![Magdalen de Lancey](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Magdalen_de_Lancey.png)
Magdalene Lady De Lancey (nee Hall) (22 March 1793 – 12 July 1822) wrote ''A Week in Waterloo'', her account of the days surrounding the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
, during which her husband
Colonel Sir William Howe De Lancey died of his wounds.
Early life
Magdalene was born in
East Lothian
East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.
In 1975, the histo ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
on 22 March 1793, the fourth of six children of
Sir James Hall of Dunglass, 4th Baronet (1761 -1832) and his wife
Lady Helen Douglas (1762-1837), a daughter of
Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk. She was baptised at
Oldhamstocks
Oldhamstocks or Aldhamstocks ("old dwelling place") is a civil parish and small village in the east of East Lothian, Scotland, adjacent to the Scottish Borders and overlooking the North Sea . It is located south-east of Dunbar and has a populat ...
, East Lothian. Her father was President of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
, a geologist and inventor.
Her brother
Basil Hall
Basil Hall (31 December 1788 – 11 September 1844) was a British naval officer from Scotland, a traveller, and an author. He was the second son of Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, an eminent man of science.
Biography
Although his family home was ...
was also a noted traveller and author. He rose to post-captain in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
and while a lieutenant on
HMS Endymion
Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Endymion'' after the Greek hero Endymion.
*, launched in 1779, was a 44-gun fifth rate. She was wrecked on a coral reef near the Turks and Caicos Islands on 23 August 1790.
*, launched in 1797, ...
, a ship sent to
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
at the time of the
battle of Corunna
The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...
, he met and became friendly with
William Howe De Lancey
Colonel Sir William Howe De Lancey (1778 – 26 June 1815) was an officer in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He died of wounds he received at the Battle of Waterloo.
Early life
De Lancey's paternal ancestors were Huguenots wh ...
, then serving in the army with
Sir John Moore.
On their return Basil introduced William to his family.
![William Howe DeLancey](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/William_Howe_DeLancey.jpg)
In 1814 William was posted to Scotland and married Magdalene in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
on 21 March 1815. Their honeymoon would be cut short by the escape of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
from
Elba
Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...
. Soon after, her husband was summoned to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and then ordered to
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
Waterloo
Her husband was appointed
deputy quartermaster-general in the
Duke of Wellington's army. On 8 June 1815, Magdalene and her husband arrived in Brussels where they were billeted in the house of the
Comte de Lannoy at the
Impasse du Parc. They expected to "remain quietly there for a month at least" and agreed that "upon the commencement of hostilities
agdaleneshould go to
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , and there remain till the end of the campaign." She witnessed the flurry of activity as an aide de camp arrived in Brussels on 15 June and her husband galloping to the Duke of Wellington's house where he found the Duke "standing looking over a map with a Prussian general, who was in full-dress uniform—with orders and crosses, etc.—the Duke was in his chemise and slippers, preparing to dress for the
Duchess of Richmond's ball
The Duchess of Richmond's ball was a ball hosted by Charlotte, Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on 15 June 1815, the night before the Battle of Quatre Bras. Charlotte's husband Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, was in command of a reserve fo ...
."
She continues, "The reveille was sounded all night, and the troops actively prepared for their march. I stood with my husband at a window of the house , which overlooked a gate of the city, and saw the whole army go out. Regiment after regiment passed through and melted away in the mist of the morning. At length my husband was summoned." At six in the morning on Friday 16 June she relocated to Antwerp "to avoid the alarms that
ir Williamknew would seize everyone the moment the troops were gone"
but also so that if the battle was lost, she could return to England. She writes about the confusion and rumours in Antwerp and hearing the noise of the cannon, which shook the house.
On the battlefield, about 3 P.M. on Sunday 18 June, when talking to the Duke of Wellington, a cannonball struck William and he fell to the ground. Wounded, he was moved to a cottage. Magdalene learned on Monday morning that he was alive; a few hours later that he was wounded. The route to find her husband was "entangled in a crowd of wagons, carts, horses, wounded men, deserters or runaways, and all the rabble and confusion, the consequence of several battles". Encountering Mr. William Hay of
Duns Castle
Duns Castle, Duns, Berwickshire is a historic house in Scotland, the oldest part of which, the massive Norman Keep or Pele Tower, supposedly dates from 1320. The castle and most of the structures on the property are designated as a scheduled anc ...
