← Back to the front page

Lesser Known But Intriguing Historic Criminals

Khalid Elhassan October 17, 2019 32 min

U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History - Crime

15. The Dying Stoney’s Miraculous Recovery

st. james church — Interior of St. James Church, Piccadilly, circa 1806. Wikimedia

When Andrew Stoney was “mortally wounded” while defending Mary Bowes’ honor in a duel, she granted him his dying wish to marry her, figuring that the marriage would only last a few hours. He was carried down the aisle of St. James Church, Piccadilly, on a stretcher, but soon after the vows were exchanged, Stoney made a miraculous recovery. Back then, husbands had the right to control their wives’ finances, but Stoney discovered that a prenuptial agreement stood in the way. Undaunted, he forced Mary to revoke the prenuptial and hand control of her fortune over to him.

Stoney then began squandering Mary’s wealth like a drunk sailor on shore leave, and kept her a prisoner in their home. Over the next eight years, he made his captive wife’s life a living hell, abusing her emotionally and physically, while raping and impregnating her maids. He also brought sex worker home, carried on numerous affairs, and fathered many illegitimate children.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.