Untold lives blog

A recent acquisition provided a rare opportunity to find out about the first owner of an early piece of erotic literature. Mr. F----'s Adventures in Petticoats Compleat, published in London in 1749, has a cross-dressing bisexual narrator – making it as much a source for historical research into gender and sexuality as a work of fiction. The front cover of the binding has the bold lettering ‘Jackman Foote 1749’. He was evidently the gentleman who first purchased this work and had it bound, with no apparent shame about owning it.

The name Jackman Foote is so distinctive that it seemed worth undertaking some research to try and discover his identity. A very little work on the FamilySearch website turned up a Jackman Foote baptised at St Mary in Truro, Cornwall on 16 April 1724, the son of Henry Foote and his wife Jane, and buried at St Clement in Cornwall on 2 March 1758. The will of Jackman Foote ‘Esquire’ survives in the National Archives at Kew. He makes bequests for bread for the poor in the parishes where he was baptised and buried, specifies that his ‘wearing apparel (except my watchs rings Buckles and sleeve buttons)’ be divided between his menservants and Charles Wilson of Truro and leaves ‘my chest of mechanicall tools and all other my tools of that sort or kind’ to Johnson Vivian of Truro. He leaves the residue of his estate to his ‘brother-in-law John Foote’. At the time the will was signed, on 21 May 1757, John Foote was still a minor. Indeed, he may well have been the John Foote, son of Henry Foote and his wife Mary, baptised at St. Clement on 20 September 1744.  In this case, the term ‘brother-in-law’ obviously does not have the more usual meaning of a sister’s husband. John was presumably Jackman’s nearest surviving relative. Perhaps the two were half-brothers.

Unfortunately, the will makes no mention of any books and Mr. F---'s Adventures in Petticoats Compleat contains no other evidence of its first owner. We cannot be certain that the Jackman Foote from Cornwall was the man who, at the age of about twenty-five, purchased an erotic novel published in London, but the possibility is there.

Moira Goff
Curator, Printed Historical Sources 1501-1800

References
Mr. F----'s Adventures in Petticoats, Compleat. In Three Parts. London: printed for E. Pen, 1749. C.194.a.1229

Will of Jackman Foote, proved 8 November 1758. National Archives. P.C.C. PROB 11/841.

With the 2012 Paralympics just finished and memories of the enormously successful London Olympics no doubt still fresh, we return to the story of Calcutta-born Norman Pritchard, who was mentioned in an earlier Untold Lives post.
 
Norman Gilbert Pritchard was born on 23 June 1875 the first child of George and Margaret Pritchard, his father then being employed as an accountant in the Public Works Department. (It might be inferred from this that whatever sporting genes he inherited came from his mother's side of the family.)  Unusually, he has not one but two baptismal certificates, for 15 August 1875 (IOR/N/1/153/87) and 28 January 1883 (IOR/N/1/186/244).
 
Pritchard was an amazingly talented sportsman. In his late teens he won the first of seven consecutive Bengal Province 100 yard sprint titles, as well as honing his skills on the football field where he scored at least one hat-trick. At the second Olympiad in Paris in 1900 he won not one but two silver medals, in the 200 metres and the 200 metre hurdles, and came a creditable fifth in the final of the 110 metre hurdles; in an age when leading athletes rarely take part in more than two events in any one Games, one can speculate that he would have performed even better had he not chosen to enter the 60 metre and 100 metre sprints too.

1908 Olympic Games Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News

 Images Online © The British Library Board

Back in Calcutta he served for two years as the secretary of the Indian Football Association while still participating in athletics competitions – The Times of India of 10 October 1899 reports his travelling to Bombay to set a national record in the 120 yard hurdles, and on 28 February 1901 the same paper touched upon his unsuccessful attempt to beat his own quarter mile record, at a meet where Lady Curzon had been announced as presenting the prizes but failed to appear. He is listed in Thacker's Indian Directory as an assistant working for the firm Bird & Co. while living at 3 Lansdowne Road in Calcutta, but he must have become bored with this humdrum existence after his days of Olympic glory.  He seems to have left India for the last time in 1905, eventually finding his way to the United States. Here his career took an altogether different turn, for not only did he appear in a number of plays on Broadway, he later moved further west to feature in several silent films under the name Norman Trevor. He died in California in 1929.
 
