Duke Of Portland Research Articles

UNDERGROUND WELBECK: INTAGIBLE SPACES John Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland (1800–1879)

The life of the 5th Duke of Portland is a story about the mental obsession to find a haven of absolute stillness, a worry-free place, and somewhere to feel safe (Pl L1/2/8/3/13: Four letters to Fanny Kemble, 1842–1845. In these letters, the 5th Duke refers to the subsoil as “shelter” and the “only safe place”, found in Manuscripts and Special Collections, Archives Nottingham University). Perhaps it is there, in the space that unfolded away from the visible world, that he found the strength to overcome his difficulties and to understand the scale of space and its intangibility; he was aware of the relationships and interaction between the human body, inhabited space, and the mind, and this information helped him in his hiding process. After his appointment as the heir to his immense estate, a series of investments on an unprecedented scale began almost immediately, which have been considered, both technically and conceptually, to be pioneers of domestic and landscape architecture during the nineteenth century. Welbeck Estate represents the construction of a double city, one that is visible and another that is concealed, but it is also a reflection of how our body and our mind interfere, dialogue, and create an architectural space that is framed in a cognitive process. Space and time were unfolded and folded into themselves in order to build this fascinating scenery, which represents the duke’s life.

Books and Manuscripts 2020

Books and Manuscripts 2020

‘This Revolution in the Town’: Richard Champion and the early years of the Bristol Library Society

This article explores the motivation of the founders of subscription libraries in the second half of the eighteenth century through the case study of Richard Champion, a Dissenter from a commercial background who was deeply immersed in the political and associational life of Bristol. Having been denied the opportunity to study at university, in setting up the Bristol Library Society in 1772 Champion was driven by a desire to acquire educational opportunities through association, as well as an ambition to improve Bristol's reputation in the areas of arts and sciences. The library provided him with the political reading he needed to form close relationships with some of the leading politicians of the age, including Edmund Burke and the leaders of Burke's parliamentary party: the Marquess of Rockingham and the Duke of Portland. The case of Champion illustrates the various purposes of subscription libraries as well as their promise and potential in transforming the lives of the middling sort in Georgian Britain.

The Fourth Duke of Portland’s Pantaloon (1831–1852): Private yacht, experimental ‘brig sloop of war’ and slave-ship hunter

The launch of the 323-ton private brig rigged yacht Pantaloon at Troon in 1831 for the Duke of Portland, marks the opening of the final and contentious ‘Symonds’ era in British wooden hull naval architecture. Designed for the duke by Captain William Symonds RN it was immediately acquired by the Royal Navy as a fast armed ocean-going dispatch boat. After Symond’s controversial appointment as Surveyor of the Navy the following year, it was regularly pitted in sea rating trials against old and new designs, culminating in its inclusion in the gruelling 1844-46 Experimental Squadron trials. Either side of this engagement it served in the dangerous Preventative Service cruising the West Coast of Africa to intercept fast slavers trading to Cuba and Brazil. After serving with Pantaloon was decommissioned in 1852.

Welbeck Estate y el quinto duque de Portland. Escenografías construidas

La vida del quinto duque de Portland es la historia de una obsesión por el camuflaje y la ocultación, lo que lo llevó a inventar con ingenio una serie de espacios y artilugios para crear en su casa un escenario digno para un juego de invisibilidad y engaño: un coche de caballos especialmente ideado para desplazarse sin ser visto, trampillas, dobles puertas, sistemas de comunicación con el personal, pasadizos y corredores ocultos bajo el suelo, atajos secretos, entre otros. Este artículo da cuenta de la ciudad doble que el Duque diseñó y construyó en Welbeck Estate para vivir su vida entorno a la idea de la ocultación, mientras reflexiona sobre la forma en la cual el tiempo y el espacio se pliegan y repliegan sobre sí mismos en función de las necesidades y de las cualidades creativas de una persona.

