BSECS 2014

I recently presented a paper 'Concerts for Ancient Music Revisited' at the 43rd Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies.


In this paper I sought to revise the prevailing view that James Gillray's print Ancient Music (1787) was purely a social satire on the attendance of the King and Queen Consort at the concerts as subscribers, drawing out a number of political undertones including the removal of the Fox-North Coalition.


I also sought to revise the view that the dominance of Handel in the musical canon of the concerts was down to its first treasurer, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, fourth baronet, by demonstrating that Handel's work continued to dominate after Sir Watkin's death and that there was evidence in later programmes of an overarching strategy.


My main conclusions were as follows:


The work of Handel dominated most concerts put on by the Concerts of Ancient Music.

• His was the only work to fill the entirety of individual concerts or an entire act of a concert.
• Whilst Sir Watkin Williams Wynn was no doubt a keen admirer of Handel’s music he was not the only director of the concerts to give over a disproportionate amount of space to his work.
• The work of Handel dominated the music library catalogue of the Concerts published in 1827 covering forty-one of the sixty five pages.
• The dominance of Handel’s works continued well after Sir Watkin Williams Wynn’s death in 1789.
• James Gillray’s print Ancient Music clearly hints at the concerts having a political aspect with many of its protagonists being current or former ministers
• The print also provides a comment on the fall of the Fox-North Coalition some three years after its fall from power.

Enlightenment! Derbyshire Setting the Pace in the Eighteenth Century

Yesterday saw me return to Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, where I had undertaken an internship with the Enlightenment Derbyshire Project in the spring of 2011, undertaking a research project into Ephemera Collections. It was the first time that I had been back since completing my internship and so the first time I got to see the plaque they won at the 2011 Derbyshire Heritage awards on the back of my piece of research.

 

 

My visit also coincided with an exhibition marking the end of the Enlightenment project. The exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to view the new acquisitions made as part of the project, funded by the Heritage Lottery fund's Collecting Cultures Project. The exhibition contained a number of interesting pieces, all of which had a connection to Derbyshire, either having been manufactured there, or been by inhabitants of the county. The exhibition runs in Buxton until Sunday 14 April when it moves on to Strutt's Belper North Mill (Sunday 20 April to Monday 27 May) and then on to Derby Museum and Art Gallery (Sunday 22 June to Sunday 25 August). Further news on the project and information on items purchased as part of the Enlightenment! project can be found on their blog:  www.enlightenmentderbyshire.wordpress.com

BSECS 2013

I recently attended the 42nd Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies at St. Hugh's College, Oxford (3-5 January 2013).

This year's theme was 'Credit, Money and the Market' with key note addresses from Professor Robert D. Hulme (Evan Pugh Professor of English Literature, Penn State University) and Professor Julian Hoppit (Astor Professor of British History, University College London). Both papers were interesting and challenging, provoking much discussion as well as causing many of us to re-think aspects of eighteenth-century life.

I heard a number of interesting on a range of topics from Sermons to Art History, The Reign of Queen Anne and the Financial Development of Britain.

In my own field of Caricature, James W. Baker (Paul Mellon Centre for British Art) gave a fascinating paper outlining his present work on the business networks behind the production of prints during the Eighteenth Century. Whilst my own paper, 'The 1797 Invasion Crisis in Caricature' appeared to be well received and sparked a number of questions.

1784 Westminster Election

I have been invited to give a paper  'Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and the 1784 Westminster Election: The Caricaturist's Response' at the University of Roehampton on Wednesday 21 November.

Gender and Visual Representation Conference

On Wednesday 12 September 2012 I attended a one day conference on Gender and Visual Representation at the University of Winchester. The day produced an interesting range of papers dealing with a range of topics from a number of accademic disciplines. I delivered a paper 'Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and the 1784 Westminster Election: The Caricaturist's Response' in which I sought to re-consider the ways in which Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was portrayed by the caricaturists in connection with the 1784 Westminster Election, through looking beyond the narrow corpus of "Butcher Kissing Prints" and considering her representation more widely.

'Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, 4th Baronet: An Unconventional Politician?'

My article on the political activities of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, fourth Baronet has just been published in Parliamentary History (Vol. 31: Part 2, 2012). The essay is based on research conducted for my 2008 University of Wales, Aberystwyth MA. Dissertation 'The Seventeen Year Duck - or - The Political Life of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Fourth Baronet'.

Gender and Visual Representation Conference

I have just had my paper ‘Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and the 1784 Westminster Election: The Caricaturist’s Response’ accepted for the Gender and Visual Representation Conference which will be taking place at the University of Winchester on 12 September 2012. The conference is organised by the Centre for Gender Studies.

For further information visit the conference website:

http://www.winchester.ac.uk/research/attheuniversity/FacultiesofHumanitiesandSocialSciences/CentreforGenderStudies/Pages/GenderandtheVisualImageConference.aspx