Prior to 1753, marriages could be conducted anywhere by an ordained Church of England Clergyman. There were secret marriages of those under the age of 21 without parental consent. There were even bigamous marriages. The Marriage Act of 1753, introduced by Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, intended to put a stop to the, “great Mischiefs and Inconveniences (that) have arisen from Clandestine Marriages.” It was considered the Act would put a stop to under age, particularly girls from a wealthy background, marrying without parental consent, giving complete parental control of the marriages of children under the age of 21.
The Act stipulated that at least one of the persons to be married lived in the parish, banns had to be read on three consecutive Sundays prior to the wedding day and that to be legal, the ceremony had to be conducted by an Anglican Church clergyman. Any clergyman not adhering to this law would be sentenced to 14 years transportation.
This Act became law on 25 March 1754. One of the outcomes was to make it difficult to marry outside your rank without parental consent. However, there were ways around this. A special licence could be obtained for a fee but the increasingly more popular way was to elope to the Scottish Borders where marriage was legal at 16 and Scotland did not observe this English Law. The once secluded, quiet village of Graitney evolved into Gretna Green as it became the most popular place for an irregular marriage. In Scotland the marriage contract could take place in any location, so in Gretna, the Blacksmith’s Forge became the favourite place for weddings, a simple ceremony ending with the blacksmith traditionally striking his anvil, symbolising the sealing of the marriage. essir
Bessie Surtees and John Scott
Recently in Newcastle, I once again noticed the blue plaque on the house where young Bessie Surtees had climbed out of the window to elope with John Scott. Bessie was considered a great beauty. In 1771, she partnered the Duke of Cumberland at a ball in Newcastle held in his honour. Whilst staying in London, the Duchess of Northumberland invited her to Northumberland House and introduced her to the other guests as, ‘my Newcastle beauty’. At this time Bessie was 17 and before she reached 18, she had many suitors all anxious to marry her. One of the keenest was Sir Walter Blackett, 46 years her senior. Gossip abounded about a pending marriage as he frequently visited the Surtees house in London. So keen was the 63-year-old gentleman that he even bought her a pony!
Bessie’s father Aubone Surtees would have been pleased with all the attentions from suitors he considered suitable that his daughter Bessie had received. He may have even suggested she married old Walter Blackett, after all he was a ‘Sir.’ However, Bessie’s heart was elsewhere. She had fallen in love with John Scott.
John Scott was born in the appropriately named Love Lane. John’s father was in a much lower social position than the merchant banker Aubone Surtees. William Scott, wealthy and respectable, was a coal fitter. He became a hostman of Newcastle, owned several coal barges and a public house. John Scott remembered that he “danced hornpipes at Christmas when my father gave a supper and a dance at Love Lane, to all the keelmen in his employ.” This hardly a ball like the one attended by Bessie when she danced with the Duke of Cumberland.
John and his elder brother William, along with Rowland Burdon Junior attended the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle. William went to Oxford University and was followed later by his brother John and Rowland Junior who both went at the same time. John and Rowland supposedly became life-long friends.
Rowland Burdon’s father, another Rowland was Aubone’s Surtee’s partner in the exchange Bank, so young Rowland would have known and associated with Bessie. Bessie went to Sedgefield to stay with her unmarried aunt, her father’s sister. During her time there she visited Sedgefield Church. Rowland Burdon and his family had associations with Sedgefield and the Church. His mother had died in childbirth, along with the baby girl when Rowland was younger and both had been buried in the churchyard. His uncle was also buried there. Co-incidence or not, during their holidays from university, both John, probably accompanied by Rowland, and Bessie, staying with her aunt, met in the church. Young ladies had to be introduced to young men and it is probable that Rowland, John’s friend did the introductions. So, the romance had begun.
Bessie’s parents were opposed to this budding romance but they met in secret. Bessie would go out riding accompanied by a groom and she would ride out along the Shields Road to meet the handsome John Scott. The groom was probably given money to buy his silence, but the family found out, so Bessie was sent away to her uncle’s house, Henry Stephenson of Park Lane, London, hoping that she would forget her lover. Not, so, for they secretly met in Hyde Park and the plotting began.
On the night of 18 November Bessie clambered down a ladder from the casement window. The ladder had previously been hidden by apprentice James Wilkinson who worked in Clayton’s shop underneath the Surtees dwelling. Bessie and John scrambled up the dog leg stairs to the awaiting coach. The horses sped them through Morpeth, over the Coldstream Bridge to Blackshields (not Gretna) where they were married, not by a blacksmith but by a Minister of the Episcopal Church. The same day they were married, they returned to Morpeth and stayed three days at the Queen’s Head until heir money ran out and then returned to Newcastle.
John’s father was not pleased as this marriage would stop John being ordained into the Church. He soon relented and gave them £2,000. Bessie’s parents took much longer. It was not until they had another ceremony in St Nicholas’ Church on 19 January, 1773, that both parents were satisfied.
It is said that John Scott, who became Lord Eldon and Bessie Surtees lived happily ever after, after all when he died Lord Eldon left the excessive sum of £2,300,000, an exceedingly rare amount at the time. Much better than the Exchange Bank, as in 1806 the bank failed and was bankrupt. That’s a different story. This was about one clandestine marriage, more marriages to follow and that scandalous divorce!
TO BE CONTINUED
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