It is impossible to list all the additions in the Extra Illustrated Edition of Hutchins, but several items catch your eye as you browse the second volume; the drawing of a maze at Pimperne, a rubbing of a coat of arms alongside sketches of archaeological finds from a house at Langton Long, the account of the life of highwayman Jack Withrington, and a whole Book of Psalms set to tunes that are composed by William Knapp and named after Dorset towns.
A list of members of the second battalion of the voluntary infantry 1806-1807 may be of use to those researching family history and the items concerning the Wesley family of Winterborne Whitchurch may be of interest to those looking into the beginnings of Methodism. These items include portraits of John Wesley’s father and an 80 page book by William Beale.
A letter from George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers, written in 1797 is included in the Wareham section. The letter concerns the calling out of the Dorsetshire Militia, of which he had been Colonel since 1757. There is also a receipt from 1769 for a disbursement paid to George Pitt whilst he was serving as His Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary to the King of Sardinia.
In the Blandford section you will find a portrait and letter by George’s cousin Christopher Pitt, who was a poet and translator, and there is a portrait of George’s daughter Louisa in the section on Iwerne Stepleton.
Louisa was married to Peter Beckford (owner of Stepleton House), but was infatuated with his cousin William Beckford (author of the Gothic novel Vathek), with whom she was having an affair. It is thought that she planned the sittings for this painting so that she could spend more time with William. She was reportedly of delicate health and the portrait shows her making an offering to Hygeia, the Greek goddess of health.
In 1766 Peter Beckford sponsored a young Italian musician named Muzio Clementi (1752-1832). Clementi lived with him at his Dorset estate until he was 21.
Clementi was an accomplished pianist and composer. On the 24th December 1781 at the Viennese court he took part in a contest against Mozart, which was judged by the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. The Emperor declared it a tie. Mozart used the opening motif of Clementi’s B-flat major sonata (Op. 24, No. 2) in his overture for the Magic Flute. A letter written by Clementi, his portrait and an article about Clementi and Beethoven are found in the book.
Finally this volume contains a number of newspaper cuttings.
There is a page of cuttings connected with smuggling at Poole and some describing the Great Fire of Wareham.
Our favourite is one that describes a plague of caterpillars descending on Wareham in 1750 and ‘devouring everything that was green’ before being blown out to sea! There is also a small cutting concerned with a curious tenure at Bryanston. Apparently those who held the tenure were obliged
‘when the King marched to war against either Scotland or Wales, to furnish a man to walk before him without any other cloaths than his shirt and drawers; holding in one hand a bow without a string, and in the other an arrow without a feather’
The cutting states the reason for this clause is lost to history, but if anyone has ideas about the story behind this we would love to hear them.
I believe it was William Beckford who wrote the novel spelt “Vathek” not Varthek
Regards
Hi Alan, thank-you for pointing that out, we have updated the post!