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 --> 00:00:08,680 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 5 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,159 Speaker 2: If you're a regular listener to the show and you 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,159 Speaker 2: listen to the episodes in order, you have heard me 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 2: talk about getting into a topic that was unwieldy, and 8 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 2: so I dropped it immediately to instead do an episode 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 2: on electro cardiograms. Now we have come to the unwieldy topic. 10 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 2: For a very long time, novelist Edward Bulwert Lytton has 11 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 2: been lingering on my shortlist. His eighteen thirty novel Paul 12 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 2: Clifford started with the words it was a dark and 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 2: stormy night. Believe it or not, he was not the 14 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 2: first person ever to publish that phrase, but afterward it 15 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 2: became widely used and reused and satirized and lampooned, and 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 2: it even spawned the bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest for Bad 17 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 2: First Sentences, which was held at San Jose State University for. 18 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: Forty two years. 19 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 2: I really knew zero about Edward Bowler Lytton besides that 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 2: one thing, and so I was just kind of like 21 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 2: that guy, what was his deal there was in the shortlist. 22 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 2: More recently, I was trying to figure out if I 23 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 2: had access to enough information to do an episode on 24 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 2: Bianca Cappello, who was the sixteenth century Grand Duchess Consort 25 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 2: of Tuscany. Her life is described as full of scandal. 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 2: Horace Walpole, who we covered on the show back in October, 27 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 2: was talking about a painting of her when he coined 28 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 2: the word serendipity. So that quest led me to Edward 29 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,559 Speaker 2: Bulwer Lytton's wife, Rosina, who wrote a historical novel about 30 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 2: Bianca Cappello in eighteen forty three, and it did not 31 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 2: take long for Rose to take her husband's place on 32 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 2: my short list and then to move up to the 33 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 2: top to do an episode. Edward is still a big 34 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 2: part of this episode, though, because it is really about 35 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 2: their marriage and their separation. According to Rosina, Edward was 36 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 2: abusive and he definitely had multiple affairs, and because married 37 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 2: women in England really had no legal status independently of 38 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 2: their husband, Rosina's options in this were incredibly limited. She 39 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 2: wrote that novel because she was trying to make ends 40 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 2: meet in the wake of their separation. This turned into 41 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 2: a two parter Today's episode is about Rosina's early life 42 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,359 Speaker 2: and the early years of her relationship with Edward up 43 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,959 Speaker 2: to their separation. Again, that story is going to involve abuse, 44 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 2: and then on Wednesday we will talk about their decades 45 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 2: of living in separation and Rosina's very embittered writing about it. 46 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 2: Rosina Doyle Wheeler was born on November fourth, eighteen oh two, 47 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 2: in County Limerick, Ireland. She was the daughter of Francis 48 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 2: Massey Wheeler and Anna Doyle Wheeler. Francis and Anna had 49 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 2: six children together, but only two of them survived their infancy, 50 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 2: Rosina and her older sister, Henrietta, who was born in 51 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 2: eighteen oh one. Anna Wheeler was known to be clever, witty, 52 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 2: well read, and extremely beautiful. She was self educated and 53 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 2: that education included things like French philosophy and the writing 54 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 2: of Mary Wolstoncraft. Anna became an advocate for cooperative socialism 55 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 2: and for women's rights, and she also co authored a 56 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 2: work called Appeal of one half of the Human Race, 57 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 2: Women against the pretensions of the other half men to 58 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 2: retain them in political and hence in civil and domestic slavery. 59 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 2: In reply to a paragraph of mister Mill's celebrated article 60 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 2: on government. Her co author in this piece was William Thompson. 61 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 2: Anna and William didn't write this until eighteen twenty five, 62 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 2: when Rosina was already an adult, but it does help 63 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 2: illustrate the political and legal position of women in the 64 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 2: UK at this point, and the kinds of opinions Rosina 65 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 2: would have been exposed to through her mother. The paragraph 66 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 2: that Anna and William were responding to was written by 67 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 2: James Mill in an essay on government that was printed 68 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 2: in Encyclopedia Britannica. That paragraph read quote, one thing is 69 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 2: pretty clear that all those individuals whose interests are indisputably 70 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 2: included in those of other individuals may be struck off 71 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 2: from political rights without inconvenience. In this light may be 72 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 2: viewed all children up to a certain age whose interests 73 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 2: are involved in those of their parents. In this light, 74 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,719 Speaker 2: women may also be regarded the interest of almost all 75 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 2: of whom is involved either in that of their fathers 76 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 2: or in that of their husbands. Ill co written by 77 