Caroline Norton

Caroline Norton
Caroline Norton, by Sir George Hayter in 1832
Born	Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan (1808-03-22)22 March 1808 London, England
Died	15 June 1877(1877-06-15) (aged 69) London, England
Nationality	British
Known for	Social reformer, writer
Title	Lady Stirling-Maxwell (1877)
Spouses	George Chapple Norton ​ ​ (m. 1827; died 1875)​ Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, 9th Baronet ​ ​ (m. 1877)​
Parent(s)	Thomas Sheridan Caroline Henrietta Sheridan

Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, Lady Stirling-Maxwell (née Sheridan; 22 March 1808 – 15 June 1877)^[1] was an active English social reformer and author.^[2] She left her husband, who was accused by many of coercive behaviour, in 1836. Her husband then sued her close friend Lord Melbourne, then the Whig Prime Minister, for criminal conversation (adultery).

Although the jury found her friend not guilty of adultery, she failed to gain a divorce and was denied access to her three sons due to the laws at the time which favoured fathers. Norton's campaigning led to the passage of the Custody of Infants Act 1839, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 and the Married Women's Property Act 1870. She modelled for the fresco of Justice in the House of Lords by Daniel Maclise, who chose her as a famous victim of injustice.