In 1854 Colonel Rolleston of Watnall Hall was tainted by a messy divorce case involving his daughter Louisa, the tawdry details of which were aired in the newspapers, two separate courtrooms and eventually all the way to the House of Lords.
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| The lady's housemaids were often forced to testify to sleeping arrangements and other intimate details in court. |
Divorce was an extremely rare and very expensive undertaking due to the many legal processes involved. Only two divorce cases were allowed in 1854. It was the privilege of the rich. The lady's housemaids were often forced to testify to sleeping arrangements and other intimate details in court. The divorced wife was often shamefully banished from polite society.
Not his first divorced daughter - So to learn that another of Colonel Rolleston's daughters, Charlotte (his youngest born in 1818) had in 1848 also divorced from her husband Edward Heneage was almost unheard of. In 1848 Parliament had passed the Act of Parliament dissolving their marriage. Charlotte remarried to Henry Bromley within the same year and gave birth to his son in August of the following year 1849...
"Heneage's Divorce Act - 9th June1848 - An Act to dissolve the Marriage of Edward Heneage Esquire with Charlotte Frances Ann Heneage his now Wife, and to enable him to marry again; and for other Purposes."
Salacious details - Daughter Louisa's was a sensational divorce case reported with salacious relish by the gossip newspapers of the day. After a very short acquaintance, Louisa eloped in 1853 with John Coventry of Burgate House, Fordingbridge in Hampshire, a friend of her sister (the already divorced and recently deceased Charlotte) and son of the Hon. John Coventry MP.
Efforts to trace the couple, who evidently stayed in hotels in Liverpool and Manchester as husband and wife, were unsuccessful. Her cuckolded husband William Berens, whom she'd married in 1837, of Kevington Hall, Orpington in Kent initiated divorce proceedings. This was a complicated and long-winded, not to say very expensive, process. He obtained a writ against Coventry evidenced by private detectives pursuing the eloped couple, then went to the Ecclesiastical Courts for the next stage and finally to the House of Lords, but the bill there only passed its final stages [in the House of Commons?] a day or two after Berens, whose was by now terminally ill, had died.
In 1857 the Divorce laws were changed [Matrimonial Causes Act of August 1857] to allow much quicker and cheaper divorces. Finally divorce was no longer the privilege of the wealthy aristocracy. The Berens divorce case and all the juicy details were reported below...
Clues from Watnall Hall's library - An intriguing book on the shelves of the hall's library is "The History of Divorces, 3 vols, full calf, 1780" AKA "Trials for Adultery" and suggests that in the period's "fashionable world" the stigma of divorce was less important than may be imagined. Was Colonel Rolleston reading up due to his daughter's divorce cases or just for general interest? The book seems to have been regarded more for its pornographic qualities than its legal records...
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| Copies of the books still sell for good money. One was recently up for £1960 |
"Trials for Adultery was published over a period of two years and was completed in seven volumes with thirty engraved plates. Because of their 'pornographic' nature some or all of the plates are often not found. In our set three of the plates have been excised by a previous owner. "The genre of pornographic trial reports was fully developed in the late 1770s, a fact which is borne out by the publication in seven volumes of a special collection of interesting cases, Trials for Adultery: or, the History of Divorces. The editor remarks to the reader that 'conjugal infidelity is become so general that it is hardly considered as criminal; especially in the fashionable world'. In view of the many erotic and obscene prints contained in the seven volumes, the moral justifications offered in defence of the publication of the trial reports appear quite ridiculous, if not hypocritical. Mostly erotic, but occasionally also obscene, such pictorial material now became a standard feature of trial reports for the rest of the century" (Boucé)."
Louisa Rolleston's divorce in the newspapers
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| One of the main gossip newspapers of 1854, The Era, reported the salacious divorce details with relish. |
Publication: The Era
Location: London, England
Issue Date: Sunday, 9 April 1854 Page: 14
Their means, although not large, were sufficient, and they lived on terms of affectionate intercourse, which promised well for their future happiness. There was no issue of the marriage. The person against whom the adultery was charged was a Mr. Coventry, of Burgate House, Southampton.
