Belfast Telegraph May 15 1908

Tangle of Relationships

When a man is his own stepfather!

An unusual case was before the City Police Court at Dunedin, New Zealand, a few weeks ago. The relationships borne by two young men who had married each other�s mothers, to each other, to their respective mothers, to their wives, and to themselves, presented a conundrum not easy to solve.  One of the young men had deserted his wife, the other man�s mother, and was sued by her for maintenance.  The plaintiff, a middle-aged lady, said her name was Sarah  Ann Elizabeth M�Caughan, and that she had several children by a former husband. She had married the defendant , aged, she believed, twenty-one, five months ago.  He left her three days after the marriage took place, and she resided at her son�s place at Waikari.

Defending Counsel � Before you married the defendant, his mother had married your son?

-         Yes.

So, each of the young men is his own stepfather? (laughter)

The Witness � Yes; and it is not a thing to laugh at either.

The magistrate said it was a most extraordinary case. The best thing the plaintiff could do, having married the boy, was to take him and look after him.