Sophie d'Egvilles Last Appearance In London

To date I haven't found an appearance by Sophie on the London stage much later than this extravaganza by James. This heroic pantomime cost Drury Lane some £7,000 to produce.

You will notice that Miss d'Egville appears twice on the billing. While admitting the possibility of other explanations it seems likely that these are Sophie and Fanny. This is three years after Peter d'Agueville's auction was forced by relocation from Ipswich in 1792.

The capitalisation is copied directly from the magazine so it is interesting that while Georges' name appears in small capitals neither of the Misses d'Egville merit this billing. Perhaps it was almost time to try something new for Sophie.

It is worth reading some of the other articles in the Freemasons' Magazine for February 1795 because they give a real sense of the instability in the Europe for which Sophie was shortly to embark. A good analogy might be that one decides to go and get a job in Paris some time after Dunkirk in 1940.

Feb. 12. The long-expected heroic Pantomime of D'egville's—"Alexander The Great, or, The Conquest OF Persia," made its entre at Drury-laneTheatre.

In this Ballet, which certainly exceeds every thing of the kind ever exhibited on an English Theatre, the magnificent splendour of scenery and decorations are happily and ingeniously blended with all that strength of interest which fine action must ever excite. The characters are as follow:

MACEDONIANS.

Alexander, - - Mr. J. D'Egville.

Hephestion, - - Mr. Aumer.

Clytus, - - Mr. Dubois.

Perdiccas, - - Mr. Fairbrother.

Parmenio, - - Mr. Phillimore.

Ptolemy, - - Mr. Caulfield.

Attalus, - - Mr. Benson.

Eumenes, - - Mr. Bland.

Philip, - - Mr. G. D'Egville.

Officers, Guards, Attendants.

AMAZONS.

Thalestris, - - Mrs. Fialon,
Miss Collinse, Miss Heard, Miss D'Egville, Miss Redhead, Miss Stagledoir. Miss Stuart, Miss.Tidswell, Mrs. Bramwell.
PERSIANS.
Darius, - - Mr. Fialon.

Son of Darius, - - Master Menace.

Oxathres, - - Mr. Boimaison.

Memnon, - - Mr. Webb.

Arsites, - - Mr. Maddocks.

Spithridates, - - Mr. Banks,

Raesaces, - - Mr. Lyons.

Sysigambes, - - Mrs. Coyler.

Parisatis, - - Mrs. Hedges.

Artemisia, - - Mrs. Butler.

Statira, - - - Miss J. Hillisberg.

High Priest of the Sun, Mr. Roffey.

Satraps.

Mr. Kelly, jun. Mr. Evans, Mr. Brady, Mr. Caulfield, jun. Mr. Powel, Mr. Creed,

Attendant Females.

Miss Brooker, Miss Phillips, Miss Daniels, Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Hasley, Miss Chatterley, Miss Grainger, Mrs. Jones, Miss Menage, Miss D'Egville.

 Priests and Persian Army.

Lampooning James

Figaro in London was a satirical paper and a predecessor of Punch. This non-too-flattering portrait of James was published on Saturday, 30 April 1836.

James' pupils had been the subject of public conjecture for at least thirty years now. Some of his ballets may not have been as straight forward as they at first appear. For instance La Cruche Cassée - performed on 7 January 1826 - really has little to do with broken jugs. The subject of the 1771 painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze would have been familiar to most sophisticated gentlemen.

