Miss Wyndham
(1827-1887)

Born in Vauxhall in or about 1827,  Emily Clara Turner was the daughter of artist Francis Turner. 

On 21 September 1843 she married Henry William Compton, a clerk in the Colonial office and shorthand writer. The couple appear on the 1851 census living at 42 Great Russell Street on the edge of Bloomsbury. She gave her profession as ‘Artist at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.’ 

Her marriage ended in the divorce court ten years later. According to Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper (23 June 1861): ‘A suit was commenced in the Divorce-court on Tuesday, by William Henry [sic] Compton, a clerk in the emigration office, for a dissolution of marriage on the ground of his wife’s (commonly known as Miss Wyndham, the celebrate actress) adultery with the co-respondent, who is a captain in the guards. The respondent was the daughter of a gentleman named Turner, who had been a captain in the royal navy, and an artist of some celebrity. But the lady was better known by the name she had assumed of Miss Wyndham, and had long been a favourite with the public from the abilities she displayed as an actress.’

The co-respondent was Captain Henry Baring, who, according to his brother Colonel Charles Baring, had sold out of the 17th Lancers in 1859. He and Miss Wyndham were married in 1862. ‘Miss Wyndham, the well-known actress, was, on Saturday last, married at Kensington Church to Captain Henry Baring, son of Mr Henry Baring, M.P. for Marlborough’ (South London Chronicle, 1 March 1862). Presumably she neglected to mention her previous marriage to the officiating priest. 

Captain and Mrs Baring appear on the 1871 census living (with two female servants) at Oldbury on the Hill in Gloucestershire. 

Emily Clara Baring (Miss Wyndham) died on 22 May 1887 at the age of 59. She was buried two days later in the Kent and Sussex Cemetery in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent.