The “Pope” of Holland House
John Whishaw to Thomas Smith, 25 December 1816
Dec. 25, 1816.
I had a pleasant day at Holland House. In the evening there were
theatricals, in which Henry
Fox,1 the two Smiths
(sons of Bobus), young Tierney, and George Howard, a son of Lord Morpeth, acted the principal parts. They all did extremely
well, especially Henry Fox. The performances consisted of
scenes from different plays, and Binda acted
the part of Canton, the Swiss valet, in “The Clandestine Marriage” with great
success.
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Giuseppe Binda (1859 fl.)
Originally of Lucca, he was an Italian refugee who from 1815 was employed as secretary
and librarian at Holland House; he emigrated to America and was the U.S.A. consul at
Leghorn.
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.
George Tierney the younger (d. 1883)
The son of the politician; he was educated at Merton College, Oxford and was a
commissioner of Greenwich Hospital.
