Old times : $b A picture of social life at the end of the eighteenth centuryAshton, John
History
Old times : $b A picture of social life at the end of the eighteenth century
Ashton, John
Great Britain -- Social life and customs
After 1782 Carlisle House seems to have been shut up; on 28 June 1785,
Christie sold the furniture, China, and other effects; and in 1788 the
old Mansion was pulled down, and what was the grand Saloon has been
altered into a Roman Catholic Chapel, St. Patrick's, Soho.
There is no record of Madame for some years, but we know from
Newspaper notices, that in 1792 she took a large house and grounds in
Knightsbridge Road, formerly occupied by a dealer in Asses milk, and
converted it into a "female archery."
Luck was against her, this failed; she was very old, had fought her
fight, and now the refuge for the remainder of her days was the Fleet
Prison. There, however, she met with kindness from friends, and help
from her daughter, who was very accomplished, and no more is heard of
her, until the paragraph in the _Times_, which heads this memoir.
"Masquerade at Marlboro House.
"At the Duchess of Marlborough's Gala, on Wednesday evening, one
of the principal ornaments was the _statute_ of Precedency,
elegantly illuminated, in variegated lamps over the grand
entrance. Lyon, Clarencieux, and Garter, Kings-at-Arms, in their
coats of office, were stationed in the hall, and marshalled the
guests upon their arrival. Upon the first landing place, were Her
Grace's Vice-Chamberlain, and three Masters of the Ceremonies,
attended by deputy Masters, and the Pages of the Presence, and
back staircase. In the antechamber, covers were provided for the
Lord Mayor, and Sheriffs of London, whose pease were said to be
served cold, but his Lordship eat his peaches without hazarding
any remarks. His Mace was thought to be one of the finest pieces
of sculpture ever executed in pastry. It contained a fine
pine-apple in the capital, with a beautiful crown in
Naples-biscuit, and his chair was entirely composed of barley
sugar drops. In the next room were the Barons and Baronesses, the
newly created ones next the door, and the premier Baron very
near, but not in contact with the lowest Viscount, in the
corridor of the third chamber. The Lord Chamberlain, the Lords of
the Bedchamber, the Gold and Silver Sticks, &c., had their wands
of the best double refined sugar, excepting the Gold Stick, whose
staff was of barley-sugar, or as some say sugar-candy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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