Mary Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne

Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1749 – 1800), also known as "The Unhappy Countess", was the daughter of George Bowes and wife Mary Gilbert.

Early Life

Mary Bowes was well educated for her time, and, in 1769 published a poetical drama entitled "The Siege of Jerusalem" (1769). She was also an enthusiastic botanist, sending William Paterson to the Cape in 1777 to collect plants on her behalf.

Mary's father George Bowes died when she was 11 years old, and left her a vast fortune (£600,000) which he had built up through control of a cartel of coal-mine owners. Mary became a greatly prized heiress, and kept the company of the brother of Henry Scott (the Duke of Buccleuch) for a while, but then married John Lyon.

She became engaged at eighteen to John Lyon, the 9th Earl of Strathmore. Since her father's will stipulated that her husband should assume his wife's family name, the Earl addressed Parliament, and the arrangement was approved.

The couple were affluent and had five children:
*Maria Jane Bowes-Lyon (22 April 1768 - 22 April 1806) - married Colonel Barrington Price, of the British Army
*John Lyon-Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (14 April, 1769 - 3 July 1820)
*George Bowes-Lyon (17 November 1771 - 3 December, 1806) - married Mary Thornhill
*Thomas Bowes-Lyon, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (3 May, 1773 - 27 August 1846) His wife, Mary Elizabeth Louisa Rodney Carpenter, was the granddaughter of a plumber, whose daughter married one of his wealthy clients.
*Anna Maria Bowes-Lyon (1775 - 29 March 1832)

Her husband was often abroad and, "to amuse herself" (Marshall), she wrote her verse drama, "The Siege of Jerusalem" (1769). The Earl showed little interest in his wife except as a breeder of children, and she perhaps understandably took comfort elsewhere and by the time of his death was pregnant by a lover, George Gray, of whom little is otherwise known. On March 7 1776, Lord Strathmore died at sea on his way to Portugal, from tuberculosis.

econd Marriage

Upon her first husband's death, given their combined fortunes, Mary Bowes became one of the richest heiresses in the Kingdom of Great Britain. She had promised marriage to Gray but was seduced by an Anglo-Irish adventurer, Andrew Robinson Stoney, whom she married. Stoney took his wife's surname. In order to win her heart (and her fortune), Stoney had manipulated the Countess into believing that he had fought to clear her name in the newspaper, and had even invited the newspaper's editor to a duel (which the latter lost). He had, in fact, written both the articles criticising her as well as those defending her; and the duel between Stoney and the editor was probably staged. Supposedly wounded by Parson Bates, he almost fainted at the altar during his marriage to the Countess on January 17 1777. There were two children of this marriage, Mary, born c 1780, and William, 1782.

Stoney Bowes (who, it was commonly supposed, had already caused the death of a previous wife, Hannah Newton, in order to obtain her inheritance) abused the Countess and attempted to relieve her of her fortune, which, however, he was largely prevented from accessing. Among other outrages he imprisoned her in her own house, and carried her and one of her daughters (by Strathmnore) off to Paris, whence they returned after a writ had been served on him.

In 1785 the Countess managed to escape his custody and filed for divorce. Stoney Bowes abducted her with the help of a gang of accomplices, carried her off to the north country, threatened to rape her, gagged and beat her, and carried her around the countryside on horseback in one of the coldest spells of the coldest winter of the century. The country was alerted, and Stoney Bowes was eventually arrested and the Countess rescued.

Several trials followed — of Stoney Bowes for abduction, and of the various men who had assisted him. The trials were sensational and the talk of London. Public sympathy was not extended to the Countess — partly because of the libels Stoney Bowes succeeded in putting about (buying a newspaper publication for the purpose) — and partly because the general apprehension was that she had behaved badly in attempting to prevent her husband's access to her fortune. There had also been an affair between her and the brother of one of the lawyers, which became public knowledge, and, Stoney Bowes alleged, an affair with her footman, George Walker. The divorce was finalised in a trial which revealed how Bowes had systematically deprived the Countess of her liberty and abused her. Stoney Bowes died in prison, on June 16 1810.

