February 28, 2023 • 36 mins
*Note: this episode contains sexual situations.* Lady Seymour Fleming's husband was suing her lover into destitution. She would rather destroy herself than let her husband win. Support Noble Blood:
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised. Just about
halfway between Edinburgh and London, on the outskirts of the
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northern English city of Leeds sit an idyllic Palladian country
manner known as Harewood House. Although I will say between
the magnificently kept gardens and freshly manicured lawns decorating the
thousand acre estate, the word house is really too modest
(00:44):
a word to describe the Downton Abbey fantasy fever dream
the property more closely resembles, especially considering Downton Abbey actually
used Harewood House as a location to film the latest
installment in their franchise. But should you decide to visit.
(01:05):
If you venture beyond the estate's front doors and into
one of the many drawing rooms, you might encounter a
portrait whose subject doesn't quite aligne with the fairytale romance
esthetic of the place. At first glance. Maybe nothing about
the painting or the woman it depicts is notably out
(01:27):
of the ordinary. If anything, the eye might be first
drawn toward what the woman is wearing juxtaposed against a
backdrop of muted brown foliage. The woman in the portrait,
Lady Worsley, faces the viewer wearing a striking vermilion red
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riding habit and satin white kitten heels. She stands with
her right foot peeking forward, her left hand perched on
her hip, in a gesture that els intentional powerful. Even
this is not a woman wearing bright red who shrinks
into the background, especially not if the writing crop in
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her right hand has anything to say about it. The
lapels and sleeve cuffs of her jacket are lined with
a deep navy trim and white button detailing, akin to
an eighteenth century British military uniform. It's an artistic choice
which may on its own seem peculiar, but only until
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the viewer understands that this portrait is one in a
set of two. There is a matching portrait of the
woman's husband, Sir Richard Worsley, in a similar red British
military uniform. But anyone coming to Harewood House in hopes
of comparing the two paintings side by side will be
(02:57):
sorely disappointed. In fact, the two paintings have not been
in the same room in well over two hundred years,
mirroring the dismal relationship of their real life counterparts. In truth,
the primary reason anyone these days really remembers the woman
(03:18):
in the portrait is because she was the subject of
one of the most infamous sex scandals of the eighteenth century.
The papers would accuse Lady Worsley of having sexual relations
with upwards of twenty seven men, but it wasn't the
men who caused the scandal so much as it was
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who had asked them to appear in court to testify
in the first place. On this podcast, it's a rare
day that I get to tell a story before the
twentieth century, or frankly even after it, in which a
woman has any sort of control over her own life.
It's hard for women to hold any power in a
(04:02):
society that essentially considered them property. But in the case
of Lady Worsley, when her husband chose to sue her
lover to attempt to bankrupt him, her husband could never
have imagined that his wife would choose to rather orchestrate
her own social ruin than watch him take even one
(04:26):
more piece of happiness away from her. When looking at
her portrait in Harewood House, it's easy to read into
Lady Worsley's red dress and riding crop as cheap symbols
of sexuality that perhaps further carved the metaphorical scarlet a
into her legacy. But you can also see a woman
(04:49):
dressed for battle, waiting for her moment. In her uniform.
She faces the viewer head on the hand on her hip,
almost challenging us, as if she's saying, if I'm going down,
then I'm taking you down with me. I'm Dana Schwartz
(05:11):
and this is noble blood. From an early age, it
was clear Richard Worsley was never destined for greatness. The
Worsley family may have owned the Epoldercombe estate in the
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Isle of Wight, but the Worsley name had long since
slipped into social obscurity. They may have enjoyed political prominence
sometime around the early seventeenth century, but by the mid
eighteenth they were characterized as little more than a family
of uncultured country bumpkins, another mindless vote for the Tory Party.
(06:00):
One anonymous source described the family as quote never having
been remarkable for producing either heroes or conjurors. It's an
opinion which seemed to have extended to the newest baronet
of Apaldcombe. As a teenager, Young Richard Worsley's schoolmates had
taken to calling him Dick Tardy due to the lengths
(06:24):
in which he consistently quote lagged so far behind, and
unfortunately for him, it seemed as if this name would
become a self fulfilling property. When it came time for
him to court a wife. As is the case for
most average men, Sir Richard Worsley was convinced he deserved
(06:45):
nothing less than the absolute best, which is why in
seventeen seventy two Worsley made it clear that he would
make none other than Jane Fleming his wife by the
year's end. If you're a fan of the net Show Bridgerton,
Jane Fleming would have been what they described as the
diamond of the season. The elder of the two daughters
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born to Sir John and Lady Jane Fleming, the younger
Jane was a pinnacle of late eighteenth century femininity. Her delicate,
almost ethereal beauty was only accentuated by the effortless grace
she carried herself with, inspiring some to describe her as
quote an ornament to her sex. The eager eyes of
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society gossips watched closely as she charmed her way through
London's most elite circles. They were all keen to see
exactly who would win over the coveted Jane Fleming, especially
since rumor had it that her heart came with the
attached incentive of a whopping seventy thousand pound inheritance. In reality,
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the Fleming sisters were each given an inheritance of about
fifty two thousand pounds, but considering that translates to around
sixty six million pounds to day, that's more than a
sizeable amount for any bride in London society. In any case,
Sir Richard Worsley had his heart set on Jane Fleming
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and was convinced he was quote to marry her in
five months, or he would have had Jane Fleming been
at all interested in accepting his proposal. Unfortunately, for our
Dick Tardy, even after a summer spent flaunting his title
and sizable fortune at the elder Fleming sister, his infatuation
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was decidedly one sided. But that didn't mean he would
come away entirely empty handed. If Jane Fleming was the
season's diamond then her younger sister, Seymour, was something more
along the lines of courts. Where Jane was poise and grace,
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Seymour was blunt and unyielding, comparatively plain and not especially bookish.
