Blanche Maude Margaret Le Marchant. Photos: Leandro Preziosi – Author’s Collection

A previous article (The Sunday Times of Malta, January 22, 2017) featured Leandro Preziosi’s photographs of Governor Le Marchant and his two youngest daughters. In that case there was conclusive evidence that the daughters featured were Blanche and Clementina.

In this article, as a result of a recent discovery, the thesis is that Preziosi also photographed Sir John and Lady Le Marchant’s eldest daughter Emily Idonea Sophia.

A recent sale included three cartes-de-viste with Leandro Preziosi’s hand stamp on the reverse. They featured Blanche Le Marchant, a young lady a few years older than Blanche, and a young man – all reproduced here. Working on the fact, confirmed by the dealer, that these photographs came from the same album, there may be a connection between the three. This is reinforced by the fact that Clementina and Blanche were shown wearing rather ornate outfits, most likely fancy dress. This third young woman also wears an ornate outfit, and the fact that she sports similar ribbons and flowers in her hair points to the likelihood that they share a common origin.

Emily Idonea Sophie Le Marchant.

Let’s now consider the possibility of this being the Governor’s eldest daughter. Sir John and Lady Le Marchant had three daughters: Clementina, the youngest, born circa 1852. Next was Blanche. The eldest, Emily, was born circa 1843. Their father took up the governorship of Malta in 1858 and left the islands in 1864. If we assume that the photographs in question were taken in 1863, the year before the Governor’s departure, Emily would have been 20 years old, which fits in very well with the age of the young lady in this photograph.

Prior to his departure the Governor printed an extensive list of his possessions. Among the silver were included a cup belonging to each child. This may not provide conclusive proof that Emily resided in Malta. However, it contributes to the probability. More helpful is the mention, in the London Evening Standard of May 20, 1861, that when the Empress of Austria stopped in Malta for a few days, “Lady Le Marchant and Miss Le Marchant” were presented to the visiting Royal. As Emily would have been 18 years old at the time, the correct age for presentation at court, it is most likely that she was the daughter presented.

The vibrant young lady in Preziosi’s photo would be dead within just three years of this image being captured

However, most conclusive regarding Emily’s presence in Malta in 1863 is the fact that among the passengers listed as returning to Malta from Southampton in October 1863 are “Lady Le Marchant, three ladies, and two servants”. These ladies must surely have been the three daughters.

The third photograph may be that of Sir John and Lady Le Marchant’s son, John Gaspard Watkins, born on May 29, 1841. If we assume that this photograph was also taken in 1863 then this would have made him 22 years old. Again, this tallies well with the age of the young man shown in Preziosi’s photograph. Furthermore, the facial features of father and son do show some resemblance in the eyes and forehead. However, this attribution requires further research as the photographic portrait held by the National Portrait Gallery, London, demonstrates a different physiognomy. However, it wouldn’t be too far a stretch of the imagination to assume that Leandro Preziosi photographed all four of the Governor’s children.

Let’s return to Emily, since further research into her brief life reveals details sadly tinged with tragedy.

John Gaspard Watkins Le Marchant.

Less than two years after leaving Malta, Emily married the Hon. William Romilly, son of the Right Hon. Sir John Romilly, Master of the Rolls. It turns out that William had joined the army and served as an aide-de-camp to Governor Le Marchant in Malta from March 1860 to December 1861. However, he quit the army in 1862 and followed his father into the legal profession. Romilly had obviously caught Emily’s eye while he was working for her father.

Thirteen months after the couple were wed in London, Emily gave birth to a son, christened John Gaspard Le Marchant. Mother and son were progressing favourably when suddenly, just three weeks after the child’s birth, Emily’s health deteriorated rapidly and she died unexpectedly, leaving her family and friends in deep shock.

William, it seems, was doubly cursed: not only did his second wife predecease him, but in 1891 he was suffocated in a fire that engulfed his home in London. As the curious crowd gathered around the blazing house, the hapless John Gaspard Le Marchant Romilly arrived, decked out in evening dress (he had been out to the theatre), to be told that his father had expired on the way to the hospital.

John Gaspard was equally unfortunate: in 1905, at the age of just 39, he underwent surgery and seemed to have recovered, when a couple of months later he suffered a relapse and passed away. So ended the miserable fate of Emily Idonea and her family. It is sobering to realise that the vibrant, young lady with the penetrating gaze that we see in Leandro Preziosi’s photograph would be dead within just three years of this image being captured.