Marianne first married Robert Patterson, whose sister Elizabeth (died 1879) was the first wife of Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother. The Pattersons (originally spelled Paterson) were wealthy neighbours of the Catons in Baltimore.[3] The couple came to Europe for the benefit of Marianne's health,[4] bringing with them two of Marianne's sisters. One sister, Louisa, married a baronet, Sir Felton Hervey-Bathurst, in 1813,[5] and after his death married Francis D'Arcy-Osborne, later Duke of Leeds. Another Caton sister, Elizabeth, married George William Stafford-Jerningham, 8th Baron Stafford, as his second wife.[6]
Second marriage
On 29 October 1825 in Dublin, following the death of her husband in 1822, she married Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, then the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (since 1821),[2] whose first wife died in 1816,[1] so she became the Vicereine until 1828. Prior to their marriage, they may already have been lovers. The marquess was short of money and Marianne's inheritance may have been part of the reason for his proposal.[7] Her family disapproved of the marriage because of Wellesley's reputation and his several children by his first wife, Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland.[8]
^ abcG.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume IX, p. 238.