Queer Places:
Eton College, Windsor, Windsor and Maidenhead SL4 6DW, UK
University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3PA
Blakesware Manor, Wareside, Ware SG12 7RB, United Kingdom
Gosselin Cemetery, Ware Rd, Widford, Ware SG12 8RL, United Kingdom

Sir Martin Le Marchant Hadsley Gosselin (November 2, 1847 – February 26, 1905) was a prominent British diplomat who served during the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras.

Born at Walfield, near Hertford, he was the eldest son of Martin Hadsley Gosselin and Frances Orris Marshall. He received an elite education, attending Eton College before matriculating at Christ Church, Oxford.

While attending Eton, Digby Mackworth Dolben became infatuated with Martin Le Marchant Gosselin, who was a year his senior. Dolben was known for his intense, highly visible eccentricities—which included walking barefoot through the streets in the habit of an Anglican Benedictine monk—and he openly channeled his romantic devotion to Gosselin into passionate love poetry.

Gosselin was part of the same High Church "Puseyite" circle at the school, though by most historical accounts, he seems to have been somewhat oblivious to, or at least detached from, the full depth of Dolben's unrequited poetic ardor.

The relationship between the two came to light posthumously primarily due to the future Poet Laureate, Robert Bridges, who was Dolben's cousin and school friend. When Bridges prepared Dolben's poems and memoir for publication in 1911, he faced an interesting dilemma:

Mutual friends suggested that Bridges rewrite Dolben's pronouns to make it look like the love poems had been written for a girl. Bridges firmly refused to alter the text, preserving the true nature of Dolben's sexuality.

Sir Martin Gosselin had died just a few years earlier in 1905. His widow, Lady Katherine Frances Gosselin, denied Bridges access to Sir Martin's diaries and requested that her late husband's identity be kept out of the scandalous public record. Bridges agreed to suppress Gosselin's name in the initial memoir to protect the prominent diplomat's family estate.

Later unredacted editions, correspondence, and diaries ultimately restored Gosselin's name to the narrative. This teenage romance stands as a significant touchstone in Victorian LGBTQ+ literary history—not only for its raw expression in Dolben's verse but also because Dolben's intense presence would soon after captivate another legendary poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, who fell deeply in love with Dolben's memory after a brief introduction.

Gosselin entered the diplomatic service in 1868. Over a multi-decade career, he held various high-ranking posts across Europe, including roles in Lisbon, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Rome, Madrid, and Brussels. Notably, he served as a secretary during the international conference for the suppression of the African slave trade in Brussels (1889–1890). In 1898, he was appointed Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and in 1902, he attained the position of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Ambassador) to Portugal.

During his tenure as Assistant Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, Gosselin was an official contact and supervisor for Roger Casement, the famous British consul and Irish nationalist. Casement, whose private "Black Diaries" later famously detailed his own homosexual relationships, corresponded with Gosselin regarding humanitarian and colonial matters (such as the situation in the Congo Free State). Gosselin's name appears frequently in historical archives and diplomatic papers detailing Casement's career during this timeframe.

In 1878, Gosselin converted to Catholicism. On August 10, 1880, he married Katherine Frances Gerard, the daughter of Robert Tolver Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard. The marriage produced one son (who was later killed in action during World War I) and three daughters.

Sir Martin Gosselin died in Lisbon on February 26, 1905, following injuries sustained in a car accident.

References:


Sexual Heretics: Male Homosexuality in English Literature from 1850-1900 (Routledge Library Editions: Literature and Sexuality) 1st Edition
by Brian Reade

Other references:

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