Harrrummph! Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury (1661-1723) probably didn’t think it was weird! Although a great many of his contemporaries certainly thought he was! Born in England, he was appointed by Queen Anne as Governor of New York and New Jersey in 1701 for the British. The father of many children, Cornbury often dressed as a woman, once opened the government assembly “fully” representing Queen Anne, had his portrait painted in a low-cut gown and even attended his wife’s funeral dressed as a widow in mourning. He was a bit too much for the colonists to take, though, because they shipped him home in disgrace in 1708.
Some scholars are beginning to question whether the high gossip value and scandal potential of Cornbury’s habits may have overshadowed some of his very valuable leadership and legal innovations. The Lord Cornbury Scandal, by Patricia U. Bonomi, makes interesting reading.
Okay, so maybe he is and maybe he isn’t the greatest role model, but certainly had no qualms about dressing as he chose to!
Besides, it’s a cool name.
