that her sister was alive and well. The second marriage was proved by the Rev Mr Fenton and Ann Bowles. The jury returned a verdict of guilty. Alfred was sentenced to two years with hard labour.

On his release, Alfred was reunited with Ellen and he had two further children with her. He died in an accident when a tree fell on him in 1871 near Palmerston North. ‘It is said he was very well esteemed in the district’, the newspaper wrote.

Ann married Charles Stevens in 1868. Together they had nine children. The family moved from Porirua to Taranaki in 1876. Ann died in 1892 in New Plymouth aged 42.

Alfred Cox, image from Ancestry Trees user bluethomascrg1