1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy H. 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. This is part two of 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: our episode on Rosina Bulwert Lytton, wife of Edward Bulwert Lytton, 5 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: although where we're picking up on this story, he was 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: still known as Edward Lytton Bulwer. This is also an 7 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: episode about their marriage and separation. Last time, we talked 8 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: about Rosina's early life and the early years of her 9 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 1: relationship with Edward and the infidelity and abuse that led 10 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: to their separation in eighteen thirty six. By that point, 11 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: Edward had become a best selling novelist. That is, something 12 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: that he had turned to in order to make up 13 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: for losing a generous allowance from his mother because he 14 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: married Rosina, and then after their separation, Rosina would try 15 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: to do basically the same thing. She tried to write 16 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: books to make up for a gap in her income. 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: We talked about Edward's physical abuse of Rosina during part one. 18 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: While the separation got her away from that, it did 19 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: not in any way free her from him. In the 20 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: words of her biographer and literary executor Louisa de Vay 21 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:29,199 Speaker 1: quote great as were the troubles of missus Bullward's married life, 22 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: and bitter the sufferings she underwent while living under her 23 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: husband's roof, they became almost insignificant as compared with the 24 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: squalid misery, the unremitting persecution, and the mental and bodily 25 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: torture she endured after the date of her separation. That 26 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: all reached its apex in eighteen fifty eight, when Edward 27 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: had Rosina committed, which we of course will be getting to. 28 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: As we said in Part one, Rosina and edward deed 29 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: of separation specified that she would receive four hundred pounds 30 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: per year, plus an additional fifty pounds for each of 31 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: her children, as long as they lived with her, and 32 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: initially they did live with her, but that changed in 33 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty eight, when her daughter Emilie Elizabeth was ten 34 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: and her son Edward Robert was seven. The details on 35 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: this are a little bit fuzzy, but Edward had the 36 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: children removed from Rosina's care and placed with a woman 37 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: known as Miss Green. At first, Rosina was allowed to 38 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: see them briefly about once a month, always with Miss 39 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: Green's supervision, but eventually even that stopped and she was 40 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: separated from her children entirely. Rosina framed this as a 41 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: continual source of heartbreak. Edward claimed that she did not care, 42 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: and in a lot of ways, both children were used 43 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:58,399 Speaker 1: as pawns in their parents' attacks on one another. Rosina 44 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: had no legal stand to change this custody arrangement. Women's 45 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: status after marriage in the UK was known as coverture. 46 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: Married couples were essentially merged as one legal entity under 47 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: the man's identity. The man held all economic property and 48 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: legal rights for his wife and for any children that 49 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: they might have. Married women could not own their own property, 50 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: or sign their own contracts, or file suit on their 51 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:33,399 Speaker 1: own behalf in court. After being separated from her children, 52 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: Rosina went to Bath. That year, Edward was knighted and 53 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: named Baronet of Nebworth, a newly created baronetcy. Allegedly, after this, 54 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: someone congratulated Rosina on becoming a lady, and she said 55 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: she wished it had made Edward a gentleman. So Rosina 56 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: was now separated from her children, and she was seeing 57 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: her husband ascend in exactly the way that they had 58 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: been planning earlier. On in their marriage. On top of that, 59 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: she was having financial problems. There is really not a 60 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: great way to convert the four hundred pounds that she 61 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: was given annually into something comparable intoday's currency, like the 62 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: Bank of England's inflation calculator puts that at roughly forty 63 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:26,679 Speaker 1: thousand pounds. But ways of living and social expectations were 64 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: radically different in the eighteen thirties as compared to today. 65 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: The most approachable comparisons are usually about things like Jane 66 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: Austen novels, which are set just a little earlier than 67 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: this was happening. But just generally speaking, an income of 68 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: four hundred pounds a year might be enough for somebody 69 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: of Rosina's class to afford a home and their basic 70 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: needs and a couple of servants, maybe a cook and 71 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: a lady's maid, But their money would still have to 72 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: be very carefully managed for that to work, and it 73 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: wouldn't have been a lifestyle that was considered luxurious, especially 74 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: for somebody whose husband was a best selling writer and 75 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: a member of parliament and a baronet. That four hundred 76 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: pounds a year was less than the six hundred pounds 77 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: her husband had said he would give her during their 78 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: initial informal separation, and less than the five hundred pounds 79 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: she would have been entitled to if she still had 80 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: the children. It did not really allow for the various 81 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: initial expenses that were involved in getting established in a 82 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: household of her own, or for anything unexpected to happen. 