Did you know Ampthill is famous for Family Law?
The law practice of Specialist Family Law Barrister Lisa Smith is now authorised by the SRA which means we can be joined by other family lawyers, but did you know that Ampthill has a long-standing link with family law? In fact, Ampthill is famous for a divorce case that was considered so scandalous at the time that it brought about a change in the law.
The Ampthill baby case, or Russell case as it was also known, was one of the most notorious divorce trials of the 1920s. The case covered two divorce cases and the claim to the title Baron Ampthill. In 1918 John Russell, heir to the 2nd Baron Ampthill married Christabel Hart. When Christabel became pregnant John sought to divorce her for adultery claiming they had not consummated the marriage and so she must have taken a lover. Christabel however insisted she was a virgin and so the Press delighted in reporting their son as a ‘virgin birth’.
The issue for the court, in addition to deciding whether Christabel had been unfaithful was whether their son Geoffrey should be declared illegitimate despite the fact he was born in wedlock. John alleged that Christabel had embarked on a number of affairs and letters between Christabel and several men were read to the court and reproduced in newspapers daily with, it is said, the public ‘hanging on every word’.
There were allegations of rape and even suggestion that Christabel had become pregnant by using a sponge previously used by her husband. During the trial the evidence was said to be so graphic and scandalous that a female member of the jury fainted and had to be excused from serving on the case. Because of the lurid press coverage, after the trial concluded, an Act of Parliament was passed to prevent the reporting of divorce cases and the public were no longer admitted to family courts.
The House of Lords ultimately decided in 1924 that no child born within a marriage could be declared illegitimate only on the testimony of a parent, which is what John Russell was suggesting. Geoffrey therefore eventually inherited the title, despite a challenge from a son born to John and his third wife and became 4th Baron Ampthill in 1976. Christabel was convicted of adultery, but the House of Lords overturned the ruling on appeal. Sadly, Christabel died while the Courts were still debating whether Geoffrey could inherit the title, so she never saw her son succeed as 4th Baron Ampthill.