There remains to this day a degree of confusion as to whether he was competing for India or for Great Britain, but what is certain is that he was the first Indian-born athlete to win an Olympic medal.
  
Hedley Sutton
Asian and African Studies Reference Team Leader

What a difference 220 years make!

Here is a reveller at the Reading Festival in 2007 -

Reveller at Reading Festival - author's photograph

And here is the programme for the far more sedate Reading Music Festival of August 1787. Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabaeus was performed to an audience who no doubt remained fully clothed throughout and refrained from painting themselves purple.

The programme is found in a scrapbook belonging to Sir Charles Marsh (1735-1805), one of the stewards at the event.  Marsh was an important figure in Reading society: JP; Commissioner of income tax; and Commissioner for the sale of land tax. He had been an officer in the British Army, serving with the 84th Foot in India during the Seven Years War.  Having returned to England with a considerable fortune, he invested as founding partner in the Berkshire and Reading Bank which opened in Friar Street Reading in 1788.

Sir Charles's scrapbook contains a variety of interesting and perhaps surprising papers.  We shall be sharing more of them in future posts on Untold Lives.

Margaret Makepeace
Lead Curator, East India Company Records

Further reading:

IOPP/MSS Eur C426 Sir Charles Marsh's papers
T. A. B. Corley, 'The earliest Reading Bank: March, Deane & Co, 1788-1815' in Berks Archaeological Journal, vol. 66

“Bookbinders were not considered as important people – hardly worthy of notice”. In such circumstances, it was inadvisable for a craftsman to cross swords with an exacting employer. Thomas Elliott was one of several binders who worked on the large and splendid Harleian Library (founded by Robert Harley in 1704), supervised by its rigorous librarian, Humfrey Wanley.  Elliott’s bills, on deposit at the British Library, reveal that from 1720-29, his work for the library earned him £609 16s 5d.  But this was not easy money. Wanley’s diary entries reveal a battle of wills between librarian and binder with Wanley accusing Elliott of negligence, questioning his costs (“I found him exceedingly dear in all the Work of Marocco-Turkey- & Russia-Leather; besides that of Velvet”) and criticising the “vicious lettering,” a task which Elliott had apparently palmed off onto his employees.  Elliott stood up for himself (Wanley tells us he argued that “no man can do so well as himself”) but it was clear that the librarian had the upper hand. 

E L L - British Library Harleian Ms.3976 

In 1966, an interesting discovery was made in an edition of Wanley’s diary edited by C.E. and Ruth C.Wright. The spines of two books had not been decorated in the prescribed way.  In the middle of each of the spine panels was a small circle enclosing a letter which, put together, formed Elliott’s name!  So maybe Elliott had the last laugh after all.

Philippa Marks
Curator, Bookbindings; Printed Historical Sources

Further reading:

Ellic Howe, A list of London bookbinders 1648 -1815 (London, 1950).
H. M. Nixon, ‘Harleian Bindings’ in Studies in the book trade in honour of Graham Pollard (Oxford, 1975), 153-94.
Lansdowne MSS:771-2: The diary of Humfrey Wanley, 1715-1726, 2 vols, (London, 1966).
British Library Harleian Mss. 2768 and 3976.

As promised in the Untold Lives posting of 21 May featuring Engelbert Humperdinck and Cliff Richard, here are more revelations about celebrities from the world of entertainment.

It is a curious fact that during the second decade of the twentieth century no fewer than four baby girls were born in different parts of India who in their adult lives were to find enduring fame on the silver screen. Their birth and baptismal details can be traced in the 'N' series of the India Office Records, that treasure trove of genealogical data about Europeans who were born, married or died somewhere in the sub-continent prior to independence in 1947.  
 
The eldest of the quartet came into the world as Estelle Merle Thompson in Bombay on 18 February 1911 (IOR/N/3/105 f.27). As Merle Oberon, she starred in films such as The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), The Dark Angel (1935) and Wuthering Heights (1939). Her nickname 'Queenie' is thought to derive from the visit of Queen Mary, along with her husband the King Emperor George V, to India for the Delhi Durbar when she was less than one year old.
 
