The Creevey Papers
Eleanor Creevey to Thomas Creevey, 3 November 1805
“Sunday, Nov. 3, 1805.
“And so I amuse you by my histories. Well! I am glad
of it, and it encourages me to go on; and yet I can tell you I could tire of
such horrors as I have had the last 3 evenings. I nevertheless estimate them as
you do, and am quite disposed to persevere. The second evening was the worst.
We were in the dining-room (a comfortless place except for eating and drinking
in), and sat in a circle round the fire, which (to indulge you with
‘detail’) was thus arranged. Mrs.
F[itzherbert] in the chimney corner (but not knitting), next to
her Lady Downshire—then Mrs. Creevey—then
Geoff—then Dr. [erased]—then
Savory—then
Warner—then Day, vis-a-vis his
mistress, and most of the time snoring like a pig and waking for nothing
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| 1805.] | EVENINGS AT THE PAVILION. | 67 |
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better than a glass of water,
which he call’d for, hoping, I think, to be offered something better. . .
. Last night was better; it was the same party only instead of
Savory, a Col. or Major Watley
[?] of the Gloster Militia, and the addition of Mrs.
Morant, an old card-playing woman. . . . Mrs.
Fitz shone last night very much in a sketch she gave me of the
history of a very rich Russian woman of quality who is coming to Lord Berkeley’s house. She has been long in
England, and is I suppose generally known in London, though new to me. She was
a married woman with children, and of great consequence at the court of
Petersburgh when Lord Whitworth was
there some years ago. He was poor and handsome—she rich and in love with
him, and tired of a very magnificent husband to whom she had been married at 14
years old. In short, she kept my Lord, and spent immense
sums in doing so and gratifying his great extravagance. In the midst of all
this he return’d to England, but they corresponded, and she left her
husband and her country to come to him, expecting to marry him—got as far
as Berlin, and there heard he was married to the Duchess of Dorset.
“She was raving mad for some time, and Mrs. F. describes her as being often nearly so
now, but at other times most interesting, and most miserable. Her husband and
children come to England to visit her, and Mrs. F. says
she is an eternal subject of remorse to Lord
Whitworth, whom she [Mrs. F] spoke of in
warm terms as ‘a monster,’ and said she could tell me far more to
make me think so. The story sometimes hit upon points that made her blush and
check herself, which was to me not the least interesting part of it. . . . She
laughed more last night than ever at the
Johnstones—said he was a most vulgar man, but
seem’d to give him credit for his good nature to his sister and his
generosity. The Baron is preparing a phantasmagoria at the Pavillion, and she
[Mrs. F] laughs at what he may do with Miss
Johnstone in a dark room.”
Eleanor Creevey [née Branding] (d. 1818)
The daughter of Charles Branding (1733-1802); in 1779 she married William Ord (d. 1789)
and in 1802, the politician and diarist Thomas Creevey.
Maria Anne Fitzherbert [née Smythe] (1756-1837)
The consort of the Prince of Wales whom she married in 1785 as her third husband; the
marriage was regarded as illegitimate since she was a Catholic.
Sir John McMahon, first baronet (1754 c.-1817)
Irish politician who was MP for Aldeburgh (1802-12); he was a friend of Sheridan and
secretary to the Prince Regent.
Arabella Diana Sackville, duchess of Dorset [née Cope] (1769-1825)
The daughter of Sir Charles Cope, second baronet; in 1790 she married John Frederick
Sackville, third Duke of Dorset, and upon his death, in 1801 she married the diplomat
Charles Whitworth, first Earl of Whitworth.
