Eugenie Labbey (buried 1915)

At a glance

At a glance
Surname: 
Labbey
First name: 
Eugenie
Other Christian names: 
Gender: 
Female
Children: 
Yes
Burial number: 
772
Born: 
2/8/1847
Died: 
07/02/1915
Buried: 
09/02/1915
Occupation: 
Private means
Distinction: 
French origin
Heene Hallmark: 
No
Commonwealth War Grave: 
No

The Grave

The grave
Cemetery area: 
SES
Cemetery row: 
9
Cemetery plot: 
4
what3words location: 
https://what3words.com/booth.cave.rivers
Burial remains: 
Unknown
The headstone
Headstone inscription: 
In loving memory of Eugenie Labbey born 2nd August 1847 died 7th February 1915 R.I,P.

Warning: this record has been marked as potentially upsetting

The information published on this website will include research obtained from the public domain. It may sometimes include things you might find upsetting, such as the details of their death or any misdemeanours that might have happened in their life. We feel it is important however to tell their full story.

Life story

Life story

Eugenie's story is dramatic and so much is still missing from her details. She was born Eugenie Goeb de Longlee, the daughter of Napoleon de Longlee who was a doctor of medicine. It is known that by 1867, she was living in Chantilly, France with Jean Baptiste Vedrenne. On 13th July 1867, Eugenie gave birth to a boy who was called Eugene Jean Baptiste Gustave. Three years later in 1870, she gave birth to another son, Fernand Rene- Eugene on 16th November. According to the register, both children were described as "natural" which meant that the parents were not married but lived together. This was confirmed on a later marriage certificate where Eugenie was described as a spinster. It is thought that Jean Baptiste Vedrenne died c1871 and Eugenie moved to England with her eldest son.  Fernand stayed in France and in 1900, married Marie Josephe Pouliquen in Brest. On 12th November 1879, Eugenie married Paul Labbe, a shipbroker's clerk, at the Catholic church of Notre Dame de France in Westminster. The couple gave their address as 1 Charlotte Street, St Pancras, London. Paul moved the family to Wales where he worked as a French correspondent for a shipbroker in Newport and also gave lessons in French language. Later newspapers report that the marriage was not a happy one and Paul had a difficult relationship with his stepson. He was a gambler and eventually was sacked from his job. Paul moved out of the family home after being declared bankrupt in 1894. In 1897, Paul Labbe was living with a nurse in Newport. The pair travelled to Paris and together in 1901, they committed suicide. (see newspaper report below). Eugenie changed her surname to Labbey, possibly to avoid any connection to the scandal. She moved to London where her son worked in the theatre business. He had become a British citizen, changing his name by deed poll to John Eugene Vedrenne and was known as "J E Vedrenne". John was a very successful producer of West End shows and friends with many of the great stage stars of the day. He died in 1930.

By 1915, Eugenie was ill with pneumonia and heart problems. She died on 7th February at Caer Gwent Nursing Home, Wykeham Road, Worthing. No probate.

Burial researcher: 
Carol Sullivan

Further information

Birth
Date born: 
02/08/1847
Marriage
Maiden name: 
DeLonglee
Marriage 1
Spouse one first names: 
Paul
Spouse one last name: 
Labbe
Marriage one date: 
12/11/1879
Marriage one address: 
Westminster, London, England

Death

Death (details)
Date of death: 
07/02/1915
Age (at time of death): 
67
Cause of death: 
Broncho Pneumonia and Heart Failure
Address at time of death: 
Caer Gwent, Wykeham Road, Worthing, Sussex, England

Census and miscellaneous information

Census information
1881 census: 

12 Devon Place, Newport, Wales

Paul aged 29, French correspondent (Newport shipbrokers). Mathilde? aged 30. Eugene aged 12, stepson, clerk.

1891 census: 

29 Glytha Square, Newport, Wales.

Paul aged 39, shipbroker's agent. Eugenie aged 41. Eugene Vedrenne aged 24, stepson. Plus 2 servants.

1901 census: 

46 Upper Bedford Place, Bloomsbury, Middx.

Eugenie aged 48, widow, boarder. Staying with Alice Harris, boarding house keeper.

1911 census: 

38 Queensborough Terrace, Paddington, Middx.

Eugenie aged 61, widow, visitor. Staying with Selina Sophia Tilly, widow.

Miscellaneous information

March 1901

A South Wales Tragedy. The Nurse and the Frenchman.

Three years ago, Florence Greener, a nurse for a short time at the Newport Infirmary mysteriously disappeared. Last week she was found dead in bed with M Paul Labbe at 15 Rue de St Sulpice, Paris, asphyxiated by the fumes of charcoal. M Paul Labbe had been engaged for some years at Newport as the confidential clerk of a local firm of shipbrokers. His relations with his wife and stepson, it is alleged, were unhappy and eventually he took apartments with the mother of Miss Greener, who, it is further alleged, became so infatuated with him that when he returned to Paris she immediately followed and had since lived with him as his wife. Labbe apparently had secured a good appointment, but his passion for gambling and his frequent absences from work led to his dismissal. At last after they had even sold their clothing, the hapless couple drew the grate into the middle of the room and filled it with charcoal, stopping the fireplace and all the chinks of the door and window with paper and cotton wool. On the table they laid fresh clothes to dress their corpses in. They set fire to the charcoal and went to bed. Their bodies were found three days later in an advanced state of decomposition. M Labbe wrote to his brother, the Mayor of a small commune in the Vendee requesting that although not married, he and his companion, found in death with their hands clasped, might be buried together, and this wish was respected. Poverty was the cause of their suicide.