Excerpts from The Court Journal

Gazette of Fashionable Life

Saturday, November 2, 1833

COURT AND FASHIONABLE LIFE

— Their Majesties have appeared in public every day since their arrival. On Wednesday the Queen, accompanied by the Earl and Countess Howe, Miss Mitchel (Maid of Honour), Lord Elphinston, and Lieut.-Colonel Horace Seymour (Equerry in Waiting), walked for some time on the Old Steyne; from thence the Royal party proceeded to the chain pier, and after passing over that part lately damaged, went on to the extremity, where her Majesty embarked on board Captain Brown’s boat, which was rowed by Lieut. Colonel Seymour and the Gallant Captain, eastward, passing Kemp Town, to near Rottingdean, and back to the pier head, where her Majesty landed, and returned to the Palace, with her suite, after one o’clock.

— Her Majesty enjoyed a very delightful aquatic excursion on Thursday, in company with Lady Howe, Lord Errol, and Capt. Browne. The Royal party were at sea for more than two hours, and ventured, in consequence of the serenity of the day, upwards of four miles from the Chain Pier.

— We are happy to state that a letter has been received from his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, which holds out some prospect of the restoration of the sight of Prince George. His medical attendant had reported to his Royal Highness that the applications he had made to the eyes of the young Prince were operating to the extent of his most favourable expectations, and he was far from being without hope that eventually a cure might be effected. The Royal Duke has, we believe, in consequence, engaged his house at Berlin for two years longer.

— The apartments of the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria in Kensington Palace, are preparing for the reception of their Royal Highnesses, who are expected in town in the course of the ensuing week.

— The Earl and Countess of Burlington are expected to arrive at Burlington House, Piccadilly, in the ensuing week, where it is expected they will remain during the winter. The Earl and Countess are at present at his Lordship’s beautiful seat, Compton Place, Eastbourne.

— Lord Lansdowne comes to town shortly, from Bowood, Wilts; and Lord Grey is expected in a few days, from the North. The Minister’s presence is looked for in the Grand Civic Banquet at Guildhall, to attend which several other Members of the Administration will visit the metropolis.

— Lady Georgiana Curzon, daughter of the Earl and Countess Howe, is a great favourite with their Majesties, and very frequently accompanies the King in his carriage drives. Lady Georgiana, who is the only daughter of the Earl and Countess, is now in her eighth year.

— Lord Holland is again indisposed by an attack of gout. His Lordship is in treaty for the mansion of the Countess of Sandwich, in Dover street, as a temporary residence for the ensuing season.

— A paragraph has gone the round of the papers, stating that her Royal Highness the Princess Sophia, and Sir Henry Halford, her physician, are to be married, if the Parliament will consent to an act, authorizing her Royal Highness to espouse a Commoner. The long and intimate friendship subsisting between the Princess and Sir Henry, seems to have given rise to this extraordinary story.

— Lord Lindsay, eldest son of the Earl of Balcarras, became of age on the 16th instant,when the event was celebrated at Haigh Hall, the seat of the Noble Earl, in Lancashire, and at Eastferry Abbey, in Fifeshire. Lord and Lady Balcarras and family have recenntly returned from a short Continental tour.

— Sir John Cam Hobhouse has taken the mansion and estate of Basildon Park, near Reading, where the Right Hon. Baronet, with his lady (a sister of the Marquis of Tweedale) and family, will reside until the commencement of the next season.

— The Marquis and Marchioness of Ailesbury have taken their departure for the Continent. They proceed on a visit, in the first instance, to the Count and Countess Daniskiold at S
tockholm. The stay of the Noble Marquis abroad is expected to be of some duration, his Lordship having much diminished his establishments, both at Tottenham Park, in Wiltshire, and in Grosvenor-squarc. The Marquis and Marchioness have been paying a farewell visit during the last week to the venerable Countess of Dysart (grandmother of her Ladyship), at Ham House, Richmond, where there was a party of the Tollcmache family assembled to meet them. Count and Countess Daniskiold (Lady Elizabeth Bruce) took their departure for Denmark some weeks ago. The Count is nearly allied to the reigning Royal Family of that country.