The circumstances under which an intimacy took place, between Mrs. Berens and Mr. Coventry were as follows:
Mrs. Berens had sister, a Mrs. [Charlotte] Bromley, who was acquainted with Mr. Coventry, and in January, 1853, Mrs. Bromley was on on a visit at Duddingstone, near Edinburgh, where Mr. Coventry was also staying. In that month Mrs. Bromley died at Duddingstone, and Mr. Bromley, accompanied by Mrs. Berens, went down there on that occasion, and returned together. Previously. to that there had been no intimacy between Mr. Coventry and the family of Mr. Berens.
At Easter, in last year [1853], the petitioner gave permission to Mr. Coventry to pay a visit at his house to Mrs. Berens, in order to consult with her with regard to a tomb which it was proposed to erect to Mrs. Bromley, her deceased sister, in Scotland.
On that occasion Mr. Coventry paid a visit of five days, at Orpington, but no circumstance. occurred to cause any distrust on the part of Mr. Berens. Later in the year Mr. Coventry called at Orpington in order to replace a vase which he had broken, and was invited to dinner by Mr. Berens.
Those were the only facts which appeared to have led to an elopement by Mrs. Berens with Mr. Coventry on the 16th of, May. As was not unfrequently the case, when Mr. Berens was unwell he and his wife. occupied separate rooms.
On the 16th May, one of the witnesses, Sophia Crouch, saw. Mrs. Berens in her bed-room in the evening, and on the following morning, on going the up. bed to had light the fire, she found that Mrs. Berens was not there; not been occupied, and on examination a side door down stairs was found open.
On the 16th May, one of the witnesses, Sophia Crouch, saw. Mrs. Berens in her bed-room in the evening, and on the following morning, on going the up. bed to had light the fire, she found that Mrs. Berens was not there; not been occupied, and on examination a side door down stairs was found open.
It appeared that no clothes were taken by Mrs. Berens, which was connected with the fact that a flyman at Chiselhurst was instructed take the luggage of a gentleman from the Tiger's Head, and to go to particular place in the road, where he was to' wait, and accordingly he there took a gentleman and lady, and by their directions drove to the Bricklayer's Arms, in the Kent-road, where they got into a cab and drove away.
From that point no further trace was then obtained of them, until the 21st June, when from information, which had been. obtained, a clerk of Messrs. Lake, the solicitors of Capt. Berens, went to Liverpool, where he met with Mr. Coventry just as he was stepping: into a train going to Manchester, and served him with a writ in an action for crim con ["criminal conversation" the legalese term for adultery].
There was no immediate identification of the parties, but on the 25th of June it was ascertained that Mr. Coventry and Mrs. Berens were going to London, and they were met and identified at the railway station, and information was then obtained as: to the previous residence of the parties.
On the night of the 17th May, the day after Mrs. Berens left Orpington, Mr. Coventry and herself slept at the Commercial Hotel, Dale-street, Liverpool, and on the 19th of May they went to the Albion Hotel, at Manchester, where they remained till the 23d of May, when they, removed, into lodgings.
The identification of the parties together was made complete on the end of July.
There was no doubt that at Liverpool they occupied one sitting and one bed-room, for though there was a attached, with a bed in it, it was never occupied. The same thing occurred at Manchester, where the bed-room communicated with the sitting-room, and, the dressing-room was detached.
There was no doubt that at Liverpool they occupied one sitting and one bed-room, for though there was a attached, with a bed in it, it was never occupied. The same thing occurred at Manchester, where the bed-room communicated with the sitting-room, and, the dressing-room was detached.
On the 21st of June writ was issued against Mr. Coventry, to which he did not plead; judgment went by default, and an inquisition was held before the sheriff, and damages were assessed at £700, which, together with the taxed costs, amounting to £216, had been paid.
