Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (February 24, 1749 - April 28, 1800), known as "The Unhappy Countess", was an 18th-century English heir, renowned for his immoral lifestyle , who married sometime to the 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. He and Earl were the ancestors of Queen Elizabeth II.
Video Mary Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne
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Mary was born on Upper Brook Street in Mayfair, London, daughter and heir of Sir George Bowes, a wealthy businessman; and his second wife, Mary Gilbert of Walden St. Paul. She was given the name Mary Eleanor as a tribute to her own mother and the first wife of her beloved father, Eleanor Verney, who died in 1724.
Mary's childhood home is in Gibside, in County Durham. Bowes died when Mary was 11 years old, leaving him a huge fortune (estimated between £ 600,000 and £ 1.04 million), which he had built through the control of the coal mine owner's cartel. In stroke, Mary became the richest heir in England, probably across Europe. He encouraged the attention of Campbell Scott, the brother of Duke of Buccleuch and John Stuart, Lord Mountstuart, eldest son of Lord Bute (Prime Minister), before getting engaged at the age of 16 to John Lyon, the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne to 9th.
Maps Mary Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne
First marriage
Mary married the 9th Earl of Strathmore on her 18th birthday, February 24, 1767. Since her father would establish that her husband should take his family's name, Earl addressed Parliament with a request to change his name from John Lyon to John Bowes, who was given. However, some of the couple's children chose to use a hyphenated surname with their parents' name, arranging themselves Bowes-Lyon. Five children are born to Earl and Countess in the first six years of marriage, being: Mary Jane Bowes-Lyon (April 21, 1768 - April 22, 1806), married Colonel Barrington Price of the British Army in 1789 John Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (April 14, 1769 - July 3, 1820), married Mary Milner, his old lover and mother of his son, the day before he died
Thanks to the luck of the Countess, the couple lived extraordinarily. While Earl spent most of his time restoring his family's seat, Glamis Castle, the countess published a poetic drama entitled The Siege of Jerusalem in 1769, which remains his sole literary effort, though he maintains it remarkably. an honest diary for most of his life. He also claimed to be interested in botany and financed the expedition by explorer William Paterson to the Cape in 1777 to collect plants for him.
A few years after marriage, Earl contracted tuberculosis and his health weakened. Unsatisfied with her husband's lack of firmness and lack of attention, the countess takes a lover to console herself. On March 7, 1776, Lord Strathmore died at sea on his way to Portugal, tuberculosis.
Between marriage
The combined luxury of the couple means that the countess is left with a debt of £ 145,000 after Earl's death. While the number was staggering, his fortune exceeded the numbers and he had little trouble issuing these debts. As a widow, she also regained control of her wealth, centered in mines and farming around her childhood home at Gibside in County Durham.
At the time of Earl's death, the countess was pregnant by a lover, George Gray. Born in Calcutta in 1737, where his father worked as a surgeon for the East India Company, Gray was a Scottish "nabob" who had made and wasted a small fortune working for the same company. He had returned to England under the clouds in 1766 after wasting both his own fortune and a substantial inheritance from his first wife, Hannah Newton. The Samuel Foote game The Nabob is believed to be inspired by Gray, who is also a friend of James Boswell.
Despite the pregnancy, the widow countess is reluctant to marry Gray, because his loss of rank will be considerable and because of Gray's wealth has been wasted. She managed an abortion by drinking "a kind of black medicine". However, she continues her affair with Gray and becomes pregnant repeatedly, undergoing two further abortions. His honest account of abortion is one of the first few descriptions of a secret abortion in an era before an approved abortion. When she finds herself pregnant by Gray for the fourth time, the widow of the nobleman resigns to marry her and they become officially engaged to get married. This was in 1777.
However, in the same summer of 1777, a noble widow was tempted by a charming and clever Anglo-Irish adventurer, Andrew Robinson Stoney, who manipulated his way into his household and his bed. Calling himself the "Captain" of Stoney (though in reality he was only a lieutenant in the British Army) he insisted to fight in honor of the nobility with the editor of The Morning Post, a newspaper that has published rough articles about his personal life. In fact, Stoney has written himself articles that criticize and defend the countess. He is now faking a duel with editor, Revd. Henry Bate, to apply the romantic nature of Mary. Pretending to be badly injured, Stoney begged a noble widow to grant her dying wish: to marry her. Taken by trick, he agreed.
Second wedding
Stoney was carried on a litter in the alley of St James's Church, Piccadilly, where he married Mary. Shortly after, he made a remarkable recovery. In keeping with Mary's father's will, Stoney changed her name to Bowes. Two children are born by Mary during this marriage:
- Mary Bowes, probably the daughter of George Gray, was sent secretly in August 1777, but her birthday was registered on November 14, 1777;
- William Johnstone Bowes was born on March 8, 1782.
