1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. This is the second 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: part of our two parter on the life of Caroline 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: Sheridan Norton. If you missed out on the first episode, 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: you should go back so you're not lost. But also 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: if you skipped the first episode because of our warning 8 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: about domestic violence, just to assure you a little bit, 9 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: this episode does not have any physical altercations, although it 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 1: does feature a lot of manipulative and abusive behavior. So 11 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: where we left off last time, the Custody of Children 12 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: Act had just been made a law in Great Britain, 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: and it gave mothers better legal standing to gain custody 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: of their children and to have access of their children. 15 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: Caroline had used her influence as a well known writer 16 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: and a connected woman of society to advocate for the 17 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: changes to the law. So as the parliamentary effort to 18 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,320 Speaker 1: pass this act was underway and it ultimately became successful, 19 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: Caroline's husband, George Norton, took their three children to Scotland, 20 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: where the new law did not apply. This made it 21 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: harder than ever for Caroline to see her three boys, 22 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: and George continued to try to dig up dirt on 23 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: his wife that would enable him to revisit his accusations 24 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: of adultery. There were definitely people who were happy to 25 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: report on Caroline's movements. She had become infamous in a 26 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: lot of Europe over this adultery scandal. Even when she 27 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: traveled to other countries, people recognized her, so she really 28 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: had to be extremely careful all the time. Yeah, we 29 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: didn't put it in the recap, but in the first 30 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: section there was an accusation of adultery between her and 31 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: Lord Norton went to court found completely baseless. But I 32 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: did read an account where she was talking about being 33 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: in Italy people recognizing her and whispering about her and 34 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: Lord Melbourne well after that had happened. But while George 35 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: was busy being petty, there was then a tragedy in 36 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: the early autumn of eighteen forty two. Their youngest son, William, 37 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: who was eight at the time, was thrown from a 38 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: horse and he survived that fall, but he had cut 39 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,959 Speaker 1: his arm in the incident, and that cut was left 40 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: untreated and it became infected, which led to septicemia, and 41 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: William became very, very sick, and although Caroline was called 42 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: as things turned grave, she did not make it to 43 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: Scotland in time to see her youngest child alive. Needless 44 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: to say, Caroline was devastated by this loss. She wrote 45 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: to one of her friends, quote, I still feel stunned 46 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: by this sudden blow. He died conscious, He prayed and 47 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: asked for me twice. He did not fear to die, 48 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: and he bore the dreadful spasms of pain with a 49 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: degree of courage which the doctor says he has rarely 50 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: seen in so young a child. It is not the 51 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: strength of human nature not to think this might not 52 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: have happened had I watched over them. My poor little 53 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: spirited creature was too young to rough it alone, as 54 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: he was left to do. And this is the end 55 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:16,399 Speaker 1: of it. Her other writing describing her arrival in Scotland 56 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: to discover this news about William's passing is so completely 57 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,679 Speaker 1: heartbreaking I dared not include it, as that writing suggests 58 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: Caroline blamed George entirely for this tragedy because she thought 59 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: he was not watching the boys carefully enough, and that 60 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: he should have gotten medical help for the child much 61 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: sooner than he did. After William's death, Fletcher and Brinsley 62 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: went to live with Caroline, And there are some accounts 63 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: that write this in a way that make it sound 64 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: like she was merely given more visitations with them, or 65 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: that it was some kind of a joint custody agreement 66 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: and they were traveling back and forth between parents. The 67 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: exact nature of what was going on here is a 68 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: little hard to pin down. Yeah, but there was definitely 69 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: a huge shift where she was with her kids a 70 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: lot after she had not been able to see them 71 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: at all for quite some time. And this sounds like 72 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: maybe George stopped being allowed a little bit and acquiesced 73 