Our lady was a British aristocrat
known for her scandalous life and high-profile trial for bigamy.
She was born in Devonshire to a minor noble family
and grew up as a maid of honour in the court of Princess Augusta.
In 1744, she married the Honorable Augustus John Hervey,
but the marriage was short-lived, and they separated in 1749.
After her separation, she became a mistress to the Duke of Kingston,
a wealthy widower.
In 1769, she and the Duke married secretly,
but the marriage was kept hidden as she was still technically married
to her first husband, and bigamy was a crime punishable by death.
However, rumours of the marriage eventually spread, and her first husband’s
nephew brought a charge of bigamy
against her in an attempt to contest the Duke of Kingston’s will.
She was later brought to trial in 1776
Yet she escaped punishment by claiming the “privilege of peerage,”
but the scandal ruined her reputation, and she was ostracized from society.
This resulted in spending the remainder of her life
in exile in France, where she died in 1788.
So let’s go back in time now to the 18th century
and look into the controversial life of Elizabeth Chudleigh.
Elizabeth was born
on 8 March, 1721, she was the daughter of Colonel Thomas
Chudleigh, who served as the lieutenant governor of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
Regrettably, her father passed away when she was just a young child,
forcing her to navigate the intricacies of life without a paternal figure.
Despite her lack of a male role model, Chudleigh was not lacking in admirers.
Among those who pursued her affection were James Hamilton,
the 6th Duke of Hamilton, and Augustus Hervey,
who would later become the 3rd Earl of Bristol.
Eventually, she wed Hervey in a private ceremony on 4 August 1744
at Lainston House, a secluded country manor boasting a parish church, St.
Peter’s, which now lies in ruin.
Their nuptials were conducted under the veil of darkness to maintain
secrecy, as their financial situation could not support their union.
Chudleigh was keen to keep
her position at court, while Hervey, a naval officer,
returned to his ship, only to reunite with his bride
when he returned to England towards the end of 1746.
Unfortunately, their marriage was plagued by unhappiness,
and the couple did not live together for many years.
And although married in secrecy,
they did not feel the need to dissolve their marital bonds.
Despite her marital woes, Chudleigh maintained a high profile
in British society, earning a reputation as a prominent figure.
And her social standing was cemented when she met Frederick
the Great who was at the time the king of Prussia, in Berlin in 1765.
However, her relationship with the Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull
as his mistress proved her undoing.
Before Hervey could take over his brother’s
title as Earl of Bristol, Chudleigh produced proof of their marriage,
which she had forged into the Lainston parish register without his knowledge.
Elizabeth Chudleigh, a woman of beauty and cunning, had a problem.
She was married to Augustus Hervey but wanted out of the marriage.
On the other hand, Hervey wanted a divorce, but
Chudleigh did not wish to acknowledge their separation publicly.
Chudleigh came up with a plan.
She initiated a suit of jactitation against Hervey, which required him
to stop claiming their marriage unless he could prove it.
Jactitation, also known as jactitation of marriage,
was an outdated legal action in English and Irish law.
It involved a person making false claims of marriage to another,
and the victim could seek an order to prevent further deceit.
However, this action was eliminated from English law in 1986
and Irish law in 1995.
After Hervey failed to establish the relationship, the consistory court
declared Chudleigh a spinster, free to marry whomever she pleased.
The consistory court,
which was initially established by King William the Conqueror’s charter,
is a form of ecclesiastical court primarily found in the Church of England.
Even though these courts still exist today, they have lost
much of their jurisdiction over subject matters since the mid-19th century.
Within a month, Chudleigh married the wealthy Duke of Kingston, who
built her a grand townhouse
in Knightsbridge, which she named Chudleigh House.
The Duke passed away four years later, leaving all his property to Chudleigh
on the condition that she remain a widow.
Chudleigh, now a wealthy and titled woman, travelled abroad
and received the honours of a duchess from Pope Clement XIV.
However, trouble soon followed her.
In 1775, Hervey’s brother passed away, and Hervey became Earl of Bristol.
It meant that Chudleigh’s marriage
to Hervey was now lawful, and she became Countess of Bristol.
But that wasn’t the end of her troubles.
Evelyn Medows, who was the nephew of Chudleigh’s second spouse, accused her
of bigamy in an attempt to contest the will of the Duke of Kingston.
Bigamy refers to the action of getting married to one individual
while still being lawfully married to another.
Chudleigh attempted unsuccessfully to have the order set aside in December 1775.
In 1776, she was brought to trial as a peeress in Westminster
Hall, and all 116 peers
unanimously found her guilty.
With her fortune in tow, Chudleigh fled England to avoid further proceedings
from the Medows family.
Chudleigh’s life took an unexpected turn
when she moved to Calais and became the mistress of Stefano Zannowich.
Her social status was elevated when she was accepted at the Russian court,
leading to a grand entrance into Saint Petersburg’s port.
Chudleigh purchased three properties in Estonia and combined them
into one estate named “Chudleigh.” She imported various animals, including
spaniels and pointers, and began planning to create a model English estate.
Living in a beautiful clifftop house overlooking the Baltic Sea, Chudleigh
cultivated a stunning collection of plants and made the estate her new home.
In 1777, Hervey could legally confirm that his union
with Chudleigh had been valid after a long period of time.
However, he didn’t pursue divorce proceedings, likely due
to his involvement in the suit of jactitation.
Despite this, Chudleigh continued to style herself
as the Duchess of Kingston and lived a lavish lifestyle between her
Paris estates, Rome, and other places.
Chudleigh passed away on 26 August 1788
at her estate in Saint-Assise near Paris at 67.
Despite the controversy surrounding her life,
she remained the Countess of Bristol in the eyes of the law.