Long wellesley publicity the role of celebrity in the public sphere 1788 1832

WestminsterResearch http://www.uk/westminsterresearch Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The Role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) Roberts, G. This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © Mr Gregory Roberts, 2020. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience.

Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The Role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) GREGORY P. ROBERTS Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER JUNE 2020 1 Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The Role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) Abstract This thesis explores the relationship between celebrity and the public-sphere through a case study of the life of William Long-Wellesley (1788-1857). A junior member of the powerful and well-connected Wellesley family, Long-Wellesley married into the largest fortune in Regency Britain, became a Tory MP and enjoyed moderate success as an author.

But he owed his celebrity status to public curiosity about his rakish and extravagant lifestyle. A study of Long-Wellesley’s celebrity history is important because it enables an investigation into the framework of the public sphere. In the second half of the eighteenth- century a new form of public sphere emerged, partly as a result of the rise of urban intellectual middle-class society in Western Europe, especially in England. It has been argued that the collective engagement of private people, coming together in a ‘public sphere’, resulted in the formulation of ‘public opinion’ for the purpose of acting as a corrective authority to the state.

The general scholarly consensus has therefore argued that public opinion belongs to the political sphere. This thesis sets out to challenge that premise, and the assumptions that underpin it, by demonstrating that public opinion was more culturally derived, and found its inspiration in publicity. The parameters of the public sphere in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century were more broadly defined than the traditional political focus suggests. Instead, it will be established that audiences were stimulated through a wide variety of sources, including spectacle, novelty, and celebrity.

This thesis aims to re-position celebrity in the public sphere, showing how it impacted upon public opinion. It focuses on the life of Long- Wellesley because he offers many examples of how celebrity was represented in Britain during the Regency period. His decision to create and distribute his own sensational narrative makes Long-Wellesley a worthy case study; not least because he was the chief purveyor of, rather than a helpless victim of, malicious rumour and gossip. He is a prime example of how non-political spectacle influenced public opinion and helped to change the moral climate.

CONTENTS List of Illustrations i-iii Primary Source Abbreviations iv William Long- Wellesley – Family Tree v William Long-Wellesley – Timeline vi Acknowledgements vii -viii Author’s Declaration ix Introduction 1-64 Beyond Politics – Characteristics of the New Public Sphere c.1800 Chapter One 65-98 Repositioning Celebrity in Regency Britain (1788-1832) Chapter Two 99-149 Biography of William Long-Wellesley Chapter Three 150-192 Long-Wellesley at Wanstead: Celebrity Privacy versus Private Enjoyment Chapter Four 193-233 Long-Wellesley: Publicity, Parliament & Privilege (1812-1832) Chapter Five 234-281 Fighting for Celebrity: Long-Wellesley and Duelling in the Public Sphere Chapter Six 282-322 Long-Wellesley and the Pen: Writing for Celebrity Conclusion 323-330 Bibliography 331-350 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Page v – Long-Wellesley family tree, by kind permission of Geraldine Roberts. Page 18 – BM Satires 2010 The Coffeehouse Politicians, anon (1733). Page 26 – BM Satires 5176 A well-fed citizen going to his country seat at horn-sey, Robert Sayer (c1773).

Page 28 – BM Satires 8900 High-change in Bond Street, -ou- la politesse du grand monde, James Gillray (1796).533 Age and Luxury, Johann Heinrich Ramberg (1788).13494 English Liberty established, or a Mirrour for Posterity: John Wilkes / To the Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freedholders of the County of Middlesex, anon (1768).60 Vincent Lunardi Esq. Page 56 – Image on left: BM 1935,0522.137 An exact representation of Mr Lunardi's New Balloon as it ascended with himself 13 May 1785, Carington Bowles (1785); Image on right: BM Satires 6706, Love in a Balloon, anon (1784).148 Vincent Lunardi Esq. His Dog & His Cat, Edward Hedges (1784). Page 99 – Portrait of William Long-Wellesley, c.1814 – courtesy of Parade Antiques, Plymouth.

