Lady Colin Campbell: Victorian "sex goddess"

Lady Colin Campbell (1858-1911) was an excellent writer, singer, painter, fencer, swimmer, angler, cyclist and equestrienne. But her notoriety was gained from her role as the central figure in the longest divorce trial in British history. Lady Colin charged that her husband, the fifth son of the Duke of Argyll, had committed adultery with a housemaid. He in turn accused her of having adulterous relationships with four men: a famous general, a distinguished surgeon, the chief of London's fire department and the Duke of Marlborough. The result was Campbell vs. Campbell, which for eighteen days in November and December of 1886 held a nation spellbound. Campbell v. Campbell was a sexually explicit story of a failed marriage. The story that unfolded in the witness box contained drama, mystery, suspense, love, sex, jealousy, revenge, humour and pathos. More than 50 witnesses gave evidence who covered the entire spectrum of Victorian society, from the nobility to the latest significant servant. The trial was microcosmically Victorian, the picture of an era. The dominating figure is Lady Colin Campbell If she was sexually promiscuous, her promiscuity was only part of her life. The traditional female role was one that Lady Colin Campbell did not choose to play. She may indeed have been, as a contemporary journalist called her, a "sex goddess", but she was also more than that. The author is an expert on Victorian England and his books include "Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood", "That Ne'er Shall Meet Again: Rossetti, Millais, Hunt" and "The Dizziest Season".