Authors, English -- 18th century -- Biography; Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754
We thus get the exact date of the occurrence, 14th November 1725 (_i._.
when Fielding was eighteen), the fact that he had been staying for some
time in Lyme at that date, and the name of his servant. In a further
letter of 14th May 1859, Mr. Roberts referred Mr. Keightley to Mr. James
Davidson, a Devon antiquary, in whose _History of Newenham Abbey_,
Longmans, 1843 (surely a most out-of-the-way source of information!), he
found the following, derived by the author from the Rhodes family (pp.
165, 166):
"The estate [of Shapwick, near Axminster] continued but a short time the
property of the noble family of Petre, being sold by William the fourth
baron, on the 10th of November 1670, to Solomon Andrew of Lyme Regis, a
gentleman, who possessed a considerable property obtained by his
ancestors and himself in mercantile affairs. From him it descended to
his only son, who died at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving two sons
and a daughter, the latter of whom, by the decease of her brothers,
became heiress to the estate. This young lady was placed under the
guardianship of Mr. Rhodes of Modbury, and her uncle, Mr. Tucker of
Lyme, in whose family she resided. At this time Henry Fielding, whose
very objectionable but once popular works have placed his name high on
the list of novel-writers, was an occasional visitor at the place, and
enraptured with the charms and the more solid attractions of Miss
Andrew, paid her the most assiduous attention. The views of her
guardians were, however, opposed to a connection with so dissipated,
though well-born and well-educated a youth, who is said to have in
consequence made a desperate attempt to carry the lady off by force on a
Sunday, when she was on her way to church. The residence of the heiress
was then removed to Modbury, and the disappointed admirer found
consolation in the society of a beauty at Salisbury whom he married."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account