The London Season in 1841
We have already seen that as early as the 1730's and 40's
many of the residents in the principal streets of the
Grosvenor estate, and of course many more in other
correspondingly fashionable parts of London, only spent
part of each year in town, their seasonal movements
being prescribed by those of the Court and by the dates
of the parliamentary sessions. In the eighteenth century
the number of people participating in this fashionable
minuet between town and country cannot be even
approximately calculated, but in the nineteenth century
detailed information about the London Season was published for many years in The Morning Post, and this has
been analysed for the year 1841. (fn. a)
The Table opposite shows week by week the movements into and out of London of what The Morning Post
called the 'Fashionable World'. Over four thousand movements are plotted, of which at least 15 per cent relate to
residents on the Grosvenor estate in Mayfair; but the
total size of the seasonal migration into and out of the
capital must in reality have been substantially larger
than that shown in the Table, because it may confidently
be conjectured that many movements of both the
'Fashionable World' and its imitators were not publicly
reported.
The year 1841 was not altogether a typical one because
the general election by which the Tories displaced the
Whigs was held in the latter part of the summer, but this
serves to emphasize the extent to which the seasonal
migration of the beau monde was influenced by the dates
of parliamentary sittings. At the beginning of the year
most people of fashion were out of town, either at home,
visiting, or at Brighton. At the end of January there was
the biggest influx of the year, for the opening of Parliament, and there then ensued a brief pre-Easter season, (ref. 21)
marked by numerous dinners and soirées, the opening
of the opera season, and the first royal levée. On 31 March,
for instance, it was reported that Lady Compton Domville had held 'a very brilliant assembly' at No. 5 Grosvenor
Square. 'The five spacious saloons in that superb mansion
were most brilliantly illuminated.' Dancing 'to Weippert's
band' had commenced at 11.30 p.m. and at 1.30 a.m.
'a most sumptuous supper' was served. And a day or two
later Lady Anne Wilbraham had held 'a soirée dansante'
at 'the family mansion in Lower Brook Street' (No. 68),
at which 'Above 200 of the leading fashionables in town
honoured her Ladyship with their company, as also the
chief members of the corps diplomatique'. (ref. 22)
Early in April the adjournment of Parliament for the
Easter recess and the removal of the Court to Windsor
were accompanied by a substantial exodus, and Brighton
filled up. With the reassembly of Parliament on 20 April,
the Queen's return from Windsor, the first royal drawing-room, the reopening of the opera after Easter, and the
first ball at Almack's there was a very large influx which
marked the commencement of the main Season. Numerous
arrivals at addresses principally in Belgravia, Marylebone,
St. James's, Pall Mall and streets off Piccadilly, as well of
course as Mayfair, were reported. The house agents did
a brisk business in the letting of furnished houses 'for the
Season', and the private hotels filled up, Mivart's and the
adjacent Coulson's (formerly Wake's) in Brook Street
being the most notable on the Grosvenor estate. Every
Monday The Morning Post carried a column entitled
'Fashionable Arrangements for the Week', and on a
single evening there were three separate receptions at
various houses in Grosvenor Square alone. Other
chronicled events included the Royal Academy exhibition, the Queen's levées, drawing-rooms and state balls,
the Derby at Epsom, and Ascot races, the latter attended
then as now, by the Queen from Windsor.
The prorogation of Parliament on 22 June and the
imminence of a general election set off a gradual drift
away from London. On 6 July Lady Compton Domville
'gave her farewell fête' in Grosvenor Square, the last ball
at Almack's was held on the following night, and there
were no more 'Fashionable Arrangements' in The Morning
Post. Some emigrants went off on foreign tours, and it was
reported that 'The fashionable departures for the German
spas this season have been unusually numerous'. (ref. 23) There
was also much visiting about from one country house to
another, and Harrogate, Brighton, Goodwood races,
yachting at Cowes, and shooting in Scotland all attracted
their wealthy patrons.
But even at this 'dead' time of year fashionable London
was never entirely empty. There were always some arrivals
to report, and although the pattern of seasonal migration
in the summer of 1841 was greatly distorted by the general
election and the parliamentary session of 19 August to
7 October, which occasioned a considerable but shortlived influx, it is clear that even the most socially distinguished members of the 'Fashionable World' were
often in London out of season. Such visits were, however,
frequently of short duration, and the autumnal attractions
of Buxton, Brighton, Leamington and Worthing, of
racing at Newmarket, and above all of the hunting field,
ensured that (after a brief influx in early December for
the Smithfield Club's cattle show and annual dinner)
London's social year had a quiet end, the twelve days of
Christmas being generally celebrated out of town.
