The Enigmatic Pierre d'Agueville

A commenter on a previous posting asked for more information about the ancestors of Pierre d’Aigueville. Pierre is on one hand a person about whom I know a great deal, but on the other hand is enigmatic.

For the family historian, Pierre has fallen through the gaps in the commercial websites so he is a barrier for extending our genealogy into the past. For the dance historian, he was unable to fully exploit the media of his day which might have created a more enduring legacy. As a significant ballet master and principal dancer we might have expected a biography but he has become a footnote in the histories of his contemporaries.

Pierre, although making his home in England, did not have a fluent command of his hosts’ language. The Folger Shakespeare Library has an autographed letter to the Drury Lane Theatre proprietor, Willoughby Lacy, dated 7 May 1776. Pierre had already been living and working in the United Kingdom for about 10 years.

Mr Dagville Compliment to Mr Lacy and wille be Glad to know if it is anny room in your house next Saison for me as a ballet master principal dancer and to act in the pantomime a principall charactere if it is Wanted – at the Sallery of 160 pounds for the Saison an a benefitte in aprile 20 as j use to have before. Mr Lacy will oblige Mr Dagville of an asWhere j am Sir your most obeidient Servante.

You will have notice that at this time he was signing his name ‘Dagville’. In other sources he is referred to as ‘Dagueville’, ‘Daigueville’, ‘Degueville’ and even ‘Dégueville’.

Benefit performances were a crucial portion of the remuneration package for performing artists at this time. However, it was not always favourable to the artists and they could be left out of pocket. This anecdote at Pierre d’Aigueville’s expense was published in MEMOIRS Of AN UNFORTUNATE SON OF THESPIS; BEING A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF EDWARD CAPE EVERARD, COMEDIAN, TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF THE THEATRE-ROYAL, DRURY-LANE, LONDON, AND PUPIL OF THE LATE DAVID GARRICK, ESQ. WITH REFLECTIONS, REMARKS, AND ANECDOTES, WRITTEN BY HIMSELF (1818).

A similar matter happened to Signior Dagueville, the first season he came to Drury-Lane after his benefit: he went up to the office to settle the account of the same; at which time he could scarcely speak any English, and the treasurer did not understand a word of French ; when this curious broken dialogue took place :—" Well, Mr Dagueville, I am glad to see you, but I'm sorry you had so bad a benefit."— "Me tank you, sir, mais I canno help."—"Very true, sir—well, you'll excuse me, now to business; In the first place, here are the tickets you brought in, they amount exactly to L. 14; count them over at home, you'll find it right:—You may take them, if you please."—(He did so.) "Now, Sir, here is the cash that came into the house, which is just L.44." Dagueville was eagerly about to pocket this with the tickets, when the treasurer hastily clapping his hand on it, exclaimed, "No, no, sir, this is not yours, it belongs to the managers, and you are now, sir, L-22 deficient."—•' Vat you call defeshunt? Je n'entend pas, I no understand dat."—" Why, sir, the charges, the expence of the house is L.80; now, sir, you have only in tickets, L.14, and in cash, L.44, making together, L.58, so that, I'm sorry to say it, you are deficient, you lose by the night L.22." "Vat is lose? I no understand!" " Bless my soul, sir, I can't explain myself to you otherwise,—Youare L 22 minus."—" Vat is minus?" " Dear me, dear me !—I can only say, you have to account with me for your L.14 in tickets, and L.22, which together with L.44 taken here in cash, makes up exactly L.80 for the charges; you are L.22, therefore, out of pocket by the night, you lose that."—" Parbleu, dat is nonsense, dat is Irish; how can I lose by a benefice ?—out of pockete !—Vere is my benefice?" —In fine, after much awkward altercation, he found himself compelled to understand it, and went away as contentedly as he could.

There are at least an equal number of varitiatons of ‘Hervey’. This name is clearly significant as it has cascaded down the generations. However, the significance is not understood. Buried in a footnote in the 1902 edition of the poet Byron’s letters is a comment by the editor, Rowland E. Prothero. He briefly states that Hervey was the real name of the family. As he is aware of a print in Louis' possession Prothero may have sought Louis' collaboration but this can be no more than conjecture.

If this is not sufficiently confusing then according to the Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst, Volume 4  (1882), theballet master at the theatre of the Elector Palatine was one Pitrôt, whose real name was Pierre d'Aigueville. This deserves further expansion and I will discuss this in another posting.

What is known is that Pierre d'Aigueville was a dancer at Lyon in 1766, ballet master and principle dancer at Liège the following year. His composition Ballet turc was performed at Brussels on 9 May 1767.