An Isle of Wight woman and a Guernsey woman discovered their husband had been bigamously married for 15 years at an inquest into his death on 18th February 1934. The inquest was held to ascertain the cause of death of insurance traveller Edward William Codman, who had been found shot in a bedroom and died in hospital from a bullet wound to the head. Codman’s ‘wife’ – Mabel Violet Codman – had been wounded during the same shooting incident. Mabel had married her ‘husband’ Edward at a Guernsey Registry Office in 1919. During the inquest held at Rochester, in Kent, the Corner told a shocked jury it had just come to his attention that 2 women claimed to be Codman’s wife. He asked Mabel whether she claimed to be the widow, to which she replied that she did. She also said she was not aware of any other woman claiming to be his widow. Then followed a tense moment as Constance Rosalind May Codman entered the court, accompanied by her daughter. Constance had married Edward at Newport in April 1904. The Isle of Wight-based Mrs Codman identified her husband’s body. She had last seen him alive in August 1919. Since then, she had not had either communication or money from him. The coroner asked Constance “you claim to be Mrs Codman?” to which Constance replied in a firm voice “I am Mrs Codman”. There was some confusion as to Codman’s age. According to what he had told Mabel, he was 48 years old at the time of his death; Constance believed he was 57. Mabel said her ‘husband’ had been worried about business but otherwise they had lived happily together. The jury returned a verdict of suicide while of unsound mind. Both coroner and jury expressed sympathy for Codman’s wives. After the trial, Mabel Codman said:
“The revelation made today about Mr Codman’s having been previously married has been a terrible shock to me. “I am dreadfully sorry for Mrs Codman. She has been very sweet and kind to me today. “I have not yet made any plans for the future, but I expect I shall go back to Guernsey, where I was born.”
Constance Codman told reporters:
“I sympathise with the other woman.”
