Lucy Weguelin (

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, 27 October 1839 –

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, 1932), more commonly known as Lady Smith, was an immigrant in the "English colony" in Bruges, Belgium. She was part of the inner circle around the famous Flemish poet Guido Gezelle. However, her questionable activities and scandalous behavior in Bruges caused quite a stir and significantly contributed to the decision to transfer the poet to Courtrai. Weguelin was notorious for her deceitful nature, and her actions seriously tarnished the reputation of the well known poet.

Early years

Lucy Weguelin was born in 1839 as the child of Reverend and Rector of South Stoke, William Andrew Weguelin (1807–1892) and Emma Hankey ( Hackney, 1812 – London, 1864). She was baptized on 15th January 1840 at Saint Mark,

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

, London. William Weguelin sought a divorce on the grounds of adultery, and he remarried shortly thereafter. In 1849, he had another son,

John Reinhard Weguelin John Reinhard Weguelin (23 June 1849 – 28 April 1927) was an English painter and illustrator, active from 1877 to after 1910. He specialized in figurative paintings with lush backgrounds, typically landscapes or garden scenes. Weguelin em ...

(1849–1927), who became known as a painter. In 1850, he joined the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

and converted to Catholicism. Lucy was raised by the affluent Hankey family on her mother's side. Banker

Thomson Hankey Thomson Hankey (15 June 1805''London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812'' – 13 January 1893) was a British merchant, a banker and a Liberal Party politician. Hankey was the son of Thomson Hankey from Portl ...

was her uncle and managed her family's assets. In 1863, out of necessity, she married Ernest Albin Smith (London, 1844 – Brisbane, 1930) and had five children with him: Spencer Francis (London, 1863), Cecile-Ernest (London), Edith-Cathare (London, 1869), Liliane (Bruges, 1872), and Mathilde (Bath, 1873). After her husband had to resign from his position at the postal service for health reasons, the family embarked on a nomadic journey that took them from city to city, leaving a trail of debt behind each time.

Lady Smith in Bruges

In early 1872, they arrived in Bruges (registered on 6 February 1872). They became neighbors of Guido Gezelle, who became their confidant. He became the godfather of their child Lilian and provided financial support as their debts accumulated once again. Gezelle's reputation was compromised due to their behavior and the gossip of Gezelle's maid, Stéphanie Hendryckx (Bruges, 1839 – ?). He even received a gift of a gold watch that was left unpaid. Rumors even circulated that Weguelin gave birth to daughter Liliane in Gezelle's house. The poet's signature appeared as a witness on the birth certificate as well as on the death certificate of baby Liliane Smith. Bishop Faict forbade further contact with the Smiths and transferred the priest to Coutrai in September 1872. The incident was used by Gezelle's journalistic adversaries to discredit him. The Smiths' belongings were sold. They followed Gezelle to Courtrai a few months later, only to return to Bath at the end of 1873.

Outcome

Ernest Smith departed for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in late 1874. Weguelin continued her nomadic life with Charles Bertram ( Norwich, 1849). With him, she had two children: Charles Jr. (

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, 1877) and Hilda (

, 1878). On 10 December 1880, they once again settled in Bruges from Liverpool. In early July 1881, they were evicted from their residence by the Bruges court due to unpaid rent. In 1891, Lucy Smith established herself in Scarborough under the alias Mrs. Brooke. After furnishing her house and living on credit for several months, she disappeared suddenly without repaying her outstanding debts. Census records indicate that Charles and Lucy Bertram were in Cornwall in 1901. They were accompanied by their son Charles Reginald and a maid. By 1911, they had relocated to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. In the spring of 1932, Lucy Bertram, Lady Smith, passed away in Bath.

Correspondence with Guido Gezelle

Weguelin and her husband Ernest Smith exchanged letters with the poet Guido Gezelle. He also possessed her poetry album. The original letters are kept in the at the .

Lady Smith in Literature

The scandalous aura surrounding Lady Smith became entangled with another set of rumors concerning foreign women in Bruges. This led to speculations about the conduct of priests in Bruges, which political adversaries and novelists were eager to exploit. They were believed to have influenced the character of Jane Scott in

Georges Rodenbach Georges Raymond Constantin Rodenbach (16 July 1855 – 25 December 1898) was a Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist. Biography Georges Rodenbach was born in Tournai to a French mother and a German father from the Rhineland (Andernach). He was ...

's '' Bruges-la-MorteBruges-la-Morte''. Michel de Ghelderode also explored this theme in ''Fastes d’Enfer'' (1938). Weguelin is also a subject in the cartoons by Marec.

Sources

* Plas, Michel van der. Mijnheer Gezelle: biografie van een priester-dichter (1830–1899). 4e dr. Tielt: Lannoo; Baarn, i.e. Amsterdam: Anthos, 1998. 622 p., 6p. pl. * Depuydt, Els. Guido Gezelle en Lady Smith: nieuwe vondsten en feiten. In: Biekorf: 119 (2019) 4, p. 385–403. * Sint-Jan, R. van. Guido Gezelle's avonturen in de journalistiek. Tielt; Den Haag: Lannoo, 1954. * Depuydt, El
De schandelijke Lady Smith
* Stefaan Vankerkckhove, Baanbrekend onderzoek naar intieme relatie Guido Gezelle, Krant van West-Vlaanderen (februari 2020) KW.be https://kw.be/nieuws/samenleving/baanbrekend-onderzoek-naar-intieme-relatie-guido-gezelle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weguelin, Lucy People from Bruges