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: to Caroline's request to be with her surviving children, but 74 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: he actually used this new arrangement to isolate her. He 75 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: made it clear that if she became romantically involved with anyone, 76 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: or if he even suspected as much, he would once 77 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: again accuse her of adultery, and then her right to 78 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: the children would evaporate. And this meant that she was 79 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,679 Speaker 1: kind of afraid to even socialize much because she didn't 80 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: want any activity to be misconstrued or misrepresented, given that 81 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 1: he thought that everyone she spoke with was potentially someone 82 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: she was having an affair with. This is understandable, so 83 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: she turned once more to her writing. Caroline's writing during 84 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: this time earned her a great deal of praise. At 85 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,159 Speaker 1: one point, she was even referenced as the female Byron. 86 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: Her epic poem The Child of the Islands, which addressed 87 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: the then baby Prince of Way and asked him not 88 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: to forget the poor as he grew up, was released 89 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty five to critical praise. She also produced 90 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: Aunt Carrie's Ballads for Children in eighteen forty seven. But 91 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: after a few years of having a relatively calm life 92 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: with her boys and enjoying her writing, George once again 93 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: became a problem for Caroline. He had, in the six 94 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: years since he had handed off the children, burned through 95 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: all of his money, but he had much earlier in 96 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: the marriage set money aside in a trust fund for 97 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: Caroline and the kids, and he wanted it back, or 98 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: at least to have access to it, But as it 99 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: was set up as a trust, he could not touch 100 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: that money without Caroline's approval, So he made his wife 101 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 1: an offer that he claimed would benefit them both if 102 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: she gave him access to that money, she would get 103 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: a stipend of six hundred pounds a year to live 104 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: on and a separation. She would also be allowed to 105 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: retain any money that she earned for herself instead of 106 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: handing it back to him, which was how English law 107 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 1: worked at the time. Caroline agreed to these terms, but 108 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: then later that year in November, Lord Melbourne was once 109 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: again a pivotal figure in her conflict ridden relationship with 110 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: her husband. Melbourne died on November twenty fourth, eighteen forty eight, 111 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: at Brocket Hall near Hatfield, and his cause of death 112 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: was listed as dyspepsia or indigestion. His health had been 113 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: failing for several years following a stroke in eighteen forty two. 114 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: On his deathbed, Melbourne remained adamant that he and Caroline 115 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: had never had an inappropriate relationship and that they were 116 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: simply close friends. That may have been a move to 117 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: try to preempt any possible rumors that started when it 118 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: was revealed that he had asked his heirs to ensure 119 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: that Caroline was financially taken care of after his death. 120 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: Yeah his sister set up basically an annual payment system 121 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: for Caroline. The following year, and when George Norton heard 122 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: about this, he stopped paying Caroline her annual six hundred pounds, 123 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: and in turn, she started sending any of her creditors 124 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: to her separated husband for payment. George refused to pay them, 125 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: and as a consequence, was sued by Thrupp's Carriage Company 126 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: in August of eighteen fifty three. There's a little bit 127 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: of debate here in that I had seen some accounts 128 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: that suggested that Caroline urged them to sue George. I 129 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: don't really know if that's true, but this particular bill 130 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: that they were arguing over was one that Caroline was 131 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: expected to pay in the gap between her last payment 132 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: from George and her first expected payment from her bequeathments. 