John Whishart: The Pope of Holland House

THIS celebrated society is frequently mentioned in the lives of the Whig politicians who flourished in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Very little, however, has been known of its history, but from a manuscript volume, now in the possession of Mr. Cosmo Romilly, many fresh particulars may be obtained. Its faded pages are a register of dry facts connected with the elections to the Club and the dinners of which the members partook. The entries in it after 1804, the date of his election, seem to have been made by Sydney Smith, then living at 18, Orchard Street, and at a later date by Whishaw.

The Club was instituted in February, 1798. Its name was suggested by “Bobus” Smith, and it was founded at a party given at the house of Sir James Mackintosh. The original members were Rogers, Sharp, “Bobus” Smith, Scarlett, Allen, and Mackintosh. The members on April 27, 1799, were—

*Porson, Richard.

*Courtney, John.

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The “King of Clubs”

*Smith, Robert.

*Rogers, Samuel (resigned at close of 1808).

*Sharp, Richard.

*Scarlett, James.

*Mackintosh, James.

*Butler, Charles.

*Tennant, Smithson.

*Edwards, Bryan.

*Richardson, Joseph.

Allen, John (of Cresselly, Pembrokeshire). His second daughter was the wife of Mackintosh, another was Madame Sismondi, and two other sisters were married to Josiah and John Wedgwood.

*Humphreys, James.

*Marsh, Charles.

Dickinson, William (of King’s Weston, Somerset, and M.P. for the county).

Whishaw, John.

Wedgwood, Josiah [the younger].

The names of the members joining after that time and the dates of election are—

1799,	May 25.	Dumont, Etienne Louis (of Geneva; lived many years in England; d. 1829).
	December 28.	*Holland, Lord.
1800,	March 29.	Moore, George (probably George Moore of Moore Hall, Co. Mayo, who married a grand-daughter of the first Earl of Altamont).

334

The “King of Clubs”

1800,	March 29.	Creevey, Thomas, M.P. (the diarist).
1802,	January 29.	*Petty, Lord Henry, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne.
	March 26.	*Romilly, Samuel (afterwards Sir Samuel).
1802,	April 10.	*Smith, William, M.P.
	June 25.	*Horner, Francis.
1804,	December 17.	*Smith, Rev. Sydney.
	December 17.	Boddington, Samuel (probably partner in business of Richard Sharp).
	December 22.	*Ward, Hon. J. W., afterwards Lord Dudley.
1805,	April 27.	Wedgwood John (resigned at close of 1808).
	May 25.	*Brougham, Henry.
1806,	May 31.	*Drummond, Rt. Hon. William.
1807,	February 28.	Philips, George (afterwards Sir George Philips, Bart.).
	March 28.	*Selkirk, Earl of.
	April 25.	*Elmsley, Rev. Peter.
	December 19.	Hoppner, James (of Charles Street).
1808,	February 27.	*Lamb, Hon. William (afterwards Viscount Melbourne).
	July 23.	*Abercromby, James (afterwards Baron Dunfermline).
	December 31.	*Baring, Alexander (afterwards Lord Ashburton).
1809,	May 27.	Cowper, Earl.
1810,	April 28.	Luttrell, Henry.

335

The “King of Clubs”

1811,	April 27.	*Knight, Richard Payne.
1811,	May 25.	*Jeffrey, Francis.
	May 25.	*Kinnaird, Lord.
1812,	April 4.	*Malthus, Rev. T. R.
	November 28	Fleming, Dr.
1813,	January 30.	Townshend [Rt. Hon.] Lord John, M.P. (b. 1757, d. 1833)
1814,	July 16.	*Lamb, Hon. George.
1816,	April 6.	*King, Lord
1817,	March 1.	*Playfair, Mr. (Professor, of Edinburgh).
	June 7.	*Ricardo, David.
1819,	February 6.	Blake, William, of Portland Place (probably William Blake of Danesbury, Herts, from 1820; F.R.S. 1807; Sheriff of Herts 1836; d. Danesbury, Nov. 24, 1852, aged 78).
1820,	April 1.	*Hallam, Henry.
1821,	February 3	*Denman, Thomas (afterwards Lord Denman).

