What Became Of Fanny?

According to A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & and Other Stage Personnel in London: 1660-1800 1(referred to as ABD), Fanny d'Egville flourished 1779-1800 and the authors suppose that she was the third child of Peter and Sophia d'Egville.

Fanny d'Egville's marriage lines from Saint Anne's Church, Soho, reveal that she wed Stephens Ferté Mikel on 7 February 1799. The date fell on a thursday that year and  it was likely to have been cold. The United Kingdom, like much of Western Europe, was grasped by a severe winter. In Scotland there were heavy snowfalls and frosts - transport was disrupted.

The only people that we can know celebrated the wedding with the couple were Fanny's father, Peter, and her brother James. At first I thought that most of the entry, including the signatures of the bride and groom, were all in the same hand as they are so similar. But there are slight differences - and Fanny's hand seems unsteady where she scratched 'F.' Below them are the autographs of Peter and James.

Neith Peter nor James have included the family name Hervé (Anglicised as Harvey). This is in contrast to the wedding lines of Fanny's niece, Adèle Sophie Bizet d’Egville, in 1835 where one of the witnesses signed with only the name Hervé.

The last performance by Fanny that  ABD can cite was at Covent Garden on 2 May 1800. It is quite possible she continued in the theatre, there is now deeper access to playbills than was possible when ABD was compiled (the final pair of volumes appeared in 1993) and her timeline can probably be established with greater confidence.

Fanny may appear in both the 1841 and 1851 censuses. In 1841 a 50 years old Francis Mikel, teacher of dancing, lives at Haverstock Cottage, Saint Pancras. Dwelling with her are: Ellen Lennox, 9 years of age; Isabella Lennox, 6 years of age; Mary Ann Hogg, 50 years of age; and Mary Ann Allbury, 20 years of age. The latter two women are described as F S, female servants. I suppose of one hires woman who share the same name one needn't worry who arrives when one calls out.

In 1851, the still 50 years old Fanny Mikel is a teacher of dancing and head of the household at 32, Lee Road, in Lee, Lewisham. Ellen and Isabel are now 19 and 16 years old, joined by the 14 years old Fanny Lennox. The domestic needs are satisfied by the 55 years old Jane Cole. Almost as an after thought, the 7 years old Henry Davis is listed as Fanny Mikel's nephew.

Ellen, Isabel and Fanny Lennox appear to be Fanny's granddaughters. Their place of birth is listed as Hampstead. The never quite reliable FamilySearch.org has a baptism record for Ellen Georgina Lennox. She was baptised down by the River Fleet at the Old Church, Saint Pancras on 5 June 1832. Her parents are recorded as Frederick Lennox and Frances Josephine Horne.

From these slight facts alone it cannot be concluded that Fanny Mikel is Fanny d'Egville but the coincidence is compelling. While a woman aged 50 in 1841 would have been too young to marry in 1799 there is no particular reason to believe Fanny was telling the truth to the census enumerator.

A swift search of FamilySearch.org provides corroborating evidence from the Old Church at Saint Pancras. On 26 July 1802 Frances Josephina Mikel was baptised, although her birthdate is recorded as 16 May 1800. Her father is listed as Mark Stephens Mikel and her mother is Frances Ferte. What kind of dance could Fanny have performed on 2 May 1800?

1. P.H. Highfill et al. (1982) A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Southern Illinois University Press ISBN 0-8093-0919-X

National Portrait Gallery Photographic Collection

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Among the treasures of the National Portrait Gallery is this 1929 print of Sir Howard d'Egville by Walter Stoneman. This photograph was probably taken as part of Stoneman's project to create a national photographic record. Prints are available for purchase.

Peter d'Egville And The Forty Thieves

While trying to discover which d'Egvilles were living in Paris in the first years of the nineteenth century I found evidence of a collaboration between Michael Kelly and Peter d'Egville in London during 1806. A simple reference to Songs, duets, trios, chorusses, &c. &c. &c. in the grand operatical romance of the Forty thieves : first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, April 8th, 1806 published by C. Lowndes of London possibly provides us with some illumination on Peter's later life.

Michael Kelly
Frontispiece (engraved by Henry Hoppner Meyer (1782?–1847) from a drawing by Abraham Wivell) to Michael Kelly, Reminiscences of Michael Kelly...2 vols (London: Henry Colburn, 1826).

Michael Kelly (1762-1826) was an Irish tenor, composer and theatrical manager. Mozart wrote the roles of Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro for him. He became principal tenor at the Drury Lane theatre and, in 1793, acting-manager of the King's Theatre Haymarket.

The catalogue information needs to be checked because at this date I would have guessed that any collaboration is more likely to be with James. If the attribution is correct then Peter is in London in 1806 and still active as a choreographer. Fewer than one hundred copies of this work have survived in various libraries throughout the world. I've added it to my "to do" list for my next visit to Oxford.