In addition to listing the arrivals in and departures
from London The Morning Post also published 'changes'
from one out-of-town address to another. Taken together
all this information reveals the peculiarly peripatetic
existence of the 'Fashionable World', while other records
indicate the resources needed to sustain such a mode of
life. The case of two earls and their families, both resident
in Grosvenor Square, may be taken as examples.
The first Earl of Verulam had a town house at No. 47
Grosvenor Square and a country seat at Gorhambury
Park, near St. Albans. The family estates in Hertfordshire
and Essex were estimated in 1882 to contain some 10,000
acres yielding £14,000 per annum. (ref. 24) In 1841 the Earl was
aged sixty-five; his wife was some nine years younger, and
the youngest of their nine children was aged sixteen. On
the night of the census (6–7 June) the Earl and Countess,
two of their sons and one daughter were all resident in
Grosvenor Square, where they were attended by seven
male and eight female servants. (ref. 25) At Gorhambury House
there were on the same night another seven female
servants and one male servant, plus half-a-dozen other
male servants in the adjoining stables. (ref. 26)
Towards the end of January the Earl had come up to
Grosvenor Square from Gorhambury, where he was
joined by the Countess, who had been visiting one of
their married daughters, the Countess of Craven, at
Combe Abbey near Coventry. Their eldest son, Viscount
Grimston, M.P., still a bachelor, also joined them at
Grosvenor Square from Ireland, all these arrivals
coinciding with the opening of Parliament. In March
the Earl and Countess went to the Duke of Rutland at
Belvoir Castle, back to Grosvenor Square, and thence
(with Lord Grimston and their youngest daughter) to
Earl and Countess Amherst at Knole, Kent. Their return
to Grosvenor Square in early April was soon followed by
a visit by the Countess and her unmarried children
to Longford Castle, Wiltshire, to stay with another of
their married daughters, Viscountess Folkestone. By mid
April the Earl of Verulam was at Newmarket, and a week
later his family was back in Grosvenor Square. In mid
May he and the Countess, with Lord Grimston and their
unmarried daughter, were at Gorhambury for the races,
but were back in town by 6 June. In the latter part of July
the Earl and Viscount Grimston were visiting Mrs. Warde
at the Squerryes, Westerham, before going to Buckhurst
Park, Sussex, and ultimately to the Duke of Richmond
at Goodwood. Meanwhile the Countess was entertaining
her son-in-law and daughter, the Earl and Countess of
Craven, at Gorhambury. At the end of August both the
Earl and Countess of Verulam were in Grosvenor Square,
but early in September the Earl and his son Viscount
Grimston went off to the Marquess of Abercorn's shooting
lodge in Inverness-shire, while the Countess and her
youngest daughter went to Gorhambury. A few days
later, however, the Countess and one of her sons were in
Grosvenor Square on their way to Longford Castle again.
By 24 September the Earl and Viscount Grimston were
back at Gorhambury from their Caledonian foray, and
a week later they too went on to Longford Castle. In mid
October the Earl was said to be 'still at Newmarket',
while the Countess, Viscount Grimston and her unmarried
daughter left Grosvenor Square for visits to Mrs. Warde
at the Squerryes and Earl Amherst at Knole. By the end
of the month the Earl was back at Gorhambury before
joining his wife at the Squerryes. In mid November they
were at Gorhambury entertaining the Earl and Countess
of Clarendon and 'a large circle of nobility and gentry
around'. In December Viscount Grimston went to visit
the Marquess of Abercorn at Baron's Court in Ireland,
and on his way back to Gorhambury shortly before
Christmas he stayed for a few days with his sister the
Countess of Craven.
