LITERATURE & HUMANITIES

BATH'S LINKS WITH WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

Jean Field, Author. on 5 July 2001

The Warwickshire poet Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864) highly regarded by his contemporaries but today almost forgotten wrote that Bath was `unparalleled in beauty and surely the warmest (place) in England'. His various stays in the city throughout his long life led to the placing of a plaque at 35 St. James Square. Jean Field, also from Warwick and the author of a new biography entitled Landor, came to the BRLSI to remind Bathonians of these links.

It was in Bath that the young Landor fell in love with an Irish girl who became his muse "Ianthe". It was also in Bath (at a ball in the Assembly Rooms) that he met Julia Thuillier, the young daughter of a bankrupt Swiss banker. Landor married Julia at St. James' Church in Bath in 1811. In 1837 after the marriage had crumbled, the 62 year old poet returned to Bath to find refuge from a quarrelsome domestic life and to write in peace. His family stayed behind at his villa in Florence, well provided for, while Landor lived modestly at various houses in St. James Square and River Street. Thomas Carlyle described finding Landor `in a poor lodging, though in a fine quiet street, waiting for me attended only by a nice Bologna dog.' Landor and his dog were famous in the city, were visited by literary giants such as Charles Dickens and enjoyed the friendship of Bath worthies such as Mr. Pitman, Charles Empson and Colonel Napier from Freshford.

In the poem Widcombe Churchyard, Landor reveals that he wanted to be buried in Widcombe. He certainly bought a plot for his own grave in 1842. But, alas, he lies buried in a foreign land because of two scheming Bath women. As many of Landor's friends died and moved away, he became vulnerable and lonely. At the age of 81 he was befriended by a Mrs. Yescombe from Green Park. In her talk Jean Field pointed out, on the basis of her extensive researches in Bath, that Mrs. Yescombe was a devious, cunning character, who contrived to appeal to Landor's chivalrous and essentially kindly nature. She introduced Landor to a girl of l6, Geraldine Hooper, who was, she said, cruelly treated by her parents and needed help. Landor handed over a considerable sum of money to help out. But when he discovered that he had been duped he retaliated fiercely, publishing a pamphlet `Walter Savage Landor and the Honourable Mrs. Yescombe'. This, however, was ammunition to Mrs. Yescombe who sued the old man for libel. The press in Bath had a field day, taking sides with the females. Landor, unable to face a court at his age, was hounded out of Bath and back to Italy. Widcombe Churchyard did therefore not become, as he hoped in his poem:

"the place where soon I think to lie,

In its old creviced wall hard-by...."

(For a Tomb in Widcombe Church-Yard)

Instead, he lies buried in Florence, in the same church yard as his friend, the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

An interesting twist to the story was highlighted by a member of the discussion group, Alistair Durie. He revealed that young Geraldine Hooper was sent away by her father after this disgraceful incident but later returned as a virtuous, charismatic preacher. She married a Mr. Dening, and became highly regarded by the poor. She died aged 31 and is buried in Locksbrook Cemetery.

Trudy Wallace

Bibliography: ­Jean Field, Landor. A Biography of Walter Savage Landor. Brewin: Studley, 2000