Page 108 – BM Satires 15859 Good Humour, William Heath (1829). Page 116 – Portrait of William Long-Wellesley aged 16 (1804), courtesy of Stratfield Saye Preservation Trust. Page 126 – Armorial crest of the Pole Tylney Long Wellesley family c. Page 131 - BM Satires 12800 Saluting the R____ts Bomb uncovered on his birthday, August 12th 1816, George Cruickshank (1816).

Page 135 – Advertisement for the Wanstead House Furniture Auction (1822), author’s collection. Roberts: Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) 16. Page 150 – Wanstead House, the seat of Wm Pole Tylney Long Wellesley, anon (1815), author’s collection. Page 151 – Map of Wanstead Park (1813), adapted from E.

Page 160 – A birds-eye view of Wanstead by Johannes Kyp (1713), author’s collection. Page 161 – View of the front façade of Wanstead House, taken from Colen Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus (1715). Page 163 - Lord Tylney and His Family and Friends at Wanstead House, Essex by Joseph Nollekins (c.1740), courtesy of Fairfax House, York. Page 167 – BM Satires 11744 Princely Piety or the worshippers at Wanstead, George Cruickshank (1811).

Page 169 – BM Satires 11747 The Disconsolate Sailor, or Miss Long-ing for a Pole, Charles Williams (1811). Page 174 – Catherine Tylney-Long’s Buffer Zone around Wanstead Park, adapted from E. Page 176 – BM Satires 11947 Townsend the umpire of love, or the Poled Scott hunted off after a long struggle, William Heath (1812). Page 179 – Table of prosecution witnesses at Rex v Long-Wellesley (1813), taken from E.

Page 182 – Physical characteristics of the New Park used in evidence, adapted from E. Page 184 – Table of defence witnesses at Rex v Long-Wellesley (1813), taken from E.239 A View of Wanstead in the County of Essex, George Robertson (1781). Page 190 – The creation of Blake Hall Road (1817), adapted from E. Page 193 – William Pole Tylney Long Wellesley engraving c.

Page 210 – English County Map showing Wiltshire constituency, created by author. Roberts: Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) 32. Page 213 – Wiltshire election Poster (1818), author’s collection. Page 236 – Mary Evans Picture Library 10042031 Duelling with Pistols, anon (c.107 Mr Pulteney's Duel with Lord Hervey, anon (1731).

Page 245 – Duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, after a painting by J. Mund (1804), in the public domain. Page 253 – A table of Long-Wellesley’s duelling activities 1811-1853, created by author. Page 256 – Detail from Princely Piety or the worshippers at Wanstead (see image 21).

Page 268 – Portrait of Heaton de Crespigny, taken from Kelmarsh Hall and Gardens, Northants.360 A scene in the Court of Chancery, John Doyle (1829). Page 299 – BM Satires 15443 The effects of a Blithe W riding on a long pole, Isaac Robert Cruikshank (1827). Page 302 – BM Satires 15442 Vice and profligacy, extinguished by equity, George Humphrey (1827). Page 306 – Cutting from The Times, courtesy of British Library Newspapers.

Page 308 – BM Satires 15929 A Bright Thought, John Doyle (1829). Page 317 – Portrait of Merrick Shawe, image taken from www.com – this miniature was sold at auction for £6600 on May 25th 2011. Page 323 – BM Satires 16352 Long expected come at last. Or the only Besom of reform, published by S.

Roberts: Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) PRIMARY SOURCE ABBREVIATIONS This thesis relies heavily upon two key primary source documents, and therefore deserve early clarity. HIRAM STEAD COLLECTION (Stead) Hiram Stead Collection (Newham Heritage and Archives) comprises of two scrapbooks containing press cuttings and other print ephemera relating to Wanstead House, with a focus upon William Long-Wellesley. The larger volume (un-named) will be referred to as ‘Stead’ in the footnotes. The smaller book, entitled Some Material on Wanstead House, will be cited as ‘Stead, Wanstead’.