83 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: It also doesn't seem like she made this transition to 84 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: a life on her own very easily, Like early on 85 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: in her time of living without her husband and children, 86 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: there's an account of her staying with a family that's 87 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: full of what sounds like modern day roommates, squabbling over 88 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: who spent how much and who owed how much, with 89 00:05:55,720 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: everyone accusing everyone else of spending too much money. On 90 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: top of that, according to Rosina, Edward's payments to her 91 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: were often late and sometimes very late. Yeah, this is like, 92 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: this is way more money than a laborer had every year, 93 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: or like a farm worker, or you know someone that 94 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: was in a more working class, But for someone who 95 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: was of Rosina's class married to a baronet, like it 96 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: does not seem like it was allowing her to meet 97 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: the expectations of her socially, or just to live a 98 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: life that didn't feel like it was full of scramping 99 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: and saving, so she started trying to supplement her income 100 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: by writing, and Edward, of course heard about this. He 101 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: had a diary entry in eighteen thirty eight in which 102 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: he wrote, quote, I tremble every day lest my domestic 103 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: sores should be dragged still more into light than all 104 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: that is most sacred in men's hearts and homes, exposed 105 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:05,359 Speaker 1: to all that is more galling in public gossip. Later on, 106 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: Rosina wrote a letter to artist A. E. Chalon said, 107 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: in part, quote exposure is the only thing that complex 108 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: monster dreads, and consequently the only check I have upon him. 109 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: Rosina's first novel was Chevy or the Man of Honor, 110 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: published in eighteen thirty nine. One of its characters is 111 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: Lord de Clifford, who seduces and then abandons the daughter 112 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: of one of his tenants. She is driven insane by 113 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: his treatment, and Lord de Clifford winds up in court. 114 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: He also winds up being publicly denounced, and not long 115 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,559 Speaker 1: after he dies after a fall from his horse. Lord 116 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: de Clifford is a thinly disguised version of Edward and 117 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: his extramarital affairs, and that fatal fall really reads like 118 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: wish fulfillment. Edward, unsurprisingly did not want this book to 119 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: be published in Apparently he tried to put a stop 120 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: to it, including going to Rosina's publisher, Edward Bull and 121 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: telling him that Rosina's trustee Francis Doyle had forbidden this. 122 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: Bull published the book anyway, and it sold well. It 123 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: went through three editions in its first year, and Bull 124 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: also agreed to publish another book for her based on 125 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: that success. Someone also published a response to this book 126 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: in the form of a satirical pamphlet written in forty 127 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: seven pages of verse, titled Lady Cheveley or the Woman 128 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: of Honor. It was printed anonymously, but literary historian Marie 129 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 1: Moldy Roberts, who has written on Rosina Bullwer written and 130 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: edited modern reprintings of her letters and other writings, suggests 131 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: that it may have been written by Edward buller Lytton. 132 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: Four years after this, Rosina and Edward each wrote novels 133 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: that had some running themes. Rosina's were also full of 134 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: dastardly philandering men who were clearly based on her opinions 135 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: of Edward and her relationship with him, and a number 136 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 1: of Edward's novels featured mad Women, There was one in 137 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: which the couple's relationship deteriorated to the point that the 138 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: wife went mad and poisoned him. People didn't necessarily know 139 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: about Rosina's allegations of Edward's physical abuse, but they absolutely 140 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: knew about the separation and estrangement. In eighteen thirty nine, 141 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: Rosina visited Paris, and by then her situation had become 142 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: notorious enough that she wound up in the gossip columns. 143 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: At least two publications, The Morning Post and the Court Journal, 144 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 1: reported that Rosina had been at a soiree hosted by 145 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: Lady Amler and had run into Edward's brother, Henry, who 146 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: was in Paris working as a diplomat. The Morning Post 147 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: said that Rosina had made quote certain wry faces, the 148 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: meaning of which could not be mistaken, and the Court 149 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: Journal contended that she had gone to the party specifically 150 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: to run into Henry and to humiliate him. Apparently, none 151 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: of this was true, and Henry was not even there. 152 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: That night. Rosina wrote a letter to The Morning Post 153 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: asking for an apology and a retraction, saying that she 154 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 1: had never met Henry in Paris at all. The Morning 155 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: Post complied with this with Edward's permission, Rosina also filed 156 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: suit against the Court Journal and was awarded fifty pounds. 157 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: While Edward did give permission for her to file this suit, 158 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,840 Speaker 1: it was also around this time that Rosina started to 159 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: believe that he was spying on her. She got a 160 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: letter from a friend dated October fourth, eighteen thirty nine, 161 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: relating a strange incident in which a man had approached 162 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 1: Missus Stockman in Bath, who ran a lodging house there, 163 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: and that man had asked all kinds of questions about Rosina, 164 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: about her rooms when she'd stayed there, who her acquaintances were, 165 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: and whether a mister H had ever taken rooms there 166 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: as well. These questions all seemed to suggest that the 167 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: man asking them was trying to figure out if Rosina 168 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: and this mister H had been involved with one another. 