Hello Kitty

n

n                     In the extreme northeast of Essexnlies the parish of Thorpe, where Robert Cooper, a farmer, and his wife Judithnbrought their new-born daughter Catherine to the church to be baptised onnFebruary 11^th 1720. Catherine, or Kitty as she was known to all,ngrew up to be a great beauty and attracted the attention of many well-bredngentlemen from the London social scene, but surprised everyone when, aged onlyntwenty, she accepted a marriage proposal from the local vicar, the Reverend MrnGough. 

n

n

nAt a ball near Covent Garden, London, Kitty slipped away from hernhusband’s sight and disappeared into the night with a young aristocrat, John,nLord Dalmeny. Dalmeny was the eldest son of James, Second Earl of Rosebery, andnheir to his father’s title and estates in Fife. 

n

n

nHe and Kitty Cannon married innsecret and she went with him on a Grand Tour of Europe; it is thought she toldnhim that she was a young widow. The couple were very happy, and travelled tonmany of the fashionable resorts in southern Europe. However, at Florence earlynin 1752, Kitty fell seriously ill and it soon became apparent that thentuberculosis from which she was suffering would be fatal. On her deathbed,nKitty Cannon called for pen and paper and wrote the following, 

nThe young Lord Dalmeny was devastated by the death of hisnbeautiful wife, and this unexpected confession of bigamy, but he was determinednto carry out her last wish. He had her body embalmed and placed in a fine oakenncoffin decorated with silver plates, which was placed in a larger crate, andntogether with her jewellery and clothing, was transported to Marseilles. From there,nDalmeny took a boat to Dover, from where, under disguise as Mr Williams, anHamburg merchant, he hired a boat to take him and his unhappy cargo to Harwich.nUnfortunately, contrary winds forced the boat to Colchester, where customsnofficers grew suspicious of Mr Williams, dressed in black mourning and bowednwith grief, thinking him to be a Jacobite sympathiser who was smuggling Frenchncontraband into England. As they threatened to plunge knives into the crates,nhe drew his sword and made them desist. He made a full confession to thencustoms men, who nonetheless opened the coffin and drew back the cere-cloths tonreveal the dead beauty. Dalmeny and the crates were moved into a nearby church,nuntil the story could be verified, and news quickly spread amongst thenvillagers of the strange goings-on. 

n

n

nThey came to the church and many of themnidentified the embalmed body as Kitty Cannon, who had lived at Thorpe and hadndisappeared soon after her marriage to the local pastor. Mr Gough was sent for,nand at first was hostile to the Lord, threatening to run him through the body,nbut after hearing his full story, and bearing in mind his innocence in thenmatter, and his honest devotion to wishes of his dead wife, bringing her bodynhome and staying in vigil in the church, he repented and forgave him. After thenauthorities were satisfied that no crime had been committed, the coffin wasnmoved to Thorpe where, on July 7^th 1752, the funeral took place. Asnthe cortege passed the vicarage, Dalmeny stopped them and went indoors, tonemerge soon after arm-in-arm with Mr Gough, who was dressing in mourning asndeep as his own. The body was laid to rest with all the pomp and show as thatnof a real peeress, and Lord Dalmeny vowed to leave England and live in exilenfor the rest of his life. This was not long, as he died on August 11^thn1755, at the age of thirty. 

n

n

n

nMr Gough did not remarry, and died in July 1774. Anmemorial stone to Kitty Cannon was replaced at the orders of a later vicar by anplain, flat stone early in the following century, although the parishioners ofnThorpe remembered the unhappy, romantic story for many generations. John, LordnDalmeny’s name was struck from the existing and future ‘Peerages’, maybe tonspare his family from shame and association with the sorry story; the title wasnpassed to his younger brother when the Second Earl died. 

n

n

nA version of thisnstory appeared in Volume 7 of Once a Week (1862), written under the namenof Diana Butler, who claims to be Kitty’s great niece, and who changes the names of thencharacters to Kitty Holcomb, Viscount Dalrie and Reverend St George. 

n 

nKittynCooper was the first woman in England who had two husbands to follow her to thengrave together.