William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries
Ch. IX. 1812-1819
William Godwin, Diary, 7 April-3 May 1816
“April 7, Su. Call on Lambert. Mail for York; Adey from Ware.
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“April 8, M. Breakfast at Huntingdon, smuggling old woman: dine at
Newark: tea Doncaster, ex-captain of Militia: sleep, Tavern, York.
“9, Tu. Call on
Wolstenholme,
Todd and Nicol: walk w. Nicol on
the walls (Clifford’s Tower and Jail), Minster and St Mary’s Abbey:
Paterson dines. Write to M. J.,
Fanny, Davison, and Fairley.
“10, W. Dine at
Darlington: pass Durham: sleep at Newcastle, intelligent bailiff, pleasing
gentleman, Cumberland farmer.
“11, Th. Miss
Farkison fr.
Mrs Waters: Morpeth: breakfast at Alnwick: dine at
Berwick: Pease Bridge: Dunglas: Dunbar: Edinburgh: Fairley sups.
“12, F. Call on
Constable; adv. Leslie, Napier, Evanses, Cadel: Castle Hill, Writers’ Library:
dinner Mathews, R.
Miller, Wrench, Ballantine, Downie, Playfair, Wilson,
Buchanan, Thomson,
Cadel, and Russell, player.
“13, Sa. Explanation;
write to M. J. Shop adv.
Forster (clouds), Jeffrey, &c.: walk w. Leslie, Calton Hill and Holyrood House: dinner Matthews, Wrench,
Evanses, Leslie, Peter Hill, and G. H.
Walker: Buchan’s
card.
“14, Su. Write to
M. J. Jeffrey and Boswell call: meet Ballantine: Matthews,
Wench, Foster,
Willison and 2 Cadels dine. Invited by Buchan.
“15, M. Call on
Buchan, Fletchers
and Murray (w. Fairley), Ferguson,
Macdonald, Nairn and Cadel: Holyrood House and
Hume w. Mathews: shop, Dalzel,
Duncan and Yaniewiczes: dine at Napier’s w. Bruntons, Playfair, Leslie, Pellings.
“16, Tu. Write to
M. J. Shop,
Morrit, and Boswell: chaise to Kinneal w. Constable and
Dr Miller: visit Linlithgow: adv. Miss
Cruickshank; sleep.
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“April 17, W. Ferrier, on Apparitions, pp. 139. Parisina: Knox v. Crosraguel ça la. Sleep.
“18, Th. Return; see
Hopetoun House, Roseberry and Barnton Parks: dine at Ballantine’s w.
Belcours, Douglases, Leslie, Fraser, and
Constable: adv.
Ainslie. Deep snow.
“19, F. Write to
M. J. Shop, Hepburn and Crawford:
call on Raeburn w. R. Miller and Yaniewicz (W. C.): dine at Boswell’s w. Mackenzie and fille, Jeffrey, Brewster,
Coventry, L. and C.: invite
Cranston.
“20, Sa. Breakfast at
Murray’s w. Dewar,
Ritchie, Fairley, &c., sit: Heriot’s Hospital: dine at
Fletcher’s w. Brown,
Craigs, Mr Miller, Miss
Miller, and Miss Wilks.
“21, Su. Call on
Jeffrey: Playfair calls n. Nicholsons and Jas.
Ballantine’s w. Ballantine: Hugh Murray, Jamieson, Willison, and G. H.
Walker dine.
“22, M. Breakfast at
Ainslie’s w. Dr Ainslie and
wife, Mr and Mrs Gray, Clarinda,
Constable, &c.: meet
Mrs Fletcher: call on Playfair and Dewar: sit: Yaniewiczes, Duncans,
Ainslies and Leslie dine.
“23, Tu. Dine at
Hepburn’s, Barfoot, w.
Macallum, Walker,
Hope, Inglis and family: sleep at
Oman’s.
“24. W. Breakfast,
Yaniewicz’s: shop, Dr Jamieson: Advocates’ Library: meet
W. Erskine and R.
Miller: call with Mrs Y. on Sir
W. D. Gray, Campbell,
Dewar, Ritchie,
Fairley, &c., dine: Theatre w.
Y’s, Duncan,
Gordon, &c., sup: sleep at
Oman’s, call on Gregoryn.
