Wendy Cook, 54, had two wealthy female lovers twice her age, both called Jean
Wendy Cook’s love life was not only unconventional – it also left her extremely rich.
The barrister took two wealthy female lovers twice her age, both called Jean, away from their London homes, and convinced them to live with her in a cottage on the Isle of Wight.
When they died, Miss Cook, 54, benefited to the tune of more than £1million from each woman.
Now a High Court case about the remarkable set-up has found there is no reason to question her love affairs or huge inheritances.
Oxford University professor Christopher Gosden, son of one of the two Jeans, has been told he has no valid claim on the estate of his mother, which ended up mostly going to Miss Cook. He received less than £5,000.
Professor Gosden, an expert in European archaeology, took his lawyers to court claiming they failed to act to stop his mother, Dr Jean Weddell, selling her house to move in with her lover and civil partner Miss Cook. He only learned of the sale years later, after his mother’s death.
A High Court judge has now ruled that while Professor Gosden’s lawyers should have delayed the sale of his mother’s house, she still had full capacity to make her own decisions, and ultimately would have sold it and moved anyway.
Miss Cook’s second elderly female lover was Dr Jean Weddell and they became civil partners in 2007. Dr Weddell, had been a pioneering female doctor in Britain’s formerly men-only medical schools. Wendy Cook (right) and Dr Weddell (left) at their civil partnership
As a result he will not get any more money from her estate, the proceeds of which remain with Miss Cook. She qualified as a barrister in 1997 but was suspended in 2015 after being twice caught drink-driving within a few months and banned from the roads for five years. Miss Cook had insisted in court that she was not living in a ‘threesome’ with the two rich, elderly Jeans.
The High Court in London heard that Professor Gosden’s mother, Dr Weddell, had been a pioneering female doctor in Britain’s formerly men-only medical schools.
Miss Cook’s lover Jean Southworth QC who had been a Bletchley Park codebreaker. Their physical relationship ended in in the 1990s, after which the older woman became her ‘adopted ma and mentor’
But she had given up her son for adoption. Professor Gosden was brought up in Australia before being reunited with Dr Weddell in 1987. Relations were friendly, and she told him she would leave him her Edwardian terraced house in Kennington, south London, now worth £1.25million.
However, things changed after she met Miss Cook. The barrister had already met Jean Southworth QC, who had been a Bletchley Park codebreaker and went on to sit as a judge for 20 years. Miss Cook told the High Court last year that they became lovers, but their physical relationship ended in the 1990s, after which the older woman became her ‘adopted ma and mentor’.
A decade later Miss Cook took her second elderly female lover, Dr Weddell, and they became civil partners in 2007. Not long afterwards, Dr Weddell sold her house for £710,000, without telling her son, and moved with Miss Cook to the Isle of Wight.
Before long, Miss Cook was living with both Dr Weddell and Miss Southworth in the same cottage in the centre of Newport on the island. Miss Southworth died of septicaemia in 2010 aged 83. Her will, written on the Isle of Wight three months earlier, left the bulk of her £5.3million estate to Miss Cook.
It was contested unsuccessfully by Miss Southworth’s godson Nicholas Falla. Then, in 2013, Dr Weddell died aged 84. Her estate had already been largely gifted to Miss Cook.
Oxford University professor Christopher Gosden, son of Dr Weddell, has been told he has no valid claim on the estate of his mother, which ended up mostly going to Miss Cook
Judge Mark Pelling QC has now ruled that while Professor Gosden’s lawyers could have prevented the sale of his mother’s house without his knowledge, he was not due any compensation because his mother could ultimately have insisted that she wanted to sell her house and move in with her younger lover.
There was no evidence she lacked the mental capacity to make rational decisions.
And he said that Miss Cook’s huge inheritance from her other elderly lover, Miss Southworth, did not mean Dr Weddell could not have wanted to give her more.
Dr Weddell told Professor Gosden she would leave him her Edwardian terraced house in Kennington, south London, now worth £1.25million
Judge Pelling, whose judgment was issued in February but has only now come to light, ruled that it appeared reasonable for Miss Cook to move her two wealthy Jeans in to the same cottage.
And Judge Pelling said that as far as Dr Weddell was concerned: ‘It is entirely unsurprising that she would want to leave the bulk of her estate to Ms Cook, her civil partner, irrespective of Ms Cook’s wealth from other sources.’
Miss Cook declined Daily Mail requests for comment.