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 2: Anna Wheeler and William Thompson, calls this paragraph offensive and 78 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 2: anti social. The introduction to the appeal is framed as 79 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 2: a letter from Thompson to Wheeler, and it read in 80 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 2: part quote, You look forward, as I do, to a 81 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 2: state of society very different from that which now exists, 82 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 2: in which the effort of all is to outwit, supplant 83 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 2: and snatch from each other. Where interest is systematically opposed 84 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 2: to duty, where the so called system of morals is 85 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 2: little more than a mass of hypocrisy preached by knaves, 86 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 2: unpracticed by them to keep their slaves male as well 87 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 2: as female, in blind, uninquiring obedience, And where the whole 88 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 2: Botley fabric is kept together by fear and blood. You 89 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 2: look forward to a better aspect of society, where the 90 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 2: principle of benevolence shall supersede that of fear, Where restless 91 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 2: and anxious individual competition shall give place to mutual cooperation 92 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 2: and joint possession. Where individuals in large numbers, male and female, 93 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 2: forming voluntary associations shall become a mutual guarantee to each 94 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 2: other for the supply of all useful wants, and form 95 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 2: an unsalaried and uninsolvent insurance company against all ensurable casualties. 96 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 2: Where perfect freedom of opinion and perfect equality will reign 97 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,840 Speaker 2: amongst the cooperators, and where the children of all will 98 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 2: be equally educated and provided for by the whole, even 99 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,840 Speaker 2: these children longer the slaves of individual caprice. 100 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: This piece noted that quote, the interests of men and 101 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: women are so involved in each other that political power 102 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: possessed by the one must be impartially used for the 103 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: benefit of both. But it also made a rhetorical argument 104 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: that if political power had to rest only with one sex, 105 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: then it should be women, because women were the weaker 106 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,080 Speaker 1: party and would not be able to overlook the needs 107 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,160 Speaker 1: of men the way men were able to overlook the 108 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: needs of women. 109 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,920 Speaker 2: Anna Wheeler's thoughts on marriage were partially informed by her 110 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 2: own marriage. She and Frances got married when they were 111 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 2: both still in their teens. Her family, when they found 112 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 2: out about this relationship, had proposed to send her to London, 113 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 2: not necessarily to separate them, but just to give her 114 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 2: more time to grow up and to learn her own 115 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 2: mind before getting married, but that suggestion had just led 116 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 2: her to double down on her insistence that they get 117 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 2: married immediately. Frances seems to have been outwardly amiable, but 118 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 2: he also drank excessively and his behavior could be threatening. 119 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 2: According to Rosina's account, when she was born, her mother's 120 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 2: attendants were terrified to tell Francis that she was a girl, 121 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 2: because he had been so adamant about wanting a son 122 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 2: that they were legitimately scared of what his reaction would be. 123 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 2: In eighteen twelve, Anna left to Francis and she took 124 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:05,239 Speaker 2: Henrietta and Rosina with her. They went to Guernsey, where 125 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 2: Anna's uncle, Sir John Doyle, was Lieutenant Governor. He had 126 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 2: been something of a surrogate father to Anna after her 127 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 2: own father's death. Mother and daughters moved into rooms at 128 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 2: the Government House, which was a lot more lavish than 129 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 2: where they'd been living in Kilross, Ireland. The girls had 130 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 2: a French governess and an assortment of tutors, and Rosina 131 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 2: described the atmosphere of the house as quote sort of 132 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 2: perpetual saturnalia that was allowed, unchecked to go on. She 133 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 2: also developed a flare for mimicry, imitating their governess and 134 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 2: their tutors and various guests who came to the Government House. 135 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 2: While this was a financially comfortable situation, Rosina still found 136 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 2: these years difficult. Henrietta was clearly their mother's favorite, and 137 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:56,199 Speaker 2: Rosina later wrote, quote, I soon became that most miserable 138 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 2: of created beings, the neglected sister of a favorite and 139 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,319 Speaker 2: favored child. Not that I envied Henrietta for being loved, indulged, 140 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 2: and privileged on all occasions, For it was impossible not 141 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 2: to love one so gentle, so gifted, and so good. 142 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 2: I thought it was a matter of course that everyone 143 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 2: must do. So still I did long for a little 144 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:24,199 Speaker 2: of my mother's love. The family left Guernsey in eighteen sixteen, 145 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:35,719 Speaker 2: and we'll get to that after a sponsor break. Sir 146 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 2: John Doyle left office as Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey in 147 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 2: eighteen sixteen, so at that point the family no longer 148 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 2: had a place at the government house. Rosina and Henrietta 149 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 2: were sent to a private school in Kensington in London, 150 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 2: while their mother went to France. Their animde connections to socialists, 151 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 2: activists and philosophers, and she was nicknamed the Goddess of Reason. 