The younger Fleming daughter was once chastised for quote, possessing
more forwardness than discretion, which earned her a reputation that
may have proved entertaining at parties, but was decidedly less
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than desirable on the marriage market. In the end, Seymour
may have been the less sparkly of the two sisters,
but she did come with the same absurdly sized inheritance,
a detail Sir Richard Worsley was all too aware of
when he began courting the young Seymour just three years
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after his fixation on Jane, with one friend assessing that
his interest was likely built upon the noblest foundations of quote,
love and eighty thousand pounds. Their nuptials in September seventeen
seventy five made them the talk of London's high society,
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but behind the closed doors of the Epuldercoma estate, the
two were little more than strangers who occasionally shared a bed.
Richard had budding political aspirations, meaning he often found himself
traveling between London and his home on the Isle of Wight,
leaving little time or energy to spend on his new wife.
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And yet, even with his sparse attentions, in August of
the following year, Seymour managed to give Richard an air
in the form of their son, Robert Edwin. And while
the birth of their first child, a son, was a
cause for celebration, it was also the final nail in
the sexual coffin, so to say, for Richard and Seymour's marriage.
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With an air secured for the worsely line, the two
had little reason to continue any of the extracurricular activities
their marriage once required. Instead, Richard made himself busy with
his political aspirations, and Seymour quickly found herself immersed in
the height of London's late eighteenth century social scene, the
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Devonshire House Circle. Now, if you are a frequent listener
of this podcast, you may remember our two part series
on the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish and yes, I
promise that is how she pronounced her name. But in
case you need a recap, allow me to quickly summarize
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the ins and outs of the Duchess and her elite
circle of friends. By the late seventeen seventies, approximately one
hundred people made up the core of what was known
as the Devonshire House Circle. The mixture of artists, politicians
and aristocrats all gathered at Devonshire House for parties and
(12:04):
political events under the guise of exchanging intelligent conversation, only
to have most nights and in various stages of drunken debauchery,
while several lifetimes worth of riches were inevitably lost to
the gambling tables. But the circle was more than just
(12:24):
a front for parading the latest fashions or campaigning for
parliament behind closed doors. The prim and proper ladies and
gentlemen of London's most titled houses used the circle as,
let's say, a sexual playground. Within the Devonshire House Circle,
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affairs were almost commonplace, with partners essentially playing musical chairs
to see whose bed they would be ending up in
that evening. Adultery may have been illegal, but the Lazy
fair Her attitude regarding sex and sexuality within the circle
emboldened many to experiment with friends. It was a mentality
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which lent itself well to Seymour Worsley upon meeting her
neighbor in the Isle of Wight, a man named Maurice
George Bessett, at twenty three years old. Beset came to
the Isle of Wight after he inherited the estate only
four miles from the Worsley's, and he wasted no time
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in befriending the married couple. It's impossible to say exactly
when the affair between Seymour and Beset began, but by
the end of September seventeen eighty the pair had become inseparable. Richard,
always looking to strengthen his political capital, often invited Beset
to campaign events and parties at his home, and while
(13:54):
her husband schmoozed his peers for political gain, Seymour took
it upon herself to make sure that their newest acquaintance
was well taken care of. Now, I think it's important
to note that despite his unfortunate and hilarious nickname Dick Tardie,
Richard Worsley wasn't an idiot. He may have had singular
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mind when it came to his political career, but he
couldn't ignore the overwhelming attention that Besset gave his wife
and vice versa, especially not when, despite the fact that
he and his wife had not shared a bed for months,
there was an unmistakable swell to Seymour's stomach in the
early months of seventeen eighty one. There are, of course,
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a number of reactions one might have when discovering one's
wife is pregnant with another man's child, anger, separation, exile.
By eighteenth century standards, any of those would have been
considered acceptable consequences to an illegitimate pregnancy, But Richard Worsley,
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generous man that he was, chose instead to give his
wife's lover a job, specifically a captain's commission for the
Southampton Militia, a position which conveniently meant he would be
traveling with him and his wife for the majority of
the following year as they visited encampments of soldiers training
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to be sent overseas. The fact that Worsley was not
only willing to pass the child off as his own,
but then secured besets, travel and lodgings during his travels
with his wife residing within the same home as him
and Seymour, gives us a pretty good idea that he
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knew about the affair. It would be during that summer
that not only the Devonshire House circle, but also Worsley's
own staff would be watching the three with barely disguised fascination,
questioning exactly how their dynamic worked behind closed doors. But
come fall, when the rain and chilling autumn weather made
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it impossible to continue their travels, the happy little bubble
that the trio had been living in that summer abruptly popped.
For Worsley, the departure from the militia affected him very little.
He had his political aspirations to keep him occupied. But
for Seymour and Beset, the two lovers, who had grown
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accustomed to waking up under the same roof and spending
time together as a new family with their newborn daughter,
the new distant between them proved to be too much.
After barely more than a month of separation, Beset unveiled
his plan to Seymour, and on the evening of November nineteenth,
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seventeen eighty one, the two rode off into the night
to Elope, throwing caution to the wind and hoping that
come morning Richard Worsley would not stand in their way.
While he may have been all right with his wife's
adultery under his own roof, Worsley apparently took issue with
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his wife and her lover, running off to a lope
in the middle of the night. After the no doubt
initial wave of rage had passed and he was no
longer banging down the doors of every residence he thought
his wife might be in, Worsley sat down to consider
his next steps. Now, before we go any further into
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this story, I want to take a second to explain
the illegal act known as quote criminal conversation. For those
of you who don't spend your free time looking up
eighteenth century legal terminology, criminal conversation or crim con if
you're cool and in the know, is essentially legal catch
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all term for crimes of adultery, as women in this
time were still seen as all but property in the
eyes of the law. If a wife cheated on her husband,
he could then act as a plaintiff and sue his
wife's lover for would basically boil down to property damage
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and they say romance is dead. Well, Richard Worsley, now
stewing in his estate alone following the betrayal of his wife,
and what he had considered to be his best friend,
who he had been nothing but generous to. Saw no
other option than to take legal action in order to
take back what he saw as rightfully his. During this time,
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typical criminal conversation cases could ask the defendant for anything
from ten to fifteen thousand pounds in damages, but Worsley
was determined to teach Besset and his wife a lesson.
