Edward John Trelawny - First Marriage

First Marriage

Trelawny returned to England in 1812. Soon after he arrived he fell in love with Caroline Addison. She was several years younger than him but as well educated and had studied French and was a skilled Pianist. Though both of their families disapproved of the match they were not dissuaded. Trelawny's father was particularly infuriated by his son's disobedience. They were married in May 1813 and first lived in London before moving to Bristol. After their first daughter was born in 1814 they experienced financial difficulties that forced Trelawny to ask his father for money. Although he had a mutually disdainful relationship with his father, he was able to secure extra funds. Edward and Caroline soon became unhappy, causing Edward to begin leaving home often to spend time with his friends or to travel to the theatre by himself. Their second child was born in 1816.

Caroline soon began having an affair with a much older man, a naval Captain named Coleman. They successfully hid the affair from Trelawny for some time, he discovered it long after many others had known. Although he dearly wished to fight a duel with Coleman, he simply filed for divorce instead. The proceedings were well covered in many of London’s "penny press" tabloid papers. This publicity caused Trelawny tremendous frustration and humiliation. The divorce order was granted in July 1817, but was not finalised until 1819. Caroline was granted custody of the elder child and Edward kept the younger.