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Madeleine Smith’s celebrity arose from her trial for the murder of her lover in Glasgow in 1857, and, later, from her association with the Victorian artistic, socialist and literary movements. For more information, and details of original historical records relating to Madeleine Smith, see below |
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Life and trial of Madeleine Smith Madeleine Smith was born in Glasgow in 1835, the daughter of the architect James Smith and the granddaughter of the architect David Hamilton. She became the lover of Pierre Emile L'Angelier, a clerk from Jersey, but his death, by arsenic poisoning in March 1857, resulted in her being tried for murder. Although the charge was found not proven, she was widely regarded as having been at least partly culpable. The case attracted considerable public attention, and to escape the notoriety she moved to London, where she married (1861) George Wardle, a drawing teacher, and became associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, early socialism and the Bloomsbury literary circle. The controversy of her trial never completely died down, especially after a clerk to the Justiciary was tried in 1890 for theft of her letters to L'Angelier, which had been submitted as evidence in the trial. She emigrated from Britain to New York at the age of 70, married again, and died in 1928, having turned down offers from Hollywood filmmakers to play herself in films about her life. Bibliography |
1. Where can I find the trial records and background information on Madeleine Smith? Image1
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Image2 Madeleine Smith's murder charge, appearing in the procedure books, in the records of the Lord Advocate's Department (National Archives of Scotland, reference: AD9/16) |
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Contributors: David Brown, Tristram Clarke, Alison Rosie, John Simmons (National Archives of Scotland); Robin Urquhart, Ishbel Barnes (SCAN). |
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