The asterisk denotes a memoir in the D.N.B.

The annual subscription was originally £2 2s. It dropped in 1804 to £2, but in 1808 was raised to 3s. From 1810 onwards the subscription was fixed at £3, and each member when dining paid 10s. 6d. extra. In 1802 the club met monthly at the “Crown and Anchor” in the Strand. For many years the dinners were held at the Freemasons’ Tavern, the last
336
The “King of Clubs”
meeting there being on July 3, 1819. They met on February 7, 1820, at Grillion’s Hotel, in Albemarle Street, and dined there for the last time on February 3, 1821. The next gathering was at the Clarendon Hotel, on March 6, 1821. The price of the dinner became a guinea for each person, exclusive of wine and wax-lights, the charge for the latter item being invariably 21s. for the evening. About a dozen persons dined at each meeting, and they drank from six to twelve bottles of wine. Champagne never appears in the list of wines. Claret was the popular drink, and on one occasion five bottles were supplied at a charge of £3 2s. 6d., i.e., 12s. 6d. per bottle.

When Thomas Campbell returned to London from Altona in April, 1801, he received an invitation from Lord Holland to dine at the “King of Clubs.” “Thither with his lordship,” says the poet in his diary, “I accordingly repaired, and it was an era in my life. There I met in all their glory and feather, Mackintosh, Rogers, the Smiths, Sydney, and others. In the retrospect of a long life, I know no man whose acuteness of intellect gave me a higher idea of human nature than Mackintosh; and, without disparaging his benevolence—for he had an excellent heart—I may say that I never saw a man who so reconciled me to hereditary aristocracy as the benignant Lord Holland.”

Horner dined with them on April 10, 1802, and inserted in his journal a long description of the proceedings: “The company consisted of Mackintosh, Romilly, Whishaw, Abercromby, Sharp, Scarlett, &c. Robert [“Bobus”] Smith is not yet come to town.
337
The “King of Clubs”
The conversation was very pleasing; it consisted chiefly of literary reminiscences, anecdotes of authors, criticisms of books, &c. I had been taught to expect a very different scene—a display of argument, wit, and all the flourishes of intellectual gladiatorship; which, though less permanently pleasing, is for the time more striking. This expectation was not answered; partly, as I am given to understand, from the absence of Smith, and partly from the presence of Romilly, who evidently received from all an unaffected deference, and imposed a certain degree of restraint. I may take notice of one or two particulars, which struck me as the characteristic defects of this day’s conversation. There was too little of present activity; the memory alone was put to work; no efforts of original production, either by imagination or the reasoning powers. All discussion of opinions were studiously avoided. . .”

It was resolved in 1808 “that no person be introduced as a stranger to the Club unless recommended by four members,” and that “in future the Club be confined to thirty members residing in England.” The visitors in 1815 included M. De Candolle and Dr. Marcet. In 1816 Ricardo was a guest, and on June 7, 1823, Professor Smyth came as a visitor. On July 29, 1812, when Scarlett presided over the meeting, it was agreed, on the motion of Sir Samuel Romilly, seconded by Mr. Whishaw, that members resident in the country should not be liable to pay the annual subscription. Scarlett was also chairman on March 1, 1817, when “it was proposed by Sir James Mackintosh that a copy of a picture of
338
The “King of Clubs”
the late Mr. Horner, a member of the Club, should be procured at the expense of the Club.”

The last dinner recorded in this book was on June 7, 1823, when those present were Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Whishaw, Mr. Hallam, Lord Dudley, Mr. Blake, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Philips, Mr. R. P. Knight, Mr. J. Allen, Mr. Boddington, and Mr. Smyth as visitor. With that gathering the Club seems to have passed out of existence.

