Hatchlands Park - 5th June 2018

The Accomplished Mrs Boscawen
OR
a full account of the Notable Exploits
of
Fanny and the Bluestocking Society
A tale of love, loss and powerful friendship.
​Fanny Boscawen & her fight to give women a voice
in a time when they had none

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]

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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.