The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-01-31
A Nice Story Exploded.

1t is curious how the most ridiculous
stories are started, added to and perpet-
mated, until they finally assume an atti-
tude of historical authority. The other
day cut from a recent issue of the
journal the following paragraph, evil
IDENTIFY one that has been going the
rounds of American newspapers:
During the troubles in the reign of
Charles 1, a beautiful country girl
came to London in search of place as
servant-maid; but, not succeeding, she
hired herself to carry out beer from a
brewhouse, and was one of those called
tub-woman. The brewer observing
good-looking girl in this low occupation,
took her into his family as servant,
and, after q short time, married her;
but he died while she was yet young
woman, and left her the bulk of his for
tune. The business of the brewer was
dropped, and the young woman was
recommended to Mr.. Hyde as skillful
lawyer, to arrange her husbands affairs.
Hyde, who was afterward the great
Earl of Clarendon, finding the widows
fortune very considerable, married her.
OF this marriage there was no other issue
than daughter, who was afterward the
wife of James II, and mother of Mary
and Anne, Queens of England"
Now, there is not one word of truth in
this whole paragraph, which has grown
out of certain scandal with which the
English Court amused itself when King
James II, then only Duke of York,
wanted to get possession of Lord Claren-
don's daughter without marrying her.
Ever since it has been the custom in
England to allude to her mother as of
very humble origin, and in early life as
engaged in some menial capacity, and
the story has been credited, because it
was never known, until quite recently,
who and what she really was. Even
Lady Theresa Lewis, one of her descend
ants, in a volume published in 1852
said: at is not known from what family
she sprang, or where she died." One
would have supposed that there would
have been sufficient loyalty and curios-
ity enough among the antiquaries of
England to have cleared up this matter
long before this, inasmuch as it affects
the reputation of the grandmother of
two of the Queens of England. 1t was
left, however, for countryman of yours
to solve the mystery and he has done so
successfully. Briefly, the wife of the
Earl of Clarendon named in the para
graph quoted, instead of being tuo-
woman in London brewry and after
wards marrying the brewer, was the
daughter and eventually the heir of Sir
Thomas Aylesbury, baronet, whose
wife was one of the gentle families of
England. Her parentage, therefore,
was purely aristocratic. The idea that
the lawyer Hyde, being called in to set
tie the brewers affairs, made love to and
finally married his widow is SO exquis-
itely delicious that it is almost pity to
spoil it, but the real fact is that Mrs.
Hyde, when she became Mrs. Hyde,
was not fourteen years old. 1t
had been conjectured that she was very
young, but her coffin-plate, which has re-
Gently been discovered during some
necessary work in the. family vault in
Westminster Abbey, proves conclusively
that she was under fourteen ather mar
riage, and this accounts for another fact,
somewhat mysterious before, viz, that
her first child was not born until several
years after the marriage. may add
that the record of her marriage exists,
and she was married in her maiden name
of Aylesbury. So vanishes the tale of
the tub-woman and the brewers widow.
/ said there was not word of truth in
the paragraph, and to prove this I must
further say that, instead of having only
one child, she had four sons and two
daughters. The second son became Earl
of Rochester. The Oldest son succeeded
his father as Earl of Clarendon, and his
son was the Lord Cornbury, sometime
Governor of the colony of New York,
whose memory is still odious, and
whose name is mentioned only with
ignominy in the histories of the United
States. The Hyde family became ex-
tinct in the male line in 1853, and is
now only represented by descendants in
the female line. Several generations Of
them were buried in Westminster
Abbey, and American visitors to the old
minister walk over the roof of the
family vault as they make their way to
the steps leading into Henry VIPs
chapel. No less than twenty of the
family are known to be buried there
and among them the lady who was the
subject of the paragraph l have quoted