Caroline Norton

(1808-1877)

British writer and social reformer

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Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, Lady Stirling-Maxwell (née Sheridan; 22 March 1808 – 15 June 1877) was an English social reformer and author active in the early and mid-nineteenth century. Norton left her husband in 1836, following which he sued her close friend Lord Melbourne, the then Whig Prime Minister, for criminal conversation (i.e. adultery). The jury threw out the claim, but she was unable to obtain a divorce and was denied access to her three sons. Norton's intense campaigning led to the passing of the Custody of Infants Act 1839, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 and the Married Women's Property Act 1870. Norton modelled for the fresco of Justice in the House of Lords by Daniel Maclise, who chose her because she was seen by many as a famous victim of injustice.

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Born	Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan 22 March 1808 London
Died	15 June 1877 (aged 69) London, England
Zodiac	Aries
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George Norton 1800-1875 · · m. 1827 info edit

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Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, 9th Baronet 1818-1878 · 19th-century Scottish writer and politician · m. 1877 info edit

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Children

Fletcher info 1st child with George Norton Male · - · Celebrity Baby

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Thomas Brinsley info 2nd child with George Norton Male · - · Celebrity Baby

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William info 3rd child with George Norton Male · - · Celebrity Baby

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