Re: A new Discussion Forum

Posted by Chris Turner on
URL: http://west-gallery-music-association-discussion-forum.417.s1.nabble.com/Re-A-new-Discussion-Forum-tp7.html

I have access to a copy of William Matthew's collection,'The Cherub' (in a Nottingham library). On face value it seems much like other collections of hymnody and psalmody from the early 19th century, but what makes it stand out (I hope!) are the 175 names on the subscribers list that reads like a veritable ‘who’s who’ of late-Georgian folk in the East Midlands! I'm interested in how late-Georgian patronage of sacred music was organised.

So far I've researched the following archives:

Nottinghamshire Archives
Derbyshire Archives
British Library

(with planned visits to Bodleian Library and Chatsworth Archives)

I’ve sorted the 175 subscribers into  6 categories that includes:

·         12 Aristocrats/Enobled persons - inluding Duke of Devonshire (Chatsworth House)
·         Industrialists/Bankers/Businessmen e.g. The Smith family of Smiths Bank (big connection to Bromley House!)
          Clerics
·         Musicians/Music sellers/Organists/Choirmasters e.g. The well-known soprano, Eliza Salmon who sang at Covent Garden.
          6  M.P.s and the wives of 3 others (feels like a remarkable number?)
          Local dignitaries/Lord Mayors/High Sheriffs/Magistrates

 (14% of these are Georgian women which I think follows the trend of the time).

What baffles me is how William Matthews, gained access (via Dowager Countess Anne Manvers) to such a tightly connected network of influential people? Names that leapt up from the list include, for instance, ‘R. Arkwright, Cromford’ – Richard Arkwright recorded the richest man in England at the time.

What I’m missing is the inter-connectivity between the Cherub subscribers? – what were they reading? how might The Cherub have been advertised? could it be a social periodical or church magazine? Was there such a thing as Georgian patronage trusts? The list definitely has a ‘seen to be seen’ feel about it – social standing, power and influence (at a time when Nottingham was undergoing one of it’s most turbulent times – the Luddite Rebellion). The price of The Cherub also adds to a sense that this publication was a real statement of exclusivity - £1.00 in c.1820 ? (date of Cherub still to be confirmed but is narrowed down to 1811-1823). Price of £1.00 is the highest for a collection I've seen so far (and I've seen a few by now - bet you have too!).

I’ve spent time researching the publishers – Goulding D’Almaine Potter & Co. and I’m beginning to get a feel about how music was printed and sold at this time. Have had a look at a number of Goulding accumulative catalogues in the BL’s Hirsch collection but no luck in spotting The Cherub.


I've had no luck looking for the Cherub in the Bodleian or the British Library. The British Library only has a copy of the single-sheet reprint of 'Edwinstowe'  dated 'circa 1825 (?) price 'One Penny' (words by the Revd Mr Mason). Will try again later this month!

Hoping to get 'The Cherub' digitised at some point this year. Also copies of Matthews anthems 'Zion', 'Resurrection', and 'Wedding Anthem'.

I would appreciate any advice or information that would further my research (for the Open University).

Thanks,

Chris Turner