Improbable Marriages #1: The Earls of Stamford

These are the kinds of stories that get my imagination going and inspire my fiction writing! (And here’s a teeny tiny spoiler about the House of Trent series–a Gypsy link is discovered in Sam’s story, book 3, The Scoundrel’s Seduction…)

The year: 1855

The hero: George, the Seventh Earl of Stamford. Stamford had already been married once–when he was a student at Cambridge, he married the daughter of his servant.

The heroine: Kitty Cocks, a circus performer with Gypsy blood

Their happily ever after: When they returned to Stamford’s seat in Cheshire, the people cut the new countess and treated her horrifically, so the earl moved his wife away from the mockery and scorn. The couple lived in exile in Staffordshire. Stamford left his estates to his wife when he died (in an accident) in 1883.

The year: 1880

The hero: Harry, the Eighth Earl of Stamford. In his 20′s, the earl was sent to live in South Africa to cure his drinking and gambling problems.

The heroine: Martha Soloman, the daughter of a slave

Their happily ever after: Martha was the nurse of Harry’s children. Their relationship began when Harry’s wife died, and they had two children before they married in 1880. They remained together for the rest of Harry’s life and when Harry inherited the earldom, they chose to remain in South Africa. Their son, who was born before their marriage, did not inherit the earldom per the laws of the United Kingdom (he was born before the marriage so technically wasn’t considered legitimate), and when Harry died, the earldom was passed to a cousin.

For more on these two couples, see:

Historical Honey

Article in The Messenger

History Hoydens

Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Haymore . This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@www.jenniferhaymore.com so we can take legal action immediately.
Plugin by Taragana