Which stately home in Derbyshire formed the backdrop to the famous historical romance between Dorothy Vernon and Sir John Manners ?
Dorothy Vernon Dorothy Vernon Dorothy Vernon (1544 – 24 June 1584), the younger daughter of Sir George Vernon and Margaret "nee" Talbois (or Tailboys), was the heiress of Haddon Hall, an English country house in Derbyshire with its origins in the 12th century. She married John Manners in 1563. The couple's descendants, the Dukes of Rutland, continue to own Haddon Hall. A legend grew up in the 19th century that Vernon and Manners eloped, and a number of novels, dramatisations and other works of fiction have been based on the legend. Sir George Vernon was a prosperous and hospitable landowner in Derbyshire,
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall Earl of Rutland (circa 1492 - 1543) in 1563. Sir George supposedly disapproved of the union, possibly because the Manners were Protestants and the Vernons were Catholics. According to legend, 18-year-old Dorothy eloped with Manners. In the novel, neither Dorothy Vernon nor John Manners has any siblings. Also, John Manners' father is alive. In the novel, the elopement takes place in 1568 (an adjustment needed to make it line up with Queen Mary's flight to England, which is a plot point in the novel). The story is narrated by Sir George Vernon's 35-year-old cousin, Malcolm François de Lorraine Vernon. Raised