169 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: And this man also seemed to know every detail of 170 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: Rosina's life and habits, and he had also apparently been 171 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:22,560 Speaker 1: asking questions around Ireland and France as well. In this 172 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:26,680 Speaker 1: friend's words, quote, when Missus Stockman said Sir ELB was 173 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,320 Speaker 1: living with miss Deacon, the man's face flushed and he 174 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: looked savage. Not long after this, Rosina tried to file 175 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: another suit in Paris, this one against an attorney named 176 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: Thackeray and his clerk named Lawson. She alleged that they 177 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: had fraudulently tried to seize her personal papers, according to 178 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: Rosina's letters, which is the one source I had on this, 179 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,559 Speaker 1: although this had taken place in France and her suit 180 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: was in a French court. After some deliberation, it was 181 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: decided that because she was married under English law, the 182 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:07,200 Speaker 1: requirement for her husband's consent still applied. She did not 183 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: have that consent, so this suit did not go anywhere, 184 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: and she was required to pay for the cost of 185 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: the proceedings, which was money she just did not have. 186 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:21,439 Speaker 1: Tensions between Rosina and Edward escalated beyond their already high 187 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: point in the eighteen forties, and we're gonna get to that. 188 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: After a sponsor break in eighteen forty one, Edward lost 189 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 1: his seat in Parliament, and in eighteen forty three his 190 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: mother died. He inherited money and property from her side 191 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: of the family, and this is also when he started 192 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: going by Bulwer Lytton rather than Lytton Bulwer. This made 193 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: his full name Edward George Earl Lytton Bulwer Lytton. Part 194 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: of Edward's inheritance was no Ebworth House, where he had 195 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: already been living. This had been the Lytton family residence 196 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 1: since the late fifteenth century, and this is a mansion. 197 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: It served as a stand in for an assortment of 198 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:15,679 Speaker 1: rich people's homes and palaces in movies and television, including 199 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: Wayne Manor in the nineteen eighty nine version of Batman 200 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,319 Speaker 1: and Thornfield Hall in the nineteen ninety seven adaptation of 201 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:27,080 Speaker 1: Jane Eyre. It was also the virtually impregnable Mallory Gallery 202 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: in The Great Muppet Caper, the best of the three 203 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: in my opinion. Edward continued refurbishment work that his mother 204 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: had started on the house, including adding lots of tudored 205 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: Gothic elements to its exterior and putting in a formal 206 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: Italian garden. By this point, Rosina had spent a few 207 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: years in France and Italy, believing that she was being 208 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:52,319 Speaker 1: spied on by Edward and that someone was opening her 209 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: mail looking for some kind of evidence of adultery so 210 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: that Edward could divorce her. He also seemed to be 211 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 1: using his life literary connections to keep her books from 212 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: getting published or to minimize their impact when she did 213 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:09,319 Speaker 1: manage to find a publisher. Her books during this period 214 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: included Bianca Cappello, unhistorical romance, published in eighteen forty three. 215 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: This was about a real historical figure, but it still 216 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: contained a lot of material about men's bad treatment of 217 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: their wives. When Rosina learned about Edward's mother's death, she 218 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: thought there was really no excuse for him to continue 219 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: to allow her only four hundred pounds a year, especially 220 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 1: since he seemed to be intentionally undermining her efforts to 221 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 1: earn more money for herself. She could really only argue 222 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: for an increase in her annuity if she went back 223 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: to England, but she found herself stuck on the continent. 224 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: She had outstanding debts in Italy and France, including the 225 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: legal expenses from her failed lawsuit that were still unpaid. 226 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: She also did not have the money to arrange her 227 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: passage back to England, and she had gotten to the 228 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: point that she was deeply hesitant to borrow from anyone. 229 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: She had genuine fears that she would never actually be 230 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: able to pay it back. Sometimes she did find ways 231 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,560 Speaker 1: to get smaller amounts of money, though, after a friend 232 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: told her that her daughter, Emily, was living on minimal 233 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: support from her father and only had two pairs of stockings. 234 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: Rosina sold a bracelet and sent her friend the proceeds, 235 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: but her friend returned to that money several months later, 236 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: saying that she had not been able to figure out 237 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: an appropriate way to pass the money on to Emily. 238 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: Rosina also bought a watch and a chain and sent 239 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: it to her son Robert, and that was returned as 240 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: well with a message not to send any more packages. Finally, 241 00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: a sympathetic friend gave Rosina four hundred pounds and then 242 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: tore up her letter, offering to pay it back at 243 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: five percent interest, and this was enough to settle most 244 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: of her debts on the continent and she arrived back 245 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: in England in May of eighteen forty seven. She did 246 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: eventually repay this money, but it took her several years. 