The sun., 1903-05-17

Miss Theresa Longworth, the daughter ol
a Manchester merchant They met in the
Crmea. whore Miss longworth was nurse
wearing the garb oi n Sister OF Charity
but not "A member of tho order
, After the war Yelverton followed her to
Edinburgh and on her agreeing to Scot h
: marriage read tho Anglican service and
annofince that -he was his wife few
weeks later they went To Ireland and were
married in a Catholic chape' by priest,
on Aug 49, 1857 In June, 1888. ielyer on
/ married Mrs Forbes, widow OF prof Forbes
Of Edinburgh This lady, is still living
| Tie ca-e came up In the Scots courts,
where Mrs Iongworth-i ielverton sued for
| maintenance and won on Yelverton's de-
| fault Then Mr. Thewa sued felverton
in the Irish Court of Common Pleas TO n re-
cover money advanced 70 his wife This
,, case was fought by the Major and was a
cause ce.ebre, the trial lasting from Feb.
81 to March 4, 1861
In his defence, Yelverton testified that
from the beginning he had the idea OF
making Miss Longworth his mistress IN
law" and said that II was not wrong Tor
gentleman to seduce a woman unless she
was OF gentle blood Miss Longworth, he
said. was not gentlewoman, as her father
was only Manchester merchant
The jury found for Mr.. Thelwall thus
declaring that the marriage with Miss
Longworth was legal. but on ielverton's
appeal the Scottish Court Of Sessions an
nul.ed the marriage with that lady The
House Of Lords upheld the annulment
and Miss Longworth was unable TO get any
other decision. though she made several
attempts
She died in Pietermaritzburg in 1890,
while Yeverton. who succeeded as Wis
count Avonmore in 1870, lived until 1885.
He was removed from his army command
in 1861. however. and placed on half pay.
and spent the rest Of his days abroad
In 1869 the Wicklow peerage case came be-
fore the House Of Lords, proving to be one
of the most remarkable cases on record,
In March of that year the Earl of Wicklow
died and Charles Francis Howard. the son
OF his younger brother by a second mar
riage, was recognized officially rs the fifth
Howard's older half-brother, with child
which she said was hers, and therefore
the rghtfu Earl
She testified that the child was born dur
ing her husbands absence and was kept
secret. though its existence was known
and the latter sister. and a Mr.. Bau-
denave. No physician attended Mrs. How
ard when the child was born, and several
persons, among Others her dressmaker.
testified against her.
The case was summed up on Aug !. 1ssa,
March of that year the defence, Lord
Wicklow. produced three nurses and an
inmate Of the Liverpool workhouse. who
identified Mrs. Howard as the purchaser
of the last witnesses child.
Al the next session ofthe House Of Lords
as a court. evidence was offered from
Boulogne as 10 the real purchaser of Mary
Best's child; but later the Best woman told
another story. mixing matters up still
fur, her the child was not hers really, but
had been given to her, and had died.
On March 1 Mrs Howard had refused
to be sworn and examined until the nurses
and the Best woman had given their testi
mony under oath. She was AT once com
mitted for contempt. Later she was ordered
to pay certain fees and be act free. but she
again refused and was recommitted
Not long afterward. however, she was
released without payment Of any fees. This
was the only point she won. for the House
of Lords decided that she had not proved
her case. and sustained Charles Francis
Howard in his earldom, which he enjoyed
until his death in 1891. Why Mrs. Howard
and some at least of her witnesses were not
held on charge Of perjury is not clear,
but they were not. and the matter ended
with the decision against her on he peerage
question.