Caroline Norton
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, Lady Stirling-Maxwell (née Sheridan; 22 March 1808 – 15 June 1877) was an active English social reformer and author. She left her husband, who was accused by many of coercive behaviour, in 1836. Her husband then sued her close friend Lord Melbourne, then the Whig Prime Minister, for criminal conversation (adultery).
Caroline Norton | |
|---|---|
Caroline Norton, by Sir George Hayter in 1832 | |
| Born | Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan 22 March 1808 London, England |
| Died | 15 June 1877 (aged 69) London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Social reformer, writer |
| Title | Lady Stirling-Maxwell (1877) |
| Spouses | Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, 9th Baronet
(m. 1877) |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Sheridan Caroline Henrietta Sheridan |
Although the jury found her friend not guilty of adultery, she failed to gain a divorce and was denied access to her three sons due to the laws at the time which favoured fathers. Norton's campaigning led to the passage of the Custody of Infants Act 1839, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 and the Married Women's Property Act 1870. She modelled for the fresco of Justice in the House of Lords by Daniel Maclise, who chose her as a famous victim of injustice.