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Mother Prodgers, The Woman Who Terrorized Victorian London With Her Obsession Of Lawsuits
A society woman developed a taste for suing people and spent decades taking them to court over frivolous matters — and often winning
In the latter half of the 19th century, the rugged city of London wasn’t always for the faint of heart. However, someone who gave the chills to many that encountered her (especially cabbies) was a society woman named Caroline Giacometti Prodgers, who became obsessed with bringing lawsuits over every reason imaginable.
“Mother Prodgers,” as she became best known, was never the litigious sort until she took her husband of ten years, an Austrian ship’s captain, to court to obtain a divorce. Her mother had been a well-to-do heiress, putting her daughter in the unusual position of heading into the dissolution of a marriage with more money and assets to her name than her husband. As such, their legal proceedings played out quite publicly as a curiosity of the time.
In an attempt to keep the captain’s hands off her money, Prodgers took unusual steps such as questioning the legitimacy of her children in court. It was not an easy divorce, as even after it was finalized, he took her back to court, claiming that he had previously given…