The 'V. Mary Hartley' born in Darjeeling in Bengal on 5 November 1913 to new parents Ernest and Gertrude (IOR/N/1/392 f.165) is the only Oscar winner of the four. She was to leave the country of her birth in 1920 to be educated back in England and, taking the surname of her first husband, gained cinematic immortality as Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind (1939) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1952). She won the coveted statuette for her performances in these two films. 

Fashion designer Pierre Balmain and Vivien Leigh, during a fitting in Paris  1960. Images Online

 
A mere six months separate the births of Margaret Lockwood and Googie Withers, on 15 September 1916 and 12 March 1917 respectively (IOR/ N/3/116 f.210 and IOR/N/1/420 f.210). Margaret Mary Lockwood was born in Karachi the daughter of Henry Lockwood, a District Traffic Superintendent on the North Western Railway. Edgar Withers served as an officer in the Indian Navy (IOR/L/MIL/16/4 ff.336-7), although by the time of his daughter Georgette Lizette's birth in Mussoorie in the United Provinces he had transferred to the Intelligence Department. This is almost certainly the Indian Political Intelligence Department (files in IOR/L/PJ/12). We know that the professional paths of the two actresses crossed on at least one occasion: Margaret Lockwood has the more important part in Alfred Hitchcock's classic film The Lady Vanishes, but Googie Withers takes one of the minor roles as her friend. It is perhaps not too fanciful to imagine the two of them reminiscing between takes on set about their different childhood experiences of India.   
 
Dorian Leveque and Hedley Sutton
Reference Specialists, Asian and African Studies

'Royaume Uni, Douze Points’
 
This is what all patriotic British viewers will be hoping to hear during the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest, which this year takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 26 May. National hopes rest upon the shoulders and larynx of Engelbert Humperdinck, who - as readers of this blog may be surprised to hear - has a direct link to the holdings of the India Office Records at the British Library.
 
Engelbert Humperdinck is not his real name!  He was born Arnold George Dorsey on 2 May 1936 at Royapuram, Madras, the son of Mervyn Dorsey of the Port Trust and his wife Olive. As well as Arnold’s baptism record from St. Mary's Cathedral in Madras, the India Office Records has a birth registration for him. It is quite unusual for there to be both birth and baptism entries since birth registration was never a legal requirement in India during the Raj.

With the utmost respect to past and present members of the Dorsey family, one can appreciate why his showbiz manager might have thought that staying as plain A.G.D. would spell career death. After a spell of releasing records as Gerry Dorsey, his career was relaunched in the swinging Sixties using the name of a German composer born in 1858 who was most famous for his opera ’Hansel & Gretel’.

  ‘Nul points’ again?

‘Hansel and Gretel crying’ from A Child's Book of Stories (1913) © The British Library Board   Images Online

And going off at a complete tangent to think of other Engelberts in the British Library, we should not forget Engelbert Kaempfer of Japan fame.

Engelbert Humperdinck is not the only Eurovision Song Contest entrant who appears in the India Office Records. He would have been four years old when Harry Rodger Webb, now better known as Cliff Richard, came into the world in Lucknow on 14 October 1940.

Messrs Dorsey and Webb are just two of a number of famous figures from the world of entertainment who appear in the India Office Records and who will be the subject of future posts in Untold Lives. 

John Chignoli and Hedley Sutton
Reference Specialists, Asian and African Studies

To commemorate VE Day on 8 May 1945, we have a story from guest blogger Dr Florian Stadtler -

The contribution made by South Asians living in Britain to the war effort on the Home Front in World War II remains little known. One organisation, run by South Asian and British women, played a particular important function. An entirely voluntary organisation, the Indian Comforts Fund (ICF) worked in close cooperation with the Indian Red Cross and St John’s Ambulance Service.

Founded in 1939 by the Dowager Viscountess Chelmsford, it was a registered war charity approved by the Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry to provide for the war needs of Indian troops in Europe and lascar seamen, often stranded for long periods of time in Britain as sea routes became increasingly disrupted. During the war years, an estimated 30,000 Indian seamen arrived in British ports annually. The Fund was headquartered at India House Aldwych, where the Indian High Commissioner had made available space as a depot and accommodation for the working parties, including the food parcel packing centre.

