360 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 180-1. 



next day a hue and cry Mas raised 

 by the Iriends of the lady, and the 

 Bow-street officers apprehended one 

 of the brothers, who had returned 

 to Boiton-Kow for Mrs. Lee's 

 clothes. 



The pursuit was of course con- 

 tinued, and on Thursday night (the 

 19th) Miller, the officer, arrived in 

 London, with Mr. Laudon Gordon 

 and Mrs. Lee, whom he had traced 

 to Gloucester. On a further exa- 

 mination it appeared, tliat Mr. Lau- 

 don Gordon ordered his servant on 

 Sunday to prepare him linen for tra- 

 velling, and to hire a chaise for 

 Uxbridgc. On Tuesday evening, a 

 ]et(er was brought to Mrs. Lee's 

 maid, in Bolton-Row, by a young 

 man, who said that it came inclosed 

 to him from his mother, who keeps 

 an inn at Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, 

 and where it appeared the parties 

 liad stopped on Sunday night : but 

 from their strange behaviour to each 

 other, much astonishment was ex- 

 cited, especially as the lady remain- 

 ed while her gown and stockings were 

 washed. Mrs. Lee's letter, there is 

 reason to believe, was written pri- 

 vately and in great haste ; the words 

 were very few, and nearly as fol- 

 lows : — " No clothes, no money ; 

 death or compliance!" — Another 

 examination took place on Friday 

 the 20th. Mrs. Lee's deposition 

 was first taken privately, and after- 

 wards on being confronttid with the 

 Gordons, she stated that she had 

 been acquainted with thtm about 

 fourteen yea^s, and tliat their ac- 

 quainfance was renewed about two 

 months back. The Gordons were 

 again brought to Bow-street on the 

 27tli, and, after a long examination, 

 the parties were bound over to pro- 

 secute at the next assizes for Oxford- 

 shire, the otfencc having been com- 



mitted in that county. Mr. Lock- 

 hart Gordon then applied to the 

 magistrates for permission for his 

 brother to be committed to Tothill- 

 fields Bridewell with him, which was 

 readily agreed to, both by the magis- 

 trates and Mrs. Lee's solicitor, and 

 where they are to remain until trial. 

 The person w ho was the subject 

 of the outrage, is the illegitimate 

 daughter of the late lord le Despen- 

 cer, and, before her marriage, was 

 called Rachael Fanny Antonina 

 Dashwood. She was married in 

 1794, to Mathew Allen Lee, esq. 

 and after the marriage, a settlement 

 of her property was made by the 

 court of chancery, by which nearly 

 the whole was vested in the trust of 

 Mr. Parkin and three other gentle- 

 men, who were authorised to pay a 

 certain sum to Mrs. Lee for her own 

 and separate use, and in 1795, a 

 separation took place, when it was 

 agreed that Mrs. Lee should receive 

 12001. per year for her life, which 

 has been paid to her ever since that 

 period, she continuing to live sepa- 

 rate from her husband, still living, 

 afid by whom she has no children. 



19th. This evening one of the 

 most tremendous storms ever expe- 

 rienced, was felt throughout the 

 whole kingdom ; the following are 

 among the most remarkable of its 

 effects. At Falmouth the roof of 

 one of the stables of the new bar- 

 racks there, a building 178 feet in 

 length, though of the best possible 

 materials and workmanship, was 

 blown oiT bodily ; and even of the 

 walls little more than fragments re- 

 main. A high wall of a new house 

 in Lemon-street was blown down, 

 which beat in the wall and roof of 

 another house, that of Mr. Almgnd 

 Hitchem, about 20 feet distant from 

 it. One of the pinnacles of the 



tower ' 