In November proceedings were taken in the Ecclesiastical Court, and on the 6th December a divorce "a mensa et thoro" was decreed. [Latin legal phrase for a "divorce from bed and board"]
The petitioner then came to their lordships for further relief. There was a clause in the bill by which it was proposed to deprive the wife of a settlement made on her at her marriage, but it was proposed to go into proof of the adultery first, and afterwards to discuss that question.
The evidence was then adduced proving the above statement, at the conclusion of which Mr. Merewether urged that the house should pass the clause depriving the wife of the settlement, made on her on her marriage, of which he would give evidence. Their lordships having. consulted together, the Lord Chancellor inquired what steps had been taken to find the lady's maid, Mrs.
Anderson Mr. Lake said. that she went away with her mistress, and they had been unable. to trace Lord St. Leonards: That cannot be so, for the witness Crouch stated that she remained at Orpington after her mistress left until, August.
Mr. Lake explained that he employed Forrester, the officer, to wait on this woman, who, it was suspected, intended to join her mistress, but she took the first opportunity of leaving, and had never been. heard of since. The Lord Chancellor inquired whether the settlement was not. £400 a year? Mr.
Merewether said that was the sum settled on Mrs. Berens by Capt. Berens's father, and to this only the. clause was intended to apply. Her own property which was settled on her, it was not proposed to touch that, Lord St.Leonards: You cannot touch the sum settled on her by contract, On the motion of the Lord Chancellor, the evidence was ordered to be printed, and the further consideration of the bill adjourned.
The evidence was then adduced proving the above statement, at the conclusion of which Mr. Merewether urged that the house should pass the clause depriving the wife of the settlement, made on her on her marriage, of which he would give evidence. Their lordships having. consulted together, the Lord Chancellor inquired what steps had been taken to find the lady's maid, Mrs.
Anderson Mr. Lake said. that she went away with her mistress, and they had been unable. to trace Lord St. Leonards: That cannot be so, for the witness Crouch stated that she remained at Orpington after her mistress left until, August.
Mr. Lake explained that he employed Forrester, the officer, to wait on this woman, who, it was suspected, intended to join her mistress, but she took the first opportunity of leaving, and had never been. heard of since. The Lord Chancellor inquired whether the settlement was not. £400 a year? Mr.
Merewether said that was the sum settled on Mrs. Berens by Capt. Berens's father, and to this only the. clause was intended to apply. Her own property which was settled on her, it was not proposed to touch that, Lord St.Leonards: You cannot touch the sum settled on her by contract, On the motion of the Lord Chancellor, the evidence was ordered to be printed, and the further consideration of the bill adjourned.
The outcome - Louisa and John Coventry eventually got married in early 1857 before the new divorce act was passed. However there is no act of parliament that covers their divorce probably meaning that the House of Lords would have dissolved the marriage paving the way for Louisa to remarry.
What Colonel Rolleston thought of his daughter's love lives has not been recorded for history!
------ THE END ------
Notes
Berens of Kevington Hall, Orpington, Kent
William Joseph Berens (1800-54), of Orpington Hall (Kent), baptised at St Giles in the Fields, Holborn (Middx), 12 June 1800; educated at Westminster; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1822; Lt., 1825; Capt., 1827; retired 1837) and later the West Kent Yeomanry Cavalry (Capt. 1848); JP for Kent; married, 20 July 1837 (div. 1854*) at Greasley (Notts), Louisa Maria (1813-57), daughter of Lancelot Rollston, but had no issue; died at Ryde (IoW), 11 June 1854; will proved in the PCC, 8 September 1854;
William Joseph Berens (1800-54), had pursued a career in the army, but he was terminally ill and in the throes of a messy divorce* when his father died, and Kevington passed to his younger brother, Richard Beauvoir Berens (1801-59). Like his father, Richard was a barrister and pursued a career in the city, being Governor of the New River Co. - responsible for much of London's water supply - from 1847 until his death.