When Beset was served his papers, he was horrified to
find Worsely was suing him for twenty thousand pounds, the
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equivalent of more than two point five million pounds to day.
Faced with a future of debtors prison, or life on
the run, Seymour and Beset were forced to rethink their options.
Seymour's sizeable inheritance now belonged to her husband, and should
he lose this case, without Beset to support her, she
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would be left all but destitute. There were more than
enough witnesses to confirm their affair, but Seymour was done
letting her husband dictate her happiness, and so, with nothing
but pen and paper, Seymour decided that if her husband
was set to blow up her life, she was going
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to give herself the pleasure of striking the match to
do it. On the warning of February twenty first, seventeen
eighty two, the Worsley verse Beset trial began in Earnest.
Worsley's team predictably came forward with overwhelming evidence of Beset
and Seymour's affair, but to the prosecution's surprise, the defense
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didn't seem at all bothered by their impending loss. It
was only when Beset and Seymour's fate seemed all but
sealed that the defense came forward with their actual strategy.
With what I imagine to be a smug glint in
his eye, the lead defense lawyer turned to the court
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and unveiled the defense's secret weapon, the defamation of Lady
Seymour Worsley. He began, quote, the licentious conduct of Lady
Worsley was so notorious that it had been the subject
of common conversation. Ladies of distinction in the Isle of
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Wight had frequently remonstrated with Sir Richard on the subject,
and told him that if he did not attempt to
restrain her conduct, her character would be ruined and destroyed.
And quote. It was with this framework that the defense
finally laid out their argument in the defense's estimation Richard
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Worsley had been adequately warned to contain his wife's lewd behavior,
but refused to do so because quote Lady Worsley liked it.
But not only did the defense accuse Richard Worsley of
allowing his wife to live her life of depravity, but
they went on to accuse her of consorting with quote
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many prior connections, so many quote connections in fact, that
quote the idea of seduction by the present defendant was
totally done away. In essence, the defense was rather than
attempt to defend the overwhelming evidence of Beset and Seymour's affair,
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they would seek to prove that Lady Worsley had taken
so many lovers over the course of her and Sir
Richard Worsley's marriage that there was no feasible way that
the damages incurred by their elopement could be equal to
twenty thousand pounds. It was then that the defense called
the first of their requested twenty seven witnesses up to
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the stand, and Richard Worsley began to see his undoing.
The first witness was a gentleman named George William Coventry,
also known as the Viscount Deerhurst. The Viscount first became
acquainted with the Worsleys in the fall of seventeen seventy nine,
following the unexpected passing of his wife. Viscount Dearhurst was inconsolable,
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that is, until he was introduced to the baronet and
his wife. It was at this point that Sir Richard
Worsley was undoubtedly sweating in his seat, for he knew
exactly which bombshell the defense was about to lay on
the courtroom floor. Upon visiting their estate in the Isle
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of Wight, the Viscount recalled a conversation he had with
Worsley in which he made him an unforgettable proposition in
regards to his wife. He did then say that many
young men had tried her to no effect, and that
I had his permission to try my chance with her
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end quote. Chaos rippled in whispers throughout the courtroom as
the gravity of this statement sank in and the truth
about Sir Richard Worsley's sexual proclivities began to come to light.
Even though shared and his wife Seymour, had not shared
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a bed in years, Richard found sexual pleasure in their
marriage by watching seymour bed. Other men remember how Worsley
was fine with Seymour and Beset having their affair so
long as it was under his roof. Well, Besett was
hardly the first when it came to that peculiar arrangement.
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According to the Viscount, at first he thought it was
a joke, and Quote took it in a laugh. Eventually, though,
during his stay at Appoldercombe, Viscount Deerhurst did find his
way into Seymour's bed, only to find a most unexpected
surprise when he ventured out of her bedchamber in the
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early hours of the morning. Being careful so as to
not wake the rest of the house, the Viscount stumbled
into none other than Sir Richard Worsley himself. The Viscount
recalled quote, he found me in her dressing chamber adjacent
to her bed chamber at four o'clock in the morning,
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at which point he remembered Worsley scrambling saying, Dearhurst, how
came you here? It's likely that from Seymour's dressing room,
Worsley was watching the Viscount and his wife through the keyhole,
if not simply deriving his pleasure from the unmistakable sounds
that must have been coming from the other side of
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the door. I want to be clear, I do not
mean to kink shame anyone. Whatever fully consenting adults decide
to do behind closed doors is entirely their business. But
in the case of Richard Worsley trying to cash out
twenty thousand pounds for an act he himself derived sexual
pleasure from and convinced his friends to take pardon because
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it then later resulted in the more public humiliation of
his wife leaving him doesn't seem exactly above board. As
they say, a stupid game's win stupid prizes. The next
witness for the defense was not a former lover, but
Seymour's personal physician, doctor William Osbourne. Like the majority of
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the twenty seven witnesses Seymour called to slander her own reputation,
Osbourne was hesitant to give his testimony. After all, he
was a doctor and the privacy between a physician and
his patients was of the utmost importance, and with such
a high profile case being covered in the gossip rags
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for all of London to see, he had his own
client base to think about. But Seymour was clear in
her letter to quote, make a point of attending and
declare everything you know of me end quote, which in
the end is exactly what he did. When asked why
he had been summoned in August seventeen eighty, the doctor replied, quote,
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Lady Worsley had some complaints on her which I fancy
were the consequence of a veneerial disorder. What was most
interesting about this diagnosis was that it was Seymour who
had employed the doctor's services for treatment, not Richard Worsley. Additionally,
Richard was not treated for the same or any venereal disorder.