SEASONAL MIGRATIONS OF THE 'FASHIONABLE WORLD' IN 1841
The second Earl of Wilton was a younger and considerably richer man than the Earl of Verulam. He was
a younger son of the first Marquess of Westminster,
having inherited his title from his maternal grandfather
by special remainder. In addition to his town house at
No. 7 Grosvenor Square he had a country seat at Heaton
House, near Manchester, and a hunting lodge at Melton
Mowbray. His estates, chiefly in Lancashire, Yorkshire
and Staffordshire, were variously estimated in 1882 to
be worth £31,000 or £65,000 per annum. (ref. 27) In 1841 he
was aged forty-one, and by his wife (a daughter of the
twelfth Earl of Derby) he then had four young children,
the eldest of whom was aged eight. On the night of the
census he, the Countess and two of their children were
resident in Grosvenor Square, where they were attended
by seven male and nine female servants. (ref. 28) At Heaton
House on the same night there were a clerk, a housekeeper, three female servants and two grooms, while the
residents in the cottages of the surrounding park included
a gamekeeper and eight gardeners. (ref. 29) Egerton Lodge at
Melton Mowbray was shut up for the summer, the only
residents being an elderly couple evidently acting as caretakers. (ref. 30) The Earl's two younger children were at Walmer
Castle, the official residence of the Lord Warden of the
Cinque Ports, the Duke of Wellington, who was a friend
and frequent correspondent of the Countess of Wilton.
The Duke himself was not at Walmer, where the staff
looking after the two children consisted of a housekeeper,
one male and five female servants. (ref. 31)
Towards the end of January the Earl of Wilton had
come up to Grosvenor Square from Eaton Hall, Chester
(the home of his father the Marquess of Westminster),
and left for Melton Mowbray for the hunting immediately
after the opening of Parliament. A week or two later he
was back in Grosvenor Square, but in mid February both
he and the Countess were at Melton. In the first half of
April they were successively at Belvoir Castle with the
Duke of Rutland, Grosvenor Square, probably with the
Duke of Wellington at Stratfield Saye, Melton Mowbray
and Grosvenor Square again, before going with their
children to Tunbridge Wells, perhaps staying in a rented
house. In the latter part of April the Earl and Countess
were both back in Grosvenor Square, but the Countess
soon returned to Tunbridge Wells. Most of May seems
to have been spent in Grosvenor Square, though the Earl
was at the Derby at Epsom at the end of the month. Early
in June the Countess took two of her children to Walmer
Castle, but she was back within a few days to give 'a
splendid entertainment' in Grosvenor Square, followed
by a dinner party early in July. Soon afterwards she was
for a few days at Heaton House—her only visit of the
year—and then went (probably with her children) to
a house near Ryde in the Isle of Wight. In due course she
was joined there by the Earl, who was Commodore of
the Royal Yacht Squadron, but by the end of August they
were both at Grosvenor Square, where they gave a dinner
for the Duke of Wellington. Mid September saw them
once more at Ryde, and on 24 September The Morning
Post reported that 'The Noble Earl purposes a cruise of
a few weeks in his yacht, and will then go to Melton
Mowbray for the hunting season'. This cruise seems to
have taken in a visit to Walmer Castle, whence in early
November he and the Countess returned by yacht to
Ryde, and thence back to Grosvenor Square. On 9 November the Earl, 'unattended', arrived at Heaton House for
his only and very brief visit of the year, and during the
rest of the month there were visits with the Countess to
Ryde, to the Duke of Beaufort at Badminton, and in early
December to the Duke of Wellington at Stratfield Saye.
By mid December they were at Grosvenor Square en
route for Melton Mowbray, but on 22 December they
were back in town en route for Stratfield Saye for Christmas. By 28 December the Earl was again in Grosvenor
Square.
Most of the journeyings of both the Earl of Verulam and
the Earl of Wilton were probably made by road, few railways having yet been built by 1841. Verulam's real home
was evidently at Gorhambury, and as this was little more
than twenty miles from London he seems to have spent
less time at his house in Grosvenor Square (around
seventeen weeks) than did the Earl of Wilton. Wilton's
country seat was much further away, and its proximity
to Manchester was perhaps already reducing its residential
attraction. (fn. b) To cater for his two principal sporting
interests of hunting and yachting he therefore had two
subsidiary houses out of town, at Melton Mowbray and
Ryde, plus a third, perhaps mainly for his wife and
family, at Tunbridge Wells. But it may be conjectured
that none of these gave him a social position out of town
comparable with that of Gorhambury for the Earl of
Verulam, who was Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire for
over twenty years. Despite his more numerous residences
Wilton therefore seems to have spent rather more time
in Grosvenor Square—around twenty-one weeks—than
Verulam.
Such influences of family heritage and of individual
personal preference no doubt greatly affected the way of
life of many other families moving about in the 'Fashionable World'. But it may be noted, firstly, that although
neither of them was prominent in politics, the movements
of both Verulam and Wilton conformed broadly with the
general pattern of seasonal migration based on the parliamentary sessions; and, secondly, that even in out-of-season times of the year they (and particularly Wilton)
were often in at least brief residence in Grosvenor Square.