Wedding of Sir Frederick Emerton and Olivia Sutton

On June 2nd, 1816, Sir Frederick Emerton, the son of Lord Gerald Emerton and Lady Gerald Emerton married Olivia Sutton, the daughter of British Army General Sir Gregory Sutton at Westminster Abbey in London. While traditionally, only members of the royal family are permitted to marry in Westminster Abbey, all members of the Order of the Bath are also permitted to be married there and Sir Frederick Emerton, as a member was eligible.

## Ceremony

The wedding was ordained by the Bishop of Norwich, The Right Reverend Henry Bathurst and lasted a total 32 minutes. The bride, Olivia Sutton wore a long white silk and lace gown costing about £200. The gown was covered with a lace veil and the bride wore the Emerton Family Tiara, only previously worn by the Duchesses of Suffolk and personally designed by Agnes Emerton, Duchess of Suffolk in 1702. The tiara, estimated to cost around £4,500, was loaned for the wedding by the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, Catherine Emerton as a gesture of acceptance after turbulent relations between the Suttons and the Emertons. The necklace and earrings together costed about £1150 and were purchased by the Dukedom as a wedding gift.

Miss Sutton's dress, a pure white wedding dress was both praised and critiqued, *The Edinburgh Tribune* authored that the dress "tasteful and representative of her purity and innocence." while *The Observer* authored "As a result of her previous engagement to Sir Reginald Coakes, her purity and innocence have diminished, and representing purity in a white dress is inappropriate and misleading." the mixed response to her dress largely dissuaded other aristocratic brides to wear white on their wedding due to its heavy symbolism.

## Invitees

Over 350 guests were invited to the wedding, while not billed as a society affair, unlike the wedding of Wedding of Lawrence Sinclair, 3rd Duke of Ayrshire and Lady Eloise Emerton, several high status individuals including Prime Minister Lord Liverpool, former Prime Minister Lord Sidmouth, Princess Charlotte of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Duke and Duchess of Bedford, Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, The Earl Randell of Rugby and several others were invited. Most of the invitees however; were invitees of the bride and groom's family.

Most of the famous guests were invited by the groom, Sir Frederick Emerton and the Emerton Family however, invitees of the bride, Miss Olivia included her siblings, Benton, Lilli and Royce her parents, Sir Gregory Sutton and Agnes Sutton, Lady Sutton as well as her maternal and paternal grandmothers, Alice Sutton and Portia Bowman, her first cousins Sir John Stuart, 7th Baronet, and Sir Benjamin Sutton, her great aunt Florence Cosway, Dowager Baroness Cosway and her second cousin, society hostess Meredith Swinson. Her twin sister, Daisy McCallum, Lady McCallum and brother-in-law Sir Alexander McCallum did not attend the wedding as they were prohibited by Colette Emerton, Duchess of Suffolk.

## Portrait

The portrait, painted by Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, a famous French painter was widely viewed as being extremely risqué for the conservative Emerton and Sutton families. Originally, the couple posed for a very traditional portrait by Girodet, however; he improvised and created a much more sensual and intimate portrait. The family commissioned two other portraits, a portrait of Frederick by William Owen and a portrait of Olivia by Sir Thomas Lawrence, both portraits were finished however the portrait by Owen was not shown at the wedding as it was finished at a later date.