By Cassandra Samuels
For this post I’ve chosen to talk about a particular aspect of the research I did for my debut novel A Scandalous Wager. Lisbeth Carslake (my heroine) and Caroline Norton are both scandalous women, and both were abused by their husbands.
Caroline is a fascinating woman for many reasons. Born in 1808 as Caroline Sheridan she became the face of justice for women, but she didn’t start off that way. When her soldier father died in Africa, the family was left penniless. They were granted a grace and favour apartment at Hampton Court Palace. Caroline and her sisters were highly accomplished and were accepted everywhere due to their upbringing at court.
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| Hampton Court Palace - copyright (c) Cassandra Samuels 2010 |
In 1827 she married George Norton, a barrister and MP. Caroline was witty and clever and used her skills to win favour for her husband and his political ambitions. However, he was a controlling husband and often had fits of rage and drunkenness. He physically and emotionally abused his wife throughout their marriage.
Caroline wrote prose and poetry to vent her emotions and earned money doing so. George disliked his wife’s success. In 1836 she left him. He took her earnings from her writing, so she racked up bills in his name. In turn, he decided to hide her children from her, a cruel blow to a woman who lived for her sons.
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Caroline campaigned relentlessly for the rights of women to their children. Her intense efforts culminated in the Custody of Infants Act and the Married Women's Property Act. These acts gave women a legal identity where before they had none. I think we owe a lot to Caroline Norton.
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Do you have a favourite scandalous woman in history or even in the present?
Love to Love - watching documentaries on all things historical. This YouTube video on Caroline Norton and other scandalous women is just great.
Love to Laugh- At comedian Michael McIntyre - whose outlook on parenting and middle age is just hillarious.
Love to Learn - Listening to Podcasts by the History Chicks. If you love learning about women in history you will love this podcast.
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| Go to their website here |
Very interesting! Thank goodness we enjoy those hard-won rights - at least we do in Australia.
ReplyDeleteWe are very lucky indeed Alyssa. Especially towards the issue of our children.
DeleteHi Cassandra! An interesting woman indeed. My favourite scandalous woman is Diana, and with the next royal wedding coming up, I can't help but feel sorry that she's not around to see how her gorgeous boys turned out.
ReplyDeleteYes, she certainly caused the Royals a few headache didn't she?
ReplyDeleteWhat an astonishing story. Women has so much more to lose two centuries ago. One century ago. Fifty years ago! Thankyou Caroline Norton for your bravery.
ReplyDeleteShe was extremely brave and suffered a lot. I can't imagine how horrible it was for her, but she triumphed and we all get the benefits from her efforts.
DeleteDear Cassandra. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for this fabulous post. I have always been for gender equality. We are all human and no one can claim to be better than another, so it has always riled me that men through the ages have put women down treating them as property or worse, 'things' they can mistreat as they wish. To know there were women who fought for their rights even before the suffragettes is heartening. Caroline has stolen my heart and to discover there were other women like her, though named scandalous, is warmth to my heart. I will definitely check those podcasts out. Again, thank you! My fave post so far!
ReplyDeleteI guess they are only scandalous because they dared to buck the established rules of the time. She stole my heart too Enisa. She was a smart and accomplished woman who did what she thought she had to do.
DeleteHi Cassandra, what an amazing story. Caroline had so much courage! So many people facing similar odds would have given up.
ReplyDeleteThey sure would have Sharon and many women of the time had no choice but to either continue to be abused both mentally or physically by the men in their lives without ever being brave enough to stand up for themselves. Courage my goodness yes.
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