William Gould, Land Agent and the Rural Community in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire 1783–1788

The land agent played an important role in community relationships. His position was frequently one of mediator and liaison between landowner and tenant, although his role often extended to settling disputes more generally. These relationships are often hidden in estate correspondence but in the case of William Gould agent to the Duke of Portland are more readily available through his diaries. This article will utilise this valuable resource to explore how the land agent of a large estate which was entering a period of industrialisation interacted with both agricultural and industrial communities.

The Duke of Portland and his Agent: The Education Act of 1870

This article explores the ways in which the Duke of Portland’s Welbeck Abbey estate in Nottinghamshire reacted to the caveats of The Education Act of 1870. The Duke had in the past taken little interest in any school within his estate until it appeared that the new legislation would significantly impact the control he exerted. The situation was somewhat complicated as the 5th Duke was reclusive by nature and consequently his land agent William Cripwell was required to act as his representative to what essentially became an estate in conflict. The resultant furore, particularly at Gringley, between school, parishioners and clergy reveal the fragility of rural relationships. The expectation that the Duke’s agent had the expertise and ability to deal with the problems, which arose because of the Act, are a sign of the increasing professionalism of the land agent and the movement to a role beyond that of a traditional agriculturalist.

Royal Match: The Army-Navy Service Game, July 4, 1918

The scene in London stadium was as improbable as polo in Brooklyn: King of England and thousands of loyal subjects, cheering American soldiers and sailors batting horsehide around a diamond wedged onto a soccer field. Largely forgotten today, great Fourth of July baseball match of 1918 was most significant athletic event of First World War. Baseball had gained a foothold in England that year thanks to Anglo-American Baseball League (AABL). The original plan of thirty American businessmen in England was for a six-team circuit of civilian professionals playing in Great Britain and in army camps in France. Promoters even began recruiting players in United States. When this scheme proved impractical, AABL gradually morphed into an eight-team US-Canadian military league. Organizers hoped to continue as a major league following war. The AABL played primarily at sites in and near London, including Arsenal football (soccer) ground at Highbury and Chelsea football ground at Stamford Bridge, with a few games slated elsewhere in England and Scotland. Teams played on Saturdays and holidays from May 18 to August 24, with proceeds going to British war charities. The league constituted what Atlanta Constitution later called the crest of a baseball mania that followed American troops everywhere they went in Europe. (1) Various royals encouraged American national pastime in England. Princess Patricia, King's cousin and a patroness of Canadian troops, had known baseball while living in Canada. She attended an AABL game at Highbury on opening day and a nonleague exhibition game at Chelsea on Memorial Day. The Duke of Portland also supported sport. After throwing out first ball at a nonleague game in Nottingham, he commented, Now that we have seen great American game of baseball we appreciate its excellence. (2) The United States and Canada each contributed four teams to AABL. America had nines from US Army and US Navy headquarters in London, plus Hounslow and Northolt aviation fields outside city. Canada fielded squads from Epsom and Sunningdale convalescent hospitals and from two clerical units: Pay Office and Records. Newspapers applied various names to eight teams, but those used here were most common. The league boasted of considerable talent, especially among Americans. Rosters included former professionals from American, Pacific Coast, New York State, Southern, Western, and Illinois-Indiana-Iowa (3--I) leagues, among others, plus amateurs from semipro and collegiate teams. Many Canadian military teams and a few American civilian nines had been playing ball in England since early in war. AABL games now drew well among Allied troops and curious civilians. The sky-blue uniforms of convalescing British Tommies were especially noticeable amid crowds of khaki, navy blue, and mufti. Colorful posters on lampposts and walls all across London announced games. Ticket prices were as low as 8 pence (16 cents)--a fact noted in America. As AABL began its season, military situation on western front deteriorated. The United States had been at war only a little more than a year (compared with nearly four years for Great Britain). Half a million US troops were overseas by May 1918, including 15,000 air service men in England. These numbers were rising rapidly, but were not yet sufficient. Most American troops were still in training. Commanding General John J. Pershing stubbornly resisted pleas to integrate their regiments into French and British divisions. With Russia effectively out of war following October Revolution of 1917, Germany launched huge spring offensives in France. Pershing reported to Washington that situation was very grave. (3) The British Ministry of Information was responsible for disseminating what upbeat war news there was to America. …

