Research Catalog

Wedlock : the true story of the disastrous marriage and remarkable divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore

Title

Wedlock : the true story of the disastrous marriage and remarkable divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore / Wendy Moore.

Author

Moore, Wendy, 1952-

Publication

New York : Crown Publishers, [2009]
©2009

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Item details
Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	CT788.S84 M66 2009	Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 386 pages : 2 portraits; 25 cm

Summary

With the death of her fabulously wealthy coal magnate father when she was just eleven, Mary Eleanor Bowes became the richest heiress in Britain. An ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II, Mary grew to be a highly educated young woman, winning acclaim as a playwright and botanist. Courted by a bevy of eager suitors, at eighteen she married the handsome but aloof ninth Earl of Strathmore in a celebrated, if ultimately troubled, match that forged the Bowes Lyon name. Yet she stumbled headlong into scandal when, following her husband's early death, a charming young army hero flattered his way into the merry widow's bed. Captain Andrew Robinson Stoney insisted on defending her honor in a duel, and Mary was convinced she had found true love. Judged by doctors to have been mortally wounded in the melee, Stoney persuaded Mary to grant his dying wish; four days later they were married. Sadly, the "captain" was not what he seemed. Staging a sudden and remarkable recovery, Stoney was revealed as a debt-ridden lieutenant, a fraudster, and a bully. Immediately taking control of Mary's vast fortune, he squandered her wealth and embarked on a campaign of appalling violence and cruelty against his new bride. Finally, fearing for her life, Mary masterminded an audacious escape and challenged social conventions of the day by launching a suit for divorce. The English public was horrified--and enthralled. But Mary's troubles were far from over ...

Subject

Genre/Form

collective biographies.
Biographies.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [367]-375) and index.

Contents

1 An Affair of Honour London, January 13, 1777 1 -- 2 Downright Girlishness Gibside, County Durbam, 1757 15 -- 3 A Worthy Little Woman Newcastle, 1767 45 -- 4 My Imprudencies Newcastle, 1767 66 -- 5 Powerful Pleading London, April 1776 93 -- 6 Bowes and Freedom London, December 1776 118 -- 7 Loathsome Weeds Cape Town, January 1778 145 -- 8 Improper Liberties Newcastle, September 1780 173 -- 9 An Artful Intriguing Woman London, May 1784 199 -- 10 Vile Temptations London, February 3, 1785 225 -- 11 Say Your Prayers London, May 25, 1786 249 -- 12 The Taming of Bad Wives Westminster Hall, London, November 28, 1786 274 -- 13 Out of The World Southwark, London, March 5, 1790 302.

ISBN

9780307383365
0307383369

LCCN

2008039987

OCLC

ocn232980259
232980259
SCSB-9671790

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library