The reason for its death may perhaps be found in some reflections of Campbell. Many of the members were his warm friends, and as their guest he was present at several of their dinners. But the entertainment gradually palled upon him, and he analysed his feelings in a letter to one of his correspondents. “Much as the art and erudition of these men please an auditor at the first or second visit, the trial of minds becomes at last fatiguing, because it is unnatural and unsatisfactory. Every one of these brilliants goes there to shine, for conversational powers are so much the rage in London that no reputation is higher than his who exhibits them to advantage. Where every one tries to instruct there is, in fact, but little instruction. Wit, paradox, eccentricity, even absurdity if delivered rapidly and facetiously, takes priority in these societies of sound reason and delicate taste. I have watched sometimes the devious tide of conversation guided by accidental associations turning from topic to topic and satisfactory upon none. What has one learnt? has been my general question. The mind, it is true, is electrified and quickened, and the spirits are finely exhilarated;
339
The “King of Clubs”
but one grand fault pervades the whole institution—their inquiries are desultory, and all improvement to be reaped must be accidental.”

If Campbell’s conclusions were correct this combination of wits died from excessive brilliancy. Fortunately for the prolongation of their existence, most London clubs are not at this time composed of such material.

340

Index

Abercromby, Colonel Alexander, 101

Abercromby, James (Lord Dunfermline), 25, 37, 156, 159, 252, 264, 328, 335

Aikin, John, 30

Aikin, Lucy, 30, 34, 243, 262

Alexander, Emperor, 26

Allen, John, M.D., of Holland House, 42, 60, 64, 139, 173

Allen, John, of Cresselly, 334

Althorp, Lord, 329

Bacon, Lord, 50

Banks, Sir Joseph, 99

Baring, Alexander (Lord Ashburton), 33s

Barrow, Sir John, 28

Bentham, Jeremy, 32, 330

Binda, of Holland House, 121, 152,162

Birkbeck, Morris, 195

Blake, William of Danesbury, 336

Blucher, Marshal, 112

Boddington, Samuel, 334

Borgia, Lucretia, 159

Boswell, Sir Alexander, 245

Bournon, Count de, 125

Bowles, W. L., 236-7

Bowood, 8, 31

Bragge, Right Hon. Charles, 233

Brougham, Lord, 25, 28, 32, 34-5, 42, 59, 60, 71, 92, 99, 141-2, 146, 149, 165, 173, 183, 186, 205, 219, 255, 329, 335

Browne, W. G., 29, 174, 179

Buchanan, Archibald, 27

Buonaparte, Lucien, 78

Burckhardt, J. L., 29, 216

Burdett, Sir Francis, 200

Butler, Charles, 334

Byron, Lord, 143, 145, 149, 151, 154, 155, 157, 158, 161, 166, 168, 175, 179, 184, 186, 191-2, 199, 224, 226, 236-7, 238.