152 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 2: She started to call for a redistribution of wealth that 153 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 2: will allow women to live independently of men. In eighteen twenty, 154 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:13,439 Speaker 2: Rosina's father, Francis died and her older sister Henrietta inherited 155 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 2: his property in Ireland. Their mother started supplementing her income 156 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 2: with writing, lecturing, and translating work from French. 157 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: There's not a. 158 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 2: Lot of detail about the next few years of Versina's life, 159 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 2: but in October of eighteen twenty five she met Edward 160 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 2: George Earl Lytton Bulwer. He's known as Edward bulwerd Lytton today, 161 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 2: but that is a name change that happened a little later. 162 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 2: Edward was freshly returned from France. He had his hair 163 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 2: and ringlets, and he was carrying a cane and decked 164 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 2: out in French attire that wouldn't become fashionable in England 165 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 2: for another few years. Rosina described him as quote unmistakably gentlemanlike, 166 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 2: and he had a reputation for being simultaneously a dandy 167 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 2: and an intollal. Edward's acquaintances included novelist Lady Caroline Lamb, 168 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 2: who had become famous in part for her relationship with 169 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 2: George Gordon Lord Byron, who had died the previous year. 170 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 2: She's the person who described Lord Byron as mad, bad 171 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 2: and dangerous to know, according to Rosina's notations on Edward's 172 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 2: letters later on, at one point Caroline told her, quote, 173 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 2: don't let Edward Bulwer hunt you down. They are a 174 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 2: bad set. After meeting at a social event, Rosina and 175 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 2: Edwards started corresponding. For the most part, Edward's letters are 176 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,080 Speaker 2: the ones that we have today. There are some published 177 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 2: collections of Rosina's letters, but they're not widely available in 178 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 2: the United States, and they are mostly letters to other people. 179 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 2: In his letters, Edward seems deeply enamored. Here's an example 180 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 2: of something that he wrote to Rosina. Quote, I have 181 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 2: twice begun to write, and twice I have destroyed what 182 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 2: I have written. This same restraint which oppressed me in speaking, 183 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 2: seems to operate also upon this method of uttering. The 184 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:13,439 Speaker 2: feelings you have inspired, no matter their nature, you have discovered, love, admiration, 185 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 2: passion are not the less deeply felt for being imperfectly expressed. 186 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 2: The trembling of the voice, the embarrassment of manner, the 187 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 2: difficulty of expression, which diminished the eloquence due justice, at 188 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 2: least to the reality of feeling. From the first moment 189 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 2: I saw you, I was attracted towards you. The sentiments 190 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,439 Speaker 2: you inspired carried me back to years of more fresh 191 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 2: and unsullied remembrance. They had no place among the ordinary 192 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 2: attachments which the world had more lately afforded me. I 193 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 2: could not define their nature. I could not reason them away. 194 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 2: In another letter later on, he wrote, Oh, my dear Rose, 195 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 2: where shall I find words to express my love for you? 196 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 2: Your kiss still dwells upon my lips, My hand still 197 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 2: thrills beneath your touch, and your breath still lingers on 198 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 2: my remembrance. Fraught, indeed with more treasures than in India Sea. 199 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 2: Eventually he started addressing his letters with endearments like my 200 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 2: dearest Rose and darlingest Poodle, which I must admit I 201 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 2: find kind of fun and affecting a sort of baby 202 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 2: talk writing style, like writing the word you as ooh 203 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 2: two o's yes as they got into the baby talk, 204 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 2: which is also the way that you might talk to 205 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 2: like a puppy that you're feeling very affectionately toward. I 206 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 2: found them. I was having like the vicarious embarrassment response 207 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 2: to reading them. A number of people have described them 208 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 2: in words like embarrassing and cringey. Edward, though, also wrote 209 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 2: a lot about his mother, Elizabeth Warburton Lytton, and his 210 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 2: fears that she would not approve of his relationship with Resina. 211 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 2: His father, William Earle Bulwer, had died when he was 212 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,319 Speaker 2: only four, and by then Edward's older brothers had been 213 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 2: sent away to school, so it was just him and 214 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 2: his mom. His mother treated him almost like an only child. 215 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 2: He was her favorite, and she doted on him and 216 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 2: gave him an extravagant allowance, but that allowance was totally 217 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 2: at her prerogative. The only money he was actually legally 218 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 2: guaranteed was two hundred pounds a year from his father's will, 219 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 2: so Edward was really afraid of his mother cutting him off. 220 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 2: Rosina's sister, Henrietta, died in May of eighteen twenty six, 221 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 2: and Rosina inherited their father's property in Ireland at that point. 