Author and Journalist. She gained much notoriety for breaking the aristocratic tradition of marriage during the Victorian era. She was the daughter of aristocrats, Charles George Noel, 2nd Earl of Gainsborough and Ida Harriet Augusta Noel (Hay), Countess of Gainsborough. Queen Victoria was Blanche Noel's god mother. The Earl of Gainsborough hired an organist, Thomas Murphy, to work in the chapel of Exton Hall estate and give private singing lessons to Lady Blanche. The Earl was unaware of his daughter's romance with the organist. He did not believe what others told him when it came to his attention. The Earl had lost his wife a few years earlier. Once it was confirmed that Lady Blanche and Thomas Murphy had marriage intentions, the Earl was devastated. There was world wide news coverage about the couple eloping to London. During the Victorian era, it was not socially acceptable for a commoner to marry an aristocrat. Sources say the Earl was angry and renounced financial support to his daughter. It was written Lady Blanche and Thomas Murphy eloped to London to get married and that the Earl hired a detective to find them. Once the couple was found, no entreaties by the Earl could change their minds. There were reports that the young couple were unsuccessful securing work in London and were to set off to Australia. In 1870, they decidedly sailed to America on the ship "Plymouth Rock" and landed in New York. Newspapers gave varying accounts of the Earl's actions after his daughter's marriage. Some say he denounced any financial assistance to Lady Blanche. Although, it was known they kept in contact with each other over the years through letters. Lady Blanche also wrote to her younger sister. Lady Blanche and Thomas Murphy lived for a short while in New York. She received some assistance in securing journalism positions and she later wrote articles for newspapers, magazines, and several books. Upon assistance through the Catholic Church in New York, Lady Blanche and Thomas Murphy moved to North Conway, New Hampshire and are listed in the Conway, Carroll, New Hampshire, United States 1880 Census. The census gives Lady Blanche's occupation as keeping house, 32 years old, and born in 1848. Thomas Murphy as 33 years old and his profession, music teacher. After ten years living in New Hampshire, Lady Blanche died on March 21, 1881 from a brief illness. Her funeral took place on March 24, 1881, at the Catholic Cathedral of Portland, Maine.