133 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: George Norton's entire defense was that he had a contract 134 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: with Caroline that stipulated that she would only receive an 135 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: allowance of funds withdrawn from the trust so long as 136 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: she had no other income. George invoked not only Melbourne's 137 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: post mortem financial support, but also a small all inheritance 138 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: that Caroline had received when her mother passed. His point 139 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: was that she had her own money and that she 140 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: should be paying for her own things. This was a 141 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: bold tactic because the deed of separation that had set 142 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: up George's access to the trust was easily brought into 143 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: the proceedings, and it had no clause that suggested that 144 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: Caroline could only receive income from George so long as 145 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: it was her sole source of support. However, the bill 146 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: from Thruppe's carriage company had been presented to Caroline before 147 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: George renecked on his payments to her. She lost the case. 148 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,680 Speaker 1: One of the details that emerged from all of this 149 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: was separated or not. She was still married, and a 150 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: married woman couldn't enter into a contract of any kind anyway, 151 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: not with her husband, not with a carriage company, and 152 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: not with anyone else. Yeah, so that whole deed of 153 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: separation that had been drawn up was not a legally 154 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: binding document anyway. And despite being off the hook in 155 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: the whole matter, Norton took a vengeful and rather unhinged path. 156 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: After the court case, he started writing letters to the 157 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: Times in which he asserted once again that Melbourne and 158 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,559 Speaker 1: Caroline had had an affair. This was actually very embarrassing 159 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 1: to everyone. It became so embarrassing that George's own lawyer 160 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: sent a statement to the press that he was not 161 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: responsible for what Norton was saying publicly. When other public 162 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: figures also spoke out against Norton and suggested that he 163 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: was being irrational, he then accused all of them of 164 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: wanting to sleep with his wife. We'll talk a bit 165 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: about some of Caroline's writing during this time after we 166 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: pause for a sponsor break. As George was once again 167 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: accusing the now deceased Lord Melbourne of adultery, Caroline kept 168 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: on writing. In eighteen fifty one, she published a novel 169 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: titled Stewart of Unleath, and this story hinges on the 170 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: titular character, who is the guardian of a girl named 171 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: Eleanor Raymond Stewart uses the money that is intended for 172 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: Eleanor's inheritance on a bad gamble, and this plunges Eleanor 173 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: into poverty. But Eleanor is in love with Stuart. This 174 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,239 Speaker 1: is obviously completely problematic because he is her guardian she's underage, 175 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: but she ends up having to marry a baronet named 176 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: Sir Stephen Penryn to survive, and Stephen is clearly based 177 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,599 Speaker 1: on George. He is abusive and he is selfish. Eleanor 178 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: wants to seek a divorce, but worries about the consequences, 179 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 1: and this plot, which is fairly convoluted, ends in a 180 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,480 Speaker 1: sort of sad place for both Stuart and Eleanor, who 181 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: both have spouses in the end that they don't really love. 182 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 1: And it's one of the many examples of the way 183 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: that Caroline integrated her own experiences into her writing. As 184 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: a side note, a review of Caroline's work, which was 185 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: published in eighteen ninety seven as part of a large 186 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 1: examination of Victoria era women writers, noted that the novel 187 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: had been edited a lot over the years to streamline 188 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: the story. We're including an excerpt of that review here 189 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: because it gives a sense of Caroline's rather florid writing style. 190 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: Quote forty five years ago, when Missus Norton wrote Steward 191 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: of Dunleath, the reader had to pass through a wide 192 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: porch and many long passages before he reached the inner 193 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: chambers of the story. An account of the hero and 194 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:33,200 Speaker 1: heroine's families, even to the third and fourth generation, was indispensable, 195 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: and the minutest particulars of their respective abodes and surroundings 196 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: were carefully detailed. The tale traveled by easy stages with 197 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 1: many a pause where byways brought additional wayfarers to join 198 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: the throng of those already traveling through the pages, while 199 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: each and all, regardless of proportion, were described with equal fullness, 200 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: whatever their degree of importance. It's very funny to read 201 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,559 Speaker 1: old reviews of Carolines Drating, because a lot of it 202 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:06,199 Speaker 1: is like, why are there so many characters? So many characters? 