Teresa Cornelys was born in Venice, Italy in 1723 and died in 1797 in the Fleet Prison in London. What happened in between her birth and death is theatrical to a degree and creates a fascinating story, this has been well documented in The Empress of Pleasure by Judith Summers.  We will cover only a small part of her long stay,  ultimate success and downfall, whilst running her palace of popular entertainment at Carlisle House.

Mrs Cornelys was an operatic soprano by profession who became a famous impresario who hosted fashionable gatherings at Carlisle House in Soho Square. Arriving in London using her Dutch lovers name she presented herself as Madame Corneelis de Rigerboos, a widow, giving her added respectability and independence. 

There is another lover involved who put up the money and would continue to do so for some time until the pair fell out and then it got nasty, very nasty! 

As it happened Teresa had friends in high places, one Elizabeth Chudleigh, a friend of the Duke of Fermor, who was persuaded to put up the rent for Teresa for a house in Soho Square which she had her eye on for entertainments - Carlisle House.

By the Autumn of 1760 Cornelys began giving entertainments by subscription, selling tickets in advance. These were only obtained from ladies of high standing, the aristocracy and those at court, they were much in demand.

Initially card games and dancing were on offer and as Teresa became more successful in her endeavours she was able to purchase the leasehold of the property and create an extension at the rear.  This catered for a ballroom and supper club which could seat 400 to dinner on a vast crescent shaped table. The house was renowned for its sumptuous fixtures and fittings. Although the venture was a great success Teresa did not seem to know how to manage her money, and often refused to pay her bills. So in the end the great entrepreneur that she was, fell foul of her creditors.

In the grand manner of Carlise House we at Georgian Dining are planning to recreate on a nano scale some spectacular entertainment at Blacks Club in Soho. An evening of splendid entertainments to beguile and delight you to raise funds for Mosoho so they can protect and preserve their archives of the history of Soho. Please do join us, you can purchase your subscription on our Events page.

MASKS ESSENTIAL : We would love you to dress up and it is not essential that your costume is C18, there were all manner of 'get ups' as you can see from the print below. 

You may also enjoy our Soho Society Radio interview with MissB and Ian Kelly.

We start at 7:15 ...

www.mixcloud.com/discover/soho-society/?order=latest&fbclid=IwAR1YAO3XxKPpHcPxEm3iaa1twRO0oJRfILenoXwZSatub7BDEPgwYpcso-I

Programme 

Promenade from Soho Square to Dean Street 

A warm welcome with the Celebratory Georgian Dining Academy Punch

Lady Amber of the Colonies will be running the Gaming Room

David Harry Esq will be charming you with Magic

Supper will be served at 7pm and 8pm in Blacks Dining Room

Talk and Conversation with Ian Kelly, actor and author of Casanova

Songs and Music of the period with Lisa Byrnes and Peter Shipman

Roaming Sketch artist - Liam O'Farrell

C18th Word Games al la Harris List & Dr Johnson's Dictionary

Bar open - wine from £24 per bottle
Special Cocktail £5

Lottery of prizes - please do bring your purse so we can continue to raise funds

Two memberships to Blacks Club for one year

Two tickets to the Yuletide Fest Georgian Dining Academy in December 2019

Bespoke Walk by My London Tours

Picture by Lian O'Farrell of Wardour Street 

plus other prizes that will be revealed on the night!

SPONSORS
Blacks Club
Sugar Tea Rooms
Liam O'Farrell
others awaiting confirmation

​Born in Anspach, Germany in 1674, he was the youngest of nine children, and became widely known as “The Little Man from Nuremburg” performing his feats of wonder across much of Great Britain and Europe. Buchinger was only 29 inches tall, and for hands had "two excrescences which grew from his shoulder-blades, like fingers without nails" but his skills in magic, marksmanship, and music were legendary. He played several musical instruments, some of which he invented himself, was accomplished at skittles (bowling), and could dance a hornpipe as well as anyone. 

He was also a talented calligrapher. His engraving skills are evident by the self-portrait to the right. Hidden within his curls are seven psalms and the Lord’s Prayer written in tiny letters. Buchinger lived much of his adult life in England and Ireland, and performed before King George and many of Europe’s royalty. He died in Cork, Ireland in 1732.

Article taken from www.sciencebuzz.org/blog/matthias-buchinger-astounding-little-man-nuremburg

At Hatchlands Park in West Clandon, Surrey they are celebrating the life and achievements of Frances Boscawen, wife, mother, writer of letters and ‘salonniere’ known as Fanny to her friends.