“25. Th. Breakfast at
Brodies, w. Moore and Hepburn: call on Forster:
meet Fleming: chaise w. Constable and Ballantine: dine at Abbotsford: sleep.
“26. F. Constable and Ballantine depart: Melrose w. Scott; adv. Buchann. Chas.
Erskine and wife dine: take coach at Selkirk.
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“April 27. Sa. Breakfast at Carlisle: coach to Penrith: chaise
along Ulswater: dine at Wordsworth’s: call w. him on
Jackson; adv. Wakefield: circuit of
Grasmere: Derwent Coleridge dines: write
to M. J. and Thos. Moore.
“28. Su. Derwent dines: horse to Kendal: sleep.
“29. M. Coach:
breakfast at Lancaster: dine at Preston with Dilworth and Latham: sleep at Manchester.
“30. Tu. Call on
Reddish, Dean
and Jackson; adv. Kershaw: chaise w. Jackson and Kershaw:
dine at Walker’s, Longford, w.
do., Mrs Walker, Charles and 2
sisters.
“May 1. W. Call on Jackson and Dean, and
(w. Kershaw) at Church, College and
Hawkes. Coach evening; Stockport, Macclesfield; tea at
Leek: sleep at Ashbourne.
“2. Th. Call on
Mooren. seek
Boothby. Coach: dine at Derby: sleep
at Leicester. Write to M. J. grocer from
Perth, settled in Leicestershire. Coburg
Marriage.
“3. F. Coach: dine at
Woburn, w. squirrel-hunt: sleep in Skinner St. H.
Robinson calls.”
James Ballantyne (1772-1833)
Edinburgh printer in partnership with his younger brother John; the company failed in the
financial collapse of 1826.
John Ballantyne (1774-1821)
Edinburgh publisher and literary agent for Walter Scott; he was the younger brother of
the printer James Ballantyne.
Sir Brooke Boothby, seventh baronet (1744-1824)
English poet and dandy, educated at St John's College, Cambridge; he was an acquaintance
of Rousseau and a member of Anna Seward's literary circle at Lichfield.
Sir David Brewster (1781-1868)
Scottish natural philosopher and editor of the
Edinburgh
Encyclopaedia (1807-1830). He contributed to the
Literary
Gazette and invented the kaleidoscope.
Robert Cadell (1788-1849)
Edinburgh bookseller who partnered with Archibald Constable, whose daughter Elizabeth he
married in 1817. After Constable's death and the failure of Ballantyne he joined with Scott
to purchase rights to the
Waverley Novels.
Derwent Coleridge (1800-1883)
The son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge; educated at St John's College, Cambridge, he was
rector of Helston in Cornwall, principal of St Mark's College (1841), and a writer on
education. He contributed to
Knight's Quarterly Review.
Archibald Constable (1774-1827)
Edinburgh bookseller who published the
Edinburgh Review and works
of Sir Walter Scott; he went bankrupt in 1826.
Andrew Coventry (1764-1832)
Educated at University of Edinburgh, he was a Scottish physician and the first Professor
of agriculture at Edinburgh University (1764-1831).
George Cranstoun, Lord Corehouse (1771-1850)
Scottish judge and scholar, the brother-in-law of Dugald Stewart and friend of Walter
Scott; he was raised to the bench in 1826 as Lord Corehouse.
Thomas Davison (1766-1831)
London printer who worked for Thomas Longman and John Murray.
Robert Dillworth (d. 1845)
Liverpool bookseller (1799-1845) and operator of a circulating library.
Charles Erskine of Shielfield (1771-1825)
Scottish Writer to the Signet; he was baron balie of Melrose and sheriff-substitute of
Selkirkshire under Walter Scott.
William Erskine, Lord Kinneder (1768-1822)
The son of an episcopal clergyman of the same name, he was a Scottish advocate and a
close friend and literary advisor to Sir Walter Scott.
John Fairley (1823 fl.)
Edinburgh manufacturer of umbrellas and parasols who acted as William Godwin's book-agent
in Scotland. He appears to have retired from business in 1823.
John Ferriar (1761-1815)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a Manchester physician and friend of Walter
Scott and Richard Heber; he published
Illustrations of Sterne
(1798).
