by Wendy Moore
55 Walpole to Conway, 27 November 1774, in Lewis, vol. 39, p. 220; Mary Bowes to anon [?Peter Proctor, Glamis Castle], 9 August 1775: SPG, box 142, bundle 4.
56 James Menzies to Lord Strathmore, 24 December 1775, cited in Slade, pp. 62- 3; Peter Nicol to Thomas Lyon, 14 November 1775: DCRO SEA D/St/C1/7/2.
57 Information on Gray is from Sherwen; Letter books of George Gray senior, 1760-1779: BL India Office, MSS EUR c 439 and D691. His baptism is recorded in Christenings in Calcutta 1737, George Gray baptised 1 September: BL India Office, microfilm N/1/1-3, f. 202. Background on Gray’s argument with Clive can be found in Bence-Jones, pp. 226-9 and 273; and Khan, pp. 69-98.
58 Gray to Brigadier-General John Carnac, 13 November 1761: BL India Office, Sutton Court Collection, papers of Brigadier-General John Carnac, MSS EUR/F128/35. Gray has been mistakenly credited as the author of an anonymous poem, A Turkish Tale, said to be dedicated to Mary and published in 1770. The poem was actually written by George Grey, the father-in-law of the first Earl Grey. A handwritten note inside the text credits the poem to ‘George Grey Esquire of Southwick’.
59 Bowes, pp. 15-22.
60 Apothecaries’ accounts 1774-8: SPG, box 202, bundle 6.
61 William Farqeson to James Menzies, 4 April 1776: SPG, box 83, bundle 6.
CHAPTER 5: A BLACK INKY KIND OF MEDICINE
Most of the events in this chapter are drawn from Foot and Bowes, unless otherwise indicated. Background on women and property rights is from Habakkuk, p. 83. Details of the sale at Glamis in June 1776 are from SPG, box 188, bundle 3 and the ninth earl’s debts in SPG, box 83, bundle 6. Details of the sale at Gibside in November 1776 are from SPG, box 142, bundle 8. For information on the history of abortion see Bullough; Shorter; Riddle, all passim.
1 Lord Strathmore to MEB, n. d. [1776], BM Archives.
2 Elizabeth Planta [on behalf of MEB] to anon [James Menzies], 6 April 1776: SPG, box 83, bundle 6.
3 Unknown artist, ‘Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore’, c. 1776, Glamis Castle. Doubts exist as to whether this is really Mary since it was only attributed to her relatively recently. However, there is a marked similarity between this portrait and that by John Downman drawn in 1781.
4 Gay, p. 64; Home, vol. 1, preface, p. lxxii.
5 Anon, Allegations against the Countess of Strathmore, p. 5 in Anon, The Trial of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq; first heard in the Arches. According to figures from Joseph Massie, estimating annual incomes in 1759, the top twenty families enjoyed £13,470 pa. Cited in Hay and Rogers, p. 20.
6 Thomas Lyon to anon [James Menzies], 29 April 1776: SPG, box 83, bundle 6.
7 Testimony of Ann Eliza Stephens [née Planta], 23 February 1788: NA DEL 2/12.
8 The letters from Thomas Lyon to anon [James Menzies], are 29 April, 21 April and 19 April 1776: SPG, box 83, bundle 6. The letter from Elizabeth Planta [on behalf of MEB] to James Menzies, is 19 May 1776: SPG, box 83, bundle 6.
9 Legal bill, Joshua Peele, 1776: SPG, box 142, bundle 9; Letters of administration appointing Thomas Lyon administrator for Lord Strathmore’s estate, 23 July 1776: SPG, box 101, bundle 5.
10 Stone (1993), pp. 139-61; the story of Elizabeth Foster is described in Foreman, p. 100 and Chapman, p. 28. The case of Elizabeth Vassall, who married Sir Godfrey Webster but in 1796 eloped with and later married Lord Holland, is cited in Lewis, Judith Schneid, pp. 43-5.