203 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,240 Speaker 1: I feel like I just read a book that was 204 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,679 Speaker 1: very like this, where when I was done, I was like, 205 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: a third of that should have been cut out? Why? 206 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,160 Speaker 1: Why are there so many characters? Why do we need 207 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: to know about the small characters dishes? I don't know. 208 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: But like Eleanor in her novel, Caroline had of course 209 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: wanted out of her legal connection to her husband for 210 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,959 Speaker 1: a long time, but she had pursued the matter only 211 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: to be told she had no real recourse. Part of 212 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: this problem and this is so irritating, And how this 213 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:43,319 Speaker 1: worked sprang from the adultery case that her husband had instigated. 214 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 1: Because the jury had determined that Caroline had not committed adultery, 215 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: there were no grounds for divorce, and as a woman, 216 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: Caroline could not initiate new divorce proceedings even if she 217 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: thought her husband was committing adultery. In the early eighteenth fifties, 218 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: there had already been discussion in political realms about revisiting 219 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: divorce law in Great Britain, but after the Thrup's case, 220 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: Caroline began to actively lobby for a change in the law, 221 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: similar to how she had done regarding child custody. Since 222 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: she had been deemed unable to enter into the contract 223 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,559 Speaker 1: that she and George had initially decided on that allowed 224 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: her to keep her own earned money, and since the 225 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: money she made from writing at this point would once 226 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: again go to her estranged husband, Caroline vowed she was 227 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: pretty public about it, that she was only going to 228 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: write about the need to change the laws that had 229 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: put her at such a disadvantage to a man who 230 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: had only ever been cruel to her. In May of 231 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty four, Lord Cranworth introduced a bill that would 232 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: make minor tweaks to the law, but Caroline wanted to 233 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: push for far more agency for wives. She consulted with 234 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: and wrote to members of Parliament who she thought would 235 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,199 Speaker 1: be willing to advocate for a new divorce law that 236 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,960 Speaker 1: would enable women like herself to get out of bad marriages, 237 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: and she wrote pamphlets which exposed all of the horrors 238 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: of her life with George Norton. In eighteen fifty four, 239 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: she published a pamphlet titled English Laws for Women, which 240 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: was printed quote for private circulation. And while she did 241 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: talk about George's horrifying abuse, she also framed the entire 242 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: thing in an interesting way, saying, quote, to publish comments 243 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: on my own case for the sake of obtaining sympathy, 244 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: to prove merely that my husband has been unjust and 245 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: my fate a hard one would be a very poor 246 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: and barren ambition. I aspire to a different object. I 247 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: desire to prove not my suffering or his injustice, but 248 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: that the present law of England cannot prevent any such 249 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: suffering or control any such injustice. I write in the 250 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: hope that the law may be amended, and that those 251 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: who are at present so ill provided as to have 252 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: only true and justice on their side, may hereafter have 253 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: the benefit of law and lawyers. So those mentions of truth, justice, 254 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: law and lawyers are in reference to Charles Dickens quote, 255 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: it won't do to have truth and justice on our side. 256 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: We must have law and lawyers. And in her campaign, 257 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: Caroline also wrote a lengthy letter to Queen Victoria to 258 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: make her case that women were in a position of 259 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: complete powerlessness under the existing marriage laws. It was published 260 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: under the title A Letter to the Queen on Lord 261 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: Chancellor Cranworth's Marriage and Divorce Bill. And it is a 262 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: long letter, but we are going to read just one 263 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: brief excerpt here. And even this seems kind of long, 264 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 1: but it sums up the situation in ways that we 265 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: haven't entirely touched on here. She wrote, quote, a married 266 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: woman in England has no legal existence. Her being is 267 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: absorbed in that of her husband. Years of separation of 268 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: desertion cannot alter this position unless divorced by special enactment 269 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: in the House of Lords. The legal fiction holds her 270 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: to be one with her husband, even though she may 271 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 1: never see or hear of him. She has no possessions, 272 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: unless by special settlement her property is his property. An 273 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: English wife has no legal right even to her clothes 274 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: or ornaments. Her husband may take them and sell them 275 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,360 Speaker 1: if he pleases, even though they be the gifts of 276 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: relatives or friends, or bought before marriage. An English wife 277 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: cannot make a will. She may have children or kindred 278 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: whom she may earnestly desire to benefit. She may be 279 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: separated from her husband, who may be living with a mistress. 