Caldwell, Rev. George, 116

Campbell, Sir Neil, 62

Campbell, Thomas, the Poet, 337, 339

Canning, George, 182, 228, 245, 3*4-15, 32i

Canova, Antonio, Marquis, 79, 87, 119-20, 164, 187

Carlyle, Thomas, 33-4

Chalmers, Dr. Thomas, 223

Charles X., 54, 326

Charlotte, Princess, 58, 150, 190, 312

Clarkson, Thomas, 23, 63

Cobbett, William, 180

Cochrane, Thomas, Earl of Dundonald, 58

Cockburn, H. T., Lord, 35

Coke, T. W., First Earl of Leicester, 244

Colebrooke, H. T., 286

Constant, Benjamin de, 100, 144, 148, 152, 155, 164, 190

Conyngham, Lady, 214

Copinger, W. A., 25

Courtney, John, 333

Courts, Thomas, 235, 245

Cumberland, Duchess of, 103

Darner, Anne Seymour, 64

D’Arblay, Madame, 55

Davy, Sir Humphry, 42, 78, 86, 179

Davy, Lady, 42, 78

Denman, Thomas (Lord Denman),336

Dickinson, William, 334

Douglas, Hon. F. S. N., 80

Drummond, Right Hon. William, 335

Dumont, Etienne, 24, 30, 203, 310, 328, 334

Dunwich, 305

Easton Grey House, 6-7, 39

Edgeworth, Maria, 6, 30, 39, 104, in, 167, 186, 243, 246, 248

Edgeworth, R. L., 30, 184, 187

Edwards, Bryan, 334

Elliot, Right Hon. W., 195

Elmsley, Rev. Peter, 311, 335

Elphinstone, Hon. Mountstuart, 287

Erskine, Lord, 143, 213

Eustace, J. C, 191

Fenwick, Miss, 34

Ferguson, Robert of Raith, 223

Fieschi, Cardinal, 78

Flahault, General, 185

Geological Society, London, 301

“Glenarvon,” Key to Novel of,

151-2

Graham, Mrs., 225

Grampound Bill, 232, 236

Gray’s Inn, 36, 215

Greenfield, Mr., 173

Gregoire, Abbe, 325

Grenville, Lord, 24, 98, 142, 144

Grey, Earl, 32, 329

Grosvenor House, 153

Grote, George, 260

Guizot, F. P. G., 320

Haileybury College, 313

Hall, Basil, Captain, 195

Hallam, Henry, 316, 319, 322, 330, 336

342

Index

Hamilton, Sir William, 59

Harwich, 301, 303

Hertford, Lady, 214

Heys, John, 22, 28

Hobhouse, John Cam (Lord Broughton), 49, 55, 191-2, 199, 210-13, 216, 238, 252, 315

Holland House, 31,119,162, 261-2

Holland, Elizabeth Vassall, Lady, 63, 72, 73, 75, 206-7

Holland, Henry Richard, Lord, 36, 60, 141, 206-7, 308-9, 334

Holland, Sir Henry, 26, 70, 72, 84, 117, 125, 137, 289

Hone, William, 312

Hope, Thomas, 153, 158, 212

Hoppner, James, 335

Horner, Francis, 23, 25, 42, 72, 141, 144, 168, 171, 174, 176-7, 187, 193, 3!o, 3J6, 335, 339

Horner, Leonard, 9, 176, 197

Howard, Edward Charles, 138

Humboldt, F. H. A. von, 68-9

Humphreys, James, 334

Hunt, Henry (“Orator”), 216

Huskisson, William, 322, 330

Ickworth House, 247

Jeffrey, Francis, Lord, 32, 33, 35, 59, 92, l6l, 173, l75, 178, 336

Johnson, Joseph, 110

Kinnaird, Douglas, 200

Kinnaird, Lord, 336

Kennedy, Right Hon. T. F., 219

King, Lord, 24, 139, 279, 336

Knight, H. Gaily, 327

Knight, R. P., 336

Klustine, Mademoiselle, 327

Labedoyere (N. H. F. de), Count, 140

Lamb, Lady Caroline, 151, 156

Lamb, Hon. George, 336

Lamb, Hon. W. (Lord Melbourne), 335

Lambton, J.G. (Lord Durham), 156

Lansdowne, Marquess of, 8, 24, 74, 143, 145, 253-4, 335

Leslie, Sir John, 59

Leyden, John, 286

Locker, E. H., Captain, 61

Lock hart, J. G., 218

Lopez, Sir Manasseh, 209

Louis XVIII., 54, 67, 103, 112, 124

Lowe, Sir Hudson, 118-19

Lowestoft, 304

Lushington, Stephen, 240

Lushington, Stephen, Mrs., 249

Luttrell, Henry, 31, 222, 227, 335

Lyell, Lady, 9

Macaulay, Lord, 31, 252, 320

Macdonald, James, 143, 156, 248, 252

Macdonnell, Alexander, 240

Mackenzie, Miss, 236

Mackintosh, Lady, 80, 317, 325

Mackintosh, Sir James, 32, 42, 45, 72, 163, 192, 194, 209, 234, 258, 272, 279, 310, 313, 333-4