222 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 2: One of Edward's letters around this time attempted to console 223 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 2: her both about her sister's death and the state of 224 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 2: her relationship with her mother. Quote, your alienation from your 225 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 2: sister seems formerly to have given you much pain. Now 226 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 2: that very fact makes your consolation. Separation from your mother 227 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 2: threw you into a situation which, to say the least, 228 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 2: was disadvantageous and unpleasant. But had you gone with her 229 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 2: to Paris, it is more than probable that we should 230 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 2: never have met. Let me trust that the last event 231 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 2: will not be the most unfortunate in your life. Sometime 232 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:23,120 Speaker 2: in the months surrounding her sister's death, Rosina and Edward 233 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 2: became engaged, and his letters to her at this point 234 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 2: still sounded just besotted. Here's one quote, my darling, darling, 235 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 2: love and poodle. The more I think of you, the 236 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 2: more I love you. I dote upon you, even to madness, 237 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 2: your beauty so singularly perfect, your kind, noble, warm heart, 238 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 2: your temper so feeling, yet so subdued, Your generous and 239 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 2: devoted love, which my unworthiness, not my reason ever questions, 240 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 2: all impress themselves upon my mind. The deeper in proportion 241 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 2: to the consideration they receive. I see other women, I 242 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 2: turn from them, wearied and disgusted, because I compare them 243 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 2: with you. All that this world offers only seems to 244 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 2: me weary, stale, and unprofitable compared with one recollection of you. 245 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: Edward's mother did not know about the engagement, but she 246 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: and Rosina had met, and it was clear to Edward 247 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: that his mother did not approve of Rosina. In general. 248 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: Estimates of the value of the property that Rosina had 249 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: inherited in Ireland are really all over the place, but 250 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: it seems like it might have given her an income 251 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: of about three hundred pounds a year, so she wasn't penniless, 252 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: but she definitely wasn't wealthy or even financially comfortable. She 253 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: was also irish and outspoken, and at six months older 254 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: than Edward, too old in his mother's opinion. Rosina was 255 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: also extremely beautiful, and even that was somehow suspect. In 256 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: September of eighteen twenty, Edward wrote Rezina a letter in 257 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: which he talked about his ambitions for the future. His 258 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: mother wanted him to distinguish himself, and he thought that 259 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 1: if he did that, then she could have no objection 260 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 1: to anybody that he might want to marry. He thought 261 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,919 Speaker 1: he might earn this distinction by becoming a Member of Parliament, 262 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: but there were income and property ownership requirements for MPs 263 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: that he did not meet, so he thought he might 264 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: make up the difference but in income requirements by writing. 265 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:35,479 Speaker 1: So that became the plan. He would earn enough money 266 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: through writing to become eligible to be an MP. He 267 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,360 Speaker 1: would get elected, and then he would disclose his engagement 268 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: to his mother, and then they would get married. In 269 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: my head, there's a cartoon where he has a flow 270 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: chart of how his life is going to work does 271 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: kind of seem that way. I mean, so much of 272 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: it depends on things he cannot control, working out exactly 273 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: as he plans right. In October eight, eighteen twenty six, 274 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,360 Speaker 1: Edward told his mother about the engagement, even though he 275 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: had not yet sold his first novel. This did not 276 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: go well, and Edward described a letter his mother had 277 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: written him this way quote, there is not in this 278 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: letter one kind expression to redeem its want of almost 279 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: human consideration for my feelings, and it ends with saying 280 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: that if I marry, I should have not her consent, 281 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: but her curse. The next several months of Edward and 282 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 1: Rosina's relationship sound chaotic and stressful. Edward was trying to 283 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: write a book, and Rosina was reading his drafts and 284 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: offering her opinions while also doing some writing work of 285 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:46,159 Speaker 1: her own. Knowledge of his mother's disapproval seemed to just 286 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: underpin everything that they did. Edward's mother also allegedly sent 287 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: people to Ireland's to investigate Rosina's family. There, the couple 288 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,160 Speaker 1: kept setting dates for a wedding and then postponing it, 289 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:04,920 Speaker 1: and at least three times Rosina called the engagement off entirely, 290 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 1: but then they resumed the relationship. Edward sold his first novel, Falkland, 291 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty seven. It was not the financial success 292 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 1: that he hoped it would be, but he and Rosina 293 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 