280 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: No matter the law, gives what she has to him, 281 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: and no will she could make would be valid. An 282 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: English wife cannot legally claim her own earnings, whether wages 283 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: for manual labor or payment for intellectual exertion, whether she 284 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: weed potatoes or keep a school. Her salary is the husbands, 285 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: and he could compel a second payment and treat the 286 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: first as void if paid to the wife without his sanction. 287 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 1: An English wife may not leave her husband's house. Not 288 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,399 Speaker 1: only can he sue her for restitution of conjugal rights, 289 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: but he has a right to enter the house of 290 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 1: any friend or relation with whom she may take refuge, 291 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: and who may harbor her as it is termed, and 292 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,680 Speaker 1: carry her away by force, with or without the aid 293 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: of police. If the wife sue for separation for cruelty, 294 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: it must be cruelty that endangers life or limb. And 295 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: if she has once forgiven or in legal phrase, condoned 296 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: his offenses, she cannot plead them, though her past forgiveness 297 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,160 Speaker 1: only proves that she endured as long as endurance was possible. 298 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: If her husband take proceedings for a divorce, she is not, 299 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:52,240 Speaker 1: in the first instance, allowed to defend herself. She has 300 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: no means of proving the falsehood of his allegations. She 301 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: is not represented by attorney nor permitted to be considered 302 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,119 Speaker 1: a party to the suit between him and her supposed 303 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: lover for damages. If an English wife be guilty of infidelity, 304 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: her husband can divorce her so as to marry again, 305 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: but she cannot divorce the husband a vinculo, however profligant 306 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 1: he may be. No law court can divorce. In England, 307 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: a special Act of Parliament annulling the marriage is passed. 308 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 1: For each case. The House of Lords grants this almost 309 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: as a matter of course, to the husband, but not 310 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 1: to the wife. In only four instances, two of which 311 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 1: were cases of incest, has the wife obtained a divorce 312 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: to marry again. She cannot prosecute for a libel. Her 313 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: husband must prosecute, and in cases of enmity and separation 314 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,639 Speaker 1: of course, she is without remedy. She cannot sign a 315 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 1: lease or transact responsible business. She cannot claim support as 316 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 1: a matter of personal right from her husband. The general 317 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: belief and nominal rule is that her husband is bound 318 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: to maintain her. That is not the law. He is 319 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: not bound to her. There's also a tricky aspect to 320 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: this letter where Caroline compares her work advocating for white 321 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,879 Speaker 1: married women to the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe for 322 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 1: enslaved people. This is a theme that comes up and 323 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 1: a lot of advocacy of people comparing what they're doing 324 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:28,199 Speaker 1: to slavery. Caroline is often lauded in modern discussions as 325 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:31,679 Speaker 1: an early feminist, and while she definitely did advocate for 326 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: women to be treated equally to men in terms of 327 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,680 Speaker 1: how the law was applied, she also made it really 328 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,399 Speaker 1: clear that she did not think women were equal to 329 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: men in a larger sense. She wrote, quote, the natural 330 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: position of woman is inferiority to man. I never pretended 331 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: to the wild and ridiculous doctrine of equality. So that's 332 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: all a little cringey. But we are going to talk 333 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,399 Speaker 1: about some of the less problematic aspects of Caroline's rhetoric 334 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: after we come back from a quick sponsor break. So 335 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,920 Speaker 1: a less problematic aspect of Caroline's letter to the Queen 336 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: makes it clear that she is not really doing this 337 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,399 Speaker 1: for herself, and we'll discuss in a moment how little 338 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 1: she actually had to gain from this law changing. But 339 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 1: she did acknowledge that the recognition of her name as 340 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: a writer gave her a platform that she could use 341 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,600 Speaker 1: to help other people writing. Quote. I do not consider 342 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: this as my cause, though it is a cause of which, 343 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 1: unfortunately for me, I am an illustration. It is the 344 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: cause of all the women and of a large proportion 345 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,640 Speaker 1: of the tradespeople in England. If I were personally set 346 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: at ease about it tomorrow, that would not alter the law. 347 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 1: The same injustice might happen next day to some woman 348 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 1: who could not struggle or earn or write, for whom 349 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: no one would come forward, and to some petty tradesmen 350 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: grievously injured by the law loss of even a small sum. 351 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: What is needed is not the arranging of one particular case, 352 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,440 Speaker 1: but a tribunal of control, a tribunal for marriage and divorce, 353 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,400 Speaker 1: to decide all such cases, and to prevent the possibility 354 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,360 Speaker 1: of the shame to England and to English law entailed 355 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: by throwing the sum secured by a magistrate's signature, the 356 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,199 Speaker 1: signatures of two peers brothers and a lawyer among a 357 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,199 Speaker 1: tradesmen's list of bad debts. She's kind of inflating her 358 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: efforts and conflating things here by going like there's can 359 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: actually one it helps women, but also they are all 360 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 1: of these offshoot financial issues that can happen that can 361 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: really mess up other people as collateral damage. Caroline's advocacy 362 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: got a lot of attention. We mentioned already that she 363 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: was famous, but we probably haven't been clear about just 364 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,359 Speaker 1: how famous. On the one hand, there was the infamy 365 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: of all of her legal tangles with her husband and 366 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: the adultery accusations, But on the other she did seem, 367 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:02,479 Speaker 1: no matter the drama of her personal life, to maintain 368 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,240 Speaker 1: a really high degree of respect for her work as 369 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 1: a writer. In eighteen fifty, she had even been considered 370 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: for the position of Poet Laureate, and she definitely had 371 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,479 Speaker 1: support as a candidate for that position. So when she 372 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 1: turned her pen exclusively to the marriage law issue, it 373 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: helped get the cause more attention. She certainly was not 374 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: the only person campaigning for reform, and she was not 375 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: the first, but there was a degree of gravity that 376 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: was lent to it by her vocal position. Soon there 377 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 1: was a movement to petition for women to have equal 378 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 1: rights in legal matters to those of men. The groups 379 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,680 Speaker 1: that were advocating for equality managed to get twenty six 380 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: thousand signatures on a petition that was brought before Parliament. 381 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: And the result of all of this work, both by 382 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: Carolina and other advocates was a serious examination of the 383 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 1: marriage issue through a proposed Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act 384 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:00,640 Speaker 1: that was introduced in eighteen fifty seven. This act, which 385 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,680 Speaker 1: sought to level the agency of men and women somewhat, 386 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: had very vocal detractors, but it did pass in both 387 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 1: the House of Commons and the House of Lords and 388 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: it became law in eighteen fifty eight, and a lot 389 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: of the language in it was directly related to Caroline 390 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 1: Norton's life experiences in her writing about them. It outlined 391 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 1: that if a husband deserted a wife, he no longer 392 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,680 Speaker 1: had any right to her earnings. Wives could inherit property 393 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: in the same way single women could, and they could 394 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: bequeath property as well, and women could enter into legal 395 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: contracts on their own as well as be involved in 396 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: legal proceedings if they were separated from their husband. But 397 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: it wasn't an ideal piece of legislation by a long stretch. 398 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: While a husband could petition for divorce exclusively on the 399 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: grounds of adultery on the wife's part, a woman seeking 400 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: a divorce would have to prove adultery plus some other wrongdoing, 401 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: like the adultery had to also include actual assault or 402 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: some other layer of illegal behavior, or she had to 403 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: prove both adultery and something like abandonment or excessive cruelty. 