247 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: Back in England, Rosina started writing to Edward to ask 248 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: for more money, but she did not know exactly where 249 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: he was At any point. She would send letters in 250 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: care of the places that she knew he frequented, like 251 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 1: the Atheneum Club and the Albion Hotel. When she didn't 252 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: get a response, she started addressing them along the lines 253 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: of Sir Liar Coward Bulwer Lytton, and she would also 254 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: put notes on the outside about women that she thought 255 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,479 Speaker 1: he was involved with. This had the effect of infuriating 256 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: and embarrassing Edward and of seating rumors about him around 257 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: London via what was written on the outside of his mail. 258 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: In April of eighteen forty eight, Rosina got word that 259 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 1: her daughter was very ill, and she tried to see her. 260 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: She bribed a landlady at the boarding house where Emily 261 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: was staying, as well as the nurse who was caring 262 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: for her. They would not let Rosina actually see her daughter, though, 263 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: saying that any kind of sudden emotion might make her worse. 264 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: Rosina sat at the top of the stairs outside Emily's room, 265 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: where she could hear Emily calling for her as she 266 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 1: got worse. Word got back to Edward that Rosina was there, 267 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: and he ordered that she'd be removed from the boarding house. 268 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: Emily died on April twenty eighth, eighteen forty eight, just 269 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: a couple of months before her twentieth birthday. Some accounts 270 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,399 Speaker 1: say that Rosina was able to see her daughter, but 271 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,640 Speaker 1: only briefly before her death, and then other accounts say 272 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: that she did not get to see Emily at all. 273 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: Even the accounts of people who were actually there in 274 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: the house that night are contradictory. It's also not really 275 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 1: clear what Emily died of. Various sources attribute it to typhus, typhoid, tuberculosis, 276 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:59,640 Speaker 1: and fever. Rosina and Edward both proclaimed themselves to be 277 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: beret after Emily's death, and they each used it as 278 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:08,160 Speaker 1: ammunition against the other. Edward and their son Robert both 279 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: claimed that the shock of either seeing or hearing Rosina 280 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,240 Speaker 1: had killed Emily, while Rosina said that Edward had worked 281 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: his daughter to death and withheld appropriate medical care in 282 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: her final days. Rosina was also furious that Edward placed 283 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: a death notice for Emily that made it sound as 284 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: though she had died at the Litton home of Nebworth 285 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:33,160 Speaker 1: House rather than at a boarding house. Rosina's mother, Anna 286 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: Doyle Wheeler, also died that same year. In eighteen fifty one, 287 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: Edward staged a play called Not So Bad As We 288 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: Seem with the assistance of Charles Dickens. The two writers 289 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,919 Speaker 1: had just founded the Guild of Literature and Art as 290 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: an organization to provide things like pensions and health insurance 291 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: to British writers. This play was to be a fundraiser 292 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: for the guild. When Rosina heard about this, she sent 293 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: a ton of letters about it to an assortment of people. 294 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: She said that this guild should be renamed The Guilt 295 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 1: of Literature and Art. She threatened to show up dressed 296 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:15,119 Speaker 1: as a beggar in protest of Edward's perpetually late annuity payments. 297 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: Edward and later his son alleged that she threatened to 298 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: show up and throw rotten eggs at the Queen. That 299 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,480 Speaker 1: would have been treason. Rosina also wrote and distributed a 300 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: piece called Even Worse Than We Seem, which was framed 301 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: as a parody of Edward's play, although nobody outside the 302 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,199 Speaker 1: production actually had a copy of the script when she 303 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 1: wrote this, so she didn't actually have any way of 304 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: knowing what the contents of the play were. To parody them, 305 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: she printed pamphlets that included a dramatist persona that described 306 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: Sir E Bulwer Lytton as quote a gentleman question mark 307 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 1: with a guttaperchure rental of ten thousand pounds for his acquaintance, 308 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: which conveniently shrinks to as many hundreds whenever he has 309 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: applied to give his wife enough to live on. According 310 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,160 Speaker 1: to this he was cast in the role of Sir 311 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: Plagarie Puff, a philanthropic, exclamation point literary gentleman question mark 312 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 1: who has literally translated his poor young daughter into heaven 313 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:24,920 Speaker 1: and nobly leaves his wife on public charity. This pamphlet 314 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: also described Charles Dickens as having a dead child in 315 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 1: one pocket and a dead father in the other. Charles 316 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: Dickens hired security for the performance, also getting Edward to 317 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,360 Speaker 1: send someone who actually knew what Rosina looked like. It's 318 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: not entirely clear whether she disrupted the performance itself. Newspapers 319 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: were really fond of gleefully covering whatever Rosina was doing 320 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 1: and writing about her husband, but there's not an account 321 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: of her being there when the play was staged. Later on, though, 322 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: Rosina would try to stage a play of her own, 323 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,880 Speaker 1: and when she had trouble getting it off the ground, 324 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,720 Speaker 1: she claimed that Charles Dickens had assassinated her character. In 325 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:10,479 Speaker 1: the British theatrical world. In eighteen fifty two, Edward Bulwer 326 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: Lytton was elected as a Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire. 327 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: A year later, Rosana was living in Wales and alleged 328 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: that someone had tried to poison her. She moved periodically, 329 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: and she continued to publicly lambast her estranged husband and 330 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: to try to earn money through writing. In eighteen fifty six, 331 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,680 Speaker 1: she published a novel called Very Successful. One of the 332 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: characters in this novel incredulously quotes real advertising material for 333 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:44,159 Speaker 1: Edward's novels, which said that they quote abound in illustrations 334 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: that teach benevolence to the rich and courage to the poor. 335 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: They glow with the love of freedom. They speak a 336 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 1: sympathy with all high aspirations and all manly struggles. This 337 00:21:55,920 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 1: character then gives a recounting of seemingly everything Rosina had 338 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: experienced and alleged about Edward at this point, physically destroying 339 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:10,119 Speaker 1: one child, morally destroying another, kicking his wretched victim of 340 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: a wife a month before her first child was born 341 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: till she was nearly dead, turning that poor little murder 342 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: out of the house the moment she was born, as 343 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: he ultimately did to die, springing in one of his 344 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: rabid furies upon his wife and making his hideous horse 345 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 1: teeth meet in her cheek. Till the blood streamed down her, 346 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: and ultimately turning her and her children out of their 347 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,199 Speaker 1: home to make way for one of his infamous mistresses. 348 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,120 Speaker 1: Are no doubt among these high aspirations and manly struggles, 349 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: and it goes on from there. Yeah. The reason that 350 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: I did not say which character specifically says this is 351 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: that when I was trying to trace back through it 352 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 1: toy figure out who's talking here, I couldn't figure it out. 353 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: A lot of this book looks kind of like a 354 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: wall of text, and I found it difficult to peace through. 355 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,360 Speaker 1: The biggest and most public blow up of their marriage 356 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: was still to come, and we will get to that 357 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 1: after a sponsor break. In eighteen fifty seven, Parliament passed 358 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: the Matrimonial Causes Act, which changed divorce law in the UK. 359 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 1: Divorces became easier to obtain, but men still had to 360 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,359 Speaker 1: prove that their wives had been unfaithful, and women still 361 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: had to prove that their husbands had been unfaithful and 362 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,440 Speaker 1: had also done some other kind of wrong like cruelty 363 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: or abandonment or sexual assault. We talked more about this 364 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: law in our two part episode on Caroline Sheridan Norton, 365 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: which came out on April third and fifth of twenty 366 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: twenty three. Her story She has some common elements with 367 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: this one, although Caroline Norton's writing was really focused on 368 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: advocating for legal reforms that would help protect the rights 369 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:13,879 Speaker 1: of married and divorced women. While this law made it 370 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:18,199 Speaker 1: possible for more people to obtain a divorce, Rosina and 371 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 1: Edward were still basically stuck because neither of them had 372 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 1: the necessary proof to get one. That same year, Rosina 373 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 1: Bulwer Lytton wrote Lady Bulwer Lytton's Appeal to the Justice 374 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,640 Speaker 1: and Charity of the English Public. She said she intended 375 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 1: it to be included in the second edition of Very Successful, 376 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: but implied that her husband had prevented a second edition 377 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: from being published. She claimed that this suppression had even 378 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: extended to the libraries, and that if someone asks for 379 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: a copy of Very Successful, the librarian will say quote 380 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: that they have not got it as it is not 381 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,880 Speaker 1: a book fit for ladies to read, followed by six 382 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: exclamation points. Instead, solicited subscriptions for the book for the 383 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: price of one pound eleven shilling sixpence. Much of the 384 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,800 Speaker 1: pamphlet is made up of long, unbroken paragraphs that run 385 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:15,679 Speaker 1: for pages. Recounting her allegations against Edward, She said she 386 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: was appealing for public charity because quote there are yet 387 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: no workhouses for the destitute wives of rich men. A 388 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:28,119 Speaker 1: lot of Versino's writing reads as very vengeful, but in 389 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,680 Speaker 1: this piece she described herself as not motivated by revenge. 390 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 1: Quote it is self defense. And she gives Sir Edward 391 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,399 Speaker 1: bulwer Lytton fair notice that if he continues to hunt 392 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 1: and outrage her as he has done, she will continue 393 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: steadily to expose his conduct, for she pretends no pretenses, 394 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: and unless her hypocrisy were commensurate with his own, she 395 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 1: could not, even from policy, affect any other feeling but 396 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: that of the sovereign contempt she entertains for him. She 397 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,679 Speaker 1: also wrote, quote, Sir Edward bulwer Lytton has circled my 398 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: life with a snare and crowned it with a curse. 399 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 1: My miserable, lonely, laborious, and disinherited existence. He has made 400 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:19,960 Speaker 1: one great agony, composed of innumerable exquisite, infinitesimal tortures, for 401 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,159 Speaker 1: each and all of which, as there is but one source, 402 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: I have but one name, surely to the most forbearing 403 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: and least logical mind, the inference is obvious. The following year, 404 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,880 Speaker 1: Edward was appointed as Secretary of State for the Colonies. 