Death of Adelaide Neilson -1880

“Death of Adelaide Neilson 1880.
Adelaide Neilson was a celebrated actress with links to Guiseley, she died aged 32, in Paris.
The following is a precis of a report in the “Freeman’s Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser (Dublin) Monday August 23rd 1880.” The article was lurid and speculative, Victorian “red-top” journalism at it’s worst and titled “Odds and Ends From Paris”.
After an exhausting tour of America, Adelaide was on her way to the south of France.
The journey was broken in Paris, where she stayed at the Continental Hotel with her companion Mrs Goodall and a man called Edward? who she had met in America and intended to marry.
The newspaper reports that on the Saturday evening Adelaide was feeling unwell, a doctor was called who questioned her mental health and prescribed laudanum– an opium substance much used and abused at that time.
The following day the three went for a ride along the Bois de Boulogne when Adelaide became ill, she was taken into the Chalet restaurant complaining of severe stomach pains and died shortly after.
As was the custom in France her body was taken to the public mortuary where a post- mortem was performed, this greatly distressed her companions who felt it undignified and disrespectful.
She was declared to have died from “congestion of the brain arising from natural causes”, in fact a blood vessel in her abdomen had ruptured!
The reporter tries to imply that death was caused by an accidental overdose of laudanum which spices things up for his readers.
Adelaide’s body was brought back to London and buried at Brompton Cemetery, London.
A full account of Adelaide’s story can be found in “An Aireborough Selection”, edited by Martin Rigg, M.T.D Rigg Publications 1991.”