11 Earl of Strathmore v Bowes, 1777, Chancery case: NA C12/1057/31. This case, pursued by Thomas Lyon on behalf of the tenth earl and his siblings, referred to the guardianship document dated 14 October 1774.
12 Lady Maria Bowes to Mary Lyon, 25 May 1776: SPG, box 202, bundle 10.
13 Bowes, p. 22. Details of her affair with Gray and abortions are all from the Confessions.
14 Pottle, p. 227. The advertisement is cited in Stone (1977), p. 266.
15 Anon, Trials for Adultery , vol. 3, pp. 3-6.
16 Hicks, p. 176. Mary’s description of her abortions is from her Confessions, Bowes, p. 89.
17 Bowes, pp. 88-9.
18 Foote, pp. 17-18 and 37.
19 Bowes, pp. 79-80 and 36; bond between MEB and Joshua Peele, 22 April 1776: DCRO SEA D/St/D1/14/31.
20 Bowes, p. 27.
21 The hon. Mrs Boscawen to Mrs Delany 1776 [c. June/July], cited in Llanover, vol. 2, p. 237; Foot, p. 16.
22 Bowes, pp. 92-3.
23 Bowes, pp. 11-12. Graham’s death is recorded in Scots Magazine 1779, obituary of James Graham, 31 January 1779, p. 110.
24 Journal Book Copy, RS, vol. 28, 1774-77, pp. 368-72; 388-91; 393-6. Masson’s account was read at three meetings of the RS, in February 1776, in the form of a letter to the president, Dr John Pringle.
25 Journal Book Copy, RS, vol. 28, 1774-77, p. 444. Background on Penneck (1728-1803) and Planta (1744-1827) can be found in ODNB, vol. 43, pp. 573-4 and vol. 44, pp. 519-21. 26 O’Brian, pp. 100 and 130; Beaglehole, pp. 140, 232-3. Information on his brother, Captain Magra, is from Millan, p. 70.
27 There were at least five Planta daughters: Frederica (c. 1751-1778) and Margaret, who were both governesses to the royal family; Elizabeth Planta (later Mrs Parish), the second eldest daughter, who worked for MEB and must have married John Parish between 1776 and 1778; Ann Eliza Planta (c. 1757, still alive 1807, later Eliza Stephens), who replaced her sister as governess to MEB in July 1776; Ursula Barbara Planta, who was left money in Mrs Bowes’s will; the latter may have become Mrs Minnicks, who emigrated to America, or this could have been a sixth sister.
28 Foot, pp. 11-12.
29 Bowes, p. 6.
30 Details of Stoney’s life at this point are from Foot, p. 9.
31 Massingberd, pp. 178-81.
32 Anon [Anne Massingberd] to ARS, 1 November 1776: SPG, volume C.
33 Documents relating to an appeal by ARS to the House of Lords against a Chancery decision: SPG, volume C. Anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 2. Individuals could not be declared bankrupt unless they traded in some manner.
34 Anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 10.
35 David Walson [tailor] to ARS, 20 July 1775: DCRO SEA D/St/C1/13/1.
36 Bowes, p. 29.
37 ARB to MEB, 24 July [1776]: SPG, volume C.
38 Anon [Anne Massingberd] to ARS, 1 November 1776: SPG, volume C.
39 Testimony of Ann Eliza Stephens (née Planta), 23 February 1788: NADEL 2/12; Bowes, p. 7. The legal case is cited in Hill, Bridget, p. 140.
40 Foot, p. 18.
41 Thackeray, p. 143.
42 Anon [Anne Massingberd] to ARS, 1 November 1776: SPG, volume C.
43 Rate book, Chelsea, 1775-80, Kensington Library, 13 March 1777; Foot, p. 13. Most references to Stanley House state that MEB bought the property from Mary Southwell in 1777. However, the rate book for March 1777 shows that MEB had paid the previous three months’ rates ie since December 1776. This agrees with Foot’s assertion that she owned the house prior to her marriage with ARS. For information about Stanley House see London County Council, vol. 4, pp. 43-4; Faulkner, vol. 1, pp. 55-60. Stanley House was sold, reputedly to a Russian millionaire, in 2004 (personal communication, Hampton estate agents, May 2007).
