The Queen's Birthday Ball in Bath 1765

The Bath Chronicle of 24th January 1765 reported:

"On Friday last [18th January] being the Celebration of the Queen's Birthday"

Queen Charlotte

Since Queen Charlotte was born on the 19th May this must have been the date set for the official birthday celebrations a practice introduced in the reign of George III's grandfather George II. In 1765, Charlotte was 21.

The Chronicle's account continues:

"the same was observed here with the greatest Marks of Loyalty and Rejoicing; the Morning was ushered in with ringing at One o'Clock at Noon the Guns at Mr Simpsons were fired off, at night the was a subscription ball in his rooms by the order of the Master of the Ceremonies,"

Samuel Derrick

At this time, the Master of Ceremonies was the notorious Irish writer Samuel Derrick. The Chronicle's account continues.

"........ the appearance of the company was more splendid than was ever known: there were near fifty minuets danced, and it is thought there were near six hundred people present; who were all dressed with a brilliancy [sic] and elegance that seemed peculiarly adapted to the night."

It is worth noting that Simpson's rooms were 50 feet in length; 36 feet in breadth and feet 30 in height so 600 people would have had 3 square feet each if they were all in the ballroom and this ignores the additional space required for the numerous servants and the musicians and the furniture including benches to allow people to sit and watch. [1]

It seems that the evening did not go off entirely smoothly as the Chronicle goes on to tell us that:

"The Master of the Ceremonies at Bath finds himself under the necessity to republish the following rules.

1. That no Gentleman present himself  for a minuet, except in full dress; or at least in a full dress French frock suit. Regimentals are an exception, being every where a proper dress.

2, That no Lady can dance minuets, without a full dress hoop and lappet head.

3. That no Lady can dance country dances with A HOOP OF ANY KIND, and no lady that attempts it can be angry at being desired to sit down, her standing up being against rule:"

Bearing in mind the restricted space and the large numbers the re-iteration of and emphasis in this rule suggest that Derrick and his assistance must have faced some very awkward situations on the night.

He goes on to point out to Ladies that:

"there is a retirement, always ready, and a maid-servant to assist those that chuse [sic] to put off their hoops."

The last rule is a little harder to understand.

"4, Gentlemen in LEATHER-BREECHES must undergo the same fate with the country dancers hoops; there being no servant to assist them."

1. The New Bath Guide, or, Useful pocket companion ... To which is added, a Sketch of the life, character &c. of the late Richard Nash, etc.] Bath: C. Pope, [1765?]

A Concert and Ball in Wiltshire's Rooms 1761

David Richards who was to benefit from the proceeds of this event was a leading Bath bandleader and violinist of this time.

Wiltshire's Rooms were the Assembly Rooms on the Parades, the site is now occupied by York street. They had been called Wiltshire since they had been taken into the ownership of the Wiltshire family in 1744. The Wiltshire's were a very wealthy and influential Bath family who made their money as carriers, transporting high-value goods between London and Bath and as bankers. They also had a monopoly on selling Bath water in London.  In 1761, they were being run by John Wiltshire on behalf of his family.

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

The Italian Pergolesi had composed his Stabat Mater in 1736 shortly before his death at the age of 26. He was principally known as a composer of operas and, in particular, comic operas. The piece was composed for soprano, alto, string orchestra and basso continuo.

Thomas Norris was at this time singing as a soprano. Norris was born in Wiltshire but had gained his musical education as a chorister a Salisbury Cathedral and later at Oxford University.

Thomas Linley with the support of his many talented children became the leading figure in Bath music. At this time, he was known primarily as a tenor, an organist, harpsichordist and teacher.

At 5s, the ticket price was roughly £20 at today's values.

A Bouree or Fleuret Step in the 1720s

English dancing master and choreographer Kellom Tomlinson (born c.1690, died after 1753) was the author of The art of dancing explained by reading and figures. Although completed in 1724, the cost of printing the thirty-five full-page plates precluded publication until 1735.

Of the BOUREE-STEP or FLEURET.

The Bouree is composed of three plain straight Steps or Walks, except the first, which begins in a Movement, and is to be performed in the same Method, as the Half Coupee, or Coupee with two Movements, that is to fay, must always fink, at the Beginning of the Step or Walk, and rife at, or gradually before the End of it; which is the Manner in which the first Step is usually taken, in the Performance of all Steps, except Springs, Bounds, Hops, or Chaffees, &c. wherefore, for the Future, I need not say any more of the Method of beginning these Sorts of Steps, in Dancing, otherwise than to make a Movement, without mentioning how the Sink and Rife are to be made, since they have been already explained.