Fanny was a founding member of the Bluestocking Society, a group of like-minded intellectual women who created forward-thinking salons which comprised of an exceptional cultured and intellectual group of women and men!
It allowed the ladies to talk as equals on all manner of intellectual, scientific and artistic subjects. Politics was banned as was strong drink and gambling. Tea was the favourite tipple!

Mrs Boscawen was acclaimed as one of the society’s most successful ‘salonnieres’ and an invitation from her would have been much prized. The meetings where held in private where they could freely discuss current thinking and books without fear of being put down or being considered un-feminine by broaching such subjects.

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‘the thefts of knowledge in our sex are only connived at while carefully concealed, and if displayed, punished with disgrace.’  - Anna Barbauld, 1774.

Admiral and Mrs Boscawen made Hatchlands their home in 1749. As you wander through the beautiful rooms of this lovely house you can imagine Fanny leading and directing the decoration of the interiors. It was the Boscawen’s who employed the young Robert Adam, just returned from his Grand Tour, to create the interiors for Hatchlands, one his first commissions. It was a brave choice on Fanny’s part.

With faultless perspicacity she immediately gave him his first commission for interior decoration; and the exquisite ceilings’; mantelpieces, and wood-casings at Hatchlands are amongst the finest examples of his earliest work in existence. [‘Admiral’s Widow’ by Aspianll-Oglander Cecil]

It is also easy to imagine Fanny entertaining her clever friends in her home. The Ladies were all keen on examining the interiors of houses, commenting on style and innovation and often becoming trendsetters, especially of the new Chinoiserie (staircase at Hatchlands a fine example) so popular at the time.  Truth be told It was really all about the lively ‘conversation’ on intellectual subjects they enjoyed and the letter writing which followed, the ‘blogging’ of the day.

One often assumes that the Salons were only for the ladies, but this was not the case. The whole point of the gatherings was to combine the two sexes to discuss and learn from each other. It was Elizabeth Montagu who detested the ladies being sent off to chatter and gossip, while the men engaged in more interesting subjects. Dr Samuel Johnson, already mentioned was a frequent guest, as was Garrick, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke, Horace Walpole and Benjamin Stillingfleet (Botanist) who was welcomed in his informal wear of blue stockings (should have worn white!) which gave the group its name.

Dr Johnson’s famous praise of his ‘old friend Mrs Carter, [who] could make a pudding as well as translate Epictetus … and work a handkerchief as well as compose a poem’.

For Georgian Dining it was a wonderful opportunity to be part of Hatchlands’ celebration for the National Trust’s year of celebrating women. Miss B and Miss Kitty spent a pleasant time walking through the house having conversations about this delightful hostess and her extraordinary friends. We wandered freely through the Drawing Room Salon, Library, Admiral’s Room through the Hall to the Music Room. Each area having a theme related to Fanny’s life, her part in the Bluestockings, creation and decoration of the house and her family life. 

In the Library audio softly quotes Le Bas Bleu or Conversation  (Hannah More) a dedicated to the friendship group by alluding to or mentioning their names in verse, extolling their virtues and achievements.

Genius prevails, and Conversation [50]
Emerges into Reformation.
The vanquish’d triple crown to you,
BOSCAWEN sage, bright MONTAGU ….
 
The Admiral’s Bedroom is shrouded in darkness with gentle music and twinkling candles, his death in January 1761 was devasting for Fanny and her friends rallied round to console her. A sense of mourning and loss fill this space.

The Hallway is full of light and joy as we view The Nine Living Muses by Richard Samuel 1778. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1779. The painting did make an impact, however it was the engraving that made several members of the Bluestockings ‘celebrities’ as it listed names.  The painting had been created without any of the ladies therein sitting for it, and Elizabeth Montagu and Elizabeth Carter complained ‘by mere testimony of my eyes, I cannot very exactly tell which is you, and which is I, and which is anybody else’. [Brilliant Women p61]

They were actually delighted with their new found famed and we note from correspondence between Eliazbeth Montagu and Elizabeth Carter “I do not see how we could become more universally celebrated. We might have lived in an age in which we should never have had ye pleasure of seeing our features … in Pocket books, Magazines … literary & monthly reviews, Annual Registers, &c &c &c … I think it extraordinary felicity even to enjoy a little brief celebrity & contracted fame.”

The life and times of Fanny Boscawen comes to a close in the Music Room, a portrait of Fanny hangs over the mantel and she eyes a scene of ladies at tea. This is the place to contemplate the legacy of the bluestockings as the forerunners of what was to come and what still must be achieved for women the world over.

