Sandwich, from 1760 on, had, along with other liaisons, a live-in lover, Martha Ray. He met her when he was forty-two and she still a teenager, at which time he moved her into his house and trained her as a singer. Sandwich had his Martha perform at musical evenings in his house, but she was not allowed to mix with the guests – and so it went on for years.
In 1778, Lord Sandwich invited to his home a young ensign, James Hackman, who listened to Martha Ray sing, fell in love with her, and repeatedly tried to convince her to elope with him. Failing in that effort, he resigned his commission, quickly became an Anglican cleric, and in 1779 went berserk: He shot Martha Ray in the face as she emerged from the theater. When Sandwich was informed of her death, as the British were transporting troops to conquer South Carolina under Cornwallis’ command, he flung himself on his bed and cried, “Leave me alone, I could have borne anything but this!”
Author’s Note:
Hackman was hanged at Tyburn.
Source:
Olasky, Marvin. “Vice, Virtue, and the Battlefield.” Fighting for Liberty and Virtue: Political and Cultural Wars in Eighteenth-Century America. Crossway Books, 1995. 161-62. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Ronald Fuller, Hell-Fire Francis (London: Chatto & Windus, 1939), 247-51.
Further Reading:
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