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17 - Rivière

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2021

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Summary

At the end of 1878 Georgina was riding on the crest of a wave of support and sympathy after her escape from the mad-doctors and the Ménier trial. She was now determined to fight back with all the weapons she could muster. A brilliant self-publicist, she went on the rampage, attacking her enemies on all fronts. She did so at a time when the removal of taxes on newspapers and technological improvements had led to an explosion in the availability of news and advertising media of all kinds. Georgina made use of books, pamphlets and newspapers to publicise her views and grievances. She also appeared on concert platforms, in theatres and lecture halls and, most significantly, in the law courts. For a decade her name was rarely out of the newspapers.

Opinion on Georgina's exploits was sharply divided. To some, especially to the mainly middle-class spiritualists, she was a heroine, sacrificing her own interests to help the powerless and oppressed. An account of her career published in The Medium and Daybreak in 1879 can only be described as a hagiography:

She was a brilliant star in the aristocratic firmament, and to lend her rays to any sphere less elevated was a crime too great to be condoned. But her ostracism from the self-selected few has been the gain of the many – loyal souls, who reward with generous gratitude any acts performed for their instruction or amusement. As a Musician of great natural gift, as a Composer, as a Lecturer, as an Author, as a Teacher, as a Philanthropist, as a Reformer, and as a Woman of unspotted fame, Mrs Weldon stands conspicuous before the world, as not only one woman, but a host in herself. Mrs Weldon is a presage of the better time, when those of good natural endowments, position, and education will step out from the charmed circle of exclusiveness and selfishness, and use their glorious powers for their country and the good of humanity. The evils of the world will be healed, and the sufferings of the nation alleviated … Like all great souls, she knows not yet the grandeur of her Mission. Let her name be WELL-DONE – a name not inherited nor conferred, but deserved!

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Georgina Weldon
The Fearless Life of a Victorian Celebrity
, pp. 229 - 246
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Rivière
  • Joanna Martin
  • Book: Georgina Weldon
  • Online publication: 09 April 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800100992.019
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  • Rivière
  • Joanna Martin
  • Book: Georgina Weldon
  • Online publication: 09 April 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800100992.019
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Rivière
  • Joanna Martin
  • Book: Georgina Weldon
  • Online publication: 09 April 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800100992.019
Available formats
×