1: got married in Piccadilly on August twenty ninth of that year. 294 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: His mother did not come to the wedding, and afterward, 295 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:27,679 Speaker 1: as she'd threatened to do, she cut off his allowance, 296 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,159 Speaker 1: leaving him only with his inheritance from his father and 297 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: what he could earn on his own. She also refused 298 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: to see him, and she returned all of his letters 299 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: unopened for more than a year. In one of his 300 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: many letters, Edward had told Rosina that because of this 301 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: whole situation with his mother and his reduced income, they 302 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 1: might have to live abroad in total isolation. Instead, they 303 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: moved to a secluded house in Oxfordshire, where Edward kept 304 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,879 Speaker 1: trying to be a successful writer with Rosina's on ongoing help. 305 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,880 Speaker 1: We will talk about how their marriage evolved from this 306 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: after we pause for another sponsor break. 307 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 2: Before they got married, it seems like Edward and Rosina 308 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,640 Speaker 2: had talked a whole lot about what their lives might 309 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 2: be like if they got married without his mother's approval. 310 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 2: But even so, it just doesn't seem like they were 311 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 2: fully prepared for that reality when it finally arrived. Edward 312 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 2: continued to write Rosina really gushing letters when they were apart, 313 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,919 Speaker 2: but he also worked himself just to exhaustion trying to 314 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 2: earn money as a writer, and he expected Rosina's continual 315 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,879 Speaker 2: help with that writing. He still had an eye on 316 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,919 Speaker 2: a seat in Parliament, and by eighteen twenty eight he 317 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 2: started hinting to Rosina that it might be possible that 318 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 2: he could claim the Doyle baronetcy threw his marriage to her. 319 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 2: By that point, Rosina was pregnant, and her first allegation 320 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:13,840 Speaker 2: of Edward's physical abuse was during that pregnancy. She said 321 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 2: she had been helping him. 322 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,360 Speaker 1: In their library, but she got tired and she had 323 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: to lie down on the couch. When he asked her 324 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: to go up a ladder to get him another book, 325 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: she told him that she was too tired to do it, 326 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: and at that point he kicked her. Edward's novel Pelham 327 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: or the Adventures of a Gentleman was published in May 328 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: of eighteen twenty eight, and it became a huge bestseller. 329 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: Their daughter, Emily Elizabeth was born the following month, on 330 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:45,439 Speaker 1: June twenty seventh. Soon after this, Edward decided that Emily 331 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: should be sent to a wet nurse because if she 332 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,399 Speaker 1: stayed at home, she would take up too much of 333 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: Rosina's time when he needed her help with his writing. 334 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,560 Speaker 1: By mid July, Rosina was having eye trouble, which a 335 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: doctor attributed to her constant weeping at being separated from 336 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:06,360 Speaker 1: her daughter. The doctor ordered her to spend three months 337 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: recovering at the seaside town of Weymouth. Edward claimed that Rosina. 338 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 2: Really wasn't affected by this, and that she had always 339 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 2: been more fond of their dogs. 340 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: With the money that he earned from his novel, Edward 341 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: bought a house on Hertford Street in the Mayfair district 342 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: of London, and the family moved there. He started making 343 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: more political connections, and he started repairing his relationship with 344 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: his mother, which added another layer of strain to his marriage, 345 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,920 Speaker 1: because Elizabeth could be very domineering and as we have established, 346 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: she did not approve of Rosina at all. 347 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 2: In the spring of eighteen thirty one, Edward was elected 348 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 2: MP for Saint Ives. He met the property ownership requirement 349 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 2: through the estate in Ireland that had belonged to Rosina's father. 350 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 2: Because the way marriage worked under British law, women's property 351 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 2: belonged to their husband. On November eighth of that year, 352 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 2: their son, Edward Roberts known as Robert, was born. In 353 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,639 Speaker 2: eighteen thirty two, the Great Reform Act was passed in 354 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 2: the UK which reformed the parliamentary system and changed the 355 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:21,679 Speaker 2: requirements to become an MP. This law changed the parliamentary map, 356 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 2: getting rid of so called rotten boroughs that had two 357 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 2: members of Parliament but almost no population to represent. It 358 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,639 Speaker 2: also reduced the number of MPs in smaller districts, including 359 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:38,640 Speaker 2: Saint Ives, which dropped from two MPs to one. This 360 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 2: law also loosened up the property ownership requirements for becoming 361 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 2: an MP, which allowed Edward to sell Rosina's property in Ireland, 362 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 2: which he did for a little more than thirty seven 363 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 2: hundred pounds. Rosina had no say at all in this decision, 364 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,439 Speaker 2: again because of those same laws about how marriage worked. 