Edward John Trelawny - Return To England

Return To England

Trelawny moved to Zante in May 1826 and stayed there for a year. There he lived next to the house of Thomas Gordon. While they were living in Zante, Teritza gave birth to their first child, Zella.

He filed for divorce from Teritza in 1827 in Kefalonia after four years of marriage. There were later rumours that Trelawny had been abusive towards her and had forbidden her to wear non-Greek clothing. Teritza then moved into a nunnery and gave birth to their second child there. The child died at a very young age, however. Teritza was awarded a small alimony and soon left the nunnery to remarry. Her second husband was a Greek Chieftain.

Trelawny then returned to England to visit his family in Cornwall. He also visited Mary Shelley, and asked her to consider entering a romantic relationship with him. She refused his offers, however. He also briefly visited Clair in Italy in 1828. Though he was very attracted to her, she too spurned his advances.

In 1828 he began referring to himself as "John Edward Trelawny", but he returned to "Edward John Trelawny" three years later. In late 1828 he returned to England and met with Thomas Jefferson Hogg and Jane Williams. He soon developed a strong dislike for Hogg.

Trelawny then decided to write a book about his life and friendship with Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. He initially had wanted to write about Shelley but abandoned the plan after he was unable to secure the assistance of Mary Shelley. He then decided to write about himself. He discussed many actual events in his life, but greatly embellished many details. He also discussed radical politics in the book.

In 1829 Trelawny made plans to live with his three daughters in Italy. He abandoned this plan after his eldest daughter died and his finances became strained. His financial problems were caused in part by a large gift to the Medwin family after they encountered financial difficulties.