Gertrude Elizabeth Blood

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Giovanni Boldini : Gertrude Elisabeth, Lady Colin Campbell, oil on canvas, 1897

Gertrude Elizabeth Blood (born May 3, 1857 in Dublin , † November 1, 1911 in London ) was a British author , columnist and editor in the Victorian era .

Life

Gertrude Elizabeth Blood was the second daughter of the four children of the Irish politician and landowner Edmond Maghlin Blood (1815-1891) from Brickhill, County Clare , Ireland , and his wife Mary Amy Fergusson (1814 / 15-1899), daughter of Thomas Fergusson of Leixlip, County Kildare. She received a comprehensive and liberal education, stayed in Italy and France, so that she mastered several foreign languages ​​and showed an interest in art , music and sports .

Lord Colin Campbell, Elliott & Fry Studio in London, 1890

In the autumn of 1880, Gertrude Elizabeth and her family visited friends in Scotland - here she met Lord Colin Campbell . Within three days, despite objections from their families, they both announced their engagement. On July 21, 1881 Gertrude Elizabeth Blood married in London the Scottish aristocrat Lord Colin Campbell (1853–1895), MP for Argyllshire from 1878 to 1885, youngest son of George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll , and the lady-in-waiting ( Mistress of the Robes ) of Queen Victoria , Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Sutherland-Leveson-Gower , and Louise's brother-in-law , Duchess of Argyll . The marriage meant a social advancement for Lady Gertrude - she enjoyed the company of the European high and money aristocracy as well as well-known politicians and famous personalities from the world of literature and art . Her dinner parties, cocktail receptions and charity balls for London society were famous and filled the social columns of the newspapers.

The marriage, which reportedly turned out to be tumultuous, ended in the longest divorce litigation in British court history. Lady Gertrude accused her husband of adultery and psychological cruelty in 1884 for having infected her with syphilis . She then obtained a divorce in the first instance, but her application was rejected in the second instance. Lord Campbell, in turn, accused her of adultery with George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough , Superintendent of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade , Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, Sir William Francis Butler, and Thomas Bird, the doctor who had both treated them for their illness . Her attorney, Sir Charles Russell, only got divorce after two years.

Percy Anderson : Gertrude Elisabeth, Lady Colin Campbell, watercolor, before 1911

After the bitter trial, the couple went their separate ways - Lord Colin Campbell then went to Bombay , where he died of syphilis in 1895. Lady Colin, on the other hand, was outclassed by high society in London. She was viewed as a sex addict and a prostitute. To support a living, she regularly wrote columns on art, music, theater , travel , as well as cycling , fencing , fishing , decorations and etiquette . In the years that followed, Lady Campbell founded a weekly magazine, wrote a novel and two plays; she also edited and translated books.

Although ostracized by society, Lady Campbell's beauty , intelligence, and wit won over the more liberal circles of artists and writers . Within a very short time she made the acquaintance of the city's most famous artists, including Edward Burne-Jones , George Bernard Shaw , Henry James , Louise Jopling and Kate Greenaway . They soon became close friends with James McNeill Whistler . But Lady Gertrude also had enemies, so she exchanged insults with Oscar Wilde and was often attacked in his articles because of the aversion of the newspaper owner Frank Harris . In her writings, Lady Campbell advocated new ideas such as cycle paths along roads, cremation as an alternative to burial, and smoking for women.

Lady Gertrude Elizabeth Campbell died in her London town house after a long illness and was cremated in the Crematorium Golders Green .

Works

Secondary literature

Worth mentioning

  • Lady Campbell was considered an excellent linguist ; she spoke Italian and French fluently, as well as basic German , Spanish and Arabic .
  • The portrait painting Harmony in White and Ivory: Portrait of Lady Colin Campbell (1886) by James McNeill Whistler is described as unfinished in the catalog of the Society of British Artists .
  • The portrait of Giovanni Boldini was considered an immoral portrait of Lady Campbell. She was depicted in a sensual and animated manner, depicting a pose that was not considered ladylike (legs apart).

Web links

Commons : Gertrude Elizabeth Blood  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Campbell [née Blood , Gertrude Elizabeth [Lady Colin Campbell] (1857-1911), art critic and journalist] by Kim Reynolds in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. ^ The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan
  3. ↑ Shaw's Goddess: Lady Colin Campbell
  4. ↑ Lady Collin Campbell dead
  5. ↑ a b Gertrude Elizabeth Campbell, 1857-1911 ( Memento from July 6, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Blood, Gertrude Elizabeth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Campbell, Gertrude Elizabeth; Lady Colin Campbell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British author, columnist and editor
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin
DATE OF DEATH November 1, 1911
Place of death London