Une Académie De Danse

Mais le lendemain, et pour rien, j'en éprouvai
un bien vif à voir chez lui M. Degville, excellent
maître de l'école de Gardel. Vingt carrosses à sa
porte, et dans ses élégans salons, trente à quarante
jeunes personnes des premières maisons d'Angle-
terre, m'annoncèrent une académie de danse telle
que je n'en connaissais point encore. Les femmes
seulement, ou tout au plus quelques proches parens
des élèves, sont admis à ces réunions, Deux harpes
une basse, deux violons, sans compter celui du
maître, jouent les exercices les gavottes, les pas
de deux, de quatre, de huit, et enfin la contre-
danse ou walse générale. Des rafraîchissement
ofierts par madame Degville, femme modeste et
spirituelle, terminent cette joyeuse leçon, où cha-
cune aspire à se rendre, tant pour apprendre à
bien danser que pour dire que l'on y danse avec
les jeunes ladys telles, telles.... qui, dans cette
occasion, veulent bien déroger, mais sans tirer à
conséquence; c'est-à-dire, sans que la fille d'un
baronnet puisse jamais être invitée chez sa com-
pagne, fille d'un noble lord la connaissance et
l'amitié ne passent pas les portes de l'académie.

Souvenirs de Brighton, de Londres et de Paris; et quelques fragmens de littérature légère.

Amélie Julie Simons-Candeille. 1818

But the next day, and for nothing, I felt very keen to see at home Mr. Degville, excellent master of the school of Gardel. Twenty carriages at his door, and in his elegant rooms, thirty to forty young people of the first houses of England, informed me such a dance academy as I have not known. Women only, or at most a few close relatives of the pupils are admitted to these meetings. Two harps, a bass, two violins, not counting the master's, play the exercises, the gavottes, the pas de deux, de quatre, de huit and finally the contre-danse or waltz. The refreshments offered by Mrs. Degville, a modest and spiritual woman, end this happy lesson, where each one aspires to go, less to learn to dance well than to say that one dances there with such, such .... young ladys, who on this occasion, are willing to condescend, but without consequence. That is to say, that the daughter of a baronet can never be invited to to the home of her companion, daughter of a noble lord: the acquaintance and friendship do not pass the doors of the academy.

Amélie Julie Simons-Candeille (1767-1834) was a celebrated and multi talented woman. Composer, librettist, writer, singer, actress, comedienne, and instrumentalist; although only one of her works for the stage survives today. Her memoir of travels through England has some incisive observations. This example describes how James Harvey d'Egville's lessons provided a temporary opportunity for social barriers to fall.

Amélie Julie Simons-Candeille
c. 1810

Joe Manton's Shooting Gallery

A Pair of flintlock duelling pistols by Joseph Manton

Joseph Manton, whose address is given for further particulars of Mrs d'Egville's coach to Paris, was the foremost gunsmith of his day. He experimented with rifling, cartridges and improving the lock mechanism. His duelling pistols had the innovation of added weight at the tip of the barrel that compensated for recoil and allowed deadly accuracy. At the Davies Street address was a shooting gallery where the rich and famous would compete in shooting at a wafer.


(Gronow, 1862)

Although the fashionable congregated at the shooting gallery and the coach was a novel venture, because I have a nasty and suspicious mind, I immediately wondered whether Mrs d'Egville's establishment in Montmartre might be the sort of out-of-the-way place one might send one's pregnant hussies.

Rees Howell Gronow Reminiscences of Captain Gronow, formerly of the Grenadier Guards and M.P. for Stafford, being Anecdotes of the Camp, the Court, and the Clubs, at the close of the last War with France, related by himself (1962)

Madame Dagueville's Last Performances

Medea and Jason [1] Thursday 26 August 1784

Almost all of the theatre advertisements from the eighteenth century omit forenames. Consequently we can't be sure of the identity of the Madame Dagueville  who danced in the role of Medea. In this pantomime there would have been a transformation scene in which the characters of Greek mythology were transformed into the Harlequinade. Mother Shipton is said to have ultimately developed into the pantomime dame.

If the dancing master with his practice in Ipswich is d'Egville senior then he must have married at least twice. Mr Dagueville refers to himself as former principal dancer at the Opera House in some of his local advertising material. His wife died in childbirth on Monday 10 May 1779. We know that d'Egville senior continued to be active in London but this doesn't necessarily mean that the two men aren't one individual. Dagueville of Ipswich had a business partner who could have taken over his pupils when he was in town.

The Essex Chronicle 14 May 1779
The British Library Board

Its implausible that the Madame Dagueville who danced in the role of Medea is Catherine Berry (wife of James Harvey d'Egville) as they didn't marry until 1792. Neither can she have been either of Peter's known daughters. Madame Dagueville disappears from the advertisements in the latter half of the seventeen-nineties.

[1] Willaim Van Lennep, The London Stage, 1660-1800 Part 5, 1776-1800: A Calendar of Plays, Entertainment & Afterpieces Together with Casts, Box-Reciepts and Contemporary Comment (SIU Press, 1970)

James Harvey d'Egville's Art Collection

The Morning Chronicle 29 June 1820
The British Library Board

I apologise for the quality of the image; the left-hand side has been lost in the digitisation process. I haven't looked into why James might have moved out of Great Marlborough Street and sold at least part of his art collection.

It would be interesting to try and discover what became of some of these paintings and their provenance. The collection appears to contain some important pieces. For example, Gapard Dughet (1615-1675) was known as Gaspard Poussin because he was Nicolas Poussin's pupil and brother-in-law. His Italianate landscape with goat herders was sold by Sotheby's for £12,500 in 2010.

While being "Old Masters" they aren't the most desirable or most expensive in today's market. In 1820 they might have had greater relative value or, for all I know, have been used as tinder.

If "Aglio" is Agostino Aglio it is possible that he was part of James' circle. Aglio worked in the decoration of theatres, churches and country houses in England and Ireland. Jame's son, James, who became a watercolourist worked in the studio of Augustus Pugin. His home must have provided some inspiration and might have provided role models for his future career.