405 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: As a result, a by election was held to confirm 406 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,399 Speaker 1: him as MP for Hertfordshire. He had to be an 407 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: MP to fill this role. He was running unopposed, so 408 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: ordinarily this would have been a pretty straightforward and one 409 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 1: would expect quiet election. But in the weeks leading up 410 00:26:55,400 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: to the election, Rosina repeatedly publicly denounced him, including retorically 411 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: asking why the people of England would have him as 412 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: the head of the Colonies when he should have been 413 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: transported there for his crimes years before. She also spread 414 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: rumors that he had only gotten this cabinet position because 415 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: he was having an affair with Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. 416 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,199 Speaker 1: Rosina worked with her Landlady Missus Clark to go to 417 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 1: Hertford the day before the June eighth election and put 418 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,680 Speaker 1: up posters denouncing Edward and to distribute copies of her 419 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: Appeal to Justice and Charity pamphlet. They also distributed handbills 420 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: that read quote, Lady Bulwer Lytton urgently solicits the attendants 421 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: of the Yeomen and electors of Hertfordshire in the town 422 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: Hall of Hertford on Tuesday, the eighth of June at 423 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,879 Speaker 1: twelve o'clock at noon, not indeed to solicit their votes, 424 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: but for their true interest. Edward had the help of 425 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: their son, Robert, who was now twenty six and trying 426 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:00,439 Speaker 1: to clean up all of this. Robert went around town 427 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 1: tearing down posters and discarding pamphlets and handbills. Meanwhile, Rosina 428 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: went to the mayor and tried to secure the town 429 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: hall so that she could give her own a dress. 430 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,800 Speaker 1: She also claimed that she would run against Edward in 431 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: the election, something that was not possible since women did 432 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: not have the right to vote or to serve in Parliament. 433 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,159 Speaker 1: On election day, both Edward and Robert appeared on the Hustings, 434 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,680 Speaker 1: basically a campaign event. Rosina apparently thought this was starting 435 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,959 Speaker 1: at noon, but it really started at eleven am, so 436 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: she got there just as Edward was finishing his speech. 437 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: She was dressed all in white and carrying a white 438 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: parasol and started loudly insulting Edward to everyone around her. 439 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: Robert saw his mother in the crowd, and he got 440 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: his father's attention to warn him. In the words of 441 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: a letter from Jane Welsh Carlyle to her husband Thomas Carlyle. 442 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 1: When Edward realized that when Robert kept saying Lady Lytton 443 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,200 Speaker 1: he meant Rosina, he did not mean his aunt, who 444 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: would also be called Lady Lytton, Edward quote turned us 445 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: white as a sheet, cast one wild look at his wife, 446 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: and rushed down the companion ladder of the platform steps, 447 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,720 Speaker 1: near the bottom of which, by the kind foresight of somebody, 448 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 1: his carriage and servants stood ready. Rosina made her way 449 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 1: through the crowd, got onto the platform and spoke against 450 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: Edward for about fifteen minutes. Her exact words are not 451 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,520 Speaker 1: recorded anywhere, but she was generally described as largely repeating 452 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: the content of her pamphlet. There is some speculation that 453 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: Edward and his connections tried to keep this whole disruption quiet. 454 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: It is mentioned in things like personal letters and eyewitness papers, 455 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: but the immediate coverage of this election in the major 456 00:29:54,880 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: newspapers doesn't mention it that changed, though after Edward try 457 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,800 Speaker 1: to have Rosina committed. On June eleventh, a man named 458 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: Frederick Hale Thompson arrived at Rosina's home in Taunton, accompanied 459 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: by a nurse to examine her. Rosina agreed to this examination, 460 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: and after some discussion, Thompson seems to have concluded that 461 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: she was sane. He asked what it would take for 462 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: her to stop these kinds of public denouncements of her husband. 463 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: She said she wanted her allowance to be increased to 464 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,720 Speaker 1: five hundred pounds and for her existing debts to be cleared. 465 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: That amount totaled about twenty five hundred pounds. Thompson left, 466 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: and when Rosina didn't hear anything else about this for 467 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: more than a week, she went to London to his 468 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 1: office to follow up, and she took her landlady and 469 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 1: a friend of hers with her. She got there in 470 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: the morning and she was asked to return later in 471 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,080 Speaker 1: the day, which she did, but she also said before 472 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: leaving that if this matter was not settled, she would 473 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:01,520 Speaker 1: take incriminating letters that she'd brought with her to the magistrate. 474 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: Rosina came back to Thompson's office at five pm, as 475 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,760 Speaker 1: had been requested, and there were two police officers there 476 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: along with staff from a private asylum called Brentford, which 477 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: was outside of London, and they had the necessary paperwork 478 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:22,560 Speaker 1: to have her committed Edward's evidence of Rosina's purported mental 479 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: state included an assortment of her writing, including her playbill 480 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: from Even Worse Than We Seen. He also claimed that 481 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: both of her parents had been insane, and she pointed 482 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: out that if that was true, he was suggesting that 483 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: the same could also be true of their son, Robert. 