A Bouree or Fleuret, as I have observed, consists only of three plain straight Steps; but a Movement is added to the first of them, the Rife of which Movement, as has been said, always strikes the Cadence or Time; and, if this Step is done to a Tune of three Notes in a Measure, the first Step answers to the first Note, the second Step to the fame Note, and the third Step to the last Note of the Measure, concluding together.

You are also to note, that tho' in the Bouree there are three distinct Walks or Steps, yet nevertheless, these three Steps are to be esteem'd but as one Step, in Regard of its being a composed Step; as will appear by the Half Coupee, which, tho' no more than a single Step, is, however, a Step, because it generally takes up a Measure, but more especially in Tunes of triple Time; and it is made by a smooth and easy Bending of the Knees, rising in a flow and gentle Motion from thence; which Rising, as I have said, is upon the first Note of the Measure, the Weight of the Body being supported by the Foot that made the Step, during the Counting of the second and third Notes of the Bar.

The graceful Posture of the Dancer's Standing adds not a little to the Beauty of this Step, who, 'till the Time be expired, is to wait or rest; by which it is evident, that the Half Coupee, tho' a single Step, is equal, in Value, to any compound Step whatsoever, whether of two, three, four, or more Steps in a Measure.

But to return, the Bouree-Step may be perform'd various Ways, as forwards, backwards, sideways, crossing before, the fame behind, before and behind, behind and before, &c (e), the Explanation of which, I think, may not be improper, in this Place; and therefore I shall proceed to shew the Method of their Performance, one after the other, in the Order above set down, except the Fleurets forwards and backwards; which being so intelligible of themselves, and having Occasion hereafter to speak of this Step, by way of Grace to the Minuet, instead of saying any thing farther of them here, I shall begin with the Bouree-Step crossing before, sideways; which is to be perform'd, as follows, either with the right or left Foot: For Instance, provided you begin with the Latter, the Weight must be on the right (f); and the left Foot, which is at Liberty, commences by making a Movement and Step, to the right Side of the Room, crossing before the Foot on which the Body rests†, the Face being to the Upper Part of the Room, and it receives the Weight. The second is the right Foot, which steps the fame Way; and the third and last, which is with the left, crosses before, as at first, only without a Movement∥. The Bouree crossing behind, sideways, differs from the Former in this, that whereas that was before, this is behind; that is to fay, the Weight being, as aforesaid, the left Foot, instead of making the Movement and first Step crossing before the right, it now is made crossing behind it; and the next Step, which is with the right Foot, moves the same Way, after which the third and last Step with the left Foot is drawn behind the right, and concludes. The Bouree before and behind is, when the first Movement and Step are made crossing before the Foot on which the Weight is, whether right or left, the second Step moving sideways, the fame Way, and the third drawn behind it, facing upwards, as before. The Bouree behind and before is done in the like Manner, only the first Step is not cross'd before but behind, the second stepping sideways, and the third drawn crossing before. The Bouree, which I call twice behind, is made as follows: Suppose, for Example, you make a Movement, stepping backwards with the right Foot, into the third Position inclos'd behind the left on which the Weight is, and releasing it; upon which it makes the second Step of the Bouree, in a plain Step backwards, receiving the Weight inclos'd in the third Position behind the right, which then performs the third Step of the Bouree, in a plain Step forwards.

There are many other Ways of performing this Step, which would be too tedious to be mention'd here; and, as they are not to my present Purpose, omitting them, I shall only observe, that this Step, continued several Measures, changes the Foot, every Step, as has been taken Notice of in the Half Coupee; but with this Difference, that whereas the Half Coupee changes the Weight, every single Step, as in Walking, the Bouree or Fleuret only changes it, at the End of every third Step.

Bath Theatre Rivalries

In "The New Bath Guide, or Useful Pocket Companion; Necessary For all Persons residing at, or resorting to, this ancient and opulent City." published in 1762, we learn that:

"There are likewise two Theatres here; one situated on Orchard Street, which was built by subscription in the year 1750, by twelve of the inhabitants; the other was built by the late Mr Simpson, under his long-room; the lower part of the latter is exactly the model of Drury-Lane Theatre, and the stage is much wider than that at Orchard Street, At present this house is shut up in consideration of a yearly sum paid to Mr Simpson by Mr Palmer, who is now the chief proprietor of the Theatre in Orchard Street; where they perform (during the season) four times each week viz. Mondays, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday."

Simpson had created the Theatre in the basement of his Assembly Rooms to exploit the opportunity created by the demolition of Bath's first theatre built in 1705 by George Trim, after whom Trim Street is named, which stood at the corner of what is now Parsonage Lane. This was demolished in 1738 to make way for the Mineral Water Hospital.

In 1747, John Hippisley, a successful actor on the London stage but born in Somerset, suggested that Bath players and playgoers needed and deserved better facilities than those provided by Simpson and his rivals in Kingsmead Street.

