Margaret Wilson
| Margaret Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 May 1836 Paris, 2nd district |
| 💀Died | 25 July 1902 (aged 66) Antibes25 July 1902 (aged 66) |
| 🏳️ Nationality | United Kingdom |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Eugene Philippe Pelouze |
| 👴 👵 Parent(s) | Daniel Wilson, Antoinette Henriette Casenave |
Margaret Wilson, wife of the chemical engineer Eugene Pelouze, was born in Paris in the former 2nd district on May 24, 1836 and died in Antibes in the department of Alpes-Maritimes, July 25, 1902. Woman of the world, sister of the MP Daniel Wilson (fr), she was the owner of Château de Chenonceau from 1864 to 1888.
Biography[edit]
Marguerite Henriette Josephine Wilson was born into an extremely wealthy family. She was the eldest daughter of Daniel Wilson, a British chemist and engineer, born in Glasgow in 1790. Daniel Wilson left Scotland after studying chemistry to work in Dublin and then in London in 1817 under Aaron Manby (ironmaster) (1776-1850), an English engineer and managing partner of Horseley Ironworks.[1] [2] Manby was a supplier for the Gas Light and Coke Company. In 1819, Manby and Wilson decide to go to France during the Bourbon Restoration, to provide equipment to the nascent French gas industry.
The two men found the Charenton Ironworks in 1822, they then buy the Le Creusot Ironworks company in 1826.[1] Both companies go bankrupt in 1833 following the Revolution of 1830 and the resulting financial crisis. However a third company providing gas works for Paris that they open near Ternes in 1825 with a third partner, Jean Henry, is a financial success.
Daniel Wilson married Antoinette Henriette Casenave on June 25, 1835 in Paris. His wife came from a family of magistrates and parliamentarians. The couple had three children: Margaret May 24, 1836, Marie-Anne Berthe July 23, 1838 and Daniel Wilson 6 March 1840.
The mother, Antoinette Casenave, died in Paris on August 5, 1843, the second daughter, Marie-Anne, dies on February 21, 1845 in Paris, and the father, Daniel Wilson, dies in at his estate, Écoublay in Fontenay-Trésigny (fr), the 2nd of September, 1849.[1]
Their maternal uncle, Antoine Mathieu Casenave, vice-president of the court of the First Instance of Paris, is appointed guardian of the two children by a family council, September 5, 1849. Antoine fulfills that function for Marguerite until 1857 and for Daniel, until 1861. But it is Marguerite who takes care of the education of her brother from 1857 on. She teaches him about personalities in the arts, politics and business.
On December 3, 1857, Margaret Wilson marries Eugene Philippe Pelouze, a doctor, and son of the chemist Théophile-Jules Pelouze. [3] The couple will not have children.
In 1861, Daniel and Marguerite sell their fathers ownerhsip in gas works company; Marguerite moved into the hotel Bochart de Saron, on 17 University Street in Paris in the 7th district.
In May 1864 Marguerite bought Château de Chenonceau for 850,000 francs with a field of 136 hectares, and from 1867 to 1878 along with the architect Felix Roguet, began important restoration work to "return the castle to the state of the xvi th century (Age of Enlightenment)", in particular by removing many of the changes made by Catherine de' Medici.
Following a family tragedy, Eugene Pelouze made a request for separation of body and property on January 25, 1869. He would have surprised his wife in an "equivocal" situation with his brother Daniel, rue de l'Université. To avoid the scandal, the marriage is dissolved quickly, March 17, 1869.
In 1872, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux creates a terracotta bust of madame Pelouze.
In 1879, Antoine Marmontel recommended to Marguerite Pelouze his pupil Claude Debussy as a pianist to complete the small chamber orchestra of his castle. The young Debussy spends the summer in Chenonceau and is dazzled by this sumptuous, refined woman, passionate about Wagner.[4]
Medame Pelouze counts in her entourage many famous artists like Gustave Flaubert, who stayed three times at Chenonceau, and high-ranking officials including Jules Grévy, who was president of France from 1879 to 1887. Marguerite uses her influence to promote a marriage between Grevy's daughter, Alice, and her brother Daniel. They are married on October 22, 1881 in the chapel of the Élysée Palace. The wedding reception for the newlyweds takes place at the Château de Chenonceau. Medame Pelouze, elegant and attractive, evades a rumor about a possible relationship with Jules Grevy. It would be strange that this austere parliamentary gave in this case, the hand of his daughter to Daniel Wilson.
In 1885, Marguerite Pelouze appealed to the painter Carolus-Duran to create a portrait and which will adorn the large gallery of Chenonceau, also decorated with frescoes from 1875 to 1888 by Charles Toché. The painting is exhibited in the Salon during 1886.
From July 1886 to September 1887, medame Pelouze made a long trip with Chevillé and Mr. Lenoir, attached to the work of the future Paris Exposition in Asia Minor, Arabia, Syria, Persia and Hindustan. Back in Paris September 27, 1887 after fourteen months away, she receives at Chenonceau in October, Sheikh of Palmyra who had welcomed during his visit to Syria. In December, the illustrious visitor still in France, is vacationing in Antibes in the villa of medame Pelouze. The journalist Le Figaro comments humorously about the Wilson: "a family where we receive sheiks in all forms".
In 1888, Marguerite Pelouze went bankrupt and had to sell the Château de Chenonceau, which was bought by Crédit Foncier, and on April 5, 1913, by the industrialist Henri Menier (1853-1913), whose descendants now own it.
She died on her property in Antibes at the age of 66, July 25, 1902.
Notes[edit]
- Bust currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Valenciennes
References[edit]
- Skempton, A.W., Rennison R.W. and R.C. Cox. A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Pages 431-433, 786-787. Institution of Civil Engineers, 2002.
- Draper, James David, Papet, Edouard. The Passions of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux p. 226–227. Pages 226-227, Yale University Press, 2014. ISBN 9780300204315 Search this book on
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- Lockspeiser, Edward Debussy: Volume 1, 1862-1902: His Life and Mind. Pages 35-37 Cambridge University Press, 1978. ISBN 9780521220538 Search this book on .
- Prosser, R. B. Biography of Aaron Manby, ODNB
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