Malcolm, Sir John, 288

Mallet, J. L., 5, 30, 36, 188, 220, 307, 329

Malthus, Rev. T. R., 22, 32, 56, 93, 336

Metternich (C. W. N. L. von), Prince, 83

Mill, James, 194

343

Index

Milnes, R. Monckton (Lord Houghton), 331

Milton, Lord, 183, 195

Moore, George, 334

Moore, Thomas, 184, 186

Morgan, Lady, 186

Murat, Caroline, 89

Murat, Joachim, 89, 94

Murray, John, 27, 98, 110, 179, 181, 190, 319

Napoleon I., 40-48, 51-2, 61, 65, 80, 8S, 93-119, 127-36, 164, 176, 237, 307-9

Ney, Marechal, 140

Niebuhr, B. G., 164, 311

Norwich, 305

O’Neill, Eliza (Lady Becher), 100, 182

Otter, William, Bishop of Chichester, 332

Palmerston, Lord, 253

Park, Mungo, 27-8, 43, 92, 97, 99, 104-10

Parke, James (Lord Wensleydale), 21

Parker’s cement, 301

Parr, Dr. Samuel, 28, 29, 31

Parry, Sir William, 226

Peckard, Peter, D.D., 23

Peddie, Major, 179

Peel, Sir Robert, 197

Philips, Sir George, 178, 181, 201, 312, 316, 33s

Pigot diamond, 156

Pillans, James, 92

Playfair, John, 42, 71, 92, 139, 336

Pond, John, 57

Ponsonby, George, 185

Porson, Richard, 333

Pozzo di Borgo, Comte, 159-60

Ricardo, David, 8, 32, 33, 56, 145, 180, 243, 249, 336

Richardson, Joseph, 334

Ritchie, Joseph, 197

Robinson, Crabb, 34

Rogers, Samuel, 243, 333-4

Romilly, Charles, 5, 10, 30, 35, 36

Romilly, Cosmo, 5, 10, 333

Romilly, Frederick, 35

Romilly, John (First Baron), 207

Romilly, Sir Samuel, 22, 24, 35, 123, 172, 174, 200, 203, 216, 335

Russell, Lord John, 212, 222

Scarlett, Sir James (Lord Abinger), 119, 181, 271, 333, 338

Scott, Sir Walter, 30, 143, 161, 162, 166, 172, 173, 180, 194, 195, 217, 224, 240, 242

Sebright, Miss, 196

Selkirk, Earl of, 335

Senior, Nassau W., 242, 330

Sharp, Richard, 333-4

Sheil, R. L., 182

Sheridan, R. B., 114-15

Sismondi, J. C. L., 126

Smith, Douglas, 314

Smith, John, M.P., 234

Smith, Mrs. Elizabeth, 6, 7, 32

Smith, Mrs. Graham, 10

Smith, Robert (“Bobus”), 178, 333-4, 337

Smith, Rev. Sydney, 24, 32-3, 34, 36, 59, 177, 251, 2S2, 312, 314, 332, 333, 335

Smith, Thomas, 6, 7, 32

Smith, William, M.P., 335

Smyth, William, Professor, 30, 34, 206, 207

Southey, Robert, 157, 173, 174, 175, 231

Stael, Madame de, 40-46, 53, 55, 56, 59, 83, 155, 181, 187, 188, 190, 248

Stael, Monsieur de, 318

Staunton, Sir George, 181

Tennant, Smithson, 28-9, 39, 49-50, 53, 334

Thorwaldsen, Bertel, 236

Tierney, George, 141,174, 209, 234

Tuckey, J. H., Captain, 165, 167

Tweddell, John, 22, 29

Ussher, Sir Thomas, 62

Villiers, Right Hon. C. P., 261

Wales, Princess of, wife of George IV., 70, 72, 73, 79, 82, 214-15, 221, 224, 227-8, 238

