Hunt greatly enjoyed his time at Ockham, but he was unable to escape the family’s philanthropic passion and, when leaving, was asked if he could assist in the matter of a young women who had fallen on hard times and in whom the Lushington family has taken a particular interest. After returning home, Hunt made arrangements for the girl to start a new life in Australia.50
More Byron Troubles
When Lord Byron died in Greece in 1824, it might be thought that it would bring an end his former wife’s trouble. However, this was not the case. In 1830, there appeared a controversial biography of the poet, written by his friend Thomas Moore, which was entirely biased toward Byron and went so far as to imply that it was necessary for his marriage to fail. Lady Byron did not fare well in the book and turned to Lushington for advice. Sarah Lushington came down heavily upon Lord Byron despite Lady Byron chiding her for her strong feelings.51
Thirty-nine years later, Harriett Beecher Stowe weighed into the debate concerning the truth about the Byron’s marriage when she wrote Lady Byron Vindicated: A History of the Byron Controversy, in which she sought to clear Lady Byron of many of the accusations that had been made against her. However, the result was the opposite and further controversy led Lushington to write to Lord Lovelace that a great deal of the book was untrue and could not have been stated by Lady Noel Byron as the writer implied.52
NOTES
1. Margaret Holford Hodson (1778–1852). Her novel Warbeck of Wolfstein (1820) was a reaction to Lord Byron’s treatment of his wife.
2. Joanna Baillie to Margaret Holford Hodson, October 2, 1837. The Collected Letters of Joanna Baillie. Vol. 2, ed. Judith Bailey Slagle (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press).
3. Journal of Sir T.F. Buxton. Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House. MSS. Brit. Emp. S. 444.
4. Priscilla Johnston (formerly Buxton) to Sarah Buxton and Anna Gurney, April 9, 1835, Buxton Papers, 13, 442.
5. Stephen Lushington to Frances Carr, n.d. SHC 7854/1/6/7.
6. Although the “little dumb girl” is not named, it is possible that it was Laura Lushington.
7. Joanna Baillie to Mrs William Baillie, August 21, 1838. The Collected Letters of Joanna Baillie. Vol. 1.
8. Stephen Lushington to Frances Carr. n.d. SHC7854/1/6/8.
9. The first Peter King, who was elevated to the peerage in 1725, chose to be known as Baron King of Ockham after the Surrey estate which he had purchased in 1707.
10. For more on Horsley Towers, as the house is now known, see Ian Nairn and Nikolaus Pevsner’s Surrey in the Buildings of England series published by Penguin Books 1962, revised 1971.
11. Lovelace Byron 56 fols. 39–40. Bodleian Library.
12. The Morning Post, June 30, 1845.
13. William Keane, The Beauties of Surrey (London: R. Groombridge & Sons, Paternoster Row, 1849).
14. Stephen Lushington to Frances Carr. n.d. SHC 7854/1/7/2.
15. South Eastern Gazette, July 13, 1847.
16. For more on Lady Byron and Education see Brian W. Taylor, “Annabella, Lady Noel-Byron: A Study of Lady Byron on Education,” History of Education Quarterly Vol. 38, no. 4 (Winter, 1998), pp. 430–55.
17. Lady Lovelace papers and correspondence relating to education are in Lovelace Byron papers 119 fols. 15–232 at the Bodleian Library.
18. Lady Byron to Joanna Baillie. Bodleian Library, Lovelace Byron 188/189.
19. Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education 1857–8. George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1858, p. 557.
20. Barbara Bodichon was a cousin to Beatrice Anne Smith who married Godfrey Lushington. Another cousin, through the Smith family, was Florence Nightingale.
21. Unknown author to Barbara Bodichon, undated but likely to be c. 1855. 7BMC/E/11. The Women’s Library, London Metropolitan University.
22. Harriet Martineau to William Wells Brown, 14 March 1851. The Collected Letters of Harriet Martineau, eds. D. Logan and V. Sanders (Pickering Chatto, 2007).
23. Leeds Mercury, 9 October 1852.
24. Stephen Lushington to Alice Lushington, November 27, 1856. SHC785/1/8/9.
25. Stephen Lushington to Frances Lushington, January 13, 1867. SHC7854/1/7/40. Major Pitcairn Onslow, JP was Stephen Lushington’s neighbor who lived at Dunsborough Court, Ripley.
26. Wentworth Bequest. BL. Add MS 53817-54155.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
30. Stephen Lushington to Lord Lovelace, May 30, 1867. Bodleian Library Dep. Lovelace Byron 173, fols, 58–59.
31. Charles a’Court Repington, Vestiga. Reminiscences of Peace and War (Houghton Mifflin, 1919). Repington, a son of Charles Henry Wyndham a’Court Repington and Emily Currie of West Horsley Place, Surrey, had a distinguished military career. For part of his life, he lived at Maryon Hall, Hampstead, the former home of the Carr family.
32. Evelyn Abbott and Lewis Campbell, The Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett, M.A. Master of Balliol College, Oxford (John Murray, 1897), Vol. 1, pp. 227.
33. SHC 7854/3/6/7/23.
34. William of Ockham (1285–1347), the English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher and theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham.
35. F. Maurice, The Life of F.D. Maurice (London: Macmillan & Co., 1884), Vol.II, p. 354. It was during this visit that Maurice and his wife were taken to explore the Surrey countryside. On a visit to nearby Albury, their carriage met with an accident but, fortunately, none of the occupants was seriously injured.
36. Essays and Reviews, ed. John William Parker (Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860).
37. Diary of Charles Buxton, October 30, 1859. BL, Add Ms 87180. “On Sunday I walked over & dined at Dr Lushington’s, who are all full of life & sweetness as usual. I note that his talk is almost wholly confined to personal reminisces—& most, very trifling ones—but the charm of his manner & voice gives them value. And many of his stories are excellent.”
38. Ibid. July 16, 1846. BL, Add Ms 87162.
39. Ibid, November 26, 1849. BL, Add Ms 87162.
40. Ibid, December 2, 1853. BL, Add Ms 87168.
41. Sir James Gambier served as Consul-General in Portugal 1802–1808, Brazil 1808–1814, and the Netherlands 1814–1826.
42. Stephen Lushington to Frances Lushington, December 1849. SHC7854/1/7/5.
43. William’s son, Henry, Earl of Darlington, later Second Duke of Cleveland 1788–1864, served as Member of Parliament for Tregony (1818–1826) and was succeeded there by Stephen Lushington.
44. A further portrait of