“The eighteenth century was a time when literary and intellectual women were more present, and more powerful, than at other points in history. And yet the bluestockings’ professional activity – its sheer range, ambition and diversity – is little known today.” Elizabeth Eger, historian, 2008.

In closing I quote from the pamphlet from the exhibition ‘But they had opened a door that could not be closed.’

The exhibition of The Accomplished Mrs Boscawen is on until end of October with accompany events.

Miss Kitty Pridden and Miss B will be hosting ‘Bluestocking Encounters’ on Sunday 8th July 2018 2pm-5pm. We hope to hold our conversations whilst walking ‘Fanny’s Walk’ and joining visitors at ‘the cottage’ in the grounds.

The latest Mailchimp Gazette can be found here ​mailchi.mp/02a8d9438dd7/georgian-dining-academy-gazette-2017-may-1439553?e=[UNIQID]

​

​I am sure Georg Frederic Handel would have been very proud of our celebration on the river on 17th July 2017, of the 300 year anniversary, to the day and time, of the first performance of Handel’s ‘Water Music Suite’ composed especially for King George I.
​
The weather was glorious, not tormentingly hot, a perfect summer's of evening sunshine with a cooling  breeze off the river.

​As soon we left the pier, our orchestra, The Amadè Players began the performance playing a collection of movements split into three Suites, music composed to mimic the journey along the Thames, on instruments of the period. The orchestra on deck a sight to behold, the sound oft blown away slightly in the breeze, to return with startling clarity, creating an authentic musical trip.
​
We were also heading in the opposite direction, to Greenwich not Chelsea, due to the high tide. As we wanted to take the journey on the 17.7.17, to the day, and time, we had little choice in the matter!

 “I particularly enjoyed the final musical sequence, as I was standing behind the principal trumpet and able to listen really close up to his superb playing.
These original brass instruments must be fiendish to play, and he made light of it.” Jeffrey C Guest 

​At 8pm the most iconic movements held forth all their glory to the backdrop of the elegant façade of Greenwich Naval College rather than the banks of Chelsea Village, where George I had stepped off to have supper.  The King so enjoyed the music upriver that he insisted the musicians wait in the barge, provided by the City of London, so he could hear the music all over again on his return to Whitehall.

​The Golden Jubilee is a boat of good size and our 150 passengers had ample space to circulate, although most kept company with the orchestra on the outside deck, until sound issues moved all indoors to hear the second half, after supper. The food was excellent, as Georgian as it could be catering to various diets, pies and English cheeses the order of the day. The bar staff were excellent, providing libations to a demanding and thirsty company.

​Not all went smoothly! It would seem many of our guests unused to this type of trip on the Thames, were somewhat put out as had expected an abundance of seating, something we wished we could have provided, but alas the Health & Safety regulations of the 21st century do not offer much comfort and can spoil many a good plan. A surprise, unexpected display of disco lights created a bit of stir, seemingly activated by certain pitches in the music! No, there was no sudden unseemly disco dancing in  panniers and wigs! 

​The gathering was well costumed and bewigged and looked every inch the part of a royal progress. I felt the gentleman out did the ladies in their gorgeous attire. Many, without their own personal Georgian wardrobe, were outfitted by Mad World Costumes and we were delighted by the colourful turn out.

​An excellent collaboration between London Historians, Georgian Dining Academy and Handel House, an event that was created with great energy and support from its early meetings to the grand finale. 

We also offer special thanks to Kirsten Morrison and Peter Shipman, who entertained the long supper queue with period songs, a Capella plus a banjo masquerading as a mandolin. Truly magnificent performers and adored by all.

​See slideshow of our great WW300 Team.

​We hope to welcome everyone who joined us and more next year when we plan to do it all over again, this time heading for Chelsea and Vauxhall 'Pleasure Gardens'.  A full orchestra, full programme and a full house (boat)!

​A gracious THANK YOU to all who attended and supported us with this event.

​For information
Photographs by Paul Davey available to purchase here:
http://pauldaveycreative.photoshelter.com/gallery/2017-07-17-Handels-Water-Music-celebrates-300th-anniversary-on-River-Thames-London/G0000yHu6gEhUn5Y/

www.londonhistorians.org/  Why not join up?

