| Lady Colin Campbell (1857-1911) | |
| Contents: - Profile of Lady Colin Campbell - Current Research - Portrait of Lady Colin Campbell |
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| Profile
of Lady Colin Campbell Lady Colin Campbell was born Gertrude Elizabeth Blood in May 1857. She enjoyed a liberal upbringing for the day, and developed into an intelligent, artistic, and beautiful young woman. Much of her childhood was spent in Europe, so she was equally at ease in English, Italian and French. A smattering of German, Spanish and Arabic added to her renown as an accomplished linguist. She loved sport, art, and singing, and excelled at whatever she undertook. In October 1880 she visited family friends staying in Scotland and met Lord Colin Campbell, MP and youngest son of the 8th Duke of Argyll. Within three days they were engaged, and despite his family's objections they married the following year. As Lady Colin Campbell, she was launched into an elevated social circle where she enjoyed the company of royalty, eminent politicians, and famous characters from the world of literature and art. But all was not well at home, as the couple's incompatibility became glaringly apparent. Despite desperate family attempts at mediation the marriage broke down irrevocably and ended up in the dreaded divorce courts. She accused him of adultery and cruelty. He accused her of adultery with four co-respondents and scandalised society with such a suggestion. A Duke, a general, a doctor, and a fire-chief were all named by Lord Colin in his thirst for victory in what was to become the longest divorce trial in English legal history. After the acrimonious trial the couple went their separate ways. Lord Colin was indebted, embittered, and an embarrassment to his prominent family. He was also a sick man. Lady Colin soon discovered that high society no longer feted her, but rather than decline into safe obscurity she slowly created a new life for herself as a writer. The bulk of her work was journalism, with regular columns on art and travel. She also wrote about her favourite sports of cycling, fencing and fishing, about music and the theatre, decorating and etiquette. She founded a weekly journal, tried her hand at a novel and two plays, and got involved in editing and translating books. Although considered déclassé by much of society, her beauty, intelligence and wit were welcome in the more liberal circles of artists and writers. She was a close friend of the artist and dandy Whistler, and knew the Burne-Jones's, Louise Jopling and Kate Greenaway. In the world of letters her work brought her into contact with famous editors and writers of the day. George Bernard Shaw listened to her advice on his early work, and remained a life-long friend, and Henry James used to visit her. But she had her enemies. She exchanged insults with Oscar Wilde, and was disliked by the notorious editor and newspaper proprietor Frank Harris. Lady Colin was a friend and inspiration to many a name still famous today. In her writings she advocated ideas such as bicycle lanes on roads, cremation as an alternative to burial, and equal smoking rights for women. When many women in her place would have quietly retired to the country, or found refuge in their "nerves", she carved herself a career, threw herself into her sports, and created a new life as an independent spirit. Yet this vivacious, intelligent woman, for all her energy and foresight, her talents and beauty, remains unknown but for her sensational divorce trial. The few references in books cruelly describe her as a nymphomaniac, sex goddess, and well-known houri. The forthcoming biography by Anne Jordan aims to redress the balance and give her life a full and fair hearing. It will tell the story of one of the most gifted women of her day and show how little the sensationalist epithets convey of the woman that Shaw interviewed in 1893.
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| Current Research The first full-length biography of Lady Colin is in the final stages of work. It has been researched and written by Anne Jordan, who can be contacted by . Marga Demmers is preparing an annotated version of some of Lady Colin's "Walks", articles she wrote about her London excursions and European travels that appeared in The World from the late 1880's until after the turn of the century. Details of the project can be found at http://www.geocities.com/margademmers/index.html . Marga can be contacted at marga.demmers@planet.nl or tel +31 (0) 78 631 44 05. Up until now, there has been very little information about Lady Colin in the public domain. The few mentions of her concentrate on the trial, with rumour often stated as fact and repeated to create an aura of validity. In the ninety years since her death, the story of her life has thus become shrouded in hearsay and confusion. If you are mentioning Lady Colin in any forthcoming publication or article, and would like to verify materials, please contact Anne or Marga, who would welcome the opportunity to discuss their subject with you. If you have any information on Lady Colin which you think might be of interest to them, they would also love to hear from you. |
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| Portrait
of Lady Colin Campbell The most famous portrait of Lady Colin still in existence today is on display in the National Portrait Gallery in London. It was painted by Giovanni Boldini in 1897 and can be found at http://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/cjackson/b/p-boldini2.htm
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| © 2008 Anne Jordan |