44 No definite date for the marriage has been found but Eliza would later say she was married in November 1776. Anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 29.
45 Thomas Mahon, Bowes’s valet, would testify to seeing Bowes emerge from Eliza’s bedroom at Gibside at 5 one morning in early 1777. Anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 29.
46 Anonymous letter [MEB and Eliza Planta to Revd Henry Stephens], n.d. [December 1776], submitted by ARS in evidence in divorce case: LMA, DL/c/561/4. The letter refers to Eliza being then nineteen. Bowes, p. 26.
47 Anonymous letter [MEB and Eliza Planta to Revd Henry Stephens], n.d. [December 1776], submitted by ARS in evidence in divorce case: LMA, DL/c/561/4. This comment would later be produced as evidence that Hunter had helped her attempt an abortion. Evidence of John Hunter,
anon, The Trial of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq; first heard in the Arches, pp. 96-103.
48 Foot, pp. 22-4.
49 Vickers, p. 59.
CHAPTER 6: BOWES AND FREEDOM
Events leading up to MEB’s marriage with ARB and immediately after are related in Foot, pp. 45-9 and ‘Lady Strathmore’s Narrative from the time of her Marriage ’till she left Mr Stoney’: SPG, vol. 332. The latter, which is the first of two volumes handwritten by MEB describing events in her life, is undated but was completed by MEB c. 1795. It is hereafter referred to as Narrative.
1 Morning Post, 12 December 1776. The other letters appeared as follows: Monitus, 24 December 1776; Hamlet, 3 January 1777; Monitus, 7 January 1777.
2 Narrative, p. 1. She explains her decision to marry ARB on p. 6. His application for a marriage licence can be found as Marriage allegation, Andrew Robinson Stoney, 16 January 1777: GL Ms 10091/138.
3 Anon, Allegations against the Countess of Strathmore, p. 8 in anon, The Trial of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq., first heard in the Arches.
4 Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, 24 January 1777.
5 Evidence of Jessé Foot, anon, The Trial of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq., first heard in the Arches, pp. 90-2; Foot, pp. 12 and 8.
6 Narrative, p. 12; Bate’s comment is from Fyvie, p. 91.
7 Fortescue, vol. 5, p. 471 and vol. 6, p. 7. In 1782 George III refused to pay a final pension to ‘that worthless man’ who by that point vocally supported the Prince of Wales.
8 ‘A Baite for the Devil’, 1779, cited in George, vol. 5, no. 5550, p. 332.
9 Sheridan; Rhodes, pp. 40-5, 71-2. Foot reveals that Bate had met Garrick shortly after the duel: Foot, pp. 39-40.
10 Evidence of Thomas Mahon, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, pp. 9-10.
11 Newcastle Journal, 31 May 1788.
12 Narrative, p. 4. She describes Bate’s letter in MEB, ‘An Account of the Inns when I was carried off and a comparison between Major Semple and Mr Stoney’: SPG, vol. 333, p. 128.
13 William Scott to Henry Scott, postmarked 20 March [1777] in Surtees, William, p. 48; Foot, p. 53. Foot describes the revived argument with Bate as happening during the summer but this letter shows it took place earlier. The quote from Bate is from Foot, p. 57. The description of ARB as a ‘coward’ is from Foot, p. 9.
14 Arnold, pp. 63-70. Arnold argues that MEB conspired with Stoney to stage the duel in order to provide an excuse for marrying him rather than Gray but that Bate was an innocent party in the ensuing encounter. However, there is no direct evidence for her role, later trials found that the conspiracy was all Stoney’s and various reports point to Bate’s guilt.
15 Narrative, pp. 2-3.
16 Evidence of George Walker, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 6.
17 Narrative, p. 9; Evidence of George Walker, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 6; Narrative, pp. 10-11.
