Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, Lady Stirling-Maxwell, was an active English social reformer and author. She left her husband in 1836. He sued her close friend Lord Melbourne, then the Prime Minister, for adultery. The jury threw out the claim, but she failed to gain a divorce and was denied access to her three sons. Norton's campaigning changed important laws affecting the rights of women in relation to property, marriage and access to their children.
Born in London, grand-daughter to Richard Brinsley Sheridan. When she was 9 her family moved into a grace and favour home at Hampton Court. Married George Norton in 1827, going on to have three sons with him.
"George was a jealous and possessive husband given to violent fits of drunkenness. The union quickly proved unhappy due to his mental and physical abuse. To make matters worse, George was unsuccessful as a barrister and the couple fought bitterly over money."
Caroline left her husband. He refused to support her and denied her access to her earnings (from writing). He abducted the 3 boys and refused to allow her to see them. He accused Caroline of having an affair with Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister (who, to be fair, was a close friend so the accusation was not as mad as it sounds). Failing in his attempt to blackmail Melbourne he took him to court, and lost. He refused to grant Caroline a divorce. All of this he could do because the law allowed it.
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.
Surprisingly, Norton did not go on to support the campaign for other women's rights, such as suffrage.
In the 1840s she possibly had a 5-year affair with Sidney Herbert. Caroline was finally freed when George died in 1875. She remarried in 1877 but died in London just three months later.
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