365 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,160 Speaker 2: After this reform bill passed, Edward was elected MP for Lincoln, 366 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 2: and that was a seat that he held until eighteen 367 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,680 Speaker 2: forty one. In the fall of eighteen thirty three, Edward 368 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,360 Speaker 2: and Rosina took a trip to Naples, arriving there that November. 369 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,919 Speaker 2: Edward is described as exhausted at this point from years 370 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,440 Speaker 2: of writing incessantly to try to maintain their income and lifestyle, 371 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 2: but he also wrote. While they were there, he finished 372 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,120 Speaker 2: most of his novel The Last Days of Pompeii, which 373 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 2: would be published in eighteen thirty four and become his 374 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 2: most successful book. Edward had been having extramarital affairs which 375 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 2: Rosina knew about, and this included being involved with a 376 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 2: married woman on this trip, and he also again became 377 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 2: violent with Rosina while they were in Naples. Rosina's lady's maid, 378 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 2: Rosetta Byrne, gave a sworn statement about what had happened 379 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,680 Speaker 2: later on, and here is what she wrote. Quote, Mister 380 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,919 Speaker 2: Edward Lytton Bulwer did her ladyship not only as to 381 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 2: cruel neglect and infidelity, but also as to acts of 382 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:09,320 Speaker 2: brutal personal violence, amongst others. On one occasion, when traveling 383 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 2: in Italy in eighteen thirty three, one night at the 384 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,399 Speaker 2: Lake of Bolsano, he so nashed the things about and 385 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 2: at her ladyship that even Luigi the courier avowed he 386 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 2: would not continue the journey with him again at Naples, 387 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,679 Speaker 2: after having, in one of his brutal rages, kicked and 388 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,919 Speaker 2: banged her ladyship against the stone floor at the Hotel 389 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 2: Vittoria till she was black and blue and had to 390 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,160 Speaker 2: keep her bed. A few days after because people began 391 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 2: to talk of this at Naples, he made her poor 392 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 2: lady get up and dress herself to go to a 393 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 2: great dinner at Lord Hertford's. Edward and Rosina returned to 394 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 2: England in early eighteen thirty four, and there was another 395 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:55,919 Speaker 2: major violent incident that July. Rosina's lady's maid described this 396 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,600 Speaker 2: in the same sworn testament quote. After we got back 397 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:03,399 Speaker 2: to London, and his temper continued awful towards her ladyship 398 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 2: for having asked him for money to pay the house 399 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 2: bills left unpaid when they were abroad. So one day 400 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 2: in July eighteen thirty four, at dinner at their house 401 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 2: thirty six Hertford Street, Mayfair, London, he seized a carving 402 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,360 Speaker 2: knife and rushed at his wife when she cried out, 403 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 2: for God's sake, Edward, take care what you are about. 404 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 2: Then he dropped the knife and sprang on her like 405 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 2: a tiger made his teeth meet in her left cheek 406 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 2: until her screams brought the men servants back into the 407 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 2: dining room. In Rosina's account, this started when she told 408 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 2: her husband that she was going to a christening and 409 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 2: he asked who she was going with. Rosina told him, 410 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 2: and he reportedly said, my mother calls her that ugly 411 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 2: old woman, like over and over again. And when Rosina 412 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 2: just didn't acknowledge him, Edward asked if she had heard him. 413 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,440 Speaker 2: She said that she had, and when Edward asked why 414 00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,399 Speaker 2: she hadn't answered him, she said she didn't think it 415 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 2: required an answer, and that was when he had come 416 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 2: at her with a knife. Shortly after this incident, Edward 417 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 2: wrote Rosina a letter that's said, in part quote, I 418 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,199 Speaker 2: am now convinced of what I have long believed. I 419 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 2: am only fit to live alone. God and nature afflicted 420 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 2: me with unsocial habits, weak nerves, and violent passions. Everything 421 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 2: in my life tended to feed these infirmities until they 422 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,679 Speaker 2: have become a confirmed and incurable disease, which nothing but 423 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 2: a gentle pity, a forbearing soothing, watchful compassion as of 424 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 2: a nurse over a madman can render bearable to me 425 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,919 Speaker 2: or others. They decided to separate, and Edward said that 426 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 2: he would provide Rosina with six hundred pounds a year, 427 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 2: paid out quarterly. He advised her to sell the house 428 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 2: because she wouldn't be able to afford it on that amount, 429 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 2: and he said that where she and the children lived 430 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 2: and how were up to her, although he might decide 431 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 2: to have an influence on their son's education when he 432 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 2: got a little older. At this point, their daughter was 433 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 2: six and their son was three. This was an informal separation, 434 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,920 Speaker 2: and over the next few years Rosina and Edward made 435 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:14,040 Speaker 2: some attempts to reconcile. The final straw that led them 436 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,679 Speaker 2: to legally separate seems to have happened in eighteen thirty six. 437 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:20,919 Speaker 2: Edward had told Rosina that he was going to have 438 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:23,439 Speaker 2: dinner with her, and then at the last minute, a 439 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 2: servant brought word to her that he was ill. Rosina 440 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 2: went to his rooms to see if he was okay 441 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:32,919 Speaker 2: and to take care of him if necessary, and she 442 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,200 Speaker 2: found him with a woman named Laura Deacon. Edward very 443 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 2: indignantly claimed that Rosina had jumped to conclusions and attacked 444 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 2: him after simply seeing that there were two teacups on 445 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:48,040 Speaker 2: the table, but this relationship with Laura Deacon was ongoing, 446 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 2: and the two of them ultimately had three children together. 