Andrew Robinson Stoney, later renamed Andrew Robinson Stoney-Bowes, (1747–1810) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

member of parliament, high sheriff and criminal. Stoney grew up at Greyfort House,

Borrisokane Borrisokane () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is situated at the junction of the N52 and N65 national secondary roads. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 942. The Ballyfinboy River flows through the town on its way to Lough ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

in Ireland, son of George Stoney and Elizabeth Johnston. His grandfather, Thomas Stoney, had migrated to Ireland from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England, in the wake of the Williamite conquest of Ireland, 1689–91. While Andrew Stoney-Bowes was a member of parliament for

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

(1780–4) and also

High Sheriff of Durham This is a list of the High Sheriffs of County Durham, England. In most counties the High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. In the Palatinate of Durham the officeholder was appointed by and was accountable to the Bishop of D ...

, he is perhaps best remembered for his marriage to

Mary Eleanor Bowes Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (24 February 1749 – 28 April 1800) was a notable member of the British aristocracy during the Georgian period (18th century). Referred to by some as "The Unhappy Countess", she was a ...

, the

Dowager Countess A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property—a "dower"—derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles. In popular usage, the noun ...

of Strathmore and Kinghorne, during which, it was later shown, he was severely abusive towards his wife. Mary Eleanor Bowes became known as "The Unhappy Countess", perhaps due to the abuse she suffered, and their marriage ended in scandal. The story of Stoney-Bowes and the Countess of Strathmore was later fictionalised by

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

in ''

The Luck of Barry Lyndon ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Thacker ...

''.

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

later adapted the novel into the 1975 award-winning film ''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard ...

''.

Early life

First marriage

Stoney's first wife, Hannah, was the daughter of William Newton of

Burnopfield Burnopfield is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated north of Stanley and Annfield Plain, close to the River Derwent and is 564 feet above sea level. There are around 4,553 inhabitants in Burnopfield. It is located 7 miles from ...

. It was widely believed that Stoney Bowes caused her death to assume her inheritance.

Second marriage

Mary Eleanor Bowes, the widowed Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, was engaged to her lover, George Gray, in the summer of 1777 when she met the outwardly charming but wily

adventurer, Andrew Robinson Stoney, who manipulated his way into her household and her bed. Calling himself "Captain Stoney" – although he was in reality a lieutenant in the British Army – he insisted on fighting a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

in Mary's honour with the editor of ''

The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

'' newspaper which had published scurrilous articles about her private life. In fact, he had himself written the articles that criticised her, as well as those defending her; and the duel between Stoney and the newspaper's editor was probably staged. Pretending to be mortally wounded in the duel, Stoney persuaded the countess as his dying wish to marry him. He was carried to the altar on a stretcher for his marriage to the Countess. Staging a miraculous recovery immediately after the marriage, Stoney took his wife's surname (as stipulated by her father's will) and was styled Andrew Robinson Stoney Bowes. He served as

in 1780 and was elected MP for

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

later the same year, serving until he lost the next election in 1784. After his marriage to the Countess, he behaved brutally towards her in a sustained catalogue of abuse, including physical, mental and financial abuse. When he discovered that she had secretly made a pre-nuptial agreement safeguarding her finances, he forced her to sign a revocation handing control to him. Among other outrages, he imprisoned her in her own house, and forced her and one of her daughters to go into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

in Paris. They returned after a writ had been served on him. At the same time he raped the maids, invited prostitutes into the home and fathered numerous

illegitimate children Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

. Mary Eleanor gave birth in August 1777 to a daughter Mary, probably the child of her prior liaison with Gray. Bowes took the girl as his own child and the birth was registered as such in November 1777, but he later broadcast her illegitimacy. The couple had a son, William Johnstone Bowes, born on 8 May 1782. Finally, in 1785, with the help of loyal maids, the Countess managed to escape his custody and filed for divorce through the ecclesiastical courts. Having lost the first round of this courtroom battle, Stoney Bowes abducted Mary with the help of a gang of accomplices, carried her off to the north country, threatened to rape and to kill 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. The legal battles continued. Stoney Bowes and his accomplices were found guilty of conspiracy to abduct Mary, and he was sentenced to three years in prison. Meanwhile, he lost the divorce case and the battle to retain the Bowes fortune. The trials were sensational and the talk of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Although the countess initially won public sympathy, Bowes eventually turned many against her – partly because of the

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

s he succeeded in putting about (buying shares in a newspaper for the purpose and publishing the 'Confessions' he had earlier forced her to write) – 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. Mary finally obtained her divorce at the

High Court of Delegates High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

on 2 March 1789 which revealed how Bowes had systematically deprived the countess of her liberty and abused her. Andrew Robinson Stoney-Bowes died on 16 January 1810 in the Rules of the

King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were hea ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, London. Many years later, Thackeray learned of Stoney Bowes' life story from the Countess's grandson

John Bowes John Bowes may refer to: *John George Bowes (c. 1812–1864), Canadian politician *John Bowes (art collector) (1811–1885), English art collector and thoroughbred racehorse owner **John Bowes (steamship), ''John Bowes'' (steamship), 1852 steam coll ...

and used it in his novel ''

''.

References

Sources

* 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) ** * Parker, Derek, ''The Trampled Wife'' (2006) * Moore, Wendy, Wedlock: How Georgian Britain's Worst Husband Met his Match (2009)

External links