Wordsworth at Forty: Memoirs of a Lost Generation

Previous articleNext article No AccessWordsworth at Forty: Memoirs of a Lost GenerationKenneth JohnstonKenneth Johnston Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Wordsworth Circle Volume 42, Number 2Spring 2011 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/TWC24045844 Views: 3Total views on this site © 2011 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Hannah More Items in the Huntington Library: Correspondence and a Poem

Hannah More Items in the Huntington Library: Correspondence and a Poem

Sir George Caswall Vs. The Duke of Portland: Financial Contracts and Litigation in the Wake of the South Sea Bubble

An investigation into the legal wrangles between the first Duke of Portland and his financial antagonists, in particular Sir George Caswall, helps illustrate the nature of private financial contracting during the South Sea Bubble. It also illustrates the special costs of enforcing such contracting after the Bubble. This paper is but a beginning to a wider study of the legal aftermath of the Bubble and the contribution of early modern financial contracting to the general law of contract.

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: The Methodists and Revolutionary America, 1760–1800. By Dee E. Andrews.The Moral Tale in France and Germany 1750–1789. By Katherine Astbury. SVEC 2002:07. Graphic Design, Print Culture, and the Eighteenth‐Century Novel. By Janine Barchas. The Mariage de Figaro. By Beaumarchais. Edited by Gérard Kahn. SVEC 2002:12. Ape to Apollo: Aesthetics and the Idea of Race in the 18 th Century. By David Bindman. Visions of the Daughters of Albion. By William Blake. Edited by Robert N. Essick. Francis Hutcheson in Dublin, 1719–30; The Crucible of his Thought. By Michael Brown. Diderot's Endgames. By Derek Connon. French Studies of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, II. Goethés Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. A Reader's Commentary. By Jane V. Curran. The London Corresponding Society. 1792–1799. Edited by Michael T. Davis. Political Actors. Representative Bodies and Theatricality in the Age of the French Revolution. By Paul Friedland. A Critical Bibliography of Daniel Defoe. By P. N. Furbank and W. R. Owens. Colonial America. From Jamestown to Yorktown. By Mary K. Geiter and W. A. Speck. London und der Klassizismus in der Musik: Die Idee der ‘absoluten Musik’ mid Muzio dementis Klavierwerke. By Anselm Gerhard. Selected Works of Eliza Haywood. Set I, vol. I. Miscellaneous Writings, 1725–1743; vol.2, Epistles for the Ladies: vol.3, The Wife, The Husband, and The Young Lady. Set II, vol.I, The Dramatic Historiographer and The Parrot: vol.2, The Female Spectator, Volumes 1 and 2; vol.3, The Female Spectator, Volumes 3 and 4. Edited by Alexander Pettit. Revolutio germanica. Die Sehnsucht nach der ‘alten Freiheit’ der Germanen. 1750–1820. By Jost Hermand and Michael Niedermeier. Literature of the Sturm und Drang. Edited by David Hill. The Camden House History of German Literature 6. Austria's Wars of Emergence. War, State and Society in the Habsburg Monarchy 1683–1797. By Michael Hochedlinger. Primogeniture and Entail in England: A Survey of their History and Representation in Literature. By Zouheir Jamoussi.The Age of Cultural Revolutions. Britain and France, 1750–1820. Edited by Colin Jones and Dror Wahrman. Women's Writing and the Circulation of Ideas: Manuscript Publication in England, 1550–1800. Edited by George L. Justice and Nathan Tinker. Polski wiek Swiatel. Obszary swoistości [The unique features of the Polish Enlightenment]. By Teresa Kostkiewiczowa. ‘The Rule of Contrary’. Das Paradox in der englischen Komödie der Restaurationszeit und des Frühen 18. Jahrhunderts. By Burkhard Niederhoff. Daniel Defoe, Master of Fiction: His Life and Ideas. By Maximillian E. Novak. A Proper Reply to a Late Scurrilous Libel; Intitled, Sedition and Defamation Display'd (1731). By William Pulteney. Edited by H. T. Dickinson. La ‘Gazette d'Amsterdam’. Miroir de I'Euvope au XVIIIe siècle. Edited by Pierre Rétat. SVEC 2001:06. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Sciences of Life. Edited by Nicholas Roe. Georgian London. By John Summerson. Edited by Howard Colvin. Scandal Nation. Law and Authorship in Britain, 1750–1832. By Kathryn Temple. The Literary and Cultural Spaces of Restoration London. By Cynthia Wall.The Duke of Portland. Politics and Party in the Age of George III. By David Wilkinson. The Correspondence of Thomas Reid. Edited by Paul Wood.