Morris does not know what to be up to. He has been told that he is a twaddling manager of the old school, and that the old school will no longer do,—a truth that his considerably diminished coffers have for the last few seasons been painfully teaching him. He has been in the habit for the last sixty years of playing old comedies, and laying out nothing but a few shillings now and then for a yard of white satin, to give a fresh lining to Mr. F. Vining's old light comedy coat; and every time he has fresh lined this said coat, he has fancied himself very liberal, and hugged himself in his own conceit as an enterprising manager. Latterly, he has discovered that nobody comes to his theatre, and, as his receipts have diminished, he has refused even the satin lining to his actors coats; but though he has discontinued trimming their coats, the critics have been very active in trimming their jackets. However, at last, having grown desperate by repeated losses, he lugs out Winston, kicks out F. Vining from the stage-managership, cuts a caper round his own stage, and, in a paroxysm of poignant agony, takes apas seul down to the house of D'Egville. 'Damme,' says Morris, 'I'm ruined if I don't have a ballet at the Haymarket;' and he gave a faint pirouette, which ended in his slipping down flat upon some oil-cloth, under the ex-dancing master's sideboard. D'Egville, having picked him up, cut a few useless and empty capers, poised himself upon one foot clumsily, and threw out his arms like the sails of a ricketty windmill. 'I'm your man' cried the danseur of former days; ' I'll get up ballets.' Morris clutched at the bait, and thought that, in securing poor old D'Egville, he had ensured all the splendour of spectacle, and all the allurements that the train of Terpsichore can offer. D'Egville engages a few of his own pupils, gives them a few French names, and mixes up with them a few of the old stout and sturdy shilling per night Coryphees of some of the miner theatres. The superannuated couple think, by this trick, to make people believe that they have got a French ballet at the Haymarket. No such thing. The corps is as wretched a mixture as four-shilling tea, and they waddle about the stage as clumsily as bugs on a bolster. Morris cannot manage with spirit, even if he were to try ; and his effort to compete with the King's Theatre in the ballet department is about as good a joke as Hunt's putting up for Westminster against five other candidates. Morris had better stick to the payment of his salaries, without attempting the wretched farce of trying to earn them. If he wishes to make money he must let his theatre, but if he likes losing his cash he has only to keep it open. In these days ofmanagerial activity and competition, such a twaddler as Morris ought to have nothing lo do with a theatre, and we very much fear the experience of the season he has just commenced will give him good reason to agree with us. The most judicious thing he has done is to take half-price, but, as an act of justice, he should do so at the very commencement of the performance. What he means by engaging poor Russell as stage-manager we cannot divine. The fact is, that Morris has got about him more twaddlers of the old school, if possible, this season than any previous one.

Poems On Various Subjects

Among the notes on one of my various defunct laptops was this reference to Peter d'Egville. He appears among the list of subscribers to Poems on Various Subjects by John Taylor Esq. This work was published in two volumes in London in 1827. I haven't been able to move beyond the first poem - but Byron did write to the author on at least one occasion. I can't imagine how I could listen to a reading without gnawing through my own limbs.

Being so late it is difficult to believe that it was Peter d'Agueville/d'Aigueville because at the very least he would be almost ninety years old. However, some people did manage to live to a ripe old age. Having found the reference I will have to go back to the tree in case he's among the fruit. All suggestions and identifications are welcome. There are many references and dedications among the poems to Peter d'Agueville's contemporaries.

It does tell us two things: he had sufficient disposable income to subscribe to the work and he lives at a reasonably good address. There are modern buildings in Percy Street but some of the architecture from Peter's time has survived.



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Misprint In The Graphic

The Grauniad are not the only rag to make the odd mistake. The Graphic's review of Pittore e Duca (4 February 1882) performed at Her Majesty's Theatre by the Carl Rosa Company refers to Herbert d'Egville's efficient performance. However, unless there were two d'Egvilles in the Carl Rosa Company this is likely to be John Hervet d'Egville.

John Hervet d'Egville as the Mikado

John spent to years with the Carl Rosa Company before moving on to the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Now Herbert is added to my list of synonyms for Hervet fate will likely conspire in compounding my reputation as an idiot by revealing Herbert d'Egville of the Carl Rosa Company.

The Frustrations Of Pierre d'Aigueville's Timeline

Among some of the first data about a Peter/Pierre d'Aigueville to show up on the Internet was a marriage record held by FamilySearch. A Peter Hervez Daigueville married Margaret Benton at Saint Mary's Church, Portsea, Hampshire, on 19 December 1774.

The Hampshire Chronicle 4 October 1773
The British Library Board

In October 1773 Mr and Mrs Daigueville were performing at the theatre in Southampton and Mr Daigueville's teaching practice was based at a girls' boarding school.

Elizabeth Armstrong was a longstanding pupil and is listed among "scholars of d'Egville". She had certainly been on the stage since the age of six when she danced at Sadler's Wells in the autumn of 1769. At the time of the performance in Southampton she was no more than ten years old.

For Peter, the father of James Harvey d'Egville, to have married Margaret Benton in Portsea in December 1774 the Mrs Daigueville on the bill would have to have died sometime in the next twelve months. But at his benefit in May 1775 his wife danced in the role of Boadicea Queen of Britain assisted "by her two daughters."

Peter often seems to have spent extended periods in the provinces as he danced in Bristol in 1776. For him to have been in Southampton - a city of some importance - would not be unusual for a performer based in London.