, she was told William had died, but he following morning she was told his wounds were being attended by surgeons. A carriage took her to Brussels and then it took three hours to cover the nine miles from Brussels to the cottage where William was lying at
Mont St. Jean.
The road to
Nivelles
Nivelles (; nl, Nijvel, ; wa, Nivele; vls, Neyvel) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstre ...
fronted the cottage, "and every waggon going to and from the army, and all the wounded and prisoners, passed along that road."
She nursed William for six days, rarely sleeping, tearing her petticoat to provide dressings, applying leeches to his wounds and "sat down to watch the melancholy progress of the water in his chest, which I saw would soon be fatal".
His funeral took place on 28 June. On 4 July, 3 months after her wedding, Magdalene visited her husband's grave and then departed for England.
A Week in Waterloo
At her brother's request, Magdalene wrote a serial narrative account of her, "A Week in Waterloo", in June 1815. Her brother lent the narrative to
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
,
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
and others. A condensed account was found amongst the papers of her nephew,
General De Lancey Lowe, after his death in 1880. His widow published it in 1888. Her account was published in full with an explanatory preface in 1906.
Sir Walter Scott wrote on 13 October 1825 that he considered the narrative "as one of the most valuable and important documents which could be published all illustrative of the woes of war ... I never read anything which affected my own feelings more strongly."
Charles Dickens wrote on 16 March 1841 " ...To say that the reading that most astonishing and tremendous account has constituted an epoch in my life—that I shall never forget the lightest word of it—that I cannot throw the impression aside, and never saw anything so real, so touching, and so actually present before my eyes, is nothing. I am husband and wife, dead man and living woman, Emma and General Dundas, doctor and bedstead—everything and everybody (but the
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n officer—damn him) all in one."
Later life
In 1817 at Dunglass House, Magdalene de Lancey married
Captain Henry Harvey,
Madras infantry, who retired in 1821.
She died on 12 July 1822 at Sidmouth giving birth to her third child,
aged 29. She was interred in
Salcombe Regis
Salcombe Regis is a coastal village near Sidmouth in Devon, England. Mentioned in the Domesday Book as "a manor called Selcoma" held by Osbern FitzOsbern, bishop of Exeter, the manor house stood on the site now occupied by Thorn Farm. The tho ...
in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
on 19 July 1822.
Cultural references
"Her description of the battle and surrounding areas is said to have contributed to WM Thackeray's seminal Brussels scene in
Vanity Fair."
Thomas Moore, who was lent a copy by Magdalene's brother, wrote I "took the narrative to bed with me to read a page or two, but found it so deeply interesting, that I read till near two o'clock, and finished it; made myself quite miserable, and went to sleep, I believe, crying.
Earl Stanhope
Earl Stanhope ()Debrett's Correct Form, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 1976, pg 408 was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The earldom was created in 1718 for Major General James Stanhope,Edward Hasted, 'Parishes: Chevening', in The History and To ...
wrote: "I mentioned with much praise Lady De Lancey's narrative of her husband's lingering death and of her own trials and sufferings after Waterloo. The Duke told me that he had seen it—Lord Bathurst having lent it him many years ago." This conversation took place on 12 October 1839.
In the 1970 film Waterloo, directed by
Sergey Bondarchuk
Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (russian: Сергей Фёдорович Бондарчук, ; uk, Сергі́й Федорович Бондарчук, Serhíj Fédorovych Bondarchúk; 25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian ...
,
Veronica De Laurentils played Magdalene Hall.
Notes
References and external links
A Week at Waterlooat
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
* Th
manuscriptcan be viewed as part of the National Army Museum Online Collection
* A Week at Waterloo, Lady Magdalene De Lancey - webpage a
Waterloo200.org
* Waterloo Day
Daily Telegraph
* ''Reminiscences'', by Samuel Rogers, under the heading: "Duke of Wellington,"
* ''Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas Moore'', edited by Lord John Russell, Journal of 29 August 1824, vol. iv., p. 240.
* ''Notes of Conversations with the Duke of Wellington'', by Earl Stanhope, p. 182.
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Lancey, Magdalene
1793 births
1822 deaths
People of the Battle of Waterloo
Daughters of baronets
Scottish memoirists
People from East Lothian
De Lancey family