The Duke of Portland: Politics and Party in the Age of George III

The Duke of Portland: Politics and Party in the Age of George III

Unpublished Burke Letters (III), 1763-96

Thirty‐four letters from Edmund Burke are here printed for the first time. An additional letter, nominally by Richard Burke, Jr. (1758–94), but in substance reporting Burke's own response to the criticisms of his Reflections on the Revolution in France made by the Abbé Maury (1746–1817), has also been included. They range from short business notes to carefully articulated position papers. Three are early (one each from 1763, 1765, and 1777); the others are dated between 1780 and 1796. Twenty‐four of the letters, ranging in date from 1765 to 1796, are to Alexander Wedderburn (1733–1805), created Lord Loughborough in 1780, and Lord Chancellor from 1793 to 1801. The other correspondents are: Sir James Harris (1746–1820; created Lord Malmesbury in 1788), three letters; the third Duke of Portland (1738–1809), and James Bland Burges (1752–1824), two each; and Sir Robert Wilmot (d. 1772), Duncan Campbell (1726–1803), Joseph Hill (c. 1720–1811), and John Baker Holroyd, Lord Sheffield (1735–1821), one each. These are the first letters from Burke to Harris, Wilmot, and Campbell to have been found. Earlier gatherings of unpublished Burke letters appeared ante, cxii. 119–41 and cxiv. 636–57.

The Pitt–Portland Coalition of 1794 and the Origins of the ‘Tory’ Party

This article re‐examines the national unity coalition of 1794, analysing the manner in which the duke of Portland, the pre‐eminent grandee of the Whig opposition, overcame his long‐standing political antagonism towards the prime minister, William Pitt. The consequences of this coalition are acknowledged to be far‐reaching, though often taken as self‐evident rather than subjected to close analysis. It is argued here that while the coalition may rightly be seen as a key event for the emergence of nineteenth‐century Toryism, the contribution of Portland's own followers to this process was minimal. The decline of the Portland party after 1794 should, nevertheless, be contrasted with the duke's personal contribution to the establishment, after Pitt's death, of a proto‐Tory ministry in 1807.

