“Between about 1898 and 1901, Trix Fleming suffered from a deep depression (some biographers have described it as a schizophrenic break); her husband resisted having her treated by professional psychologists” (Page on Alice ‘Trix’ Kipling on website The Kiplings and India: A Collection of Writings from British India, 1870-1900 by Amardeep Singh, Lehigh University). This letter, from a decade later than this first depression, shows that Alice’s husband, Jack Fleming, has now fully engaged doctors in the care of his wife. It is written by Kipling to his brother-in-law during a period where Trix was in care. In his letter Kipling writes about “the attack” which “has lasted for […] three months now”, and Trix “being certified”. He writes how he is glad “that you found T looking better so far as bodily health was concerned”, and his hope that “she is in sympathetic hands”, mentioning how she gets on with her nurse. It appears that she has pulled away from her close family members, as Kipling writes, “It is to be remembered that in the overwhelming number of mental cases they turn for a while against those who are nearest to them.”
In 1910 the Flemings moved from India to Edinburgh, and shortly thereafter Trix received news that her mother had died, sparking a return of her depression, which was further exacerbated by her father’s death in January 1911. In this letter Kipling shows his concern for his sister in the aftermath of these dual tragedies. The Kipling family had not been completely in favour of Trix’s marriage to Fleming and were often at odds with the way he managed her care. Although Kipling’s letter to Fleming is a cordial one, there is a hint of the discord as Kipling expresses his “objection” to Trix’s being certified, adding “it jars on one”.
Alice (Trix) was a writer, her novels include The Heart of a Maid and A Pinchbeck Goddess. Her novels indicate that her marriage to Col Jack Fleming may not have been a happy one. She was also skilled as medium and was a member of the Edinburgh Psychic College.
PROVENANCE: This was part of a Kipling family archive that came down through Helen MacDonald, a great niece of Rudyard Kipling’s mother Alice MacDonald. Alice’s three sisters were married to Edward Burne Jones, Edward Poynter (Artists) and Alfred Baldwin (father of 20th century British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin).
