Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.
John Dalrymple 7th Earl of Stair
16 November 1784 – 22 March 1840
John Dalrymple 7th Earl of Stair was the son of General William Dalrymple and Marianne Dorothy Harland. He incurred great scandal over his complicated marital life.
In 1804, Dalrymple—while stationed in Edinburgh—entered into a non-ceremonial marriage with Johanna Gordon, daughter of Charles Gordon. Dalrymple subsequently denied any legal relationship with Johanna, but Judge William Scott (later Lord Stowell upheld the validity of the marriage under Scots law in the famous 1811 case of Dalrymple v. Dalrymple.
In the meantime, though, in 1808, Dalrymple married Lady Laura Manners, daughter of John Manners and Louisa Tollemache, Countess of Dysart. That marriage was necessarily nullified by the decision in Dalrymple v. Dalrymple. Dalrymple’s marriage to Johanna was eventually dissolved in 1820.
Dalrymple died on 22 March 1840, aged 55, in Paris without issue and was succeeded by a cousin.
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