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The final witness was, despite their low societal position, perhaps
the most important for the defense. Mary Marriott was a
bathing woman who worked in Maidstone, one of the places Seymour,
Besett and Richard Worsley had stayed during their blissful summer
in seventeen eighty one. It was there that Mary Marriott
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witnessed the moment that would prove to ultimately be Sir
Richard Worsley's downfall. According to the bathing woman, she had
seen Seymour, Beset and Worsley more than once, as Seymour
used to come to the bathhouse and the men would
usually accompany her. The men would typically stand outside as
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she bathed, but on one occasion, as Seymour began to
get dressed after her bath, Mary witnessed something quite different.
A knock at the door alerted the undressed Seymour and
the bathing woman too, Richard at the door, who excitedly
told his wife Seymour, Seymour, Beset is going to get
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up to look at you. Moments later, from a high window,
George Bessett was seen smiling down at the two women.
This alone was rather damning, but the window in question
was so close to the room's ceiling that it would
have been impossible for Beset to have reached it to
look down at the scene without assistance, meaning Richard Worsley
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gave him a boost, likely having him sit on his
shoulders in order for Beset to get a better view.
With this final piece of evidence, after an hour of deliberation,
the jury finally came to a verdict. With the irrefutable
evidence presented by the prosecution, Maurice George Bessett was found
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guilty of his adultery, but when the court read out
what Worsley should be owed in damages for his wife's virtue,
it was not twenty thousand pounds, for they felt the
evidence told them what his wife's virtue was worth one shilling,
And with the strike of a gavel, Seymour bested her
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husband and in turn ruined her own life. Quote Your
ladyship has not only proved yourself an utter enemy to
all amorous monopoly, but to every species of smuggling whatever.
For your wares have always been laid open to every
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fair trader, and as fairly entered in the custom house
of Venus end. Quote this passage from a satire titled
The Whim or the Maidstone Bath, And I'd like to
point out that there are three exclamation points after the word. Whim.
Was just one of the many cutting pieces written about
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Seymour Worsley's character following the verdict of what would come
to be known as one of the most notorious criminal
conversation trials of the eighteenth century. Predictably, even though she
technically won the case against her husband in terms of revenge,
Seymour was cast out as a social pariah amongst London society.
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Even the Devonshire House Circle, known for their sexual liberty,
couldn't condone the presence of such scandal amongst their ranks.
They did, after all, have the good sent not to
air their dirty laundry for the whole of England to see.
To make matters. In the ultimate petty move, even in
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the wake of his humiliation in court, Worsley refused to
grant Seymour a divorce. This meant that not only could
she not move on with her life and marry Bessett,
but her inheritance continue to remain in the hands of
her husband, and Bissett, with his name dragged through the
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mud and his property in the Isle of Wight, his
only feasible legacy, needed to have a wife to bear
legitimate children, and so, barely a year after she had
committed herself to social ruin and life as a pariah
in high society, George Bissett left Seymour in seventeen eighty three,
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after being abandoned by her lover and vehemently refusing to
return to her husband. Seymour was forced to live off
the meager stipend her marriage provided her. Even then through
the years, she would ultimately have to take on lovers
who could care for her financially in order to keep
her debt collectors at Bay. It wouldn't be until eighteen
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oh five, when Richard Worsley died, that Seymour would at
long last be granted her freedom. At the age of
forty seven, Seymour finally gained back her inheritance and took
back her maiden name Fleming. After years of living under
the thumb of a man she despised, and free to
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live her life as she chose, Seymour Fleming decided to
celebrate her newfound freedom by marrying her lover, a twenty
six year old Swiss musician named John Louis Hummel. You
have to admire a woman who, after over two decades
of being labeled as a harlot by high society, goes
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and marries a man twenty one years her junior at
the first opportunity, which brings us back to the portraits
of the woman in red at Harewood House. History likes
to remember Seymour Fleming in the context of her infidelity,
but in looking at her portrait, you can't help but
look into the face of the woman behind it. The woman,
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upon knowing that she was damned, decided to pick up
a pen and paper and prove to the world that
no one but she would determine her worth. That was
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the scandalous life of Seymour Fleming. But stick around after
the sponsor break to hear a little bit more about
Seymour's second marriage after the death of her first husband.
(33:58):
It seems counterintuitive that Seymour Fleming would be so willing
to jump into another marriage so soon after winning back
her inheritance and made a name. Well, as it turns out,
she would not have to part with the latter. In fact,
the twenty six year old Swiss musician John Louis Hummel
ended up taking Seymour's last name, becoming John Louie Fleming.
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The two remained happily married until Seymour's death in eighteen
eighteen at the age of sixty. John Louis kept his
late wife's name even when he decided to remarry a
year and a half after her death. Together, he and
his new wife had a daughter, who they named Ceserene Fleming.
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Many speculated that the younger man married Seymour for her inheritance,
but even after her death, John Louis Fleming continued to
honor her legacy, and when he finally passed in eighteen
thirty six. His final request was to be buried next
to his quote, dearly beloved wife, Lady Seymour Plumbing. Noble
(35:24):
Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild
from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danis Schwartz.
Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick,
Mira Hayward, Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. The show is
produced by rima il Kaali, with supervising producer Josh Thaine
(35:45):
and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised. Just about
halfway between Edinburgh and London, on the outskirts of the
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northern English city of Leeds sit an idyllic Palladian country
manner known as Harewood House. Although I will say between
the magnificently kept gardens and freshly manicured lawns decorating the
thousand acre estate, the word house is really too modest
(00:44):
a word to describe the Downton Abbey fantasy fever dream
the property more closely resembles, especially considering Downton Abbey actually
used Harewood House as a location to film the latest
installment in their franchise. But should you decide to visit.