‘Musick & Poetry, Mixed’: Thomas Jordan's manuscript collection

During the turbulent years which immediately preceded the birth of Henry Purcell many Royalist poets and sympathizers gathered together collections of songs and poems illustrating major events in Britain's political history between the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy 18 years later. In 1949 the University of Nottingham acquired one such collection, a manuscript of 34 Cavalier poems with music (see table 1), compiled by the poet and actor, Thomas Jordan (c.162o-1685).' Bound during the 18th century with Jordan's 1637 publication Poeticall Varieties: or, Varietie of Fancies, the anthology was one of several hundred literary manuscripts presented to the university by the 7th Duke of Portland, and now bears the shelfmark PwV18.2 The current catalogue entry to the volume-'1637 Tho. Jordan: Poeticall varieties (printed; with manuscript additions) (small qto. vol.)'-belies the significance of PwV18. The manuscript layer, which extends to 124 pages (pp.112-23 are blank), contains a mixture of political medleys and ballads, love poems and jigs, many of which are new to the corpus of 17th-century English song. The texts are set to anonymous popular tunes and to the airs of John Wilson, Thomas Gibbes, Davis Mell, John Gamble, Mr [?John] Taylor and W[alter] Y[ockney]. Furthermore, the discovery of the manuscript identifies Jordan as the first textual scribe of John Gamble's famous songbook,3 and places him within the literary circle connected with London's theatre musicians and composers during the middle decades of the 17th century. The chain of provenance of PwV18 is an intricate one (see table 2). The volume's earliest identifiable owner was the Cervantean scholar, the Rev. John Bowle (1725-88), whose bookplate can be found on the front pastedown.4 Bowle's primary area of study lay in the romance languages; his edition of Don Quixote was published in 1781. He also accumulated a substantial library of early modern English literary works, and wrote on a wide range of subjects, including music; for Lynn Hulse is a research fellow at Clare example, his 'Remarks on some antient Musical Instruments menHall, Cambridge, and editor ofChelys, tioned in Le Roman de la Rose' were published in the 1785 issue of the journal of the Viola da Gamba Society. antiquarian journal Archaeologia. Bowle acquired Jordan's collection

The Fitzwilliam episode, 1795: a reinterpretation of the role of the duke of Portland

This doggerel vindication of Fitzwilliam’s Irish viceroyalty of 1795 gave one contemporary interpretation of this controversial episode. Such a favourable verdict was far from universal at the time and subsequently has been seriously questioned by historians. In one respect, however, this verse succinctly highlighted one of the most striking features of the Fitzwilliam episode. It appeared that the lord lieutenant had been recalled before ‘he scarcely could explain himself’. The English minister principally responsible for initiating the swift recall was the home secretary, the duke of Portland. Since Portland was a close friend and longstanding political ally of Fitzwilliam, this seeming betrayal excited widespread comment and, in certain circles, gave rise to heartsearching consternation. Yet Portland’s motives have never been satisfactorily explained by historians. Attention has repeatedly been paid to the motives of Fitzwilliam himself, and the conduct of the prime minister, the Younger Pitt, has been carefully scrutinised. Explanations of Portland’s behaviour have been left rather on the sidelines. He is usually portrayed as a weak-minded dupe and traitor to his own avowed principles. A re-examination of the evidence permits a more rounded characterisation. Portland’s attitude was complex but coherent. Instead of the conventional picture of a weak man with weak views, Portland emerges as a man with strong views and some failings.

Two letters from Erzerum.

