On 14th March 1797 Mary Elizabeth Lyon wrote to Charles Wren, possibly her family solicitor, from her home at Hetton House, County Durham. She warned Charles that they ‘should be on their guard’ when dealing with ‘Sir H. Vane’s coal’ and ended her letter by sending ‘her regards to Mrs Wren and Emma’.
Correspondence between Mary Elizabeth Lyon and Charles Wren, dating from the late 1700s, can be found within the Dickson, Archer and Thorp Collection. It is thought this vast collection of letters came to the Dickson, Archer and Thorp firm when they took in Wren’s business documents and accounts. Wren had served in Northumberland as an ‘Under-sheriff’ during the 1780s.
The letters mainly contain legal advice regarding coal mining, accounts and business deals, but they also contain personal information and family updates. During the summer of 1797 Mary Elizabeth sent Wren a bill to be paid to a Mrs Hann for a pianoforte, bought for Mary Elizabeth’s children Elizabeth, John and Charlotte. The pianoforte was taken to Mr Broadwood’s of Putney to be fitted for stands and additional keys. Mary Elizabeth’s letters often refer to the illness of her children, with all appearing to suffer from breathing issues. She specifically mentions her daughter Elizabeth, who experienced long bouts of illness in the spring of 1797.
In another letter, dated 17th September 1797, Mary Elizabeth apologised for her ‘sad, tiresome family’ and described how ‘Bessy’ (most likely the sickly Elizabeth) was doing well and enjoying the ‘waters of Bristol’. The family to which Mary refers could be either her own family or her in-laws.
Mary-Elizabeth was the daughter of Farren Wren and had been born in Binchester, County Durham. She married the Hon. Thomas Lyon on 13th June 1774. Her new husband was the third son of Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and his wife Jean Nicholson, who originally hailed from Rainton, County Durham. Thomas had matriculated from Pembroke College Cambridge in the late 1750s and was a Fellow at the university during the early 1760s. During the late 1760s Thomas won a difficult election battle to become MP for the Aberdeen Burghs. He was re-elected to this position in 1774. Thomas and Mary resided at Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham. The estate had belonged to Thomas’ mother, Jean, and Thomas believed it possessed ‘good coal’. The couple had eight children; John (d. 1829), Mary (d. 1803), Anne (unknown), Frances (d. 1863) who married Thomas Thurlow, Charlotte (d.1871) who married Henry-George Liddle of Ravensworth Castle, Susannah (d. 1864) who married Rev J Fellowes, Mary Anne (unknown), and Charles (d. 1859).
The Lyon family are perhaps most notable for being the ancestors of Queen Elizabeth II, through her mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Mary Elizabeth’s ‘tiresome’ family also included one of the most complicated characters of the eighteenth century – Mary Eleanor Bowes. Mary Eleanor was Mary Elizabeth’s sister-in-law. Whereas Mary Elizabeth had married the younger Lyon son, Mary Eleanor had married John Lyon, the 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Mary Eleanor became heiress to the Bowes fortune on the death of her father, George Bowes, in 1760. George was a powerful coal magnate and had held great estates and castles across the North of England, including Gibside and Streatlam. He stipulated in his will that any man who was to marry his only daughter, and heir, Mary Eleanor would have to take on the name the ‘Bowes’ in order to inherit. This stipulation was an unusual act in the patriarchal society of eighteenth century England. Hence John Lyon became John Bowes, although their children often hyphenated their name thus creating the well-known ‘Bowes-Lyon’.
Relations between Mary Eleanor and her Lyon in-laws became strained when John died in 1776. In 1777 the Dowager Countess remarried in a dramatic ceremony. Her new husband was the little-known Andrew Robinson Stoney, a lieutenant in the British Army. He had fought a duel to protect her honour from slanderous gossip which had appeared in a national paper, The Morning Post. During the duel, with The Morning Post’s own editor, Stoney was ‘mortally wounded’ and physicians believed he would not last the night. Mary Eleanor heard of the duel and rushed to Stoney’s death bed. She agreed to marry him in a hastily arranged ceremony conducted at St James’ Church whilst Stoney lay on a stretcher, believing it to be his dying wish. But the duel and fatal injuries had all been a ruse; Stoney now possessed the Bowes fortune and Mary Eleanor.
News of the ad-hoc ceremony shocked the Lyon family. Thomas, Mary Elizabeth’s husband, was particularly infuriated at the situation. He had been made responsible for the financial welfare of his nephews and nieces through his brother’s will and proceeded with legal action to remove the children from their mother and new step-father.
Almost immediately after his ‘miraculous’ recovery from the brink of death Stoney turned violent towards his new bride; subjecting Mary Eleanor to eight years of physical and emotional abuse. During this time the Bowes-Lyon children remained under the jurisdiction of their uncle Thomas, who became responsible for their education and care. In 1785 Mary Eleanor escaped from her brutal marriage and filed for divorce through the ecclesiastical courts.
During the court process Mary Eleanor hid from her abusive husband, but Stoney sent a gang to find and abduct her. Chased by her relatives and the authorities Stoney forcibly took her through the harsh Northern countryside and attempted to beat her back into submission. The horror became national scandal and the Lyon family were once again thrust into the spotlight. Mary Eleanor was eventually rescued and Stoney stood trial for abduction. He was found guilty of conspiracy to abduct Mary Eleanor and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Their divorce was never officially granted, but Stoney lost any rights to the Bowes-Lyon fortune. Mary Eleanor died in 1800 and has since been immortalized as the ‘Unhappy Countess’.
The letters found in the Dickson, Archer and Thorp collection reveal Mary Elizabeth’s feelings towards the Bowes-Lyon children in the years following the scandal. These letters are especially important as they reveal how the familial relationships endured after a particularly fraught period, and reveal Mary Elizabeth’s family-centric character. In one letter, dated January 1797, generous payments were made to Lady Anne Jessop (Mary Eleanor’s third child, a head-strong girl who eloped with Henry Jessop only to return to her family when her experience began to mirror that of her mother.) In drafts of Thomas’ own will, also held amongst the documents, Mary Eleanor and her eldest son John, the 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, are frequently mentioned, as Thomas verified their claim to the Lyon’s Scottish estates and reiterated his loyalty to the young Earl.
Thomas Lyon died on 13th September 1796, Mary Elizabeth Lyon died 13th May 1811.
