Edward John Trelawny - Third Marriage

Third Marriage

He moved into a villa on Putney Hill that was owned by John Temple Leader, a political friend of his. His affair with Augusta Goring began shortly after he returned to England. She claimed to have been badly treated by her husband, who was a member of Parliament. Many people in London society believed that he was practising a strict aesthetic routine there. Trelawny then eloped with Augusta. After she separated from her husband she began using a pseudonym. She gave birth to a son in August 1839. Her husband tracked her down, however, and filed for divorce. The divorce was granted in 1841. Trelawny married Augusta and they settled in a small country town Usk and bought a farmhouse. They had a daughter Laetitia there as well. They later moved to a large house on a 440 acre farm two miles outside Usk. He worked hard maintaining the farm and was friends with several leading citizens from the town. He lived in Usk for twelve years total, which was longer than he had ever lived in one place in his entire life. He planted trees and lawns and flower gardens. Townspeople were offended by him breaking the sabbath. In the mid-1850s he began writing a book about his memories of Byron and Shelley. His marriage split up in 1857 due to his relationship with a young woman who became his mistress and later common-law wife. The girl's name was never discovered; she is only known as Miss B. He frequently had tea with the vicar of Usk on Sunday afternoons. After he separated from his wife in Usk he sold a large amount of the furniture and books and held a well attended open house for villagers to come in and buy his possessions. After his third divorce, he criticised the institution of marriage in a letter to Claire. He frequently wrote the wrong dates on his letters.