WANSTEAD HOUSE LETTERS (Long-Wellesley MS) This collection of over 1000 documents, stored in four boxes at Redbridge Information and Heritage, loosely relates to Wanstead House between 1750 and the 1870s. It contains four bound volumes of correspondence plus 24 envelopes stuffed with loose paperwork. Because the bulk of these records relate to Long-Wellesley, his wife, and children this resource will be referred to as ‘Long-Wellesley MS’. As these manuscripts were uncatalogued prior to my research, I have created a catalogue record to assist future scholars.

This relies on stating the Box (B), Volume (V) or Envelope (E) number followed by specific Letter number (L). Therefore, for example, George Dallas’ belief that Long-Wellesley resembled a viper (see Chapter 5) is recorded as ‘Long-Wellesley MS E14-L3’ (Envelope 14, letter 3). Roberts: Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) v G. Roberts: Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) William Long-Wellesley – A Brief Timeline 1788 Born June 22nd,Baptised William Pole at St Georges Hanover Square 1800-04 Tutored at Hawkedon Parsonage (Suffolk) by Reverend William Gilly 1804-05 Travels to Constantinople, via Vienna with Charles Arbuthnot 1806 24th May, Arbuthnot has a breakdown following the death of his wife in childbirth 1806-7 Becomes Secretary to the Embassy, in charge of UK-Ottoman diplomacy 1807 British embassy evacuated and burnt after Long-Wellesley declares war on Turkey 1808-09 Joins British delegation in Denmark following siege of Copenhagen 1809 Returns to Suffolk to train as an army ensign, runs up £1000 debt 1809 Joins British expeditionary force to Portugal as ADC to Arthur Wellesley 1809 Fights with distinction at Rolica and Vimeiro (August) 1809 Declares ‘celebrity’ is all he ambitions, dismissed from army as ‘idle and ignorant’ 1809-10 Secretary to Marquis Wellesley’s expedition to Spanish Junta (Cadiz) 1810-12 Employed at Foreign Office after Marquis Wellesley becomes Foreign Secretary 1810-12 Courtship with heiress Catherine Tylney-Long, becomes a ‘man of fashion’ 1811 Builds reputation as a dancer, fights first duel, regularly satirised in print 1812 Marries Catherine Tylney-Long, adopts surname Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley 1812-13 Elected as MP for St Ives, becomes Lord Warden of Epping Forest; revives Epping Hunt 1812-24 Oversees the destruction of Tylney-Long fortune including loss of Wanstead House 1812-16 Undertakes lengthy court case to preserve his privacy at Wanstead Park 1818 Elected MP for Wiltshire: relying on Wellesley family connection 1820 Obliged to go abroad to escape creditors, following dissolution of Parliament 1822 Becomes Gentleman Usher to George IV but has to quit following arrest for bad debt 1822-25 Wanstead House auction and demolition, death of Catherine Tylney Long 1825-29 Wellesley v Beaufort court case, leads to pivotal reform of women’s custodial rights 1825 Prosecution for Criminal Conversation with Mrs Bligh (whom he marries in 1828) 1827-33 Campaign of court cases and press interaction to publicise his activities 1827-30 Publishes two books, and a pamphlet libelling Prime Minister Wellington 1828 Fights duel with a priest on the sands at Calais 1831 Kidnaps daughter, claiming Parliamentary immunity from prosecution 1831 House of Lords responds with significant reform of Parliamentary Privileges 1830-32 Election campaigns on an anti-Wellesley platform, advocating electoral Reform 1833 In Calais to escape debts; France changes law removing his immunity from arrest 1834 Abandons Mrs Bligh, seizes control of son’s estate following his coming of age 1834-42 Living in Brussels, plundering younger children’s funds 1842 Returns to London, becoming Lord Wellesley upon death of Marquis Wellesley 1845 Becomes 4th Earl of Mornington after the death of his father (who leaves him nothing) 1857 Dies ‘redeemed by no single virtue’ at a lodging house in Marylebone, London (4th July) vi G.

Roberts: Long-Wellesley & Publicity: The role of Celebrity in the Public Sphere (1788-1832) Acknowledgements I would like to thank the University of Westminster for supporting my studies.