(01:05):
If you venture beyond the estate's front doors and into
one of the many drawing rooms, you might encounter a
portrait whose subject doesn't quite aligne with the fairytale romance
esthetic of the place. At first glance. Maybe nothing about
the painting or the woman it depicts is notably out
(01:27):
of the ordinary. If anything, the eye might be first
drawn toward what the woman is wearing juxtaposed against a
backdrop of muted brown foliage. The woman in the portrait,
Lady Worsley, faces the viewer wearing a striking vermilion red
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riding habit and satin white kitten heels. She stands with
her right foot peeking forward, her left hand perched on
her hip, in a gesture that els intentional powerful. Even
this is not a woman wearing bright red who shrinks
into the background, especially not if the writing crop in
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her right hand has anything to say about it. The
lapels and sleeve cuffs of her jacket are lined with
a deep navy trim and white button detailing, akin to
an eighteenth century British military uniform. It's an artistic choice
which may on its own seem peculiar, but only until
(02:34):
the viewer understands that this portrait is one in a
set of two. There is a matching portrait of the
woman's husband, Sir Richard Worsley, in a similar red British
military uniform. But anyone coming to Harewood House in hopes
of comparing the two paintings side by side will be
(02:57):
sorely disappointed. In fact, the two paintings have not been
in the same room in well over two hundred years,
mirroring the dismal relationship of their real life counterparts. In truth,
the primary reason anyone these days really remembers the woman
(03:18):
in the portrait is because she was the subject of
one of the most infamous sex scandals of the eighteenth century.
The papers would accuse Lady Worsley of having sexual relations
with upwards of twenty seven men, but it wasn't the
men who caused the scandal so much as it was
(03:41):
who had asked them to appear in court to testify
in the first place. On this podcast, it's a rare
day that I get to tell a story before the
twentieth century, or frankly even after it, in which a
woman has any sort of control over her own life.
It's hard for women to hold any power in a
(04:02):
society that essentially considered them property. But in the case
of Lady Worsley, when her husband chose to sue her
lover to attempt to bankrupt him, her husband could never
have imagined that his wife would choose to rather orchestrate
her own social ruin than watch him take even one
(04:26):
more piece of happiness away from her. When looking at
her portrait in Harewood House, it's easy to read into
Lady Worsley's red dress and riding crop as cheap symbols
of sexuality that perhaps further carved the metaphorical scarlet a
into her legacy. But you can also see a woman
(04:49):
dressed for battle, waiting for her moment. In her uniform.
She faces the viewer head on the hand on her hip,
almost challenging us, as if she's saying, if I'm going down,
then I'm taking you down with me. I'm Dana Schwartz
(05:11):
and this is noble blood. From an early age, it
was clear Richard Worsley was never destined for greatness. The
Worsley family may have owned the Epoldercombe estate in the
(05:35):
Isle of Wight, but the Worsley name had long since
slipped into social obscurity. They may have enjoyed political prominence
sometime around the early seventeenth century, but by the mid
eighteenth they were characterized as little more than a family
of uncultured country bumpkins, another mindless vote for the Tory Party.
(06:00):
One anonymous source described the family as quote never having
been remarkable for producing either heroes or conjurors. It's an
opinion which seemed to have extended to the newest baronet
of Apaldcombe. As a teenager, Young Richard Worsley's schoolmates had
taken to calling him Dick Tardy due to the lengths
(06:24):
in which he consistently quote lagged so far behind, and
unfortunately for him, it seemed as if this name would
become a self fulfilling property. When it came time for
him to court a wife. As is the case for
most average men, Sir Richard Worsley was convinced he deserved
(06:45):
nothing less than the absolute best, which is why in
seventeen seventy two Worsley made it clear that he would
make none other than Jane Fleming his wife by the
year's end. If you're a fan of the net Show Bridgerton,
Jane Fleming would have been what they described as the
diamond of the season. The elder of the two daughters
(07:08):
born to Sir John and Lady Jane Fleming, the younger
Jane was a pinnacle of late eighteenth century femininity. Her delicate,
almost ethereal beauty was only accentuated by the effortless grace
she carried herself with, inspiring some to describe her as
quote an ornament to her sex. The eager eyes of
(07:31):
society gossips watched closely as she charmed her way through
London's most elite circles. They were all keen to see
exactly who would win over the coveted Jane Fleming, especially
since rumor had it that her heart came with the
attached incentive of a whopping seventy thousand pound inheritance. In reality,
(07:56):
the Fleming sisters were each given an inheritance of about
fifty two thousand pounds, but considering that translates to around
sixty six million pounds to day, that's more than a
sizeable amount for any bride in London society. In any case,
Sir Richard Worsley had his heart set on Jane Fleming
(08:20):
and was convinced he was quote to marry her in
five months, or he would have had Jane Fleming been
at all interested in accepting his proposal. Unfortunately, for our
Dick Tardy, even after a summer spent flaunting his title
and sizable fortune at the elder Fleming sister, his infatuation
(08:43):
was decidedly one sided. But that didn't mean he would
come away entirely empty handed. If Jane Fleming was the
season's diamond then her younger sister, Seymour, was something more
along the lines of courts. Where Jane was poise and grace,
(09:04):
Seymour was blunt and unyielding, comparatively plain and not especially bookish.
The younger Fleming daughter was once chastised for quote, possessing
more forwardness than discretion, which earned her a reputation that
may have proved entertaining at parties, but was decidedly less
(09:27):
than desirable on the marriage market. In the end, Seymour
may have been the less sparkly of the two sisters,
but she did come with the same absurdly sized inheritance,
a detail Sir Richard Worsley was all too aware of
when he began courting the young Seymour just three years
(09:49):
after his fixation on Jane, with one friend assessing that
his interest was likely built upon the noblest foundations of quote,
love and eighty thousand pounds. Their nuptials in September seventeen
seventy five made them the talk of London's high society,
(10:09):
but behind the closed doors of the Epuldercoma estate, the
two were little more than strangers who occasionally shared a bed.
