Caroline Norton

Caroline Norton was born on March 22, 1808, to Thomas Sheridan and Caroline Henrietta Callander. Her father was an actor, soldier and colonel administrator by profession, and her mother was an author. She had two sisters, one elder and one younger.

After the death of her father in 1817, the family faced serious financial crisis. With the assistance from Prince Frederick, an old friend of her grandfather, they found shelter at Hampton Court Palace.

Young Caroline was extremely intelligent, witty and talented. In 1823, she attended a boarding school in Shalford, Surrey. Following year, she first met George Chappal Norton, a shiftless barrister and younger brother of Lord Grantley. Infatuated by the beauty of young Caroline, he proposed marriage almost instantly but the offer was turned down. In 1825, she returned home.

Caroline along with her sisters was introduced to the elite of the London society in 1825. Though she was beautiful, it was her intellectual disposition that gained a long list of admirers.

At the age of nineteen, she was yet again proposed by Norton, who had been elected as the Member of Parliament and hoped to make a career as a Tory. Though she was not keen on getting married to him, succumbing to the pressure of her mother, she conceded.

On July 30, 1827, she married George Norton, at St George’s Hanover Square, London. The marriage was a complete mismatch, her independent spirit being a stark contrast to his aggressive nature. He was a jealous and possessive husband and often got into violent fits.

Norton’s unsuccessful career further ignited his furious side of which she was a constant victim. Nevertheless, she supported him and used her charm and witty nature to make political connections that in turn helped him advance his career.

She resorted to writing which not only comforted her from her tortured marriage but also brought in financial independence and assistance. Her first publication was a book entitled, ‘The Sorrows of Rosalie: A Tale With Other Poems’ in which she penned a long narrative poem about the downfall of a seduced woman. The book was well received.

Caroline Norton’s best known works include her polemical pamphlets ‘Observations on the Natural Claim of a Mother to the Custody of her Children as affected by the Common Law Right of the Father’ and ‘Separation of Mother and Child by the Laws of Custody of Infants Considered’ that led to the establishment of Custody of Infants Act 1839, Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 and Married Women’s Property Act 1870