Walton le Soken, 301

Warburton, Henry, 122, 179, 225, 300

Ward, Hon. J. W., Lord Dudley, 28, 335

Watson, James, 183

Wedgwood, John, 335

Wedgwood, Josiah, the younger, 334

Wellesley, Lord, 243

Wellington, Duke of, 62, 112, 116, 175, 295-7

Whately, Richard, Archbishop, 270

Whishaw family, 20

Whishaw, John, 19-37, 333-4

Whitbread, Samuel, 102

Wilberforce, William, 26, 32, 74, 230

Woolryche, Dr., 261

Wrottesley, Sir John, 263-4

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Peter Elmsley (1774-1825) Classical scholar educated at Christ Church, Oxford, who published in the Edinburgh Review and Quarterly Review. Southey described him to W. S. Landor as “the fattest under-graduate in your time and mine.”

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James Humphreys (1768-1830) English lawyer educated at Lincoln's Inn; he was a friend of Charles James Fox and a founding member of the King of Clubs.

Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (1773-1850) Scottish barrister, Whig MP, and co-founder and editor of the Edinburgh Review (1802-29). As a reviewer he was the implacable foe of the Lake School of poetry.

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George Lamb (1784-1834) Lawyer and Whig MP for Westminster (1819) and Dungarvan (1822-34), he was the son of Elizabeth Lamb Viscountess Melbourne, possibly by the Prince of Wales. He was author of a gothic drama, Whistle for It (1807) and served with Byron on the management-committee of Drury Lane. His sister-in-law was Lady Caroline Lamb.

William Lamb, second viscount Melbourne (1779-1848) English statesman, the son of Lady Melbourne (possibly by the third earl of Egremont) and husband of Lady Caroline Lamb; he was a Whig MP, prime minister (1834-41), and counsellor to Queen Victoria.

Henry Luttrell (1768-1851) English wit, dandy, and friend of Thomas Moore and Samuel Rogers; he was the author of Advice to Julia, a Letter in Rhyme (1820).

Sir James Macdonald, second baronet (1784-1832) The son of Sir Archibald Macdonald (d. 1826) and Lady Louisa Leveson-Gower; educated at Westminster School, he was MP for Tain burghs (1805-06), Newcastle-under Lyme (1806-12), Sutherland (1812-16), Calne (1816-31), and Hampshire (1831-32); he was clerk of the Privy Seal.

Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832) Scottish philosopher and man of letters who defended the French Revolution in Vindiciae Gallicae (1791); he was Recorder of Bombay (1803-1812) and MP for Knaresborough (1819-32).

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) English political economist educated at Jesus College, Cambridge; he was author of An Essay on the Principles of Population (1798; 1803).

Alexander John Gaspard Marcet (1770-1822) Swiss physician who studied in Edinburgh and worked in London, where in 1799 he married Jane Haldimand.

Charles Marsh (1774 c.-1835) English barrister who after time as a judge in India was elected to Parliament in 1812; he published political pamphlets and wrote for the New Monthly Magazine.

George Moore (1776 c.-1840) Of Moore Hall, Ireland, and Lincoln's Inn, he published The History of the British Revolution of 1688-9 (1817) and was a member of the King of Clubs.

Sir George Philips, first baronet (1766-1847) Textile magnate and Whig MP; in addition to his mills in Staffordshire and Lancashire he was a trading partner with Richard “Conversation” Sharp. He was created baronet in 1828.

John Playfair (1748-1819) Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University and Whig man of letters who contributed to the Edinburgh Review.

Richard Porson (1759-1808) Classical scholar and Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge (1792); he edited four plays of Euripides.

David Ricardo (1772-1823) English political economist, the author of Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817); he was a Whig MP for Portarlington (1819-23).

