Draft:Katharine Woodlock

Katharine M. Woodlock, also known as Kate Woodlock (Dublin, June 1837 – Bath, December 13 1920), was an Irish governess who maintained a lengthy correspondence with the Flemish priest-poet Guido Gezelle. Her letters are preserved in the Guido Gezelle Archive. Within the entire correspondence of Guido Gezelle, these letters stand out for their intimate candor. They are unique personal documents of a 19th-century young woman in search of love and a carefree future.

Life Course

English Colony

Letter Katherine Woodlock to Guido Gezelle

Katharine M. Woodlock was born in June 1837 in Dublin, where she was baptized on June 14 in the church of St. Mary's. Her parents were William Woodlock (1801-1883) and Catherine Teeling (1808-1885). This couple moved with their family to Bruges on December 31, 1866, where they successively lived at different addresses: Nieuwe Wandeling 82 and Waalsestraat 9. William Woodlock passed away in Bruges on May 30, 1883, and his wife two years later, on March 3, 1885.

As English immigrants in Bruges, they could rely on the support of Guido Gezelle. They were part of the so-called English colony. Although there had been English residents in Bruges for centuries, particularly due to trade, the 19th century witnessed a noticeable peak in their numbers. English, as well as Scots and Irish, were attracted by the reputation of both Bruges' education and healthcare, in addition to the lower cost of living. The rich historical heritage, which attracted individuals like James Weale, John Steinmetz, and Thomas Harper King, was particularly fascinating for art historians and archaeologists. Religion also played a role, with many Roman Catholics fleeing Anglican England. Lastly, Bruges was strategically located in relation to other European cities, such as Paris and Amsterdam, making it a stopover for various travelers.

Governess

Before coming to Bruges with her family, Katharine worked for some time as a governess in France, serving under Marie-Caroline Germaine de Chaumontel. Once in Bruges, she came into contact with Guido Gezelle, who became Kate's confessor and confidant. This marked the beginning of a lengthy correspondence. In the fall of 1867, she started working as a governess for the Ruzette-D’Anethan family in Bruges, where she took care of the then one-year-old Albéric Ruzette. However, discontented with the employment, she returned to Nieuwe Wandeling, with her family, on October 6. In early 1868, she went to Brussels, where she joined the Koch family (Regentschapsstraat 9). Also there, employment was short-lived, this time due to a quarrel with Mrs. Koch. She briefly returned to Bruges, where she saw Gezelle again, and started working for the Simonis family in Verviers (Limburgstraat, 27) by the end of 1868.

After things went wrong here too, Katharine returned to Ireland, where she worked as a governess from 1869. There she started her employment with the Chadwick family at their country house in Stameen, Drogheda. There, she also met her future husband, John Francis Chadwick (1845-1920), whom she married on September 5, 1874. Kate's uncle, the priest Bartholomew Woodlock (1819-1902), blessed the marriage. A year later, on September 8, 1875, she gave birth to their only son, John Francis Mary Joseph Chadwick, who would later become a priest and canon in Saltburn. On December 13, 1920, Katharine passed away in Bath, where she was also laid to rest.

The Letters to Guido Gezelle

Woodlock's letters to Guido Gezelle date from the period 1867-1871. She wrote the first ones in Bruges, where she had met Gezelle. The last ones were sent from Ireland after she had started working for the Chadwick family. There are no letters from Gezelle to Kate, so it is unknown how the priest responded to her confessions and questions. Only through her reactions to his letters can one get an idea. The letters are characterized by an intimate candor. For instance, she struggles with doubts about her appearance and her future. At the time of the letters, she is a young unmarried woman of about thirty. Unhappy in her job as a governess, her fiery and proud character repeatedly puts her in conflict with her employers. She wonders if a convent life is meant for her in case she remains unmarried. However, she later admits that Gezelle is right in stating that she lacks the right mindset and motivation. Each letter reveals her deep affection for him, and there might even be hints of a platonic love for him. Due to their confidential content, she asked him to burn her letters. However, Gezelle ignored her request because he greatly valued his correspondence. This is evident from the large number of letters he left behind, the majority of which are preserved in the Guido Gezelle Archive, comprising around 8000 letters. Approximately 600 of them were written by or addressed to about 200 female correspondents.

Online Edition

The Guido Gezelle Society, the Guido Gezelle Archive, the Center for Gezelle Studies (University of Antwerp), and the Center for Textual Editing and Source Study of the Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature started the digital publication of Gezelle's letters in 2017. Initially, the letters from the teachers of Bruges' Sint-Lodewijkscollege were addressed. In 2021, the members of the Royal Flemish Academy for Language and Literature were handled. Since the fall of 2022, a project titled 'Women on Paper' has been underway, focusing on Gezelle's correspondence with about 200 women. Kate Woodlock’s letters are part of this project.

Sources and Footnotes

• B. De Leeuw, P. De Wilde, K. Verbeke, under the guidance of A. Deprez (ed.), The Correspondence of Guido Gezelle with the English 1854-1899, Ghent, Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature, 1991, 3 volumes.

• L. Van Biervliet, 'The English colony in Bruges in the 19th century', in: Biekorf, 1988, no. 3 (pp. 150-166) and no. 4 (pp. 261-282).

External Links

• The letters of Katharine Woodlock on the GezelleBrOn website.

• Guido Gezelle Archive dossier.

• Archive of the Chadwick family.