18 MEB to George Stoney [n.d.] in Stoney, pp. 34-5.
19 Narrative, pp. 92-3.
20 Mary Bowes to MEB, 12 April 1777: BL Add. MSS 40748.
21 Foot, p. 50.
22 Narrative, p. 10.
23 Evidence Ann Mahon, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 12. The maid married Thomas Mahon soon after Mary’s marriage. Her husband’s statement is from Evidence Thomas Mahon, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 10.
24 Narrative, pp. 17-18.
25 George Selwyn MP to Lord Carlisle, February 1777, HMC Carlisle, p. 319.
26 Anon [James Perry], ‘The Torpedo, a poem to the electrical eel’ (London, 1777), p. 6.
27 Anon, ‘The Diabo-Lady’ (London, 1777), pp. 8-9.
28 Anon, Allegations against the Countess of Strathmore, p. 6 in The Trial of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq., first heard in the Arches.
29 Trust document, signed George Walker and Joshua Peele, 9 and 10 January 1777: DCRO SEA D/St/D13/4/22. 30 Bowes, pp. 29-30.
31 Evidence George Walker, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 7.
32 Background on the 1777 by-election can be found in Namier and Brooke, vol. 2, pp. 106-8 and 350-1; Knox (1985). Stoney was granted royal licence to change his name to Bowes on 11 February 1777. Gentleman’s Magazine 47 (1777), p. 93.
33 ARB to Mayor of Newcastle et al, 17 February 1777, in Stoney, p. 37; Isaac Stoney to Thomas Bowes, 8 February 1777, in Stoney, pp. 35-6.
34 Handbill, ‘Bowes and Freedom!’: SPG, box 78, bundle 13; Newcastle Chronicle , 5 March 1777: BM Album. 35 Foreman, p. 147.
36 Newcastle Chronicle, 8 March 1777: BM Album.
37 Copy of letter or note by Edward Montagu, 1777: BM Archives.
38 Evidence Francis Bennett, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, pp. 17- 18. The pamphlets are Handbill, ‘Bowes and Freedom!’: SPG, box 78, bundle 13; ‘A New Song on the Countess of Strathmore’s Birth-day’, n.d. [1777]: SPG, volume C; and Handbill, ‘To the Worthy Freeman in Newcastle’, n.d. [1777]: BM Album.
39 Lady Maria Bowes to Mary Lyon, 7 April 1777: SPG, box 202, bundle 10.
40 Copy of letter or note by Edward Montagu, 1777: BM Archives.
41 ARB to Thomas Bell, 19 May 1777: SPG, Bowes Papers vol. 41. Bowes reported the figure at a public meeting: Newcastle Courant, 27 May 1780.
42 Testimony Ann Eliza Stephens (née Planta), 23 February 1788: NA DEL 2/12.
43 Testament Thomas Mahon, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 29.
44 ARB to Henry Stephens, Good Friday [28 March 1777] and MEB to Henry Stephens, 28 March 1777, submitted as evidence by ARB: NA DEL 2/12.
45 Anon [ARB to Gibson Gorst] n.d. [1777]: SPG, volume C.
46 Evidence Henry Stephens and Ann Eliza Stephens, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, pp. 27 and 29.
47 George Walker to Mary Morgan, 31 March 1788: SPG, box 69, bundle 6.
48 Bowes, pp. 12-13.
49 Deed of revocation 1 May 1777, signed by ARB and MEB, witnessed by John Scott, John Hunter and William Gibson: DCRO SEA D/St/D13/4/23; Evidence of John Hunter, anon, A full and accurate report of the trial, p. 26; MEB [to Farrer and Lacey] n.d.: SPG, box 185, bundle 2. The Bowes fortune was still held in trust, so that no land, property or heirlooms could be sold off and the estate kept intact for future generations, but all profits and income accrued to the life tenant (originally MEB, now ARB) for their lifetime.
