Theresa Yelverton
Encyclopedia
Theresa Yelverton was an English
woman who became notorious because of her involvement in the Yelverton case
, a 19th century Irish
law case, which eventually resulted in a change to the law on mixed religion marriages in Ireland.
She was born Maria Theresa Longworth in 1833 in Cheetwood, Lancashire, England. After meeting Major William Charles Yelverton, Viscount Avonmore
on a steamer in August 1852, falling in love with him, and pursuing him for several years, she claimed to have married him secretly in on 15 August 1857 at Rostrevor, County Down, Ireland, and to have earned the title Thérèse Yelverton, Viscountess Avonmore. She was a nurse in 1857 in Galata, Russia during the Crimean War
.
However, the Viscount remarried within the year, bringing about a series of trials (most notably, Thelwall v. Yelverton, between 21 February 1861 and 4 March 1861) during the course of which he allegedly used his influence with the House of Lords
to annul his first marriage. The case brought notoriety and created very mixed feelings. "Theresa was alternately vilified and celebrated, portrayed as a victim who had been 'mercilessly abandoned' and accused of being a lascivious seducer. Sometimes she was depicted as innocent and pure, at others as a ruthless social climber. After six years of trials and appeals, she finally lost her case. In the process, however, she had become a minor celebrity."
Afterwards, she led an itinerant life and supported herself by writing about her travels. Francis Farquhar wrote that she "spent the summer of 1870 in Yosemite
, where she attached herself to the Hutchings family and made eyes at John Muir
. He escaped to the woods, but not before she had noted enough of his conversation and his ways of life to make him over into Kenmuir, the hero of her novel."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
woman who became notorious because of her involvement in the Yelverton case
Yelverton case
The Yelverton case was a famous 19th century Irish law case, which eventually resulted in a change to the law on mixed religion marriages in Ireland.Under a Statute of King George II The Yelverton case was a famous 19th century Irish law case, which eventually resulted in a change to the law on...
, a 19th century Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
law case, which eventually resulted in a change to the law on mixed religion marriages in Ireland.
She was born Maria Theresa Longworth in 1833 in Cheetwood, Lancashire, England. After meeting Major William Charles Yelverton, Viscount Avonmore
William Yelverton, 4th Viscount Avonmore
Major William Charles Yelverton, 4th Viscount Avonmore was an Irish nobleman and soldier. He was the son of Barry John Yelverton, 3rd Viscount Avonmore and Cecilia O'Keeffe. Major William Charles Yelverton gained the rank of Major in the service of the Royal Artillery...
on a steamer in August 1852, falling in love with him, and pursuing him for several years, she claimed to have married him secretly in on 15 August 1857 at Rostrevor, County Down, Ireland, and to have earned the title Thérèse Yelverton, Viscountess Avonmore. She was a nurse in 1857 in Galata, Russia during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
.
However, the Viscount remarried within the year, bringing about a series of trials (most notably, Thelwall v. Yelverton, between 21 February 1861 and 4 March 1861) during the course of which he allegedly used his influence with the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
to annul his first marriage. The case brought notoriety and created very mixed feelings. "Theresa was alternately vilified and celebrated, portrayed as a victim who had been 'mercilessly abandoned' and accused of being a lascivious seducer. Sometimes she was depicted as innocent and pure, at others as a ruthless social climber. After six years of trials and appeals, she finally lost her case. In the process, however, she had become a minor celebrity."
Afterwards, she led an itinerant life and supported herself by writing about her travels. Francis Farquhar wrote that she "spent the summer of 1870 in Yosemite
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
, where she attached herself to the Hutchings family and made eyes at John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
. He escaped to the woods, but not before she had noted enough of his conversation and his ways of life to make him over into Kenmuir, the hero of her novel."
External links
- Martyrs To Circumstance; London: Richard Bentley 1861.
- Saint Augustine, Florida. Sketches of its history, objects of interest, and advantages as a resort for health and recreation; G.P. Putnam & Son: 1869
- Teresina Peregrina; Or, Fifty Thousand Miles of Travel Round the World; two volumes, London: Richard Bentley and Son: 1874
- Teresina In America; two volumes, London: Richard Bentley and Son: 1875
- http://thepeerage.com/p5455.htmThe Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959 by G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, UK: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume I, pg. 363; also known as The Complete Peerage]
External links and sources
- "Wild Romance" a biography of Yelverton by Chloe Schama
- The Yelverton Marriage Scandal
- "Persons and Problems," William Frederic Badè, Life and Letters of John Muir (1924)
- Linnie Marsh Wolfe, Son of the Wilderness, pp. 136-142 (1946) discusses Yelverton and Muir. ISBN 0-299-18634-2
- Zanita: A Tale of the Yo-semite (1872)
- "Introduction" and "Preface" from the 1991 reprint of Zanita, by Margaret Sanborn and Kate Reed, respectively. ISBN 0-89815-410-3
- "Tale of a Tooth", Overland Monthly 11:5 pgs. 434-9 (November 1873) Yelverton's article on Budda's tooth
- Charles Warren Stoddard, the Footprints of the Padres (San Francisco: A. M. Robertson, 1902) (Library of Congress American Memory) discusses Mrs. Yelverton