​http://www.handelhendrix.org Go visit the Museum and/or enjoy a concert!

www.amadeplayers.com   Go hear them in concert!

www.operasongbird.co.uk Highly recommended!

https://madworldfancydress.com/ Charing X Branch 20% discount for GDA Events

Georgian Dining Academy is venturing South of the river at the kind invitation of Alix Bateman, a lady of many talents, who has put her delightful Georgian home to good use. Alix organises interesting ventures for creatives and networkers, as well as running exclusive guest house. We are joining with Alix to create a special Midsummer Eve’s Supper on 24th June 2017 (Book here).  There will a delicious menu, great entertainment and some waggery (from Dr Johnson's Dictionary)! More details about The Glebe House can be found here www.theglebehouselondon.com.
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Clapham became popular with the wealthier merchant classes of the City of London in the late 17th century, away from the general stink and fear of death and disease. They built large houses and villas around Clapham Common and the Old Town. Samuel Pepys also visited Clapham and spent the last two years of his life here until his death in 1703.

​The area attracted, particularly in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, social reformers who lived around the Common. They included the likes of William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton and Zachary Macaulay, father of the historian Thomas Macaulay, as well as William Smith, M.P., the Dissenter and Unitarian. They became known as the Clapham Sect or Saints.

They were most prominent in campaigns for the abolition of slavery as well as child labour and prison reform.

The Sect was also behind missionary activities in Britain's colonies. The Society for Missions to Africa and the East (as the Church Mission Society was first called) was founded on 12 April 1799 at a meeting of the Eclectic Society, supported by members of the Clapham Sect, who met under the guidance of John Venn (1759–1813), the Rector of Clapham.
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By contrast, an opponent of Wilberforce, merchant and slave-trader George Hibbert (1757-1837) also lived at Clapham Common, worshipping in the same church, Holy Trinity.  An eminent English merchant, politician, ship-owner, one of the principals of the West India Dock Company which instigated the construction of the West India Docks on London's Isle of Dogs in 1800. Hibbert also helped found the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1824. 

​The Glebe House, Rectory Grove, Clapham Old Town

​The house and stables appear on a map of 1827 and the guidebook accompanying the map states the occupier is "Russell's Livery Stables". It is likely such a substantial set of buildings had been built some time prior to this date as part of the original Manor House of Clapham Town. It was directly adjacent and possibly the stables were part of manor’s estate. Next door is the site of a church, St Paul’s, a place of worship since the 12th century. 

This small corner on which The Glebe House sits, was the heart of the original village of Clapham. It was only in later years as the area expanded and became popular as retreats from the City that the action moved up nearer the common when Holy Trinity Church (1774-6) was built.

In the Post Office Guide of 1860 the house (then 3 St. Paul's Close) is occupied by William Sheldrick and described as livery stables. The property is shown on the ordnance survey map of 1870. In 1880, the occupant is James Stanford, Job Master, one who lets out horses and carriages for hire.

The ordnance survey map of 1895 shows a part of the building has been demolished for the building of Iveley Rd.

​In 1903 the site was sold to St. Paul's Church by Thomas Blackmore, Builder, who had been responsible for the development of Iveley Rd between 1893 and 1890. The church did not have a vicarage, so they wanted to demolish the house and stables and build one. However, there was a sitting tenant in the house who held out till 1927 when he died in "Indigent circumstances".  So the church knocked down just the stables and outbuildings to build the current vicarage (in the vicar's garden part of the old stables can still be seen).
​
The Glebe House was formed from what was left. The lounge (which was infilled) was originally a passageway through to a stable yard beyond. The attached plan shows a dung pit, harness and tack room, stables etc.

Another interesting property close by is the house on the opposite corner which was an African Academy in Georgian times.

Also closeby, not surprisingly perhaps is 'Matrimony Place' a lovers' lane of sorts since before the Georgian period. 
​

​For further information about Clapham :
http://claphamsociety.com/index.html
http://www.localhistories.org/clapham.html
https://londonpostcodewalks.wordpress.com/tag/clapham/

We are truly  enjoying our research to enhance our own knowledge of this interesting group of men and women who gathered together over 'tea and lemonade' to discuss and debate amongst themselves the ideas of the time.  A well-heeled group most definitely, but also it was an opportunity for self-educated women to share their knowledge and ideas with the learned men of the time. The men in turn were captivated and admiring at the breadth and depth of their lady friends' intellect. 

Elizabeth Montagu 'created a space for the life of the mind' at her home and what began as an afternoon assembly ended well past midnight, so fervent and involved were the group. 