50 Narrative, p. 19.
51 Sherwen.
52 Anon [ARB to Gibson Gorst] n.d. [1777]: SPG, volume C.
53 Hicks, p. 173; Hill, G. B., vol. 2, p. 247. The Duchess of Grafton’s delivery is described in Stone (1993), pp. 139-56. William Hunter’s anecdote is given in Wadd, p. 283. The Bristol incident is from Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 29 March 1755, cited in Hill, Bridget, p. 35.
54 Anon, Allegations against the Countess of Strathmore, p. 10 in anon, The Trial of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq., first heard in the Arches; Foot, p. 51.
55 Biographical details of Elizabeth Craven, née Lady Elizabeth Berkeley, later the Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth, are from Craven, passim; and ODNB, vol. 18, pp. 94-5. Background on Craven Cottage is from Fe‘ret, vol. 3, pp. 90-3. The Fulham parish rate book shows rates were first paid on the house in 1779 by Lady Craven. Lady Mary Coke said in 1781 it had been built ‘two or three years’ earlier. Craven Cottage burnt down in 1888 and the grounds of Fulham Football Club, known as Craven Cottage, were later built on the site. The description by Mary Coke is cited in Lewis, vol. 41, p. 404n.
56 Evidence John Hunter, The Trial of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq., first heard in the Arches, p. 96.
57 ARB to George Stoney, 14 November 1777, in Stoney, p. 37.
58 Anon, Allegations against the Countess of Strathmore, p. 10 in anon, The Trial of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq., first heard in the Arches.
59 The parish register states ‘baptized 25 Nov 1777 St Mary’s Church Whickham, Mary daughter of Andrew Robinson Bowes Esq & Maria Countess Dowager of Strathmore his wife born Nov 16
privately baptized 25th’. Parish register Whickham Church, DCRO; Gentleman’s Magazine 47 (1777), p. 555; Annual Register 1777, p. 218.
60 Pinchbeck and Hewitt, vol. 2, pp. 582-9.
61 Francis Bennett to MEB, 21 May 1785: SPG, box 185, bundle 2.
62 A Supplement to the Court of Adultery (1778) and A New Song (1779): DUL BBP Box 71, 239 and 248.
63 Evidence Isabella Filliberti (née Fenton), Consistory Court of London deposition book 1783-90: LMA DL/C/282.
64 Earl of Strathmore v Bowes b. r. [15 June 1777]: NA C12/1057/31.
65 Anne Massingberd to MEB, 30 May 1777; and AM to ARB, 16 July 1777: SPG, volume C. The letter from Scarborough is Judith Noel to Mary Noel (her aunt), 26 August 1777, in Elwin, p. 68. Anne Massingberd married William Maxwell by licence, 6 December 1777, at Ormsby parish church. Marriage register, parish of Ormsby, cited in Massingberd, p. 369. 66 Narrative, pp. 21-3.
67 Narrative, p. 18.
CHAPTER 7: LOATHSOME WEEDS
The main secondary source for Paterson and his travels in the Cape is Forbes’s and Rourke’s book. As well as providing plentiful biographical information, this transcribes the manuscript account of his journeys from his notebook which was discovered in London in 1956. Forbes and Rourke cite the baptism in Kinnettles parish church of ‘William Son of David Paterson Gardener in Bridgetoun’ on 22 August 1755. Other biographical information on Paterson can be found in Gunn and Codd, pp. 273-5 and Desmond (1994), p. 539.
1 Log book Houghton: BL India Office, L/MAR/B/438N. The ship left Plymouth on 9 February 1777 and arrived in False Bay for Cape Town on 15 May.
2 Paterson to William Forsyth, 24 May 1777, in Forbes and Rourke, p. 33. Sadly Paterson’s letters to Forsyth are currently missing from Kew Library.
3 Lemmon, p. 64.
4 Paterson (1790), p. 3. This tribute only appears in the second edition of the book. It is entirely omitted from the first edition published in 1789. All information and quotes are from the first edition, 1789, unless specified.