Some years later, the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray heard Bowes' life story from the Countess' grandson, and used it in his novel "The Luck of Barry Lyndon".

Retirement

After 1792, the Countess lived quietly in Purbrook Park in Hampshire. She later moved to Stourfield House, an isolated mansion on the edge of the village of Pokesdown in Christchurch, Hampshire, where she could live feeling that she was ". . . out of the world . . "

Local people found the countess very strange, if not actually mad, but once they heard of her tribulations they understood that she had good reasons to be odd. Mary's sons by Lyon seldom visited their mother, and never stayed for long, but two daughters lived with her, Lady Jessop from her first marriage, and Miss Bowes from the second.

Mary brought to Stourfield a full establishment of servants, and a dearly loved companion Miss Morgan, who died in 1796 and was buried at Christchurch beneath a brass plaque composed by Lady Strathmore to honour her friend. Following this death The Countess did not socialise at all, she spent most of her time looking after pet animals, including a large number of dogs, for whom hot dinners were cooked daily. The Countess offered £10 reward when one of the dogs "Flora" went missing in 1798. It was found dead by Farmer Dale, who declined the reward, on account of the great kindnesses previously shown by the Countess to him and his wife.

She frequently had dinners cooked for men working in the fields, and had sent beer out to refresh them. One of the countess' few joys was to see her daughter Miss Bowes learning to ride. She used to ride a dozen miles before breakfast, and managed to remain seated when her mount attempted to roll in the river at Iford one hot day, this won her great admiration from the locals. At this time riding gave great independence, journey times were about a third that of going by coach.

Miss Bowes also followed her mother's example, and was constantly generous to the poor of the area. Towards the close of the century Mary Lady Strathmore called in some trusted friends from Pokesdown village to witness her final will, and began making presents of dresses and other items to the community. She also left an annuity for Widow Lockyer of Pokesdown Farm, which her daughter Lady Jessop continued to pay until she moved to Ringwood, Mr Colby administered the annuity then, until Widow Lockyer's death.

Mary died in 1800, according to the locals the countess was buried as requested in a court dress, with all the accessories necessary for a Royal audience, plus a small silver trumpet. Other reports have it that she was buried in a bridal dress. Undertakers came down from London with a hearse and three mourning carriages, and Mary was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey.

Soon after this the contents of Stourfield house were sold. Mr. Bowes was released from prison on her death, and unsuccessfully attempted to invalidate Mary's will, when he lost the case he was sued by his own lawyers for their expenses and put back in jail. Bowes died in 1810.

Details of Mary's life at Stourfield House were preserved in the transcribed memories of an elderly Pokesdown resident. As an immediate legacy Mary left the villagers with memories of a woman whom they loved and respected for her continuing generosity. A later legacy, which has lasted far longer that Mary's fame, is her name. The Earls of Strathmore, from whom the Queen Mother descends, still use Bowes-Lyon as the family name.

Her tombstone is in the Poets' Corner.

References

*Arnold, Ralph, "The Unhappy Countess" (1957)
*Foot, Jesse, "The Lives of Andrew Robinson Bowes, Esq., and the Countess of Strathmore, written from thirty-three years professional attendance, from Letters and other well authenticated documents" (1810)
*Marshall, Rosalind K., "Bowes, Mary Eleanor, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1749–1800)", H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford: OUP, 2004, 18 November 2006 ( [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.hil.unb.ca/view/article/3056] )
*Parker, Derek, "The Trampled Wife" (2006)

External links

* [http://www.sunnisidelocalhistorysociety.co.uk/bowes.html Bowes and Strathmores]
* [http://www.sunnisidelocalhistorysociety.co.uk/eleanor.html Mary Eleanor Bowes Countess of Strathmore]