447 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 2: The only way to obtain a divorce in the UK 448 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 2: at this point was through an act of Parliament. A 449 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 2: man could initiate ate a divorce bill on the grounds 450 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 2: of adultery, and a woman could do so on the 451 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 2: grounds of adultery and also cruelty. Only very wealthy people 452 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 2: could afford to do this, really wealthier than Edward and Rosina, probably, 453 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 2: but beyond that, Edward had no proof that Rosina had 454 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 2: ever been unfaithful, although there had been some rumors that 455 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 2: she had flirted with a prince while they were in Naples. 456 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 2: Rosina might have been able to prove Edward's infidelity, but 457 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 2: she would also have to prove that he was cruel 458 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 2: That would have been a lot harder. That sworn statement 459 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 2: from her maid is something that was written much later on, 460 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 2: and even if she had had something like that to 461 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 2: use as evidence, Edward would have gone to great links 462 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 2: to defend himself from allegations of cruelty. That was just 463 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,680 Speaker 2: not something that he would have been willing to admit to. 464 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: So they legally separated on April nineteenth, eighteen thirty six. 465 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: Their deed of separation said, in part quote, whereas unhappy 466 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: differences have arisen and still subsist between this said Edward 467 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: George Earl Lytton Bulwer and Rosina and his wife, by 468 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: reason whereof they have agreed to live separate and apart 469 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,240 Speaker 1: from each other for the future. And whereas the said 470 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 1: Edward George Earl Lytton Bulwer has proposed to allow unto 471 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: or intrust for the said Rosina and Bulward during the 472 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: said separation the yearly sum of four hundred pounds as 473 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: a provision for her maintenance and support. 474 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:34,720 Speaker 2: The deed of separation also specified that Rosina would get 475 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 2: an additional fifty pounds per year for each of her 476 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 2: children as long as they lived with her, and it 477 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 2: established two trustees for her, Sir Francis Hastings Doyle and 478 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 2: the Reverend Sir Thomas Gary Cullum. 479 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 1: On June fourteenth, eighteen thirty six, Rosina and her children 480 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: moved out of Edward's home. She and Edward were both 481 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: thirty three, and the children were seven and four. Since 482 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: Edward and Rosina were still legally married, she still had 483 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: no legal or economic rights apart from him, and was 484 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: totally dependent on his support. Unlike her mother, she didn't 485 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: have a father figure in a high ranking government position 486 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: that she could move in with along with her children. 487 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 2: Sir John Doyle, who had sheltered them when Rosina was 488 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 2: a child, had died two years before this. This was 489 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 2: not a case in which Rosina and Edward happily went 490 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,920 Speaker 2: their own way after being separated, and the words of 491 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 2: her maid's sworn statement quote, he has ever since hunted 492 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 2: her through the world with spies and bad women, and 493 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 2: does not allow her enough to live upon for a 494 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 2: lady in her station. 495 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 1: After their separation, Rosina wrote a lot both to make 496 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: up for a lack of income and to make sure 497 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: that the world knew what she thought of her husband. 498 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: And we're going to get into all of that next time. 499 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: Do you have some listener mail to take us out 500 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: of this domestic horror? 