Joseph Richardson (1755-1803) Educated at St John's College, Cambridge, he was a journalist, poet, Whig MP for Newport, and close friend of Sheridan.

Samuel Rogers (1763-1855) English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular Pleasures of Memory (1792), Columbus (1810), Jaqueline (1814), and Italy (1822-28).

Cosmo Romilly (1848-1925) The son of Charles Romilly and Lady Georgiana Elizabeth Russell; he was the grandson of Sir Samuel Romilly and the sixth duke of Bedford.

Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818) Reformer of the penal code and the author of Thoughts on Executive Justice (1786); he was a Whig MP and Solicitor-General who died a suicide.

James Scarlett, first baron Abinger (1769-1844) English barrister and politician educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and the Inner Temple; he was a Whig MP (1819-34) who served as attorney-general in the Canning and Wellington ministries.

Richard Sharp [Conversation Sharp] (1759-1835) English merchant, Whig MP, and member of the Holland House set; he published Letters and Essays in Poetry and Prose (1834).

Horace Smith (1779-1849) English poet and novelist; with his brother James he wrote Rejected Addresses (1812) and Horace in London (1813). Among his novels was Brambletye House (1826).

Robert Percy Smith [Bobus Smith] (1770-1845) The elder brother of Sydney Smith; John Hookham Frere, George Canning, and Henry Fox he wrote for the Microcosm at Eton; he was afterwards a judge in India and MP.

Sydney Smith (1771-1845) Clergyman, wit, and one of the original projectors of the Edinburgh Review; afterwards lecturer in London and one of the Holland House denizens.

William Smith (1756-1835) Educated at the dissenting academy at Daventry, he was a Whig MP for Sudbury (1784-90, 1796-1802), Camelford (1790-96), and Norwich (1802-30), a defender of Joseph Priestley and follower of Charles Fox. His 1817 speech in Parliament denouncing Robert Southey attracted much attention.

William Smyth (1765-1849) The son of a Liverpool banker, he was educated at Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was Professor of Modern History at Cambridge (1807). He published of English Lyricks (1797) and Lectures on Modern History (1840).

Smithson Tennant (1761-1815) Agricultural chemist educated at Christ's College, Cambridge; he was a business partner of William Hyde Wollaston and a member of the King of Clubs and the Holland House circle.

Lord John Townshend (1757-1833) The son of George Townshend, first Marquess Townshend; he was educated at Eton and St John's College, Cambridge and was a Whig MP for Cambridge, Westminster, and Knaresborough. He was a denizen of Holland House and Sheridan's literary executor.

John William Ward, earl of Dudley (1781-1833) The son of William Ward, third Viscount Dudley (d. 1823); educated at Edinburgh and Oxford, he was an English MP, sometimes a Foxite Whig and sometimes Canningite Tory, who suffered from insanity in his latter years.

John Wedgwood (1766-1844) The eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood; he was educated at Warrington Academy and Edinburgh University, and was a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society.

Josiah Wedgwood the younger (1769-1843) Of Maer Hall in Staffordshire, the son and successor of the famous potter; he was the patron of Coleridge and a founding member of the King of Clubs.

John Whishaw (1764 c.-1840) Barrister, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge; he was Secretary to the African Association and biographer of Mungo Park. His correspondence was published as The “Pope” of Holland House in 1906.

Dictionary of National Biography. 66 vols (London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1885-1901). Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee.

INFORMATION FROM TEI HEADER

Source Description:

Author: Whishaw, J. (John), 1764 or 5-1840

Title: The “Pope” of Holland House: Selections from the Correspondence of John Whishaw and his Friends 1813-1840 (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1906).

Electronic Edition:

Series: Lord Byron and his Times: http://lordbyron.org

Encoding Description: Any dashes occurring in line breaks have been removed. Obvious and unambiguous compositors’ errors have been silently corrected.

Markup and editing by: David Hill Radcliffe

Completed April 2011

Publication Statement:

Publisher: Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Tech

Availability: Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License