His proposal for a "regular, commodious theatre" was well received by everyone except the proprietors of the theatre at Simpson's Rooms. The site for the new theatre in Orchard-street was chosen by John Wood,

Hippisley's sudden death created a crisis that was overcome only by the intervention of John Palmer, a wealthy brewer and chandler. He was the father of John Palmer, who became famous for his invention of the Mail Coach system.

The new theatre opened on 27th October 1750.

The Interior of the Orchard Street Theatre

There followed a period of intense commercial rivalry. A play performed at one theatre on one night would be put on at the rival establishment the following evening or even the same night. The manager of Simpson's, Henry Brown, complained that his carpenter and machinist had been got dead drunk and abducted to Orchard Street. Brown himself was lured to work at Orchard Street 2 years after making this complaint.

Nearly six years on, neither the new theatre nor the theatre at Simpson's was doing much more than covering its costs, and John Palmer offered Simpson £600 a year to stop hosting performances. The last performance as the Rooms took place in 1756, with a performance of Henry VIII in a programme that included a farce called Harlequin's Vagaries.

Mlle Roland Bath Teacher of Dance - the Italian Connection

Nicholas Roland was the leading dancer at the Court of the Duke of Mantua. His eldest daughter, Catherine, seems to have been born in Venice about 1714 or 15. The Duchy of Mantua had been annexed by Austria in 1708.

The Duke of Mantua,
attributed to Jacob Denys (1706)

His next and youngest daughter, Ann (some early sources give he name as Ame), may have been born in 1725. There also seems to have been a brother, Francis, about whom little is known.

Catherine and her father seem to have first danced together in Lyon in 1729 or 1730, and Catherine made her solo debut at the Theatre Italien in Paris in 1732.

She left Paris in 1734 to dance with her father in London. By October of that year, she was dancing with the French dancer and choreographer Michael Poitier, among others. Sometime around this time, Catherine and Poiter seem to have become lovers.

Poitier and Catherine had gained such a loyal following that their failure to appear as advertised caused significant disturbances in theatres.

On the 18th of November, 1735, Catherine was joined on stage at Drury Lane by her sister Ann, who had just arrived from Paris.

In 1736, the Grub Street Journal provided the following description of Mlle Roland's, probably Catherine's, style of dance.

"at the end of each dance, she is lifted by Poitier, that she may cut the higher and represent to the whole house as immodest a sight as the most abandoned women in Drury Lane can shew. Her whole behavior is of a stamp with this; during the whole dance, her only endeavour is to shew above her knees as often as she can."

From 1736 to 1739, Catherine seems to have performed at Drury Lane while Ann was attached to the company at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Both sisters appeared to have joined the company at Covent Garden and partnered with Poitier. Catherine seems to have left the company for the 1740 - 1741 season.

Catherine renewed her Drury Lane performance for the 1741 - 42 season before she and Poitier left England. Ann continued to perform as a singer and dancer in London throughout this time and may have performed in Ireland in 1743.  An advert in the Bath Journal of 1744 announces her arrival in Bath and her intention to offer classes in spoken French and Dancing to young ladies either at their own homes or at her lodgings in Jame's Street.

Sometime around 1746, Ann married the violinist Francis Fleming, who was earning his living playing for the company in the main public rooms. In his semi-autobiographical novel, Francis suggests he married Ann to improve his business under the mistaken impression he was marrying her more famous sister!

Together, the couple initiated annual benefit concerts and balls at the assembly rooms, including display pieces; for instance, in 1747, Mrs Fleming is reported to have performed a French peasant dance. After a dozen or so active years as the principal dancing teacher in the city, Fleming's wife died from a lingering illness at the Hotwells in 1759.

She left three children, two of them 13-year-old Anna Teresa and the 10-year-old Kitty, who would go on to feature prominently in the expanding dance teaching industry in Bath.

Waltzing in 1816

An illustration of the attitudes and movements in German and French waltzing taken from "A Description Of The Correct Method Of Waltzing, The Truly Fashionable Species Of Dancing, That, from the graceful and pleasing Beauty of its Movements, has obtained on ascendancy over every other Department of that Polite Branch of Education." By the dancing master, Thomas Wilson published in 1816.

Notice illustration number 7 with the lady's arms crossed behind her waist and the gentlemen's hands placed on the lady's waist on each side.

The Waltz had been recently introduced to respectable society in England by Dorothea Lieven the wife of the Russian Ambassador a leader of society, invitations to her house were the most sought after in London, and she was the first foreigner to be elected a patroness of Almack's, London's most exclusive social club.

Dorothea Lieven

Wood's Hornpipe

From A Companion to the Ball Room by Wilson, Thomas Published in 1816

From Wilson Companion to Ballroom 1816