404 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:15,120 Speaker 1: Prior to this law, only three hundred twenty four legal 405 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: divorces had happened in English history, and only four of 406 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 1: those were initiated by a woman. This new legislation did 407 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: not help Caroline get a divorce, so because she had 408 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: returned to George briefly in eighteen thirty five after she 409 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 1: initially left him, that was still considered to have condoned 410 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: or forgiven his prior transgressions from a legal standpoint. But 411 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: she was able to get a legal separation in place 412 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty nine, and that let her live as 413 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: a single woman. Although she could not remarry. She could, however, 414 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: keep the money that she earned through her writing, and 415 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 1: there were rumors that she had romances in her time 416 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,159 Speaker 1: separated from George, going all the way back to eighteen forty, 417 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: but not including those here because it's really all speculation 418 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,359 Speaker 1: at this point. Caroline's son Fletcher, died of tuberculosis in 419 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,919 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine, and she grieved very deeply for a 420 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,239 Speaker 1: long time. His funeral was the last time that she 421 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: saw George Norton in person. Her only surviving son, Brinsley, 422 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 1: had health issues throughout his life. There's some speculation that 423 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: he might have had both physical and mental health conditions. 424 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,959 Speaker 1: He lived who adulthood, got married and assumed the family 425 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,439 Speaker 1: title of Lord Grantly, but continued to really depend on 426 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 1: Caroline for a lot of care and support up until 427 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: his death in eighteen seventy seven. In the years after 428 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 1: Fletcher's death, Caroline continued to write to support herself and 429 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: to cover many of Brinsley's expenses. She published the verse 430 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: story Lady of Legaret in eighteen sixty two, and in 431 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: the following year released a well received novel title Lost 432 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: and Saved. Lost and Saved as a romance in which 433 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: the heroine of the story elopes with a man who 434 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,919 Speaker 1: turns out to be very selfish and kind of a 435 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: villain and a hero all in one After an early 436 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,439 Speaker 1: good run, critics started to see the book as a 437 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 1: moral and it fell out of favor. Her final novel 438 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 1: was titled Old Sir Douglas. This work was published first 439 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: as a serial in McMillan's magazine. That same eighteen ninety 440 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,359 Speaker 1: seventh survey of her work that we referenced earlier describes 441 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 1: Old Sir Douglas this way quote. It is planned on 442 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 1: the same lines as her previous works of fiction, the 443 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: plot rather complicated, the characters extremely numerous. Among these is 444 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:34,719 Speaker 1: an almost abnormally wicked woman who works endless mischief. George 445 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: Norton died two years before Brinsley in eighteen seventy five, 446 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: and for the first time in almost fifty years, Caroline 447 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,359 Speaker 1: was completely single again. Starting in the eighteen fifties, she 448 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: had become good friends with Sir William Sterling Maxwell, a 449 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: writer and politician from Scotland. William's wife, Lady Anna Maria 450 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,639 Speaker 1: Leslie Melville, died in eighteen seventy four, and there's a 451 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,239 Speaker 1: fairly popular theory that if Karine had been able to 452 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: divorce George William would have married her instead of Lady Anna, 453 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: But once again that speculation the year George died Stirling 454 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,679 Speaker 1: Maxwell was named Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, and 455 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: Caroline and William got married in the spring of eighteen 456 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,719 Speaker 1: seventy seven. Caroline was sixty nine, but though she was 457 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,640 Speaker 1: finally in a marriage that she chose to a man 458 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: with whom she shared mutual affection, this marriage was very brief. 459 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: Caroline died three months later on June fifteenth, eighteen seventy seven, 460 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: in London. Her cause of death was paratonitis. She was 461 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: buried in William's family vault. The preface to Steward of Dunleath, 462 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 1: which she wrote in eighteen fifty one, includes a quote 463 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: that Caroline shared in Norton wrote which really sums up 464 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: her own view on her life. So it seems kind 465 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: of a good place to me to close out her story, 466 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: she wrote, quote, the power of writing has always been 467 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: to me a source of intense pleasure. It has been 468 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: my best solace in hours of gloom, and the name 469 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: I have earned as an author in my native land 470 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: is the only happy boast of my life. In twenty 471 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,879 Speaker 1: twenty one, Caroline's home at three Chesterfield Street, Mayfair in London, 472 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: was commemorated with an English heritage plaque. I am one 473 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: hundred percent going to see that plaque soon. Yay. I 474 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: have a funny listener mail has nothing to do with 475 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,640 Speaker 1: any of this. Hooray from our listener, Becky. I just thought, 476 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:33,400 Speaker 1: you know, we've done a lot of I keep trying 477 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: to do light listener mail because we've done a lot 478 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,959 Speaker 1: of very heavy episodes recently, so I'm like, yay, fun things. 