Doudet, Célestine (b. 1817)

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Doudet, Célestine (b. 1817)

French murderer (accused). Name variations: Celestine Doudet. Born 1817 in Rouen, France.

Worked as governess for upper-class English families and as wardrobe mistress to Queen Victoria; appointed by English doctor James Loftus Marsden to tutor his 5 daughters (1852), took the girls to Paris to set up small school; after several months, was accused by neighbors of mistreating and starving children; after death of 1 child, was tried for murder and acquitted, but sentenced to 5 years in prison for mistreatment of children.