IT WAS one of the most famous trials in Scottish legal history, and Victorian society was shaken to its core.

Socialite Madeleine Smith, then 22, was accused in 1857 of murdering her lover, Pierre Emile L'Angelier, by poisoning him with arsenic.

Her letters – which contained risqué detail of their relationship – were read out in court and printed in the newspapers of the time.

(Image: ©CSG CIC Glasgow Museums and Libraries Collection: The Mitchell Library, Special Collections)

“It was a huge scandal, as polite society found it very difficult to cope with the racy nature of the correspondence and the astonishing coolness of the female defendant facing a capital charge,” explains librarian Clare Thompson, of the Mitchell Library’s Special Collections.

Madeleine was the daughter of prominent Glasgow architect James Smith, of Blythswood Square. The family lived at the prestigious city address, and Madeleine had spent two years at a fancy girls’ finishing school.

Clare with some of the lettersClare with some of the letters (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

She met L'Angelier in 1855, when he was a dashing but poor clerk from Jersey and as such an impossible match for her. Their friendship developed into a clandestine love affair, openly revealed in her letters in scandalous detail.


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Madeleine was set to marry William Minnoch, a much more suitable match, but Emile did not take this news well and threatened to publish the letters. Shortly afterwards, he was found dead of arsenic poisoning.

The Mitchell has 13 of Madeleine’s letters in its collections, along with framed photos of the infamous couple used as evidence in the trial, and the corresponding evidence tags.

(Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

Now, the library has acquired a courtroom sketch from the proceedings, which was reprinted in the newspapers covering the case at the time.

“The case caused huge interest,” says Clare. “Madeleine was faced with two charges of attempted murder, because of her purchase of poison and the illness of Emile, and she was found not guilty of both.

“On the third charge of murder, the case was declared not proven.”

The case divided opinion then and still causes great debate now. Clare is undecided, she smiles.

“I go between reading the newspapers of the time and the evidence from the court, and thinking definitely guilty, then definitely not guilty,” she says.

“The murder charge was based on the fact Madeleine bought arsenic around the time Emile became ill and died, but at that time, many young people did use arsenic for their complexions, to make them paler and, they believed, more attractive.”

Clare adds: “Emile also used arsenic and other drugs, such as laudanum, recreationally, so was it that surprising that he fell ill?

“There is also evidence he was a controlling person, who told Madeleine she could not see her brother, or walk down Sauchiehall Street, and that he had persistently threatened to commit suicide. There was also a history of a similar situation with a previous girlfriend.”

(Image: ©CSG CIC Glasgow Museums and Libraries Collection: The Mitchell Library, Special Collections)

She pauses. “So I think perhaps, Emile did just swallow the arsenic himself. But I don't know...."

The remarkable courtroom sketch was owned by the chief juror at the trial, Charles Thomson Combe, who died in 1904.

(Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

It was used in The Illustrated Times, and shows the small figure of Madeleine sitting in the dock, surrounded by men in top hats and wigs.


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Following a sold-out event in October, the Mitchell Library is hosting A (Second) Soiree with Madeleine Smith, on December 5, which explores her letters to her lover and gives visitors the chance to see the new acquisition.

Clare’s colleague Sylvia Smith will play the role of Madeleine, complete with Victorian bonnet.

Clare explains: “Instead of things being written about her, we wanted to give Madeleine's own words a chance to speak for themselves. It was quite emotional hearing these letters read out.

“We know that in our Madeleine Smith collection we have something very special, it’s one of the real treasures at the Mitchell. The courtroom sketch is another piece of the jigsaw and it makes what we have even richer.”

Tickets to the event are free but must be booked in advance - more details on the Mitchell Library website.