Description

Caroline Norton dazzled nineteenthcentury society with her vivacity her intelligence her poetry and in her role as an artists muse After her marriage in 1828 to the MP George Norton she continued to attract friends and admirers to her salon in Westminster Most prominent among her admirers was the widowed Prime Minister Lord Melbourne

Racked with jealousy George Norton took the Prime Minister to court suing him for damages on account of his adultery with Caroline A dramatic trial followed Despite the unexpected and sensational resultacquittalNorton was still able to legally deny Caroline access to her children He also claimed her income as an author for himself since the copyrights of a married woman belonged to her husband

Yet Caroline refused to despair Beset by the personal cruelties perpetrated by her husband and a society whose rules were set against her she chose to fight She channeled her energies in an area of muchneeded reform the rights of a married woman and specifically those of a mother She campaigned tirelessly achieving her first landmark victory with the Infant Custody Act of 1839 Provisions which are now taken for granted owe much to Caroline who was determined to secure justice for women at all levels of society from the privileged to the dispossessed