The following letters were written by James Denniston MD, a Scottish doctor, who on the outbreak of war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1877 volunteered for service with one of the numerous medical missions despatched to Turkey by the Stafford House Committee, a committee established in December 1876 by the Duke of Sutherland and others for the relief of suffering among the Turkish soldiery. Following his arrival in Constantinople, Denniston was posted, as part of Lord Blantyre's section, to Erzerum, where he was to remain for nearly five months, witnessing the worst of the fighting and the final surrender of the town, which, on the conclusion of an armistice, was commenced on 17 February 1878. Denniston was born in Greenock, on the west coast of Scotland, on 5 June 1854. After studying in Edinburgh, he attended Glasgow University, where he qualified as an MD in 1875. Following his return from Turkey, he practised medicine for some years in Dunoon, where he founded a cottage hospital, and in Bowden, Cheshire. In 1890, however, when his health deteriorated, as a result of the tuberculosis which he believed he had contracted in Turkey, he was obliged to give up his practice and take a long sea voyage, as ship's doctor, on the Torrens, a three-masted sailing ship, bound for Australia. In 1894, on the return leg of a second such voyage, he died of pneumonia, and was buried at sea. The Stafford House Committee, in the 16 months or so of its operation, raised more the ?43,000 for the relief of the Turkish soldiery. Contributions included a gift of ?6,000 from the Duke of Portland, ?5,300 from the inhabitants of Hyderabad, ?3,357 from Lord Blantyre, a member of the committee, ?1,100 from a committee organised by Lord Stanley of Alderley, ?1,000 from the Earl of Sheffield, and numerous smaller donations from societies, clubs, working men's clubs and individuals. In addition to such contributions, money was raised in a variety of ways, including amateur and professional concerts, recitals and lotteries. The Duke of Sutherland offered Stafford House (now Lancaster House), one of the most splendid residences in London, for a concert, organized by Mr Borthwick, who guaranteed to raise ?250. A concert was given at St. James' Hall, under the patronage of the Earl of Dunmore, and a performance of the 'Assault on Plevna' at the Canterbury Music Hall, under the patronage of the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, and attended by the Duke of Teck and Princess Mary, Duchess of Teck. The 'Inseparables', in a 'dramatic entertainment', raised ?49. 10s., Beerbohm Tree, the actor-manager, in a 'dramatic performance', raised ?7.17s, while Henry Irving, the great actor-manager, gave a recitation. Finally, Mrs Pratt raised ?23 from an amateur concert held at Ryston Hall, Norfolk; and Mrs Mills organized a lottery with jewellery, china and lace as prizes, contributed by, among others, Lady Augusta Cadogan. The money raised by the committee was spent primarily on the despatch of 50 surgeons to

The Fitzwilliam episode

The French revolution split the English whigs over profound issues of principle. One section, of which Fox was the most prominent member, viewed the revolution, at least in its earlier stages, with considerable sympathy and argued that the war with France could have been avoided. The other section accepted Burke’s interpretation of the revolution and at the beginning of 1793 supported the government’s intervention in the European war. And from the middle of 1792 the possibility of a coalition between this latter section and Pitt was in the air. One factor which delayed the formation of a coalition government was the attitude of the duke of Portland, ‘the natural leader’ of the whig party. Portland, who combined pride of birth with a sense of duty, some political shrewdness and strong opinions which he expressed, when writing, with considerable fluency, seems to have inspired genuine respect and even affection amongst those who worked with him. But he was hesitant, and in the early nineties, while accepting Burke’s views on the revolution, he did not wait to split his party. The existence of the whig party, ‘a union of persons of independent minds and fortunes formed and connected together by their belief in the principles by which the revolution of 1688 was founded’, was essential, he believed, to the welfare of the country. The whig party ‘which alone is entitled to be distinguished by the name of party’, he asserted, ‘must be as eternal as I conceive the constitution of this country to be’.

III. The Loyalist Association Movement of 1792–93 and British Public Opinion

In November 1792 John Reeves, with the explicit approval and active sup-port of both the government and the Windhamite Whigs, and with the countenance of the duke of Portland and his friends, instituted a movement of loyalist associations which quickly spread throughout the country. The movement was founded in reaction to an enthusiastic resurgence of British radical activity which followed the defeat of the combined armies under the duke of Brunswick, and it rallied a now militant conservative sentiment in favour of detecting and suppressing by intimidation and public prosecution all allegedly seditious activities. This crisis in public opinion, which was at once the parent and the offspring of the loyalist association movement, was not the first to have occurred in 1792. An earlier crisis occurred in favour of the political left during the late spring of 1792 and was followed by a relatively mild reaction to the right. It seems clear that, during the earlier months of 1792 at least, there were considerable bodies of both conservative and liberal opinion of various shades in the country. But by the beginning of the following year the complexity and ferment of the political scene had become so great that it is not at all clear to what extent or how rapidly liberal opinion had been supplanted in the country by conservative sentiment. The purpose of this paper is to reassess the nature, effect and significance of the loyalist association movement by undertaking a more careful examination of the phraseology of many of its addresses and declarations as well as of the proceedings and circumstances peculiar to the meetings in which they were approved.