484 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: While it seems like Edward might have kept her disruption 485 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 1: at the Hustings on the June eighth election day from 486 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 1: being widely reported in the newspapers, her confinement in the 487 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:54,640 Speaker 1: asylum became big news, with some papers taking her side 488 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: and some taking Edwards. Several newspapers, starting with ones in 489 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,600 Speaker 1: Scotland and Ireland, also started revisiting that election, and they 490 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: published accounts of Rosina's arrival and Edwards fleeing the scene. 491 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: One widely reprinted write up described Rosina as an extremely 492 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,120 Speaker 1: handsome woman of about forty five who called him a 493 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: coward from the platform, and quote asserting her intention to 494 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: confront her husband on every possible occasion until she compelled 495 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: him to address her wrongs. Rosina continued to write to 496 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: her friends and to public figures from the asylum advocating 497 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,719 Speaker 1: for her release, and of course criticizing her husband's actions. 498 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: This was a time in which women were disproportionately institutionalized 499 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,240 Speaker 1: in Britain, often for behavior that their male relatives found 500 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,800 Speaker 1: inconvenient or inappropriate. Rosina made it clear that she was 501 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: not being treated poorly, which was often not the case 502 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 1: for women who didn't have the kind of status she did. 503 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,800 Speaker 1: She was allowed to move around the house and grounds 504 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: and to visit neighboring ville villages with an attendant, with 505 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 1: her own self advocacy from within the asylum and her 506 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 1: friends working on her behalf outside of it. She was 507 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: released on July fourteenth, after about three weeks. Rosina had 508 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: to be declared insane in order to be committed, and 509 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 1: that meant Edward was obligated to pay off her debts. 510 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: He also did agree to increase her allowance to the 511 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: five hundred pounds per year that she had been asking for, 512 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,160 Speaker 1: and at this point Edward allowed Rosina to see her 513 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:35,040 Speaker 1: son again. They spent several months together traveling in Europe 514 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,400 Speaker 1: along with a female friend of Rosina's, until they apparently 515 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 1: had some kind of disagreement and parted ways. In eighteen 516 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: sixty six, Edward was raised to the peerage and named 517 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: Baron of Nebworth. That same year, Rosina wrote a memoir 518 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: of her confinement in the asylum. She did not think 519 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: it was publishable as written, and she looked for a 520 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,880 Speaker 1: publisher who could help her edit and revise it, but 521 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: nothing came up this effort. She did keep writing and 522 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:08,280 Speaker 1: publishing other books, though. Edward Bulwer Lytton died on January eighteenth, 523 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy three, and Rosina went from being her husband's 524 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:17,240 Speaker 1: responsibility to being her son's. Seven years later, that memoir 525 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,960 Speaker 1: she had written was published under the title A Blighted Life. 526 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:25,760 Speaker 1: This is something that she insisted happened without her knowledge 527 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:30,240 Speaker 1: or consent. Her son, Robert, was livid about this book, 528 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:34,520 Speaker 1: and he cut her allowance over it. She published refutation 529 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 1: of an audacious forgery of the Dowager Lady Lytton's name 530 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,360 Speaker 1: to a book of the publication of which she was 531 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 1: totally ignorant, in an effort to clear her name. I 532 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: could not find a copy of this pamphlet anywhere, but 533 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:53,879 Speaker 1: I would like to read it. Rosina Bulwer Lytton died 534 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,919 Speaker 1: at her home in Kent on March twelfth, eighteen eighty two, 535 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: at the age of eighty, she was buried in an 536 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,239 Speaker 1: unmarked grave in the churchyard of Saint John the Evangelist 537 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:07,400 Speaker 1: at Shirley and Surrey. It remained unmarked until her great 538 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,880 Speaker 1: great grandson, David Lytton Cobbled had a marker place there 539 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:15,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety five, following her wishes express before her death. 540 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 1: It bears the inscription the Lord will give thee rest 541 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: from thy sorrow and from thy fear, and from the 542 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 1: hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve. Over the 543 00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: course of her life for Asena Bulwer Lytton wrote more 544 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:33,239 Speaker 1: than fifteen novels, many of them focused on women in 545 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 1: unhappy and dysfunctional marriages and the negative impacts of married 546 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,640 Speaker 1: women's lack of legal and political rights. The year that 547 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,680 Speaker 1: she died, Parliament passed the Married Women's Property Act, which 548 00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 1: addressed a lot of these issues. Afterward, married women could 549 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:53,840 Speaker 1: own and control their own property. They also had the 550 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,359 Speaker 1: right to sue and to be sued, and to enter 551 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 1: under contracts, rather than being considered legally inextricable from their husbands, 552 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:07,040 Speaker 1: with their husbands being the supreme entity in that relationship. 553 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:11,839 Speaker 1: Robert Bulwer Lytton published a very complimentary biography of his 554 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,800 Speaker 1: father in eighteen eighty three. This book made it sound 555 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 1: like Edward had never been particularly attached to Rosina. It 556 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,239 Speaker 1: claimed that he had been in love with a girl 557 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,360 Speaker 1: who had died when he was younger, and that he 558 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:29,080 Speaker 1: had never recovered. In response to this, Rosina's friend and 559 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: literary executor Louisa Devi published a collection of Edward's love 560 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,880 Speaker 1: letters in eighteen eighty four. Robert put an injunction on 561 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:41,320 Speaker 1: this book in the UK, although it was still published elsewhere. 