Talk:John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset
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[edit] Illegitimate child
The article states: "Since [Lady Derby's] husband refused to divorce her, her child with Dorset was born illegitimate."
This is impossible under the law at that time. A child born to a married woman was legitimate, legally the child of her husband. This was true even if the child was known to be fathered by another man. One way around it was to send the wife off to have her baby in secrecy (as the Duchess of Devonshire did with her child by Lord Grey). Is that what happened here? Or did Lord Derby publicly denounce his wife and the child? Laura1822 14:50, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
