Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries
Samuel Rogers to Sarah Rogers, 23 October 1845
‘My dear Sarah,—I wrote from Broadstairs, but, having heard nothing in
reply, conclude that you wait to hear from me at Paris, and a diary will best
answer my purpose and yours.
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‘Oct. 6th.—Maltby left me to
return by steamboat, being anxious to see Travers.
‘7th, 8th,
9th.—Went to Dover, there saw only the
Miss Westmacotts and Barry the architect. Rough weather.
‘10th.—A good passage to
Boulogne. Dined at table d’hôte with Mrs.
Cholmondley and Mrs. Romilly, who asked
much after you.
‘11th.—Abbeville.
‘12th.—Beauvais.
‘13th.—Paris. Took my old
nest at the top of the tree and drank tea very comfortably with Lady
E. and Miss J. and
Pop, who wished for you.
‘14th.—Went with them to
Norma. Louvre in the morning.
‘15th.—Dined with the
D’Henins. Maltby will tell you about Adele.
‘16th.—The eldest
Shee breakfasted with me. Went with
the B[ellenden] Kers and Miss
C. to the French opera.
‘17th.—Dined with them at
the Frères Provençales.
‘18th.—Mrs. and
Miss Horner breakfasted with me and went with me at
night to the French opera.
‘19th.—Went to the Italian opera. Delightful day.
Went to Meudon.
‘20th.—Drank tea with Mrs. Forster.
‘21st.—Mr. and Mrs. Martineau and son breakfasted
with me. So far well, only I caught cold yesterday and have it still, and like
Paris less than before, but am not in spirits, and the fault is in me. To-day
it rains, and for some days it has been colder than usual, though ![]()
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there have been many sunsets very
splendid. Have been invited to the Embassy, but could not go, or should have
met the Abingers. Washington Irving is here from Madrid, and I
have breakfasted with him and his niece. ‘Lord and
Lady Abinger are here on a nuptial
tour. All this sounds very busy, very like what you read in “The Morning Post.” But to go to
a better subject: I hope you are pretty well and still in the country.
Mrs. Forster has had Lord and Lady
Nugent with her. They are gone to Malta, by Marseilles,
travelling by public conveyances and without man or maid. At Dover I fell in
with Lord and Lady
Ashburton on their way to Italy with their daughters. We crossed
together and parted at St. Denis. I say parted, having exchanged talk on the
road, but having had no meal together. But who do you think came close behind
me all the way? Lady Conyngham, though I
could not somehow get a sight of her. Once she breakfasted in the same room
with Reece, talking freely with him, and when I looked in
at the door, and he asked her if she knew Mr.
Rogers, she said, “No.” The Kers are on the wing for England, and so are the
Horners. Henry
[Sharpe] arrived last night from England, and tells me you were
expected at home; he is, as usual, in high spirits.
‘Yours ever,
‘S. R.
‘Hotel de l’Europe, Rue de Rivoli: 23rd Oct.
‘I may stay a fortnight longer. The Kers are very active and see everything. The
Horners have been here for some time in the
absence of Mr. H. You may now go to Orleans by
rail-road and return at night; as also ![]()
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to Rouen. But
those things are best done in the summer. I suffer more from the cold than
ever, and my neighbour’s smoke makes my eyes smart. I have not yet
been to Versailles. To-day I breakfast with Mme. de
Chabannes, née Miss Ellis. She is
related to Lady Abinger, who is
described as not handsome and about forty-five.’
Bertram Ashburnham, fourth earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878)
Son of the third earl by his second marriage, whom he succeeded in 1830. His extensive
collection of rare books and manuscripts was sold to the British Museum for £45,000.
Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860)
English architect who travelled in Greece, Turkey, and Egypt (1817-20) and won the
competition for rebuilding the Houses of Parliament (1836).
Lavinia Forster [née Banks] (1775-1858)
Daughter of the sculptor Thomas Banks (1735-1808) and grandmother of Sir Edward John
Poynter. After rejecting a proposal from her life-long friend Samuel Rogers she married
Edward Forster in 1799.
George Nugent Grenville, second baron Nugent (1788-1850)
Son of George Nugent Grenville, first marquess of Buckingham; he was MP, lord of the
Treasury, and author of
Portugal, a Poem, in Two Parts (1812) and
Some Memorials of John Hampden, his Party and his Times (1831).
He was remarkable for his corpulence.
Henry Bellenden Ker (1785 c.-1871)
Son of the botanist of the same name; he was educated at Lincoln's Inn where he
befriended Henry Brougham with whom he was afterwards associated as a legal reformer. He
published in the
Edinburgh Review.
William Maltby (1764-1854)
A schoolmate and life-long friend of Samuel Rogers; he was a London solicitor and a
member of the King of Clubs. In 1809 he succeeded Richard Porson as principal librarian of
the London Institution.
Philip Martineau (1791-1860)
Solicitor and taxing master to the court of chancery married to Elizabeth Frances Batty
(d. 1875); they were friends of Samuel Rogers and the parents of the painter Robert
Braithwaite Martineau.
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).
Sarah Rogers (1772-1855)
Of Regent's Park. the younger sister of the poet Samuel Rogers; she lived with her
brother Henry in Highbury Terrace.
Lady Elizabeth Scarlett [née Steere] (1802 c.-1886)
The daughter of Lee Steere Steere of Jayes, in Surrey; she married first, Henry John
Ridley, rector of Abinger, and second, in 1844, James Scarlett, baron Abinger, becoming his
second wife.
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.
Henry Sharpe (1802-1873)
The son of Sutton Sharpe and nephew of the poet Samuel Rogers; he was a businessman and
philanthropist.
Benjamin Travers (1783-1858)
Surgeon at Guy's Hospital and London Eye Infirmary; he was FRS (1813) and surgeon to
Queen Victoria. His first wife was Sarah Morgan, daughter of the actuary (and friend of
Samuel Rogers) William Morgan.
Morning Post. (1772-1937). A large-circulation London daily that published verse by many of the prominent poets of
the romantic era. John Taylor (1750–1826), Daniel Stuart (1766-1846), and Nicholas Byrne
(d. 1833) were among its editors.