562 00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:46,400 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty seven, DEVII published Life of Rosina Lady Lytton, 563 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:50,400 Speaker 1: a vindication which included a lot of primary source material 564 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 1: in an effort to clear Rosina's name and offer her perspective. 565 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: In light of Robert's biography of Edward, neither Rosina nor 566 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:03,719 Speaker 1: Edward Bulwarin Lytton are widely read today. Some sources say 567 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,480 Speaker 1: that during his lifetime, Edward outsold Charles Dickens, and others 568 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,439 Speaker 1: say that Dickens was the only writer that he did 569 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:15,240 Speaker 1: not out sell. During his funeral, which was at Westminster Abbey, 570 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,960 Speaker 1: writer Benjamin Jowett called him one of England's greatest writers 571 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,720 Speaker 1: and one of the greatest men of his time. Past 572 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 1: podcast subject G. K. Chesterton later said of him, quote, 573 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: you could not have the Victorian Age without him. But today, 574 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:35,319 Speaker 1: at least in the United States, he's mainly known for 575 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: phrases like it was a dark and stormy night and 576 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:41,279 Speaker 1: the pen is mightier than the sword. We haven't even 577 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,520 Speaker 1: talked about how some of his books, like The Last 578 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:47,160 Speaker 1: Days of Pompeii, were an inspiration to the Theosophy movement. 579 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:52,319 Speaker 1: But interest in his work really plummeted around World War One, 580 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:57,520 Speaker 1: and reasons for that are largely speculative. Rosina's work also 581 00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:01,759 Speaker 1: largely faded from sight, although that's more understandable. She was 582 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 1: usually working with smaller publishers to put out work that 583 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,680 Speaker 1: often read like it was written as a form of revenge. 584 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,600 Speaker 1: For much of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Rosina's 585 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:15,360 Speaker 1: works weren't available at all, although that has changed thanks 586 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: to the Internet and the availability of scanned copies of 587 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:22,239 Speaker 1: books that have entered the public domain. I'm sure we'll 588 00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: have a lot to talk about on Friday, that's for sure. 589 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:26,840 Speaker 1: Do you have a little bit of listener mail in 590 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:32,200 Speaker 1: the meantime? I do. This is from Tandy. Tandy wrote 591 00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:34,600 Speaker 1: and said, dear Holly and Tracy, after you're behind the 592 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:37,399 Speaker 1: scenes about the three autoimmune diseases, I thought I should 593 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,920 Speaker 1: send you an email. My grandfather had type one diabetes. 594 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:43,680 Speaker 1: He was diagnosed in the nineteen thirties, a little more 595 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:47,439 Speaker 1: than a decade after insulin was discovered. When World War 596 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:49,840 Speaker 1: II started, he went to sign up and made it 597 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,239 Speaker 1: through the physical God accepted into the Army and was 598 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,000 Speaker 1: filling out the forums and asked how they would get 599 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:59,040 Speaker 1: his insulin to him when he was overseas. Would it 600 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:01,919 Speaker 1: be an air drop or something like that. The Army 601 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:04,439 Speaker 1: realized then that they had made a mistake. They still 602 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:07,640 Speaker 1: weren't used to Type one diabetics living to adulthood, so 603 00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: he wasn't questioned about diabetes. The Army let him go 604 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,120 Speaker 1: and he worked as a civilian mechanic. He did go 605 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:17,840 Speaker 1: blind in the nineteen sixties due to diabetes complications. I 606 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,600 Speaker 1: still remember my grandfather giving him his insulin shots. It 607 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,560 Speaker 1: was about one a day based on his sugar levels 608 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:27,080 Speaker 1: that they tested using his urine. He passed away in 609 00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,359 Speaker 1: the late nineteen seventies. So OURFK Junior is completely wrong. 610 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:32,560 Speaker 1: But we knew that type one diabetics have been around 611 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 1: for a long time and living full lives. My youngest 612 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,040 Speaker 1: is also a type one diabetic, and the changes in 613 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:41,759 Speaker 1: treatment from the time of my grandfather is amazing. My 614 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:46,360 Speaker 1: youngest uses a continuous glucose monitor and omnipod and monitors 615 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,680 Speaker 1: everything from their phone, so here is hoping they don't 616 00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:52,600 Speaker 1: get the diabetic complications that my grandfather did. For a 617 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:55,240 Speaker 1: pet tax, here is a photo of my youngest's horse. 618 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,760 Speaker 1: His name was Dancer. He passed away in February. Tandy, 619 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,920 Speaker 1: we have a very lovely horse looking out from what 620 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,239 Speaker 1: looks like a stall in a stable. Maybe. Thank you 621 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:11,040 Speaker 1: so much, Tandy for that email. I think at this 622 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,319 Speaker 1: point the folks that I know who have type one 623 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:17,400 Speaker 1: diabetes are mostly using some kind of continuous glucose monitor 624 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:23,880 Speaker 1: and then either using an insulin pump to automatically adjust 625 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:28,160 Speaker 1: their insulin as necessary or doing that part more manually. 626 00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:33,560 Speaker 1: But yeah, world's different from when insulin was first introduced. 627 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:36,719 Speaker 1: So thank you again for this email and for this 628 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,440 Speaker 1: lovely horse picture. If you would like to send us 629 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:41,879 Speaker 1: a note about this or any other podcast, we're at 630 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:46,560 Speaker 1: History Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com and you can subscribe 631 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,719 Speaker 1: to our show on the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you'd 632 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:57,439 Speaker 1: like to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History 633 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,799 Speaker 1: Class is a production of iHeartRadio. More podcasts from iHeartRadio 634 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:05,560 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 635 00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:06,600 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.