Rosina Bulwer-Lytton's Abusive Marriage and Early Life (Part 1)

Early Life and Influences

• 💡 Rosina Doyle Wheeler was born in Ireland in 1802 to Francis and Anna Doyle Wheeler, with only two of their six children surviving infancy.
• 🧠 Her mother, Anna, was an intelligent and educated woman who advocated for cooperative socialism and women's rights, co-authoring a significant work on the political and legal position of women.
• 🏠 Anna Wheeler left her husband Francis due to his excessive drinking and threatening behavior, taking her daughters to Guernsey, where they lived a more lavish life with tutors and a governness.
• 💔 Rosina felt neglected as a child, often overshadowed by her favored sister Henrietta, and longed for her mother's love.

Meeting Edward Bulwer-Lytton

• ✍️ In 1825, Rosina met Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer, a fashionable and intellectual figure known for his literary connections.
• 💌 Their courtship involved extensive correspondence, with Edward expressing deep infatuation and using endearments that some have described as embarrassing.
• 😟 Edward feared his mother's disapproval of Rosina, as his mother doted on him and controlled his finances.

Engagement and Marriage

• 💍 Rosina inherited her father's property in Ireland after Henrietta's death in 1826, providing her with some financial independence.
• 💔 Despite Edward's mother's strong disapproval, Edward and Rosina became engaged, and he eventually disclosed this to his mother, who threatened him with her curse.
• 📝 Edward's first novel, Faulklan, was published in 1827, and he and Rosina married that August, without his mother's attendance or approval.
• 💸 Following the marriage, Edward's mother cut off his allowance, leaving him reliant on his inheritance and earnings, and he and Rosina moved to a secluded house in Oxfordshire.

Marriage Troubles and Abuse

• 📚 Edward worked exhaustively as a writer, with Rosina's help, aiming for a seat in Parliament, and he began hinting at claiming the Doyle Barony through their marriage.
• 💔 Rosina's first allegation of physical abuse occurred during her pregnancy, when Edward allegedly kicked her.
• 👶 Their daughter, Emily Elizabeth, was born in 1828, and Edward insisted she be sent to a wet nurse, leading to Rosina's distress and a doctor-ordered recovery at the seaside.
• 🏛️ Edward's career advanced, becoming an MP in 1831, and he began repairing his relationship with his domineering mother, further straining his marriage.
• 🔪 In 1833, while in Naples, Edward was violent towards Rosina, and upon their return to England in 1834, he attacked her with a carving knife, biting her cheek.

Separation

• 💔 Following the knife incident, Edward declared himself unfit for society and proposed an informal separation, offering Rosina £600 a year for maintenance.
• 💔 The final straw for legal separation occurred in 1836 when Rosina discovered Edward with another woman, Laura Deacon, with whom he later had three children.
• ⚖️ Due to the impossibility and expense of divorce, they legally separated on April 19th, 1836, with a deed outlining Edward's financial provisions for Rosina and the children.
• 🚶‍♀️ Rosina and her children moved out, leaving her dependent on Edward's support, and she began writing extensively to supplement her income and express her views on her husband.