Seymour Dorothy Fleming, Lady Worsley, recently became a hot topic following a TV movie starring Natalie Dormer. Whilst I wasn't particularly impressed by the script, it did inspire me to find out more about this interesting character and whether Jane Austen knew of her.

Born in 1758, she was the youngest daughter of an Irish-born nobleman, Sir John Fleming. She suffered tragedy as a young child of five when she lost her father and two of her sisters. Seymour was brought up, with her remaining sister Jane, by her mother Lady Jane Coleman. Her mother remarried in 1770 to Baron Edwin Lascelles of Harewood, who was very rich due to his plantations in the West Indies.

 

At just 17 years of age, Seymour married Sir Richard Worsley, 7th Baron of Appuldurcombe House, Isle of Wight, becoming Lady Worsley. The couple had one legitimate child Robert Edwin, but unfortunately he died at a young age in 1793. With his title, property and political aspirations, Sir Richard seemed like a good match to her at the time.

Seymour discovered that her husband was a voyeur and preferred to watch her have sex with other men rather than have sex with her himself. It was rumoured that she had 27 lovers during their marriage. She lived in an age where a wife was property of her husband and had to obey him. It came to light much later that he cruelly beat his servants and a slave child he later kept, which raises questions about he treated his wife.

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Seymour had a second child Jane Seymour in 1781 by George Maurice Bisset, although Sir Richard claimed the child as his own to avoid scandal. Unfortunately the avoidance of scandal was short lived, as Seymour, unable to cope with her husband's demands, eloped with Bisset when her daughter was 4 months old. Women could not divorce a man so it is presumed that the elopement was partly to encourage Sir Richard to start proceedings.
 

However, Sir Richard refused to divorce her and brought a criminal conviction case against Bisset for £20,000 in an attempt to ruin him. However, the court case backfired on him as it brought to light the details of the couples scandalous marriage. There were testimonies from five of her lovers and her doctor confirmed that she had been treated for a venereal disease, which she contracted from the Marquess of Graham. It was also famously noted that Sir Richard had displayed his naked wife to Bisset at a bathhouse in Maidstone, which was turned into cartoons. The court did surprisingly find in favour of her husband, but instead of the £20,000 he demanded, he was awarded one shilling and became known as Sir Richard Worse-than-sly.

However, Bisset and Seymour did not have a happily ever after. He left her after realising that Sir Richard would never divorce her and later remarried, living a more conventional lifestyle. With no husband or income, Seymour became a professional mistress, living off the donations of rich men. She had a further two children, one by Bisset shortly after he left her, and Charlotte Dorothy Cochard.

She was eventually forced to flee to Paris to avoid her debts but in 1788 she returned with her new lover Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Sir Richard Worsley entered into articles of separation provided that she spend four years of exile in France. Her exile was unfortunately timed, as 8 months before she was due to return to England, she became trapped by the events of the French Revolution. It is believed that she was imprisoned between 1793 and 1794 in Carmes Prison.

In 1797, she returned quietly to England and was given forgiveness by her mother, sister and her sister's husband the Earl of Harrington. She was very ill at the time so this is likely to have prompted a reconciliation. She was allowed to move into Brompton Park, the home that was previously hers, but not officially own the property.

In 1805, Sir Richard Worsley died reverting her £70,000 jointure. Free to marry, she married a month after Sir Richard's death to her new lover, John Lewis Cuchet, who was 21 years her junior! She also took back by royal license her maiden name Fleming, and broke tradition as her new husband took her name too. Although he genuinely appeared to care for her, he requested to be buried with his first wife after his death.

So how does Seymour's story link with Jane Austen?

 

Well, you may see some similarities with Maria Bertram in Mansfield Park, who married Mr Rushworth at a young age, but then ran away with Mr Henry Crawford. Due to her actions, Maria became the subject of scandal and ruined her future prospects. Jane wrote about what she knew, but this doesn't necessarily mean that Maria was based on Lady Worsley.

In the novel, Maria Rushworth purchases the Lascelles House on Wimpole Street. The Lascelle family was connected with Seymour as her mother married into the family. However, the use of this name is more likely because of the theme of slavery that features in the novel, as the Lascelles family was connected with the plantations, slavery and corruption, and featured in the newspapers a few years previous to Jane writing the novel.

Jane was only a young child when the sex scandal of Lady Worsley was in the news, and it is unlikely that this was deemed suitable reading for a child! However, that's not to say that she couldn't have learned of it as an adult. Jane did enjoy retelling scandal and gossip in her letters and some of her novels contained scandal too. Cartoons of the Worsley's were in distribution for many years so it's highly possible she would have come across them.