Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1866-06-28
The English Royal Scandal.
The latest sensations in English jurisprn-.
dence is suit pending In The highest court

The English Royal scandal.
The latest sensations in English jurispru-
dence is suit pending in The highest oouft
of Britain, before Lord Chief Justice Cock
burn and his Associate Justices, involving
the legitimacy ofsthe Queen of England,
and in effect, as the Attorney General de-
clares, claiming to establish the right OF
new applicant to the throne.
The case arises upon a petition by Mrs
Lavinia Janetta Horton Ryves, and William
Henry, her son, praying to be declared the
legitimate descendants Of Henry Frederick
Duke of Cumberland, fourth son of Fred
erick, Prince Of Wales, who died in 1851,
and lefts the succession gtoi his seldest son
George. afterward George ELL. IS e
The theory Of the case is that Queen Vic
.toria is the daughter of Edward, Duke of
Kent. the fourth son of George I'LL, and
Charlotte, of -Mecklenb burg Strelitz; that,
prior to the public marriage Of George III.
20 Queen Charlotte, he had been secretly
married, while Prince of Wales, to Hannah
Lightfoot; that no divorce was ever obtained
from thisprior secret narrisge, but it was
kept secret in order topreserve George LIT.
from the charge of bigamy after his subse-
quent public, marriage with Queen Char
lotte. Of this prior secret marriage two
certificates are produced, signed by Rev. J.
Wilmot as the officiating clergyman, by the
parties and by two witnesses, one of whom
is William Pitt afterwards Ford Chatham,
and the other lady then well known IS be-
ing in the secrets Of the Court and Royal
Family. If these certificates are genuine,
of which there appears to be ample evil
dence,s then it follows that the subsequent
marriage Of George Ill to Queen Charlotte
was vcids-rthaL- nd ward, Dake~ Of Kent,
father Queen Victoria, was born out Of
lawful wedlock, and that the succession to
the Crown could not lawfully descend
througsh hi. daughter, the present Queen,
Il Its also alleged that, .ssstwo pricesxana
princess" were the issue of the secret
marriage of George III. with Hapnah Light
<fedt,, apd uaon.these and their defendants,
had they survived, would devolve the crown.
RQtsthese hayingRdied NitAspt issue, the
next leg iti dsSteS desoendahtasig Frederiek;l
Prince of Wales, of whom George Ill was
the eldest son.7 His second son, Edward
Augustus, died unmarried. His third son,
William Henry, left two children who died
without issue. ;His5foiirth son, Henry Fred-
erick, Duke of Cumberland, was, therefore,
in the failure of any legitimate issue Of
George Ill, the channel through which the
Crown would descend
+. This HenryzF redefiekg Duke Of Gunnber-
land, it is alleged, was secretly married to
Olive Wilmot, the daughter of the Rev. J.
Wllmot, who performed the ceremony, and
who, "a lso, as we have seen, OBLIGATED at the
secret. marriage of Henry q cousin; GEORGE
Ill, while Prince of Wales, to Hannah
Lightfoot. From this marriage of Henry
Frederick, Duke Of Cumberland, to Olive
Wilmot, was born a daughter Olive, who
married John Thomas Lewas, and of this
Mr.. and Mrs. Lewas was born the petition
er, Layinia, who married Mr.. Ryves, now
deceased, by whom she had one child, the
petitioner William Henry Ryves. The
court is called upon to adjudge, therefore.
in effect that Mrs. Lavinia Ryves is by birth
and by law entitled to occupy the throne Of
England, instead of Mrs. adelaide Victoria
Coburg born Guelph. and that Master
William Henry Rives is Prince of Wales,
instead of the young gentleman who was So
enthusiastically .teted on his tour. through
this country. The criminality on the part
Of George III. and the Duke of Cumber-
land, which the story implies, Confirms,
rather than discredits it, as the allegations
are in harmony with the court gossip and
secret history of the time, and with the
well known characters Of those and other
members of the Royal Family. = ''i'' rs "a
1t was doubtless in consequence of these
and other similar secret marriages that an
act of Parliament was subsequently passed
toprevent secret marriages with members
of the Royal Family. But of course this
act could have no es post yfqcto. effect upon
marriages previously Contaminated "A vast
array of documentary evidence is produced
in the case, sufficient, ifaanth enticto estab-
lish all ,nese Facts, and yet there seems no
reason to doubt their truth. ~