Catalogue

In February 1785, Mary Eleanor instituted a suit in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of London in order to obtain a divorce on the grounds of cruelty and adultery. In May 1786 Andrew Robinson Bowes was found guilty and ordered to pay £300 p.a. alimony. Before the sentence was confirmed he appealed to the Court of Arches (Provincial Court of Canterbury), but lost his appeal in November 1786. The final court of appeal was the High Court of Delegates. They heard the case and found for Mary Eleanor in March 1789. In 1790, Andrew Robinson Bowes was excommunicated for failure to abide by the decision of the High Court of Delegates.

Prior to her marriage on 17 January 1777, Mary Eleanor, Countess of Strathmore, executed an indenture of release (9 - 10 January) vesting her life interest in George Bowes' estate in two trustees, Joshua Peele and George Stephens. As a result, Andrew Robinson Bowes had no control over Mary Eleanor's income or estates. On 1 May 1777, the indenture of release was revoked and her life interest passed to Andrew Robinson Bowes. Following the breakdown of her marriage, Mary Eleanor exhibited a bill of complaint against her husband in Chancery to have the indenture of release of 9 - 10 January established and to have set aside the deed of 1 May. On 1 June 1786, Andrew Robinson Bowes exhibited his cross bill. On 8 March 1788, the Lord Chancellor heard both bills and directed the issue to be heard in Common Pleas. The Court of Common Pleas reported back that the deed of 1 May had been obtained under duress, ruling in favour of Mary Eleanor. In 1796 - 1797, Andrew Robinson Bowes appealed unsuccessfully to have the decision reversed in the House of Lords.

Mary Eleanor, Countess of Strathmore, by William Lyon v Andrew Robinson Bowes, William Birch, Henry Bourne and George Stephens

Andrew Robinson Bowes v Mary Eleanor, Countess of Strathmore , William Lyon, Charles Shuter, Richard Harborne, James Seton, Mary Morgan and Francis Benett

Mary Eleanor exhibited Articles of Peace against her husband in February 1785 citing ill-treatment. Andrew Robinson Bowes was bound over for a year in his own security and that of John Lee, barrister, and the Duke of Norfolk. Following her abduction, Mary Eleanor again swore Articles of Peace, and Bowes was sent to the King's Bench prison where he was to stay for the rest of his life. As a result of the Articles of Peace, Bowes was bound over for 14 years, later reduced to 2 years. On 30 May 1787, Bowes and his accomplices came up for trial in King's Bench charged with abduction and assault. The defendants were all found guilty. Bowes was fined £300 and sentenced to 3 years imprisonment.

On 10 December 1796, Andrew Robinson Bowes petitioned the Chancellor concerning his entitlement to 1/3 of two farms in County Durham, Mount and Spring Farms. These had been bought by George Bowes in partnership with Lord Ravensworth and the Marquis of Bute, after the signing of George Bowes' will in 1747 and before the codicil was signed. Andrew Robinson Bowes' argument was that the codicil did not constitute a republication of the will, and therefore these properties were excluded from the indenture of release of 9 - 10 January 1777. Bowes produced another lease and release by Mary Eleanor dated November 1781 by which her share in the farms had been assigned to George Pearson, solicitor, 'to hold for the use of Andrew Robinson Bowes and his heirs and assigns for ever'. Bowes claimed the revenue of these farms from 1781. In 1798, Chancery directed the issue to be heard in King's Bench, where Andrew Robinson Bowes won the case. John, 10th Earl of Strathmore, and his mother, Mary Eleanor, appealed unsuccessfully to the House of Lords against the verdict.

Following Mary Eleanor's death in 1800, the issue became yet more complicated and the 1/3 share was not handed over to Andrew Robinson Bowes. In 1802 he again applied to Chancery in a bill of revivor, to which the Earl of Strathmore exhibited a cross bill. From 1804 - 1809, the Earl of Strathmore sought to recover various sums of money from Andrew Robinson Bowes including surplus rents, legal costs, the value of certain plate and jewels and purchase money due from the sale of the ship 'Mary'. Chancery ordered that the previous judgements of King's Bench, Common Pleas and Chancery should not be disputed; that the rights of Andrew Robinson Bowes under the lease and release of 1781 should be tried in Common Pleas; and that all other differences were to be referred to the arbitration of Anthony Hart, Charles Thomson and William Cook.

William Birch v William Stephenson
William Birch v Matthew and Thomas Potts
William Birch v Matthew and William Lee
William Birch v James Wright
William Birch v George Wickerson
(all Hylton Tenants)

John 10th earl of Strathmore (by Thomas Lyon, his Uncle) v Andrew Robinson Bowes, Mary Eleanor, Countess of Strathmore et al.
George Langstaff et al. v Andrew Robinson Bowes et al.
George Burdon v Andrew Robinson Bowes et al.

John 10th Earl of Strathmore, George Bowes, Thomas Bowes, Lady Anna Maria Bowes and Lady Maris Jane Bowes, Infants (by their Uncle, Thomas Lyon), Thomas Lyon and David Erskine v Andrew Robinson Bowes, Mary Eleanor, Countess of Strathmore et al.,

Chancery, 1820-1853

John Bowes (an Infant) by Dame Anna Maria Jessup, and the said Anna Maria Jessup v Mary, Countess Dowager of Strathmore, Henry Jadis, James Blackburn, James Farrer, James Farrer Steadman, Sir John Dean Paul, Thomas, Earl of Strathmore, et al.

John Bowes (an Infant) by Dame Anna Maria Jessup, and the said Anna Maria Jessup v James Farrer Steadman, Amelia Fancourt and James Robert Campbell

and related cases

These cases appear not to have been actual disputes but references to Chancery for permission to carry out various matters relating to the administration of the late Earl of Strathmore's estates, given that John Bowes was a minor.

See also Gibside Chapel endowment (Laydon Field Farm) under 'Gibside - tithe'