Richard had budding political aspirations, meaning he often found himself
traveling between London and his home on the Isle of Wight,
leaving little time or energy to spend on his new wife.
(10:31):
And yet, even with his sparse attentions, in August of
the following year, Seymour managed to give Richard an air
in the form of their son, Robert Edwin. And while
the birth of their first child, a son, was a
cause for celebration, it was also the final nail in
the sexual coffin, so to say, for Richard and Seymour's marriage.
(10:57):
With an air secured for the worsely line, the two
had little reason to continue any of the extracurricular activities
their marriage once required. Instead, Richard made himself busy with
his political aspirations, and Seymour quickly found herself immersed in
the height of London's late eighteenth century social scene, the
(11:20):
Devonshire House Circle. Now, if you are a frequent listener
of this podcast, you may remember our two part series
on the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish and yes, I
promise that is how she pronounced her name. But in
case you need a recap, allow me to quickly summarize
(11:43):
the ins and outs of the Duchess and her elite
circle of friends. By the late seventeen seventies, approximately one
hundred people made up the core of what was known
as the Devonshire House Circle. The mixture of artists, politicians
and aristocrats all gathered at Devonshire House for parties and
(12:04):
political events under the guise of exchanging intelligent conversation, only
to have most nights and in various stages of drunken debauchery,
while several lifetimes worth of riches were inevitably lost to
the gambling tables. But the circle was more than just
(12:24):
a front for parading the latest fashions or campaigning for
parliament behind closed doors. The prim and proper ladies and
gentlemen of London's most titled houses used the circle as,
let's say, a sexual playground. Within the Devonshire House Circle,
(12:45):
affairs were almost commonplace, with partners essentially playing musical chairs
to see whose bed they would be ending up in
that evening. Adultery may have been illegal, but the Lazy
fair Her attitude regarding sex and sexuality within the circle
emboldened many to experiment with friends. It was a mentality
(13:09):
which lent itself well to Seymour Worsley upon meeting her
neighbor in the Isle of Wight, a man named Maurice
George Bessett, at twenty three years old. Beset came to
the Isle of Wight after he inherited the estate only
four miles from the Worsley's, and he wasted no time
(13:30):
in befriending the married couple. It's impossible to say exactly
when the affair between Seymour and Beset began, but by
the end of September seventeen eighty the pair had become inseparable. Richard,
always looking to strengthen his political capital, often invited Beset
to campaign events and parties at his home, and while
(13:54):
her husband schmoozed his peers for political gain, Seymour took
it upon herself to make sure that their newest acquaintance
was well taken care of. Now, I think it's important
to note that despite his unfortunate and hilarious nickname Dick Tardie,
Richard Worsley wasn't an idiot. He may have had singular
(14:16):
mind when it came to his political career, but he
couldn't ignore the overwhelming attention that Besset gave his wife
and vice versa, especially not when, despite the fact that
he and his wife had not shared a bed for months,
there was an unmistakable swell to Seymour's stomach in the
early months of seventeen eighty one. There are, of course,
(14:40):
a number of reactions one might have when discovering one's
wife is pregnant with another man's child, anger, separation, exile.
By eighteenth century standards, any of those would have been
considered acceptable consequences to an illegitimate pregnancy, But Richard Worsley,
(15:00):
generous man that he was, chose instead to give his
wife's lover a job, specifically a captain's commission for the
Southampton Militia, a position which conveniently meant he would be
traveling with him and his wife for the majority of
the following year as they visited encampments of soldiers training
(15:24):
to be sent overseas. The fact that Worsley was not
only willing to pass the child off as his own,
but then secured besets, travel and lodgings during his travels
with his wife residing within the same home as him
and Seymour, gives us a pretty good idea that he
(15:45):
knew about the affair. It would be during that summer
that not only the Devonshire House circle, but also Worsley's
own staff would be watching the three with barely disguised fascination,
questioning exactly how their dynamic worked behind closed doors. But
come fall, when the rain and chilling autumn weather made
(16:09):
it impossible to continue their travels, the happy little bubble
that the trio had been living in that summer abruptly popped.
For Worsley, the departure from the militia affected him very little.
He had his political aspirations to keep him occupied. But
for Seymour and Beset, the two lovers, who had grown
(16:31):
accustomed to waking up under the same roof and spending
time together as a new family with their newborn daughter,
the new distant between them proved to be too much.
After barely more than a month of separation, Beset unveiled
his plan to Seymour, and on the evening of November nineteenth,
(16:53):
seventeen eighty one, the two rode off into the night
to Elope, throwing caution to the wind and hoping that
come morning Richard Worsley would not stand in their way.
While he may have been all right with his wife's
adultery under his own roof, Worsley apparently took issue with
(17:17):
his wife and her lover, running off to a lope
in the middle of the night. After the no doubt
initial wave of rage had passed and he was no
longer banging down the doors of every residence he thought
his wife might be in, Worsley sat down to consider
his next steps. Now, before we go any further into
(17:37):
this story, I want to take a second to explain
the illegal act known as quote criminal conversation. For those
of you who don't spend your free time looking up
eighteenth century legal terminology, criminal conversation or crim con if
you're cool and in the know, is essentially legal catch
(18:01):
all term for crimes of adultery, as women in this
time were still seen as all but property in the
eyes of the law. If a wife cheated on her husband,
he could then act as a plaintiff and sue his
wife's lover for would basically boil down to property damage
(18:21):
and they say romance is dead. Well, Richard Worsley, now
stewing in his estate alone following the betrayal of his wife,
and what he had considered to be his best friend,
who he had been nothing but generous to. Saw no
other option than to take legal action in order to
take back what he saw as rightfully his. During this time,
(18:45):
typical criminal conversation cases could ask the defendant for anything
from ten to fifteen thousand pounds in damages, but Worsley
was determined to teach Besset and his wife a lesson.
