Autograph letter signed by writer Caroline Norton about a swindler c.1845

Caroline Norton encounters a London Swindler

NORTON, Caroline (1808-1877). Autograph letter concerning a London swindler, 3 Chesterfield Street, [c.1845].

Autograph letter signed, 3 pages, 85 x 135 mm, written from 3 Chesterfield Street, Mayfair. Near fine, with old folds.

An unusual letter in which Norton recounts an encounter with an attempted swindler and reflects on the suspicion required when dealing with strangers in London. Norton describes how a man presented himself as a farmer and claimed to represent one of her mother's tenants. He approached her for a small loan supposedly required because of the sudden illness of his wife.

The story initially appeared convincing: the man knew the names of the tenants, said that he had danced with a Miss Hope on the night Norton's brother's child was christened, and supplied other apparently corroborating details. She writes that she now believed him to be a notorious swindler, and adds that she had lent him £5 despite his never having "told me a single word of truth". 

Norton, granddaughter of the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was a successful novelist, poet and political writer, but is now particularly remembered for her campaigning for the legal rights of married and separated women. Her personal experiences helped drive reforms culminating in legislation concerning child custody, divorce and married women's property.