Fanny Imlay Godwin (1794-1816)
The daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft and Gilbert Imlay; she lived in the Godwin household
and died a suicide.
Mary Jane Godwin [née Vial] (1768-1841)
The second wife of William Godwin, whom she married in 1801 after a previous relationship
in which was born her daughter Claire Clairmont (1798-1879). With her husband she was a
London bookseller.
John Hepburn (1770 c.-1823)
Scottish landowner of Bearford in Haddington; educated at Edinburgh University, he
adopted radical views in the 1790s and was acquainted with Horne Tooke and William
Godwin.
Peter Hill (1754-1837)
Edinburgh bookseller and correspondent of Robert Burns; he first worked as a clerk for
Thomas Creech; Archibald Constable later served as his apprentice.
John Jamieson (1759-1838)
Scottish clergyman and antiquary educated at Glasgow University; he published
Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, 2 vols
(1808).
Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (1773-1850)
Scottish barrister, Whig MP, and co-founder and editor of the
Edinburgh
Review (1802-29). As a reviewer he was the implacable foe of the Lake School of
poetry.
Thomas Kershaw (1824 fl.)
Manchester calico printer and radical friend of William Hazlitt; he was a member of the
Manchester Constitutional Society and a patron of the painter Daniel Stringer.
John Lambert (1816 fl.)
He was the printer of the
Morning Chronicle (1793-1810).
Leopold I King of Belgium (1790-1865)
The son of Prince Francis Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; after serving in the Russian
army he married Princess Charlotte in May 1816; in 1831 he was inaugurated as the first
king of the Belgians.
Sir John Leslie (1766-1832)
Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University, author of
Experimental Enquiries into the Nature and Properties of Heat (1804), and
contributor to the
Edinburgh Review.
Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831)
Scottish man of letters, author of
The Man of Feeling (1770) and
editor of
The Mirror (1779-80) and
The
Lounger (1785-87).
Charles Mathews (1776-1835)
Comic actor at the Haymarket and Covent Garden theaters; from 1818 he gave a series of
performances under the title of
Mr. Mathews at Home.
Robert Miller (1828 fl.)
Edinburgh bookseller; he was the partner of Alexander Manners (1794-1807) and afterwards
his successor.
Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
Irish poet and biographer, author of the
Irish Melodies (1807-34),
The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), and
Lalla
Rookh (1817); he was Byron's close friend and designated biographer.
Hugh Murray (1779-1846)
Employed as a clerk in the excise office in Edinburgh, he was a writer on geography
elected fellow of the Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Geographical Society of London; he
was at one time editor of the
Scots Magazine.
Macvey Napier (1776-1847)
Scottish barrister, editor of the
Encyclopedia Britannica, and
from 1829 editor of the
Edinburgh Review.
William Nicholson (1781-1844)
Edinburgh painter who made portraits of many literary people; he was secretary of the
Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture.
John Playfair (1748-1819)
Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University and Whig man of letters who contributed
to the
Edinburgh Review.
Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823)
Scottish portrait painter and friend of Sir Walter Scott.
John Reddish (1750 c.-1822 fl.)
Manchester bookseller; in 1822 he was convicted of seditious libel for selling
A Political Dictionary.
William Ritchie (1781-1831)
The son of a flax-dresser, he practiced law in Edinburgh before becoming one of the
founders, and literary editor, of
The Scotsman newspaper
(1817).
Henry Crabb Robinson (1775-1867)
Attorney, diarist, and journalist for
The Times; he was a founder
of the Athenaeum Club.
Dugald Stewart (1753-1828)
Professor of moral philosophy at Edinburgh University (1785-1809); he was author of
Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind (1792-93).
Thomas Walker (1749-1817)
Manchester cotton merchant and political radical acquitted of treason in 1794; the police
magistrate Thomas Walker (1784-1836) was his son.
John Wolstenholme (d. 1828)
Bookseller in York and publisher of the
Yorkshire Gazette.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
With Coleridge, author of
Lyrical Ballads (1798), Wordsworth
survived his early unpopularity to succeed Robert Southey as poet laureate in 1843.
Felix Yaniewicz (1762-1848)
Violinist born in Vilna, Lithuania; he was a founder of the Philharmonic Society in
London who spent his later years in Edinburgh.
