I was browsing in the new non-fiction section of my library the other day, hoping that a copy of In the Garden of the Beast might be available when the title Sisters of Fortune (#125) caught my eye. When I pulled the book off the shelf, Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait of the beautiful Marianne Caton Patterson hooked me. Jehanne Wake's group biography of the four Caton sisters - Marianne, Elizabeth (or Bess as she was known), Louisa and Emily - is straight out of a novel, and just as compelling a read.
Born into the wealthy and prominent Catholic Carroll family of Baltimore, the girls were raised in the extended family household of their grandfather, John Carroll of Carrollton, signer of the Declaration of Independence. To protect their inheritances from their charming but feckless British father, John Carroll tied up fortunes for each of his granddaughters so that they would always be financially independent. In return, he expected them to be able to manage their own money by keeping scrupulous accounts, a life-long habit for the sisters.
Moving in the highest social circles, the Caton sisters met just about everyone who was anyone. With an uncle in the US Congress, they also spent considerable time in Washington, DC mingling with and debating politics in the highest political arenas as well and becoming staunch supporters of the Republic in the process.
In light of the Caton sisters' backgrounds, it is surprising that only one of the sisters married an American. Marianne, considered to be the true beauty of the family with a personality to match, married Robert Patterson. She suffered terribly from asthma and physicians recommended that Marianne go abroad for her health. Bess and Louisa accompanied her to Europe taking London by storm in the finest tradition of Regency romances. Marianne caught the eye of the Duke of Wellington who commissioned the portrait of her on the cover of the book. The sisters moved on to be met with an equally warm reception in France, the first experience they had of being able to openly practice their religion in public. Although Marianne Caton Patterson returned to the United States with her husband, she was widowed shortly thereafter and was beset by Patterson family claims against the validity of her husband's will. It was with great relief that she returned to Europe where she eventually married the Duke of Wellington's elder brother becoming Lady Wellsley. Louisa had married the English Lord Hervey but was also widowed young. Her courtship by the younger Lord Carmarthen caused a rift with his father, the Duke of Leeds, who objected to Louisa principally because of her religion, but also on the grounds that she was an American nobody. The breach was never healed with Carmarthen's father, but Louisa and Car's marriage was otherwise a happy one. Bess, the remaining sister, was most involved in financial speculation and held shares in various companies for her married sisters and friends. She never planned to marry, but succumbed to the sixty-four year old Lord Stafford's proposal, much to the surprise of the rest of her family. By all reports Bess's marriage was a successful one. Even Emily who had remained at home in America married a Canadian of Scottish descent, John McTavish. After beginning their marriage in Montreal, the McTavishes moved to Baltimore and there Emily remained, taking care of her grandfather, her parents and her growing brood of children.
Life was never dull with the Catons. They lived through tumultuous times in both Europe and America and the sisters were in a position to observe and even influence events.
What I found most surprising in reading this book is that I had never come across any references to the Caton sisters in any of the other books I've read. They were all so well known that they were the subject of many contemporary diarists and correspondents. The author does make the point that just as Louisa, the last surviving sister died, Jennie Jerome married Lord Randolph Churchill, and a few years later Consuela Yanga de Valle married the heir to the Duke of Manchester. The era of the Dollar Princesses had begun and the brilliant swath that the Caton sisters had cut during the Regency period and beyond was extinguished.
Once again, the cover art of this book was an important factor in my choosing this book, so kudos to the editors who selected the cover portraits of the four sisters. If you read Sisters of Fortune you won't be disappointed in the Catons' story. In this case, you can judge the book by the cover!
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