* This was a sensational divorce case. After a very short acquaintance, Louisa eloped in 1853 with John Coventry (1793-1871) of Burgate House, Fordingbridge (Hants), son of the Hon. John Coventry (whom she married 2nd, 13 January 1857 at St Marylebone (Middx)). Efforts to trace the couple, who evidently stayed in hotels in Liverpool and Manchester as husband and wife, were unsuccessful. Berens initiated divorce proceedings in the House of Lords, but the bill only passed its final stages in the House of Commons a day or two after he had died.
Astor divorce case
Criminal conversation
Regency divorce - https://regencywrangles.blogspot.com/search/label/divorce
BERENS, WILLIAM JOSEPH, eldest son of Joseph Berens, Kevington, Kent, and Charlotte, dau. of Richard Benyon MP, Englefield House, Berks.; b.; adm. Mich. 1812; KS (aged 14) 1815; Ensign, 2nd Foot, 11 Jul 1822; Lieut., 26 Jan 1825; 6th Dragoon Guards, 14 Apr 1825; Capt., 26 Apr 1827; retd. 13 Mar 1837; m. 20 Jul 1837 Louisa Maria, second dau. of Col. Lancelot Rolleston MP, Watnall Hall, Notts.; d. 11 Jun 1854.
Number of divorces by act of Parliament
Divorces by act of parliament
Chronological Tables of the Private and Personal Acts
Acts of the Parliaments of United Kingdom
Part 31 (1848-1865)
1848 - 4 incl Edward Heneage's divorce from Charlotte Heneage (nee Rolleston), and other provisions.*
1849 - 7
1850 - 7
1851 - 3
1852 - 1
1853 - 3
1854 - 2 (does not include Berens and Louisa Rolleston case)
1855 - 6
1856 - 2
1857 - 5 (new divorce act passed)
1859 - 2
1862 - 1
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/changes/chron-tables/private/31
Heneage's Divorce Act 1848[e]
11 & 12 Vict. c. 24 Pr.
9 June 1848
An Act to dissolve the Marriage of Edward Heneage Esquire with Charlotte Frances Ann Heneage his now Wife, and to enable him to marry again; and for other Purposes.
After the divorce in 1848, Charlotte Heneage (nee Rolleston) went on to marry Henry Bromley and had a son, born 6 Aug 1849, and died as explained above in 1853 leading to her sister's elopement and divorce.
Bromley, Sir Henry, 5th Bt (1849-1905), landowner, born 6 August 1849, only son of Sir Henry Bromley, 4th Bt (1816-1895) and his first wife, Charlotte Frances Ann (d.1853), yst dau of Col Lancelot Rolleston, MP, of Watnall, Notts, Captain, Notts Yeo Cav, formerly 27th Foot, marr (23 January 1873) Adela Augusta (died 23 September 1926), only child of Westley Richards, 4 sons (Robert, 6th Bt (1874-1906), Maurice, 7th Bt (qv sub Bromley-Wilson), Rear Admiral Sir Arthur, KCMG, CVO (1876-19xx), and Herbert Assheton (1879-1915)) and 1 dau (Esther, wife of Charles Robert Tryon, qv sub Tryon-Wilson), acted as main trustee of Dallam Estate during minority of his 2nd son, Maurice, came on special train from his seat at Ashwell in Rutland to Sandside station in July 1894 for a two-month visit to Dallam Tower (WG, 12.07.1894), involved in Haverbrack Common dispute in 1893-94 by asserting his rights as trustee to privacy on his estate land (CM, ch.13), gave plain brass altar cross to Beetham church and later one to Milnthorpe church (which caused a bitter ‘popery’ dispute with churchwardens and Easter Vestry in 1897), photographed with Dallam Otterhounds at Underley Hall in c.1900 (CM, 404), died 11 March 1905
History of Divorces book
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