479 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: Becky writes, Hello, I was just listening to the mini 480 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 1: episode about war balloons and was laughing when you mentioned 481 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: Bellock near the end. Paul Freeman is in a Sherlock 482 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: Holmes movie with Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine without a clue, 483 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: as Moriarty. He is also, funnily enough, in the Young 484 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: Indiana Jones Chronicles, not as Bellock, but as Frederick sella 485 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: noted British explorer, hunter, conservationist, and friend of Teddy Roosevelt. 486 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: Indie runs into him at least twice on different adventures. 487 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: I still haven't made my way through all the episodes, 488 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 1: so I don't know if there's another appearance. If you 489 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 1: have not watched the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and you 490 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: like Indiana Jones at all, you are missing out. That 491 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: is my little addition there. It is good the format 492 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: I have them on DVD. They are clumped into ninety 493 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: minute episodes and not as they were released when they 494 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: were originally aired on TV. Essentially two episodes that are 495 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: chronological issue in order, but again not as they aired 496 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: on television. I was just looking at the Wikipedia page 497 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:37,040 Speaker 1: for the chronicles and it mentioned that it's a great 498 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: way to teach about early twentieth century history. I kind 499 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: of agree anyway, just a little fun Paul Freeman related 500 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: knowledge to pay my listener mail toll. Here is a 501 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: picture of my almost nineteen year old cat, Petra the pest, Yes, 502 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 1: nineteen years. I got her in two thousand and five 503 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: when she was about a year old. She moved with 504 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: me from Oklahoma to Chicago, moved between four different apartments 505 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: and finally our house. She's a little worse for aware, 506 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: but she's happy. Her little pink kitty bandage was from 507 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: a recent blood draw. She had hyperthyroidism and increased kidney enzymes. 508 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 1: Happy Monday. I love I love this picture. She looks 509 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: so sweet and so serene. I also love an old cat. 510 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: I have two that are quite elderly. They're my little angels. 511 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: And I know Tracy has had old cats before, and 512 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: Petra is very pretty. My oldest cat lived to be 513 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,719 Speaker 1: almost twenty. She's sadly no longer with us. But yeah, 514 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: I remember very well the years of senior cat. Yeah, listen, 515 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: I don't know about Petra. Mine are getting really clingy 516 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 1: as they get older, where they want to be held 517 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: all day every day. And my line are clinging now 518 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 1: and therefore ours are always clingy. But like there was 519 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: like a level up at age seventeen where it was 520 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: like you hold me always right, don't put me down, 521 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: you can cook with me in your arm, like it's 522 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: just like always. Even the sound of like the frying pang, 523 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 1: which they haven't always liked, the sound that like it 524 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: startles themiluminely don't like it. They're like, I'll put up 525 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,600 Speaker 1: with it. Just keep holding me please. It's very cute. 526 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: But thank you, thank you, thank you, Becky, because this 527 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: made me laugh again. Paul Freeman's been in a lot 528 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: of stuff. It's a very good actor. And I love 529 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: I will always, always always put in a plug for 530 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,760 Speaker 1: the Young Indiana Jones chronicles because they are so incredibly good. 531 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 1: So if you haven't seen those in you of access. 532 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: Highly recommend. There is also an episode about Mantahari, which 533 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 1: is written by Carrie Fisher what It's very good. Oh yeah, 534 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 1: did you not know about this? Um No, I don't 535 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 1: think I did. We'll talk about it and behind the seats. 536 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 1: It's excellent though. So if you would like to write 537 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,239 Speaker 1: to us, you can do that at History Podcast at 538 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio dot com. You can also find us on social 539 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: media as Missed in History, and you can subscribe on 540 00:31:53,680 --> 00:32:02,080 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts. Stuff 541 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 542 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 543 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.