Introduction 1 The Bristol Elopement: Clementina Clarke & Richard Vining Perry Naomi Clifford 2Hoax!: The mystery of the Stockwell elopement Naomi Clifford 3Lord Thurlow's Grief: Caroline Hervey & Samuel Brown Naomi Clifford 4'A Man of Fashion': Ann Wade & Charles Baseley Naomi Clifford 5A Tragical Drama: Augusta Nicholson & John Giles Naomi Clifford 6The Shrigley Abduction Ellen Turner & Edward Gibbon Wakefield Naomi Clifford 7An Irregular Marriage: Arthur Annesley Powell & Jemima Neate Sarah Murden 8'These Feelings Ripened into Love': Sydney Hamilton & Benjamin Beresford Naomi Clifford 9The ladies of Llangollen: Eleanor Butler & Sarah Ponsonby Naomi Clifford 10 The Abduction Clubs of Ireland: Garret Byrne, James Strange & the Kennedy sisters Naomi Clifford 11 The Miser's Granddaughter: Emily Elwes & Thomas Duffield Joanne Major 12 'We Fly by Night': Mary Burton & William Fields Joanne Major 13 'This Love Hath Turn'd Thy Brain': Richard Brinsley Sheridan & Elizabeth Linley Joanne Major 14 'The Last Solace of My Life': Marcia Grant & Brinsley Sheridan Naomi Clifford 15 Elopement in the news 1759-1837 Notes218 Index223
TALES OF HUMAN FRAILTY, GREED AND OBSESSION AND, OCCASIONALLY, LOVE "The eldest son of a great family, a youth of eighteen, has, we hear, lately eloped to Scotland, with his mother's maid" - Leeds Intelligencer, 7 May 1765 "A young lady eloped with a French dancing-master. She is said to have no less than £70,000 in her own possession" - Derby Mercury, 14 February 1777 "The young lady rose from the bed and escaped out of a window. An officer is supposed to have been waiting for her in a single horse chaise, which he had previously hired..." - Leeds Intelligencer, 21 October 1805 Why was runaway marriage such a phenomenon in the Georgian era? Should some elopements more accurately be described as abductions? Newspapers, plays and paintings portrayed the romance of elopement - but what was the reality? Naomi Clifford delves into the archives to bring to light a fascinating selection of long-forgotten stories of desperation, greed, obsession and, occasionally, true love. With contributions by Sarah Murden and Joanne Major
