Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore

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After the wedding, Stoney Bowes attempted to take control of his wife's fortune, as was the custom of that era. When he discovered that Mary had secretly made a prenuptial agreement safeguarding the profits of her estate for her own use, he forced her to sign a revocation handing control to him. He is then alleged to have subjected Mary to eight years of physical and mental abuse, including confining her to her own house for a period. He later took Mary and her daughter Anna Maria (the Earl's daughter) off to Paris, whence they returned only after a writ had been served on him. He is also said to have raped the maids, invited prostitutes into the home and fathered numerous illegitimate children. Linda Nolan 'cries her eyes out' as she shares a heartbreaking cancer update and admits her fears that this Christmas could be her last

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On the evening of Thursday, February 3, 1785, Stoney left their Grosvenor Square home to dine with a relation - and Mary instigated her daring plan. Mary Eleanor Bowes, the widowed Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, was engaged to her lover, George Gray, in the summer of 1776 when she met the outwardly charming but wily Anglo-Irish adventurer, Andrew Robinson Stoney, who manipulated his way into her household (using the governess of the children, Eliza Planta) and her bed. Calling himself "Captain Stoney" – although he was, in reality, a lieutenant in the British Army – he insisted on fighting a duel in Mary's honour with the editor of The Morning Post newspaper which had published scurrilous articles about her private life. In fact, he had himself written the articles that criticised her, as well as those defending her; and the duel between Stoney and the newspaper's editor was probably staged. Pretending to be mortally wounded in the duel, Stoney persuaded the countess as his dying wish to marry him. He was carried to the altar on a stretcher for his marriage to the Countess. Staging a miraculous recovery immediately after the marriage, Stoney took his wife's surname (as stipulated by her father's will) and was styled Andrew Robinson Stoney Bowes. He served as High Sheriff of Durham in 1780 and was elected MP for Newcastle later the same year, serving until he lost the next election in 1784. Referred to by some as "The Unhappy Countess", she was a prominent heiress, who inherited a vast fortune. Her husbands were the 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Anglo-Irishman Andrew Robinson Stoney, the latter of whom reportedly treated her very cruelly during their marriage. Amongst many other achievements in her life, including a significant expertise developed in the field of botany, Mary Eleanor Bowes was one of the early pioneers of women's rights in relation to divorce. Kylie Jenner shows off her incredible figure in a tiny bikini before modelling a bra and sheer skirt as she poses for sizzling photoshoot BBC fans are in for a treat this Christmas as the broadcaster announces the return of THIS hit music show

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However, it wasn’t to be and she triumphed in a much more important way. She succeeded in being the first woman to secure a divorce and keep her land.

She immediately launched legal proceedings to divorce Stoney - citing cruelty and barbarity, and producing witnesses, as the law demanded - and reclaim all her children. A miniature version, also from the collection of John Bowes, was presented by in Carlton Hobbs in 2002 It is probably the ‘model of a cabinet’ bequeathed to John Bowes (1811-85) by his aunt Mary, daughter or Mary Eleanor Bowes, in 1856 (she had presented the larger cabinet to him in 1854) (documents in Strathmore archive at Durham County Record Office). It is recorded on a chimneypiece in Streatlam Castle in an illustration in an article on Streatlam Castle in ‘Country Life’, 38, December 18 1915, pp.836-843. Mary would later write of the time that Stoney ‘used me with more cruelty and indignity than ever’. Keri Russell goes casual in a sweatshirt and jeans as she appears at a Q&A panel for her Netflix series The DiplomatKate Middleton proves Omid Scobie's cruel Stepford Wife jibes are far from the truth - from abseiling cliffs in Wales to confident speeches I'm A Celebrity bosses 'fear more stars could quit the show' after Grace Dent's departure - as hungry campmates face storms and harsh trials The Great British Bake Off final review: Nude baking, Noel? It's a surprise it's not been on Channel 4 already, writes CHRISTOPHER STEVENS Cruelly, Stoney insisted that Mary be curt and often downright rude in company, to perpetuate a myth he had circulated that she was a truculent wife.

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I'm A Celebrity legend Phil Tufnell details how 'mentally and physically' tough he found jungle life the second time around The earl, though a striking looking man, did not share Mary’s interests and the pair had little in common. Mary enjoyed several flirtations and threw herself into the social melee. Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (24 February 1749 – 28 April 1800) was a notable member of the British aristocracy during the Georgian period in the 18th century. From luxury skincare to must-have make-up collections - get Christmas all wrapped up with dream gifts they'll love