— Lord Ranelagh and Lord Lowther are on the Rhine with a very numerous circle of English fashionables. The Dowager Lady Ranelagh and the Lady Emily are also there.

— Lord Saye and Sele has been in town some days with his son, the Hon. Fynes Twisleton. His Lordship has quitted his late residence in Bruton-street for one more suitable in Lower Grosvenor-street.

Marchioness of Londonderry

— The Marquis and Marchioness of Londonderry will entertain a large party of the Nobility, now in the North, at their magnificent seat, Wynyard House, in the ensuing month. The mansion has recently received a valuable acquisition in the splendid stained glass window, formerly the property of the Hon. Mrs Beaumont. French plays, in which the young daughters of the Marchioness (the Lady Seaham) are to sustain characters, will form part of the amusements.

— Lieut-General Sir Hussey Vivian and his bride have arrived in town from Dublin. The gallant General’s locum lenens, during his absence on leave, as Commandcr-in Chief of the Forces in Ireland, is Major-General Sir Edward Blakeney, K.C. B., of the Leinster district. Captain Charles Vivian, of the 7th Hussars, eldest son of Sir Hussey, is the new Military Secretary to his father, in the room of Colonel Lord Templemore, resigned. The duties, however, of this office are chiefly executed by the Assistant Secretary, Lieut. Siborn. The object of the gallant General’s journey to the metropolis is understood to relate to military arrangements connected with the Irish Coercion Act, the five Lieutenant-Colonels employed under the provisions of that statute having been withdrawn.

— The distinguished party assembled at the Duke of Grafton’s, at Euston Hall, have broken up and taken their departure for the Newmarket Houghton Meeting which will close the racing season for the present year.

Sudbourne Hall

— Prince Esterhazy and his son have left Chandos House for Sudbourne Hall, the magnificent seat of the Marquis of Hertford, in Suffolk, which, since the departure of his Lordship for Italy, has been entitled ‘ Paradise Lost.’ The Prince from his long residence here is on the closest terms of intimacy with the Noble Marquis,who has accorded permission to his Highness and other persons of note to shoot over his preserves, which swarm with game from Sudbourne. The Prince proceeds to the Duke of Grafton’s, at Euston, for a week.

— The venerable Earl of Arran is seriously indisposed at Arran Lodge, Bognor.

— Sir Augustus Clifford, the Usher of the Black Rod, and his lady, the daughter of the late Lord John Townshend, are on their annual visit to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth, where a party of the Cavendish family are assembled. Sir Augustus Clifford, we believe, has not yet taken possession of the pleasant residence appended to his office, which is situated on the verge of the Thames, immediately behind the House of Lords. The house is, however, in a dilapidated condition, and will require substantial repairs before it can be fit for the reception of his family.

Court Carriages. — At the Congress of Vienna, the Emperor of Austria wishing that none of the Sovereigns or persons of their suite should use any carriages but his, ordered three hundred to be prepared all alike. At every hour of the day ai:d night, these carriages were at the service of his illustrious visitors—some of them with four horses, others with two, were to be met with in every direction.

Hornby Castle

— The Duke and Duchess of Leeds have been entertaining their relatives and friends at his Grace’s splendid establishment, Hornby Castle. Mr and Lady Charlotte Lane Pox have been staying during the last week at Gwydyr House, the magnificent mansion purchased by the Duke from Lord Willoughby d’Eresby. They return to Yorkshire in a few days.

— On Wednesday week, Earl Grey gave a Ball to his domestics, and their friends and acquaintances, at Howick Hall, amounting to nearly 200. Dancing commenced about nine o’clock, and was kept up with great spirit until five o’clock in the morning, when the company separated highly gratified. In the course of the evening, the Noble Earl and his amiable Countess, Viscount and Viscountess Howick, the Honourable Colonel and John Grey, Lady Georgiana Grey, Sir Henry and Lady Grey, of Falloden, the Hon. Mr, Mrs and Miss Ponsonhy, Lord Russell, and the Hon. H. T. Liddell, honoured the company with their presence, and part of them joined in the dance. It was held in the great entrance hall, and refreshments were served up to the company in the true style of old English hospitality.