I’m peering, digitally speaking, over a towering pile of old newspapers. With luck, I might emerge by Christmas. But what treasures! I never dreamt there’d be quite as many mentions of my 2x great-aunt in the press as this… Last time, a search for ‘Catherine Mary Riboldi’ in Findmypast’s newspaper collections turned up the main plot of Catherine’s adoption by the Vicomte de Brimont – and of the probate case and legal challenges after his death, which eventually adjudicated in favour of our teenage heiress. But I’ve been trawling through the
50 or so other accounts, and not only have they added more spice to the dish, but some go right back to the start of the story.
From the The Croydonof 2 June 1883, under the heading ‘Case of a French Heiress’…