501 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 2: I do have some listener mail. Before listener mail, we 502 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,480 Speaker 2: can mention once again that we are taking a trip 503 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 2: to Morocco this November. I don't think we have mentioned 504 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,880 Speaker 2: that on the show in a bit. The last time 505 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 2: I checked, we were sold out of individual single rooms 506 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 2: and Defined Destinations was getting in touch with people just 507 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 2: to see if there was anybody who might be okay 508 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,440 Speaker 2: sharing a room with somebody. There are still spots available 509 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 2: for people traveling together as a pair, whether that's friends 510 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 2: or a couple or whatever. So the best way to 511 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 2: get to that is to go to Defined Destinations dot 512 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 2: com and click on tours and it's the one called 513 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 2: a Taste of Morocco. And yes, now I do have 514 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 2: listener mail. This listener mail is from Gary, who wrote 515 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 2: after our Triple Nichols episode. Gary wrote, Dear Tracy and Holly, 516 00:32:57,880 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 2: I know I've been writing a lot lately, but I've 517 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 2: been listening to your podcast a lot lately, and I 518 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:04,560 Speaker 2: have thoughts. As a white male boomer and a lifelong 519 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 2: resident of Oregon, I didn't expect the Triple Nichols episode 520 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 2: to hit so close to home, but it did in 521 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,120 Speaker 2: several ways. First, my ears perked up at the mention 522 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 2: of Fort Benning. My mom's first husband attended officer Training 523 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 2: school at Fort Benning when my mom was about twenty 524 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 2: one years old. She took a train across the country 525 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 2: to join him there. In later years, she told me 526 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:26,520 Speaker 2: that that train ride through the South and her time 527 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 2: in Georgia were very upsetting to her because of the 528 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 2: widespread poverty and the treatment of black people. Her husband 529 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 2: was killed in a non combat vehicle crash somewhere in 530 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 2: Europe shortly after V Day. When I was going through 531 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 2: her things after she passed away in two thousand, I 532 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,480 Speaker 2: found materials from his time at Fort Benning, including a 533 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 2: booklet listing all of his fellow graduates, among whom was 534 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 2: a William Gates Senior, the father of Microsoft's Bill Gates. 535 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,960 Speaker 2: Just a fun fact. Then you got to the part 536 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,200 Speaker 2: about the Mitchell Party tragedy in Bly and the connection 537 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,120 Speaker 2: to the creation of smoke jumpers, including the Triple Nichols 538 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 2: participation in them. My dad's family has lived in that 539 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 2: area since the late nineteenth century, and I too, lived 540 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,280 Speaker 2: in nearby Lakeview for several years and have visited the monument. 541 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 2: One of my older brother's best friends earned money for 542 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 2: college as a smoke jumper based out of Cave Junction 543 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 2: near where we grew up in Grant's Pass. But I 544 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 2: really wasn't aware of the five point fifty five or 545 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 2: their connection to the balloon bomb case or the smoke jumpers. 546 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 2: And I'm always really happy when I learned new historical facts, 547 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 2: especially about things and events that have touched my life. 548 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 2: So thanks again for a really interesting episode. I'm attaching 549 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 2: another photo of Judo, the Red Standard poodle, this time 550 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 2: on a little hike with us. She's posing on a 551 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 2: trail surrounded by blooming larkspur. She just turned ten years 552 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,400 Speaker 2: old earlier this month, but she's still a very active 553 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,200 Speaker 2: girl and loves walking in the forest with us. She 554 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:51,239 Speaker 2: recently pulled a muscle chasing a deer or squirrel, so 555 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:52,880 Speaker 2: we're having to keep her quiet, which is quite a 556 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:56,120 Speaker 2: challenge while at heels. Thanks again for your good work, Gary. 557 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,359 Speaker 2: I like how the options of chasing include a deer 558 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:06,480 Speaker 2: and a squirrel, two dissimilar animals. Oh my goodness, dissimilar 559 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 2: but in similar places, similar places, similar fleeing from dogs, 560 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 2: I would imagine. Yeah, what a cute poodle. She's precious, 561 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 2: very cute, with a brown just brown like brown fur, 562 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,239 Speaker 2: and a very This face looks very pensive to me. 563 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,240 Speaker 2: It is sort of like she's thinking, is it okay 564 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:32,440 Speaker 2: for me to go on ahead of you? Do you 565 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:33,799 Speaker 2: want me to wait? Can I go? 566 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:34,640 Speaker 1: I'm not sure? 567 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:40,480 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for this email. Gary, you probably 568 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 2: have heard the balloons the Japanese are the Balloons of 569 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,839 Speaker 2: World War two episode that we talked more about the 570 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,919 Speaker 2: tragedy and fly and the Japanese balloon bombs. We've gotten 571 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:52,920 Speaker 2: a couple of emails that kind of referenced to having 572 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:57,000 Speaker 2: never heard of that before. So in case folks have 573 00:35:57,120 --> 00:36:01,239 Speaker 2: missed it, there is an episode in our previous episodes 574 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,399 Speaker 2: called the Balloons of World War Two that talks more 575 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 2: about that. So, thank you so much, Gary. If you 576 00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 2: would like to send us a note about this or 577 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,800 Speaker 2: any other podcast or a history podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, 578 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,799 Speaker 2: and you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio 579 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,760 Speaker 2: app and anywhere else you'd like to get your podcasts. 580 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,760 Speaker 2: Stuff You Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 581 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:32,719 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 582 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,920 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,