After James returned to England at around the time of the French Revolution it becomes increasingly difficult which d'Egville is referred to in the bills and advertisements. It is consequently difficult to identify the woman referred to as Madame d'Egville.

The Daigueville who left a well furnished home in Ipswich in 1791 remains tantalising. In another coincidence Peter's daughter Sophie disappears from the English scene shortly afterwards.

Assault In The Mirror

The gossip from the Opera House reflected in The Monthly Mirror for October 1807 reveals a more complex background for James' assault on Mr Waters than was reported in The Morning Post the following year.  

James dispute with Waters must be seen in the context of a struggle for ownership of the Opera House between Waters and Mr W. Taylor. Waters owned almost half of the shares in the Opera House and held a mortgage for the controlling percentage of the shares owned by Taylor. The labyrinthine legal proceedings in this matter which would ultimately last for decades began in June 1808.

The Monthly Mirror for October 1807.

Dido And Aeneas At The Opéra Comique

If you still haven't forgiven your loved-one for failing to fulfil your Valentine's Day expectations then he or she can redeem themselves by taking you to Paris for one of the performances at the Opéra Comique's Festival Dido and Aeneas.

This isn't quite a d'Egville related post but I support the Opéra Comique and other theatres and companies loosely connected to the family.

FESTIVAL DIDO AND AENEAS

DIDO AND AENEAS

OPERA in a prologue and 3 acts by Henry Purcell
Libretto by Nahum Tate
First known performance in December 1689 at the Boarding School for Girls in LondonWilliam Christie
Jonathan Cohen
Deborah Warner
Les Arts Florissants

7 PM and 9.30 PM / Monday 5, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 March 2012

Presentation of the work 40 minutes prior to each performance

Prices B: € 108, 87, 65, 40, 15, 6
Salle Favart

Assault At The Opera

I love this story because of its slapstick quality. Life at the Opera was often turbulent.

The assault took place on 24 October 1807 but it did not come before the Court of the King's Bench until 16 February 1808 so today is the anniversary of the trial. 

James had to pay £5 in damages to Waters - this doesn't seem an extraordinarily large sum but at the time an agricultural worker might earn £40 per year.

Morning Post 17 February 1808
British Library Board

Georges Bizet

On 4 February 1882 The Graphic carried a review of Balfe's Pittore e Duca performed at Her Majesty's Theatre by the Carl Rosa Company.The performance was received with great applause by the crowded audience despite Madame Valleria's cold but the review was not without reservation.

Herbert d'Egvilles efficient performance was recognised and his relationship with Georges Bizet was specifically mentioned. Herbert is identified as Bizet's cousin no less.

The Graphic 4 February 1882
The British Library Board

Helen C. Black's Pen, Pencil Baton and Mask: Biographical Sketches (1896) (see The Legend of Roma Guillon Lethière) mentions that Madame Michau, née Sophie Hervé d'Egville, was first married to Captain Augustus Bizet. Bizet is not an uncommon name either in the United Kingdom or France but other parts of Roma's legend have turned out to be true although they originate in tragedy.

Spring Assizes At Derby

The Derby Mercury 19 May 1886
The British Library Board

A Serious Charge

Nottingham Evening Post 3 April 1886
The British Library Board

d'Egvilles of Ipswich

In Tales, Poems and Masonic Papers by Emra Holmes (1877) [1], a commentary on the minutes of the British Union Lodge, Ipswich, records that Peter Dagueville was proposed for initiation on 4 March 1783. The spelling is similar to that used when Peter dAgville signed his name. 

Peter's membership of the British Union Lodge might have only lasted a short time as Holmes says that he has disappeared from the list of members for 1786-87.

In March 1791 Peter announced that he would be leaving Ipswich through an auction advertisement in the Ipswich Journal. Hatton Court still exists, off Tavern Street, leading towards the Churchyard of Saint Mary-le-Tower.

Ipswich Journal 26 March 1791
The British Library Board

However, Peter might not have left Ipswich or if he did so he might have left his progeny behind. In 1809 the marriage of Miss d'Egville of Ipswich to Ensign Deighton of the West Norfolk Militia was announced in the Bury and Norwich Post. Peter is likely to have been too old to be the Peter d'Egville charged with riotous conduct in 1843.

Bury and Norwich Post 26 April 1809
The British Library Board

Interestingly Sophia Hervey d'Egville (Madame Michau) disappears from the English scene in about 1795 to reappear in Paris. We know that there was at least on other d'Egville there in the first decades of the nineteenth century.  