Inspection of the food packing centre for Indian POWs by Queen Elizabeth, February 1942 [IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2327]

The Fund acted officially as next-of-kin for all Indian prisoners of war and civilian internees in Europe. It coordinated the packing of over 1.6 million food parcels, which were regularly shipped to the International Red Cross in Geneva, from where they would be distributed to the internment camps. The work of the Fund reached its peak in 1943 when the number of Indian internees in Europe had risen to 14,000. The parcels contained special Indian foodstuffs, including dhal, curry powder, ghee, atta and rice. The ICF also sent over 75,400 parcels with warm clothing, which were produced by some 100,000 knitters in the UK who the ICF supplied with wool and whose work it oversaw.

In Britain, the ICF also supported the entertainment of Indian troops and seamen, providing gifts such as gramophone records, books and sporting equipment. The Fund organised weekly leave parties for Indian soldiers to visit London, and introduced a hospital visiting scheme. The Fund’s workload grew exponentially through the war years, until it was wound up at the end of 1945.

Florian Stadtler
Research Associate, 'Beyond the Frame: Indian British Connections' project, The Open University

Find out more about the Indian Comforts Fund:

Asians in Britain and Making Britain

IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2327 Indian Comforts Fund Progress Report October 1941 to March 1942

ORW.1986.a.189 War record of the Indian Comforts Fund December 1939 to December 1945

Captain Michael Anthony Shrapnel Biddulph was posted to Turkey in 1854, and shortly afterwards to the Crimea, where he served with distinction as assistant engineer of the Royal Artillery, and later as director of submarine telegraphs in the Black Sea. Decorated by the French and Turkish governments, in 1856 he was promoted Brevet Lieutenant Colonel. In 1858 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Ottoman Telegraph, overseeing the construction of telegraph cable lines in Turkey-in-Asia.

 
Vignette taken from Plan of a Portion of the Constantinople and Bussorah [Basra] Line of Telegraph. War Office, 1860. Maps R.U.S.I. A20.4.

 His frequent absence from this work may have been a factor in his departure after the Ottoman government failed to renew his contract in 1859. Although pleading illness, it seems that he was in fact visiting Lady Katherine Stamati, who he had met during his service in the Crimean War, and had subsequently married. Lady Katherine was the daughter of the second-in-command of Russian forces at Balaklava, following which battle her father had been imprisoned by the Allies, first at Constantinople and later at Malta. His eventual release at Odessa, after the war, was arranged by his son-in-law.

Vignette taken from Plan of a Portion of the Constantinople and Bussorah [Basra] Line of Telegraph. War Office, 1860. Maps R.U.S.I. A20.4.

Colonel Biddulph later served in a command role during the 2nd Afghan War in 1879. After his active military career he held various posts at Court, receiving the G.C.B. in 1895, and was appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in 1896.

Biddulph was also an accomplished artist, as can be seen from these examples of his work. His views of the Crimea were published by Colnaghi following the war, and three of his watercolours of the Bosphorus are in the Victoria & Albert Museum, together with a fine view of Ali Masjid Fort, Afghanistan, done in 1890.        

Crispin Jewitt
Specialist Advisor
British Library Cartographic and Topographic Materials

Sources:
Dictionary of national biography.

Bektas, Yakup. The Sultan's Messenger: Cultural Constructions of Ottoman Telegraphy, 1847-1880. Technology and Culture, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct., 2000).

Biographical information about the Stamati and Biddulph families 

British Library items:

Plan of a Portion of the Constantinople and Bussorah Line of Telegraph Laid under the Direction of Lt Col. Biddulph, R.A. Drawn by Lt Holdsworth, R.A. Lithographed at the Topographical Department, War Office, Col. Sir H. James, R.E. F.R.S. M.R.I.A. &c. Director. 1860. 1:63,360.  103 × 67cm.
BL Maps 43995.(15.)
BL Maps R.U.S.I. A20.4.

View of the Country in front of Balaklava Representing the scene of the memorable Light Cavalry Charge, 25th October, 1854; with the Russian Outposts at Kamara. From a Sketch by Major Biddulph, R.A. Lithographed & Printed at the Topographical & Statistical Depôt, War Department, Lt Col. T.B. Jervis, Director, 25th October, 1856. 92 × 38cm. BL 1781.d.7.(9.) BL Maps C.49.f.25.(5.)