One of the most prominent members, Fanny Burney, wrote novels under a pseudonym as a man, was a best-seller, and eventually did not use a name at all. All her life she was most reluctant to use her own name, although it was known among those in literary circles! Fanny Burney also wrote a satire whose characters were so like the 'notables' of the Salon, she was advised not to present it in fear of estranging her friends.  Fanny Burney also coined the term witling, an anarchic and derogatory term meaning a person who considers themselves to be witty.  Wonder who she was referring to?

Dr Johnson's House is an obvious choice for our Salon, although the actual gatherings were held at grand addresses, Johnson certainly enjoyed his friends company and often entertained at 17 Gough Square. He liked the company of women, especially clever and witty ones. 

Also among the group of admiring gentlemen (well most of them) were David Garrick, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke and Horace Walpole.  It was Benjamin Stillingfleet, however, who unwittingly gave the name to the group.

​He had just arrived from the country wearing his 'blue stockings' and had no time to change, as his hostess insisted he come on to a salon immediately, he was excused his 'formal' stockings. So the ladies who attended the literary assemblies became known thereafter as blue-stockingers.  By the Victorian period, the meaning began to change, still referring to clever women, but in a negative way, often associated with emancipation. 

One of our guests is Dr Judith Hawley, (Royal Holloway, University of London) her character will be the great reveal on the night! Dr Hawley can be heard talking about the Bluestockings on In Our Time, she also took part in the same series on the subject of Frances Burney.  Both are worth a listen and hope will encourage you to come and take part in this unique event.  

Once booked (see Events page) you will receive a list of the 'notables' and their friends, to choose whether you might like to read, talk, dress up or just come along to have an 18th century evening of wit, talk and convivial imbibing. Tea will not be served, although refreshment and food will be available. 

bluestocking
noun
derogatory
1. an intellectual or literary woman
​"A Victorian bluestocking"


Rowlandson's  Cartoon                                                        

​A short and delightful film has been produced by Viral History of our celebration of Dr Johnson's Birthday last year.  You can view our wonderful atmospheric supper from 11.35 to 14.01 Enjoy and if you like what you see, please come and join us on 18th May or diary 28th September to be entertained at Gough Square.  See the Events page for further details.

http://bit.ly/2mDN57u  We appear at 11.35 - 14.01.

Special thanks to Celine Luppo McDaid - Curator and Catherine Curzon as well as all our lovely guests who made the evening a truly special event. 

​Why not join us for our first of four suppers this year at Simpson's Tavern off Cornhill? A perfect excuse to warm up with our tasty gin punch, comfort food plus stilton and port.
Great company, convivial gathering of companionable folk, easy laughter and usually a story to tell or a song to sing. 

We have a Special Offer:  a block of four tickets, which can be purchased for £220 before 2nd March 2017. Limited to five sets, the early bird catches the worm! Four offers still available. Please email for further information georgiandining@gmail.com.

​Book via Events Page

Photo: March 2016

​We are honoured and delighted to be invited by the National Maritime Museum to create a ‘pass port’ back in time to the Court of Naples in the Sammy Ofer Wing on Valentine's Eve. Everyone is invited, see below for booking link.

Naples, the place where Emma Hamilton became Lady Hamilton, met her lover to be, Lord Nelson and became a secret envoy at a time of great upheaval for Italy and the English. Emma emerged as an astute and valuable networker, leading where her husband feared to go. Not many people know that, yer know? Hence our focus on this all but brief time of happiness and great adventure for this extraordinary young woman.
 
As it is Valentine’s Eve we propose a night of love, romance and friendship, a time for everyone to share in  fun and laughter, and we at Georgian Dining Academy, will make it so!
 
Our usual reach is through the bellies of our guests with feasting, supping aplenty and much convivial conversation, but for this special evening we have united a group of artistes to entertain and beguile in a style Emma would certainly endorse!
 
Before, during or after our lavish menu of entertainments our visitors will find time to visit the exquisitely curated exhibition, Emma Hamilton: Seduction and Celebrity, to travel with Emma from poverty, to misplaced love, security, true love, to paradise and back and then sadly loss, and finally demise, a tale of Seduction and Celebrity on an unprecedented scale.  The programme can be viewed on the booking site, please see link below.
 
THE DATE
14th February 2017 at 18.30-22.00 / £15, £12 Members
 
BOOKING: www.rmg.co.uk/see-do/exhibitions-events/seduction-late

The story of Emma Hamilton is a tragic one, so we offer you the happier story of a Georgian lady who made good, read on to hear of her rise to fame and finally security.