Teresa Cornellys was a native of Germany; and early showing an inclination to music, was brought up to it as a profession, and soon became celebrated on the Continent as a public singer. Having accumulated a considerable sum of money, she came to England, about 1757; and her fame gradually becoming known, she was induced, in 1763, to open Carlisle House, Soho Square, as a place of public entertainment. None but the upper classes were admitted, and the rooms were decorated in the most costly manner. Her balls, concerts, and masquerades soon gained great celebrity, being carried on in a most glaring and extravagant style. And this was not all: her masquerades were characterised, not only by indecency, but also by mockery of the most solemn feelings and principles. {157a} The lessees of the theatres were injured by her popularity, and stimulated the outcry which began to arise; and at length she was convicted before Sir John Fielding for performing dramatic entertainments without a licence. The opposition of the managers, and the Pantheon opening with a class of amusements somewhat similar in 1772, with the restraint imposed by the magistrate’s decision, combined to ruin her; and in August, 1772, her effects were sold by auction, and she became a bankrupt. {157b} The allusions to Mrs. Cornellys in contemporary literature are innumerable; Murphy, in his Epilogue to _Zobeide_, 1771, refers to her popularity:— “Oh, farewell! For her each haunt that charms a modern belle! Adieu, Almack’s! Cornellys’! masquerade! Sweet Ranelagh! Vauxhall’s enchanting shade!” &c. This allusion will suffice for one view of her career. The opposite is severely described by Combe, in his satire “The Diabolady,” published in 1777:— “The ready ministers of hell’s commands, Obedient fly, and take their several stands At Court, Cornellys’, and the Coterie; Where vice, more vicious by effrontery, Fearless, unblushing, braves the eternal laws Of God and man to aid the devil’s cause.” After her bankruptcy she followed her profession for several years at various places in London, but in 1785 was obliged to retire from the importunities of her creditors. Ten years after, to the great surprise of the public, she reappeared at Knightsbridge as Mrs. Smith, a retailer of asses’ milk. A suite of breakfast-rooms was opened; but her former influence could not be recovered. The speculation utterly failed; and at length she was consigned to the Fleet Prison. There she ended her shallow career, dying August 19, 1797. Immediately beyond the entrance to the Grove stood Messrs. Downing’s floor-cloth manufactory, formerly Morley and Downing’s. It was a pleasant detached house, with a clean white front, and conspicuous green verandahs. It was pulled down in 1823, and the manufacturing department removed to the King’s Road.