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Dimensions: 48 by 67 cm. ; 19 by 26 1/2 in.

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Provenance: Lilian and Michael Chapman and thence by descent.

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Exhibited: Tate Gallery, George Frederic Watts O.M., R.A., 1817-1904, 9 December - 16 January 1955, cat. no. 19

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Notes: Georgina was born in 1837 at Tooting Lodge in Clapham, daughter of Morgan Thomas (who changed his name to Treherne in 1856) and his wife Louisa Frances (nee Dalrymple). The family lived mostly in Florence from 1840 to 1852 and then in Brussels from 1853 to 1855. They then settled at the Gate House at Mayfield in Sussex. In 1856 and 1857 Georgina frequented Little Holland House, where she was soon 'on the most confidential terms' with G.F. Watts (Grierson, pp. 18-19). The present portrait which shows one view of Georgina asleep and another of her singing a lullaby to herself, was probably painted in 1856. In 1860 she eloped with William Henry Weldon (who was then in the 18th Hussars) and was disowned by her father. Another portrait of Georgina (formerly in the collection of Viscount Wimborne) was painted by Watts in 1858 and given to her as a wedding gift in 1860.

Weldon had a meagre income and Georgina gave singing lessons and also sang in public to assist with their finances. She and her husband became friendly with the French composer Charles Gounod, who lived with them in London in the 1870s (Georgina is reputed to have been his mistress). Georgina's family eventually tried (with her husband's help) to have her committed to a lunatic asylum, but were unsuccessful. She became involved in lunatic law reform and, after the passing of the Married Women's Property Act in 1882 (which made it possible for a woman to institute legal proceedings in her own name for the first time) she proceeded to sue many of those involved in her attempted committal, including the doctors, her husband and Gounod (who she sued for libel). She spent most of the 1880s in one court or another and spent some time in Holloway and Newgate Gaols for libel. She died in Brighton in 1914.

For more information of the fascinating life of Georgina, please see A Plaintiff in Person, The Life of Mrs Weldon by Philip Treherne (London, 1923), Storm Bird: The Strange Life of Georgina Weldon by Edward Grierson (London, 1959) and A Monkey Among Crocodiles: The Disastrous Life of Mrs Georgina Weldon by Brian Thompson (London, 2000).

We are very grateful to Dr. Joanna Martin for her help cataloguing this lot. Dr. Martin is preparing a forthcoming book on the life of Georgina Treherne.