Lady Seymour Worsley's Worth

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 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.

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 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 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

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 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 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 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 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

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

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 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 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 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. 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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, 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

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 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, 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.

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. 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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, 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, 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

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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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

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, 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 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

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 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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, 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 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 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 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. 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 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, 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

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 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 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 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, 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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

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 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 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.

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 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 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, 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 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 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 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, 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 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.

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. 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. 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 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 and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.

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