Volume 1

The trial of Elizabeth Duchess Dowager of Kingston for bigamy, before the Right Honourable the House of Peers, in Westminster-Hall, in full Parliament, on Monday the 15th, Tuesday the 16th, Friday the 19th, Saturday the 20th, and Monday the 22d of April, 1776. On the last of which days the said Elizabeth duchess dowager of Kingston was found guilty / Published by order of the House of Peers.

Elizabeth Pierrepont, Duchess of Kingston-upon-Hull

Date:: 1776

Credit: The trial of Elizabeth Duchess Dowager of Kingston for bigamy, before the Right Honourable the House of Peers, in Westminster-Hall, in full Parliament, on Monday the 15th, Tuesday the 16th, Friday the 19th, Saturday the 20th, and Monday the 22d of April, 1776. On the last of which days the said Elizabeth duchess dowager of Kingston was found guilty / Published by order of the House of Peers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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{aid Sovereign Lord the now King, upon their Oath aforefaid further prefent, that the faid Elizabeth, heretofore (to wit) on the Fourth Day of Augujl, ii; the Eighteenth Year of the Reign of Our late Sovereign Lord George the Second, late King of Great Britain, and fo forth, at the Parifii of Lainjlcn, in the County of Southampton, by the Name of Elizabeth Chudleigh, did marry the faid Augujlus John Hervey, and him the faid Augujlus John Hervey then and there had for her Hufband ; and that the faid Elizabeth being married, Nand the Wife of the faid Augujlus John Hervey, afterwards (to wit) on the Eighth Day of March, in the Ninth Year of the Reign of Our faid Sovereign Lord George the Third, now King of Great Britain, and fo forth, with Force and Arms, at the faid Parifh of Saint George, Hanover Square, in the faid County of Middlefex, felonioufly did marry and take to Huf¬ band the faid Evelyn PierrepontDuke. of KingJlon (the faid Augujlus John Hervey, her former .Hufband, being then alive) againfl the Form of the Statute in fuch Cafe made and pro¬ vided, and againfl the Peace of Our faid Sovereign Lord the now King, his Crown .and Dignity. 0. T. True Bill. Augujline Greenland, Ann Cradock, Chrijlopher Dixon, Sworn in Court. 'Thomas Dodd, Samuel Harper, John Fozard. Lord High Steward. Is it your Lord (hips Plcafure, that the Judges have Leave to be (Covered ? Lords. Ay, ay. Clerk of the Crown. Serjeant at Arms, make Proclamation for the Gentleman Ufher of ithe Black Rod to bring his Prifoner to the Bar. Serjeant at Arms. Oyez, Oyez, Oyez ! Elizabeth Duchefs Dowager of Kingjlon, come Forth and fave you and your Bail, or eife you forfeit your Recognizance. [After her Surrender Jhe was, during the Trial, called to the Bar by the following Pro¬ clamation.'] Gentleman Ufher of the Black Rod, bring your Prifoner Elizabeth Duchefs Dowager of 'Kingjlon to the Bar, purfuant to the Order of the Houfe of Lords. Then Elizabeth Duchefs Dowager of Kingjlon was brought to the Bar by the Deputy Gentleman Ufher of the Black Rod. The Prifoner, when flie approached the Bar, .made Three Reverences, and then fell upon her Knees at the Bar. Lord High Steward. Madam, you may rife. The Prifoner then rofe up, and curtefied to his Grace the Lord High Steward, and to the Houfe of Peers ; which Compliment was returned her by his Grace, and the Lords. Then, Proclamation having been made again for Silence, the Lord High Steward fpake ito the Prifoner, as follows. Lord High Steward. Madam, yOU hand indicted for having married a Second Hufband, your Firfl Hufband being living. A Crime fo deftruCtive of the Peace and Happinefs of private Families, and fo injurious in its Confequences to the Welfare and good Order of Society, that by the Statute Law of this Kingdom it was for many Years (in your Sex) punifhable with Death ; the Lenity, however, of later Times has fubflituted a milder Punifhment in its Stead. This Confideration muff neceffarily tend to leffen the Perturbation of your Spirits upon this awful Occafion. But that, Madam! which, next to the inward Feelings of your own Confcience, will afford you mofl Comfort is, reflecting upon the Honour, the Wifdom, and the Candour of this High Court of criminal JurifdiCtion. It is. Madam, by your particular Defire that you now flarid at that Bar: You were not brought there by any Profecutor. In your Petition to the Lords, praying for a fpeedy Trial, you affumed the 1 itle of Duchefs Dowager of Kingjlon, and it was by that Title that the Court of King’s Bench ad¬ mitted you to Bail; in your Petition you likewife averred, that Augujlus John Hervey, avhofeWife the Indictment charges you with being, is at this Time Earl of Briftol: Upon examining

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