The Russell case, also called the Ampthill baby case, was a series of proceedings related to the conception of
Geoffrey Russell. It covered two divorce cases and the claim to the British peerage title
Baron Ampthill
Baron Ampthill, of Ampthill in the County of Bedfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 March 1881 for the diplomat Lord Odo Russell. He was the third son of Major-General Lord George Russell, second son o ...
, and the possibility of a
virgin birth.
John Russell, the heir apparent to
Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill
Arthur Oliver Villiers Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill (19 February 1869 – 7 July 1935) was a British peer, rower, and civil servant. He served as Governor of Madras from October 1900 to February 1906, and as acting Viceroy of India from April t ...
, married Christabel Hart in 1918. In 1921 Christabel discovered she was about five months pregnant. The couple had not fully consummated their marriage, though they had slept in the same bed in Oakley House for a night the preceding December. John sued for divorce on grounds of adultery, naming two
co-respondent
In English law, a co-respondent is, in general, a respondent to a petition, or other legal proceeding, along with another or others, or a person called upon to answer in some other way. 7.4.19
Divorce
More particularly, since the Matrimonial Ca ...
s and one unknown. Christabel claimed she was a virgin and produced medical expert evidence that prior to the birth of Geoffrey in October 1921 she had an only partly perforated
hymen
The hymen is a thin piece of mucosal tissue that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening. It forms part of the vulva, or external genitalia, and is similar in structure to the vagina.
In children, a common appearance of the ...
. She also claimed that her husband had undertaken "Hunnish (that is to say Barbaric) scenes" and had attempted to rape her on the night in question, and that she had used a sponge he had previously used.
In the initial divorce case ''Russell v. Russell'' in 1922, the two named co-respondents were acquitted while the case for the unnamed partner was inconclusive. In the second divorce case in 1923, Christabel was convicted of adultery and lost on appeal, but had the verdict overturned on further appeal to the House of Lords which ruled in 1924 that no child born after a marriage could be declared illegitimate merely on the testimony of his mother or father. The scandal led to the enactment of the
Judicial Proceedings (Regulation of Reports) Act 1926 to prevent detailed evidence in divorce cases appearing in newspapers.
The couple remained separated, and were finally divorced after John had become 3rd
Baron Ampthill
Baron Ampthill, of Ampthill in the County of Bedfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 March 1881 for the diplomat Lord Odo Russell. He was the third son of Major-General Lord George Russell, second son o ...
in 1935. Lord Ampthill married secondly Sibell Faithfull Lumley, who died in 1947 without issue. Lord Ampthill then married, as his third wife, Adeline Hone in 1948, and they had two children: John in 1950 and Georgiana in 1952.
John died in 1973 and the younger John challenged Geoffrey's right to inherit the Ampthill barony. In 1976, the House of Lords Committee For Privileges reported that the younger John had not made out his claim, so confirming Geoffrey as the 4th Baron Ampthill; Geoffrey's mother died while the case was under consideration.
Inside story: Oakley House
Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
02 September 2000
References
{{Reflist
Russell family
Scandals in England
Ampthill
Divorce law in the United Kingdom
1922 in British law
1976 in British law