[1] Tales, Poems and Masonic Papers by Emra Holmes (1877)Masonic Papers, Notes on the old minute books of the British Union Lodge, No. 114, Ipswich. A.D., 1762.

I Predict A Riot

On Monday 27 November 1843 Peter d'Egville appeared before the magistrates at Ipswich Town Hall charged with riotous conduct. R.B. Clamp, the Governor of the Ipswich Union House, alleged that Peter had conspired with the other "able-bodied paupers" and refused to obey orders.

Peter is described as "One of the more violent of the party" who "appeared to have seen better days." Peter's age is not given but he is a contemporary of the Peter Harvey Gooding d'Egville who accosted James Hervet d'Egville in Worcester in September 1854. Lacking further identifying information, on the balance of probabilities he might be a member of the d'Egville family who were active in East Anglia in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Consequently they are likely to be separate individuals.

Peter justifies his behaviour by complaining about the quality of the food and that Mr. Clamp is robbing the paupers. Their soup was made of herring and sprats' heads and tails, potato peelings, peas and water. It is central to Peter's complaint the paupers who come to beg for soup at the workhouse gate are getting the peas because they sink to the bottom and the inmates are served first from the watery broth.

At first sight such soup might appear disgusting but at the time this "waste" would not be disposed of for composting or the local authority refuse collection. Most households would have used such ingredients to make stock.

In the course of this petty uprising a stick was thrown at a policeman and Peter displayed threatening behaviour towards a porter. It is surprising that he was only bound over and asked to make further complaints to the Board of Guardians. The Great Whip Street Workhouse was an institution intended to accommodate 400 people in an environment of strict discipline. Despite the magistrates apparent support of Mr Clamp their leniency towards Peter in a climate where compliance was paramount perhaps reveals deeper undercurrents.

The Ipswich Journal 2 December 1843
British Library Board

Denial Of An Impudent Vagrant

On Tuesday 19 September 1854 James Hervet d'Egville was accosted in the Tything, Worcester, by a stranger. The man claimed to be related to him and demanded sixpence.

In 1854 the average weekly wage of an agricultural labourer was 10/8 (for those of you who don't remember the pre-decimal currency of the United Kingdom that's ten shillings and eightpence or about 53 pence). Sixpence (2.5 pence) had a good deal more spending power then and would certainly have bought a couple of pints. The average price for a gallon of beer in that year has been calculated as about just over one shilling and sixpence (7.5 pence) [1].

James was born in Worcester in 1813 to Louis Hervey d'Egville (1786-1857) and Mary Davis (1791-1846). Peter Harvey Gooding d'Egville was born in 1803 to George d'Egville and Mary Reid (who appear to have married in 1803). Consequently the man who accosted James in the Tything was probably his first cousin.

James might not have known that Peter was his cousin. George was committed to the institution of marriage and entered into serial wedlock as his wives wore out and died. His progeny are extensive and he did not invest in their futures; unlike his brothers.

Peter Harvey Gooding d'Egville was certainly a pest. There are other instances of petty crime which are recorded around the Midlands and I'm uncertain if it were he who instigated an insurrection in an East Anglian workhouse.

The Worcestershire Chronicle 27 September 1854
The British Library Board

1. An extensive Excel spreadsheet of prices taken from the data series which were collected by Professor Gregory Clark and used in three publications were re-formatted by Peter Lindert 10 April 2006 can be downloaded here. Citations are provided in the spreadsheet.  

Prejudiced By A Mistake?

This statement appeared in The Morning Post on Saturday 13 December 1823. It interests me for two reasons.

Firstly, James confirms that the George Harvey d'Egville living in Atherstone is indeed his brother. It's the first firm evidence that I've found and it shifts an assumption to a fact. I'd a lurking suspicion that the George of Atherstone might not be a connection of the famous James and less famous George at all. We do know that there were other Harvey d'Egvilles in the United Kingdom at the time and their connection, if any, is a mystery.

Secondly, the man who was wrongly hanged for murder in Barbados has either taken or was given the forenames that were current in the Harvey d'Egville family. We know that there was a Peter Hervez d'Aigueville who married at Portsea in the 1770s and a family who were active in East Anglia a little while afterwards. While the statistical odds of two people who share the same name meeting at a party are much less than one might think these names are quite rare.

I'm uncertain whether from what we know of James' character that we should believe this is a credible denial.

The Morning Post Saturday 13 December 1823
The British Library Board