“Social Suicide”: The Scandalous Detention of Edith Lanchester
[The true story of one woman who was locked up for living with the wrong kind of man]
On Friday, October 25th, 1895, a horse-drawn carriage drew up outside number 25 Este Road in Battersea, London, the lodgings of Edith Lanchester. From the carriage her father, Henry, and her three brothers stepped out, accompanied by an eminent psychiatrist, Dr. George Fielding Blandford. Edith, the object of their attention, was to be assessed by the doctor with respect to her sanity, as to which her father was very concerned.
A fine family background
The Lanchester family was well-established financially and had a good social standing. Henry Lanchester had for many years been successful as an architect. With three sons as well as daughter Edith, the family home in Brighton must have been a place of progressive ambition and learning. The three brothers, George, Frank, and Frederick were involved in the design and development of the Lanchester motor car, with the first prototype built in 1895. It became famous as an original design rather than a copy of a foreign car and capable of 50 miles per hour. The Lanchester Motor Company subsequently had something of a chequered history but in fact is still officially registered — albeit…