After the marriage, Stoney Bowes tried to control his wife's fate, as was the custom of the day. When he discovers that Mary is secretly making a prenuptial agreement that protects the profits of his property for his own use, he forces him to sign the abandon of giving up control to him. He was later accused of molesting Mary for eight years of physical and mental abuse, including locking him into his own home for some time. He then took Mary and her daughter Anna Maria (Earl's daughter) to Paris, from where they returned only after a letter was written to her. He was also said to have raped the servants, invited prostitutes to the house and fathered many illegitimate children.
In 1785, with the help of a loyal servant, Mary managed to escape from the prison of Stoney and filed for divorce through an ecclesiastical court. Stoney Bowes later allegedly kidnapped Mary with the help of several accomplices and took her to the northern country. He then alleged that he threatened to rape and kill him, that he clogged and beat him and took him around the countryside by riding a horse in one of the coldest spells of an unusually cold winter. The country is on standby; Stoney Bowes was finally arrested, and Mary was rescued.
The case of divorce continues with additional legal battles regarding these incidents. The trials were sensational and talks in London. Although Mary initially won public sympathy with her stories and tears, the wave soon turned against her when her unscrupulous character became known. Even during the prison terms of the case, Mary had an affair with a brother of one of his lawyers, who became common knowledge; relationship with his bachelor, George Walker, was also alleged. Stoney discovers other obscene details about Mary's past perks and ensures the publication of the 'confession' she previously wrote in writing to her â € "she even bought a stake in the paper to publish these memoirs. There is also a general feeling that Mary has behaved badly in an attempt to prevent her husband's access to her wealth.
Stoney Bowes and his accomplices were found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap Mary and she was sentenced to three years in prison. Meanwhile, the divorce case reached the trial stage at the High Court of Delegation. In a temporary ruling, Stoney lost the battle to maintain control of Bowes' luck during the prison terms of the case. The case of divorce itself remained pending until Mary died in 1800, at which point she became unproductive. Stoney Bowes was released from prison after Mary's death, and failed to try to undo his wishes. After he lost in the case, he was sued by his own lawyer for their fees. Unable to pay these debts, he was under jail jurisdiction (in those days, bankruptcy was sentenced to jail), even though he lived outside the prison walls with his mistress, Mary 'Polly' Sutton. He died on June 16, 1810.
In 1841, novelist William Makepeace Thackeray heard the story of Bowes's life from Countess's granddaughter, John Bowes, and used it in his novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon.
Retirement and death
After 1792, Mary stayed peacefully in Purbrook Park in Hampshire. He then moved to Stourfield House, a secluded house on the edge of the village of Pokesdown near Christchurch, Hampshire, where he can live feeling that he "... out of the world." He brings to Stourfield a full-service establishment, including Mary Morgan, the maid who helped her escape from her marriage house. Morgan died in 1796 and was buried under a brass plaque prepared by Mary. After this death, Mary does not socialize at all, but spends most of her time taking care of pets, including a large number of dogs, for whom a hot dinner is cooked daily. Locals find it very strange, if not really angry. However, he sometimes tries to reach out to them, order a cooked dinner for the man who works in the fields, and beer is sent to refresh them. Details of Mary's life at Stourfield House have been kept in a written record of an elderly Pokesdown resident.
Three sons of Mary by Earl rarely visited their mother, and never stayed for long. However, Mary's two daughters live with her - Lady Jessop, daughter of Earl; and Mary Bowes, who was born during Mary's second marriage. One of Mary's few pleasures is to see her daughter Mary learn to ride - at this moment, riding brings great independence; time travel about a third of going with coach.
Towards the end of the century, Mary called some trusted friends from the village of Pokesdown to witness his final will, and began making gifts and other things to the public. He also left an annuity for Lockyer's widow from Pokesdown Farm.
Mary died on April 28, 1800. Undertaker came from London in a hearse and three coaches mourning and transporting her body to London. Mary is buried in Westminster Abbey, where her tombstone stands in Poets' Corner. According to the locals, he was buried according to his request in court clothing, with all the necessary accessories for Royal audiences, plus a small silver trumpet. Another report says that she is buried with a wedding dress. Soon after his death, the contents of Stourfield House were sold.
Mary Eleanor Bowes is the great great-grandmother of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Mother.
Archive
A collection of notes "about the life and adventure of Mary Eleanor Bowes" was held by the University of Dundee. They put a letter to him from his first husband "mention his mistake", written on his deathbed.
References
Further reading
- Arnold, Ralph, Countess Unhappy (1957)
- Bowes, Mary Eleanor, Confessions of the Countess of Strathmore, written by herself. Carefully copied from the original stored in Doctor's Commons (1793, British Library).
- Foot, Jesse, The life of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq., and Countess of Strathmore, written from thirty-three years of professional presence, from Letters and other documents authenticated well (1810) Marshall, Rosalind K. "Bowes, Mary Eleanor, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1749-1800)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ed online.). Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref: odnb/3056. Ã, (Subscription or English public library membership is required.)
- Moore, Wendy (2009). Wedlock: The Real Story of Disaster Wedding and Extraordinary Divorce Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore . New York :. Three Rivers Press
- Parker, Derek, The Trampled Wife (2006)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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