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A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Edward Money

Author: Edward Money (1822–1889)

Alternate Name(s): Edward James D'Orley Thrale Money (legal name); Lieutenant-Colonel (rank)

Biography: Edward James D'Orley Thrale Money was born around 1822 in Calcutta, the son of barrister George Osborne Money, who worked for the East India Company, and his wife Pulcherie de Bourbel. He served in the Bengal Native Infantry as an officer. On a trip to England in 1852, he married Harriet Katherine Johnstone, the youngest daughter of clergyman T. B. Johnstone, in Clutton, Somerset. The hasty marriage soon fell apart due to Money's violent temper and the couple were formally separated in 1855 (though Money continued to harass her until her death in 1856). In July 1855, he and his brothers went to the Crimea where Money served as a captain in the Bashi-Bazouks (an irregular Turkish force) before serving as a lieutenant-colonel in the Imperial Ottoman army. He wrote a book about his experiences, Twelve Months with the Bashi-Bazouks (1857). He followed it with a novel set during the Indian revolt, The Wife and the Ward (1859), though he did not witness it. In 1858, he married a second time to Georgina Mary Russell and the couple had several children. Shortly after, Money and his wife moved to India where he became a tea planter near Darjeeling. Money became somewhat of an expert on tea with his book The Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea (1870) running through several editions. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1879, his wife's adultery with Ralph Graham Smyth cited as the cause. A year later he remarried to Marian Martha Pittard. This third marriage also ended in divorce in 1886, with Money's cruelty cited as cause. Around this time Money travelled across America to California, an experience he wrote about. Late in life, Money married a fourth time to Hannah Lewis in 1887. He died on 28 October 1889 in Worthing, Sussex. By most accounts, a thoroughly disagreeable character.

Author Tags:

References: Morning Herald (5 July 1852, 2 September 1854); Probate; Star (13 March 1886); Sussex Express (2 November 1889)

Fiction Titles:

  1. The Wife and the Ward: or, A Life's Error.  1 vol.  London: Routledge, 1859.