When Beset was served his papers, he was horrified to
find Worsely was suing him for twenty thousand pounds, the
(19:09):
equivalent of more than two point five million pounds to day.
Faced with a future of debtors prison, or life on
the run, Seymour and Beset were forced to rethink their options.
Seymour's sizeable inheritance now belonged to her husband, and should
he lose this case, without Beset to support her, she
(19:32):
would be left all but destitute. There were more than
enough witnesses to confirm their affair, but Seymour was done
letting her husband dictate her happiness, and so, with nothing
but pen and paper, Seymour decided that if her husband
was set to blow up her life, she was going
(19:53):
to give herself the pleasure of striking the match to
do it. On the warning of February twenty first, seventeen
eighty two, the Worsley verse Beset trial began in Earnest.
Worsley's team predictably came forward with overwhelming evidence of Beset
and Seymour's affair, but to the prosecution's surprise, the defense
(20:17):
didn't seem at all bothered by their impending loss. It
was only when Beset and Seymour's fate seemed all but
sealed that the defense came forward with their actual strategy.
With what I imagine to be a smug glint in
his eye, the lead defense lawyer turned to the court
(20:40):
and unveiled the defense's secret weapon, the defamation of Lady
Seymour Worsley. He began, quote, the licentious conduct of Lady
Worsley was so notorious that it had been the subject
of common conversation. Ladies of distinction in the Isle of
(21:01):
Wight had frequently remonstrated with Sir Richard on the subject,
and told him that if he did not attempt to
restrain her conduct, her character would be ruined and destroyed.
And quote. It was with this framework that the defense
finally laid out their argument in the defense's estimation Richard
(21:23):
Worsley had been adequately warned to contain his wife's lewd behavior,
but refused to do so because quote Lady Worsley liked it.
But not only did the defense accuse Richard Worsley of
allowing his wife to live her life of depravity, but
they went on to accuse her of consorting with quote
(21:47):
many prior connections, so many quote connections in fact, that
quote the idea of seduction by the present defendant was
totally done away. In essence, the defense was rather than
attempt to defend the overwhelming evidence of Beset and Seymour's affair,
(22:10):
they would seek to prove that Lady Worsley had taken
so many lovers over the course of her and Sir
Richard Worsley's marriage that there was no feasible way that
the damages incurred by their elopement could be equal to
twenty thousand pounds. It was then that the defense called
the first of their requested twenty seven witnesses up to
(22:34):
the stand, and Richard Worsley began to see his undoing.
The first witness was a gentleman named George William Coventry,
also known as the Viscount Deerhurst. The Viscount first became
acquainted with the Worsleys in the fall of seventeen seventy nine,
following the unexpected passing of his wife. Viscount Dearhurst was inconsolable,
(23:00):
that is, until he was introduced to the baronet and
his wife. It was at this point that Sir Richard
Worsley was undoubtedly sweating in his seat, for he knew
exactly which bombshell the defense was about to lay on
the courtroom floor. Upon visiting their estate in the Isle
(23:21):
of Wight, the Viscount recalled a conversation he had with
Worsley in which he made him an unforgettable proposition in
regards to his wife. He did then say that many
young men had tried her to no effect, and that
I had his permission to try my chance with her
(23:42):
end quote. Chaos rippled in whispers throughout the courtroom as
the gravity of this statement sank in and the truth
about Sir Richard Worsley's sexual proclivities began to come to light.
Even though shared and his wife Seymour, had not shared
(24:02):
a bed in years, Richard found sexual pleasure in their
marriage by watching seymour bed. Other men remember how Worsley
was fine with Seymour and Beset having their affair so
long as it was under his roof. Well, Besett was
hardly the first when it came to that peculiar arrangement.
(24:25):
According to the Viscount, at first he thought it was
a joke, and Quote took it in a laugh. Eventually, though,
during his stay at Appoldercombe, Viscount Deerhurst did find his
way into Seymour's bed, only to find a most unexpected
surprise when he ventured out of her bedchamber in the
(24:45):
early hours of the morning. Being careful so as to
not wake the rest of the house, the Viscount stumbled
into none other than Sir Richard Worsley himself. The Viscount
recalled quote, he found me in her dressing chamber adjacent
to her bed chamber at four o'clock in the morning,
(25:07):
at which point he remembered Worsley scrambling saying, Dearhurst, how
came you here? It's likely that from Seymour's dressing room,
Worsley was watching the Viscount and his wife through the keyhole,
if not simply deriving his pleasure from the unmistakable sounds
that must have been coming from the other side of
(25:28):
the door. I want to be clear, I do not
mean to kink shame anyone. Whatever fully consenting adults decide
to do behind closed doors is entirely their business. But
in the case of Richard Worsley trying to cash out
twenty thousand pounds for an act he himself derived sexual
pleasure from and convinced his friends to take pardon because
(25:50):
it then later resulted in the more public humiliation of
his wife leaving him doesn't seem exactly above board. As
they say, a stupid game's win stupid prizes. The next
witness for the defense was not a former lover, but
Seymour's personal physician, doctor William Osbourne. Like the majority of
(26:12):
the twenty seven witnesses Seymour called to slander her own reputation,
Osbourne was hesitant to give his testimony. After all, he
was a doctor and the privacy between a physician and
his patients was of the utmost importance, and with such
a high profile case being covered in the gossip rags
(26:33):
for all of London to see, he had his own
client base to think about. But Seymour was clear in
her letter to quote, make a point of attending and
declare everything you know of me end quote, which in
the end is exactly what he did. When asked why
he had been summoned in August seventeen eighty, the doctor replied, quote,
(26:56):
Lady Worsley had some complaints on her which I fancy
were the consequence of a veneerial disorder. What was most
interesting about this diagnosis was that it was Seymour who
had employed the doctor's services for treatment, not Richard Worsley. Additionally,
Richard was not treated for the same or any venereal disorder.
