For sale, mansion whose poisonous past saw first ever not proven verdict
Home at centre of ‘arsenic and cocoa’ trial yours for just £350,000
IT was a case that scandalised Victorian society. An enchanting young socialite was accused of poisoning her lover with arsenic after he threatened to expose their affair.
Now, the baronial home at the centre of the murder mystery that gripped the country more than 150 years ago has been put up for sale for £350,000.
Invergare Mansion was home in the mid19th century to Madeleine Smith, who went on trial for murder following the death of her secret lover after he drank cocoa laced with arsenic.
It was in the nine-bedroom property in Rhu, Dunbartonshire, that Smith was alleged to have given the deadly drink to middle-aged clerk Pierre Emile L’Angelier.
The case, which scandalised Victorian society, resulted in Scotland’s first ever not proven verdict and Smith fled to America, where she married three times and died at the age of 92.
The mansion, designed by Smith’s father, James, is now in need of ‘significant’ renovation but includes more than 2.5 acres of land, numerous period features including marble flooring, and stunning views over the Firth of Clyde.
The seller, Rettie, is making much of the dark history of the property.
Buyers are told in the sales brochure: ‘James Smith left the house in 1858 following a scandal surrounding his daughter,
Engaged to another man
Madeleine Smith, who was accused of murder.’
Smith – described by a contemporary as ‘strikingly attractive, stylish and confident with dark hair and the most entrancing eyes’ – began her affair with L’Angelier in 1855 when they were introduced by a neighbour. Invergare was frequently the venue for their liaisons but the gulf in their social status meant Smith got engaged to another man.
L’Angelier then threatened to expose their letters unless she married him. At a meeting between the couple at the house in 1857, Smith is alleged to have put 30 ‘grains’ of arsenic in her former beau’s cocoa. L’Angelier died shortly after and a postmortem examination revealed the presence of arsenic, resulting in Smith’s arrest and trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The prosecution case rested on her motive but her defence team said she had not seen her lover for three weeks before his death.
Reluctant to send a woman to the gallows without more evidence, the jury returned a not proven verdict, meaning Smith was acquitted but left with doubt hanging over her for life.
Following the trial, the young socialite reportedly disguised herself and caught the night train to London before fleeing to America, where she died in 1938.
While Rettie acknowledge the tragic history of the property, the firm prefers to concentrate on its many attractions.
‘Despite having been vacant for a number of years, the Victorian home still boasts some impressive features,’ states the brochure.
‘Externally the house is faced with grey harling with honey coloured sandstone dressings and margins, chamfered reveals, quoin strips and crow-stepped gables.’
It adds: ‘Internally, Invergare has a wealth of period features to marry the exceptional external architectural character displayed in the principal elevations.
‘Examples of the period features include the octagonal entrance porch with its marble floor and skirting, polished sandstone arches and the barrel-vaulted corridor that leads from the entrance porch to the entrance hall with its galleried landing over and columned classical arches.’