Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Georgina Weldon’s Archive and her Biographers
- Prologue
- 1 Georgina
- 2 Mayfield
- 3 Harry
- 4 Beaumaris
- 5 Friends and Relations
- 6 Discontent
- 7 Gwen
- 8 Gounod
- 9 Tavistock House
- 10 Maestro or Marionette
- 11 Loss
- 12 Separation
- 13 Orphans
- 14 Argueil
- 15 Mad-Doctors
- 16 Home Again
- 17 Rivière
- 18 Covent Garden
- 19 Disaster
- 20 Conjugal Rights
- 21 Revenge
- 22 The New Portia
- 23 Swings and Roundabouts
- 24 Holloway
- 25 Gower Street
- 26 Gisors
- 27 The Trehernes
- 28 A New Century
- 29 Sillwood House
- 30 Angel or Devil?
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Georgina Weldon’s Archive and her Biographers
- Prologue
- 1 Georgina
- 2 Mayfield
- 3 Harry
- 4 Beaumaris
- 5 Friends and Relations
- 6 Discontent
- 7 Gwen
- 8 Gounod
- 9 Tavistock House
- 10 Maestro or Marionette
- 11 Loss
- 12 Separation
- 13 Orphans
- 14 Argueil
- 15 Mad-Doctors
- 16 Home Again
- 17 Rivière
- 18 Covent Garden
- 19 Disaster
- 20 Conjugal Rights
- 21 Revenge
- 22 The New Portia
- 23 Swings and Roundabouts
- 24 Holloway
- 25 Gower Street
- 26 Gisors
- 27 The Trehernes
- 28 A New Century
- 29 Sillwood House
- 30 Angel or Devil?
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Anacharsis Ménier was due back in court at Bow Street on 20 April. Georgina, who did not dare to attend in person, asked a solicitor, Charles Murr, to engage counsel to tell her side of the story. She also took the precaution of having herself examined by two doctors, James Edmunds and George Wylde, both of whom certified that she was ‘perfectly sane’. When the hearing opened, her barrister, John Macrae Moir, informed Frederick Flowers that the prosecutrix was unable to be present, ‘steps having been taken to secure her arrest as a lunatic’. This was, Moir asserted, ‘a totally illegal proceeding’. He produced the two new medical certificates, which left no room for doubt concerning Georgina's sanity, and asked for the protection of the court. Flowers replied that it was his firm belief that the case should be taken up by the Treasury ‘as the lady appeared to be quite helpless in the matter’. The court was informed that a well-known solicitor, St John Wontner, had already been instructed to conduct the prosecution on behalf of the Crown, but was unavoidably absent on this occasion. It was agreed that Ménier should be remanded for a further week, though he was allowed bail. Georgina was furious.
The day after the court hearing was the eighteenth anniversary of Georgina's marriage to ‘that nonentity’, Harry Weldon. Feeling rather braver, she attended the City Temple church with the Richardses. She was also determined to pursue her attackers. But who were they? And what part had her family played in the proceedings? She had written to her mother immediately after her escape from the ‘mad-doctors’. Louisa, who was horrified by her daughter's news, had replied immediately, telling her that she should return to her husband:
The law binds you to Harry and whatever way he wishes you to live; with respect to your orphanage, you must do as he wishes you. It will be a thorough protection to you from these bad people you fall in [with], who fleece you.
I never heard of anybody being seized without a medical enquiry first. I do not understand your letter in detail. I am stunned with astonishment.
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- Information
- Georgina WeldonThe Fearless Life of a Victorian Celebrity, pp. 213 - 228Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2021