(27:19):
The final witness was, despite their low societal position, perhaps
the most important for the defense. Mary Marriott was a
bathing woman who worked in Maidstone, one of the places Seymour,
Besett and Richard Worsley had stayed during their blissful summer
in seventeen eighty one. It was there that Mary Marriott
(27:42):
witnessed the moment that would prove to ultimately be Sir
Richard Worsley's downfall. According to the bathing woman, she had
seen Seymour, Beset and Worsley more than once, as Seymour
used to come to the bathhouse and the men would
usually accompany her. The men would typically stand outside as
(28:03):
she bathed, but on one occasion, as Seymour began to
get dressed after her bath, Mary witnessed something quite different.
A knock at the door alerted the undressed Seymour and
the bathing woman too, Richard at the door, who excitedly
told his wife Seymour, Seymour, Beset is going to get
(28:23):
up to look at you. Moments later, from a high window,
George Bessett was seen smiling down at the two women.
This alone was rather damning, but the window in question
was so close to the room's ceiling that it would
have been impossible for Beset to have reached it to
look down at the scene without assistance, meaning Richard Worsley
(28:47):
gave him a boost, likely having him sit on his
shoulders in order for Beset to get a better view.
With this final piece of evidence, after an hour of deliberation,
the jury finally came to a verdict. With the irrefutable
evidence presented by the prosecution, Maurice George Bessett was found
(29:09):
guilty of his adultery, but when the court read out
what Worsley should be owed in damages for his wife's virtue,
it was not twenty thousand pounds, for they felt the
evidence told them what his wife's virtue was worth one shilling,
And with the strike of a gavel, Seymour bested her
(29:33):
husband and in turn ruined her own life. Quote Your
ladyship has not only proved yourself an utter enemy to
all amorous monopoly, but to every species of smuggling whatever.
For your wares have always been laid open to every
(29:53):
fair trader, and as fairly entered in the custom house
of Venus end. Quote this passage from a satire titled
The Whim or the Maidstone Bath, And I'd like to
point out that there are three exclamation points after the word. Whim.
Was just one of the many cutting pieces written about
(30:16):
Seymour Worsley's character following the verdict of what would come
to be known as one of the most notorious criminal
conversation trials of the eighteenth century. Predictably, even though she
technically won the case against her husband in terms of revenge,
Seymour was cast out as a social pariah amongst London society.
(30:40):
Even the Devonshire House Circle, known for their sexual liberty,
couldn't condone the presence of such scandal amongst their ranks.
They did, after all, have the good sent not to
air their dirty laundry for the whole of England to see.
To make matters. In the ultimate petty move, even in
(31:03):
the wake of his humiliation in court, Worsley refused to
grant Seymour a divorce. This meant that not only could
she not move on with her life and marry Bessett,
but her inheritance continue to remain in the hands of
her husband, and Bissett, with his name dragged through the
(31:23):
mud and his property in the Isle of Wight, his
only feasible legacy, needed to have a wife to bear
legitimate children, and so, barely a year after she had
committed herself to social ruin and life as a pariah
in high society, George Bissett left Seymour in seventeen eighty three,
(31:48):
after being abandoned by her lover and vehemently refusing to
return to her husband. Seymour was forced to live off
the meager stipend her marriage provided her. Even then through
the years, she would ultimately have to take on lovers
who could care for her financially in order to keep
her debt collectors at Bay. It wouldn't be until eighteen
(32:11):
oh five, when Richard Worsley died, that Seymour would at
long last be granted her freedom. At the age of
forty seven, Seymour finally gained back her inheritance and took
back her maiden name Fleming. After years of living under
the thumb of a man she despised, and free to
(32:32):
live her life as she chose, Seymour Fleming decided to
celebrate her newfound freedom by marrying her lover, a twenty
six year old Swiss musician named John Louis Hummel. You
have to admire a woman who, after over two decades
of being labeled as a harlot by high society, goes
(32:53):
and marries a man twenty one years her junior at
the first opportunity, which brings us back to the portraits
of the woman in red at Harewood House. History likes
to remember Seymour Fleming in the context of her infidelity,
but in looking at her portrait, you can't help but
look into the face of the woman behind it. The woman,
(33:16):
upon knowing that she was damned, decided to pick up
a pen and paper and prove to the world that
no one but she would determine her worth. That was
(33:37):
the scandalous life of Seymour Fleming. But stick around after
the sponsor break to hear a little bit more about
Seymour's second marriage after the death of her first husband.
(33:58):
It seems counterintuitive that Seymour Fleming would be so willing
to jump into another marriage so soon after winning back
her inheritance and made a name. Well, as it turns out,
she would not have to part with the latter. In fact,
the twenty six year old Swiss musician John Louis Hummel
ended up taking Seymour's last name, becoming John Louie Fleming.
(34:24):
The two remained happily married until Seymour's death in eighteen
eighteen at the age of sixty. John Louis kept his
late wife's name even when he decided to remarry a
year and a half after her death. Together, he and
his new wife had a daughter, who they named Ceserene Fleming.
(34:44):
Many speculated that the younger man married Seymour for her inheritance,
but even after her death, John Louis Fleming continued to
honor her legacy, and when he finally passed in eighteen
thirty six. His final request was to be buried next
to his quote, dearly beloved wife, Lady Seymour Plumbing. Noble
(35:24):
Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild
from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danis Schwartz.
Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick,
Mira Hayward, Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. The show is
produced by rima il Kaali, with supervising producer Josh Thaine
(35:45):
and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Dana Schwartz
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