The Burney Collection relates to the life and career of eighteenth-century author Frances Burney (1752-1840), her family, and their circle.
Extent: Over 500 books, journals, and pamphlets; approximately 70 manuscripts, plus several pieces of iconography representing Frances Burney, her family and their period.
Highlights: Includes several dozen editions authored by the Burney family published in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There is a special focus on Frances Burney’s first novel, Evelina (1778) which became an international bestseller. Holdings encompass lifetime editions in many different languages, followed by editions stretching well into the current century. The library also holds significant numbers of editions of her other novels: Cecilia (1782), Camilla (1796), and The Wanderer (1814). Of special note is a unique copy of Arthur Dobson’s The Diary and Letters of Madame d’Arblay (1904–1905), extra-illustrated by A.M. Broadley greatly expanded with some fifteen hundred formal portraits, caricatures, maps, views, and facsimile letters.
Other members of Burney’s family represented through publications include Fanny’s
father, the musician and musicologist Charles Burney (1726–1814), her brother Charles (1757–1817),
a Greek scholar, her other brother Admiral James Burney (1750–1821), and her stepsisters Sarah
Harriet Burney (1772–1844) and Elizabeth Meeke (1761-1826?), both novelists.
Manuscripts and Iconography: The manuscript component includes correspondence, fragments of letters, a journal kept by Burney (1812), and other materials generated by Burney herself, other members of her family above, or by members of their circle. Of significance is an autograph notebook of some 40 letters penned in French by Frances Burney, accomplished as themes or exercises with footnote corrections by her husband, Alexandre D’Arblay. Most of the library’s Burney holdings date from a major 2009 Bloomsbury Auction sale in New York of the Georgian literature collection formed by the late Paula Peyraud.
Related Material: The corpus of Burney material is a key collecting theme within Rare Books and Special Collections, and is supported by McGill’s holdings of English-language theatre, the Napoleon Collection, the collection of British caricatures, extra-illustrated books, and more generally by its considerable eighteenth- century collections.
The books are fully described in McGill’s Worldcat catalogue.
The manuscripts are partially available in the McGill Archival Collections Catalogue.
Finding Aids: The Burney Family Manuscript Inventory is available upon request in .pdf
More Resources: *Link to biographical information on members of the Burney family (formerly https://www.mcgill.ca/burneycentre/resources)
Librarian: Ann Marie Holland, Liaison Librarian (e-mail: ann.holland [at] mcgill.ca)
See Also: The Burney Centre Collection https://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/burney-centre-co....
Frances (Fanny) Burney d'Arblay (1752-1840)
Frances Burney (circa 1784-1785)
By Edward Francisco Burney
Born: June 13, 1752
Died: January 6, 1840
Works:
- Evelina, or, A Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778)
- The Witlings (1779)
- Cecilia, or, Memoirs of an Heiress (1782)
- Edwy and Elgiva (1788-1795)
- Hubert de Vere (1790-1797)
- The Siege of Pevensey (1790-1791)
- Elberta (1791-)
- Brief Reflections Relative to the Emigrant French Clergy (1793)
- Camilla, or, A Picture of Youth (1796)
- Love and Fashion (1798-1800)
- A Busy Day (c. 1801-1802)
- The Woman-Hater (c. 1801-1802)
- The Wanderer, or, Female Difficulties (1814)
Birth and Development as a Writer
Frances Burney was born on June 13, 1752, in King's Lynn, Norfolk. She was the daughter of Charles Burney (1726-1814) and his first wife, Esther Sleepe (c.1725-1762). From the time young Fanny learned her alphabet, she was a writer, composing odes, plays, songs, farces, and poems at an early age. She burned them all at age 15, most likely under the influence of her stepmother, who didn't think it appropriate for women to write. But Frances Burney's urge to write could not be stifled. At age 16, she began the diary that would chronicle personal and public events from the early reign of George III to the dawn of the Victorian age.
Early Literary Life
Frances knew luminaries such as David Garrick, Sir Joshua Reynolds, James Boswell, and Samuel Johnson through her father, and her early diaries chronicle evenings spent in this circle at home. In 1778, when Frances was twenty-six, her first novel, Evelina, was published anonymously. It was written in secret and in a disguised hand because publishers were familiar with her handwriting through her work as an copyist for her father. With Evelina, Frances Burney created a new school of fiction in English, one in which women in society were portrayed in realistic, contemporary circumstances. The "comedy of manners" genre in which she worked paved the way for Jane Austen, Maria Edgeworth, and other 19th-century writers. Evelina's mix of social comedy, realism, and wit made it an instant success and led London society to speculate on the identity of the writer, who was universally assumed to be a man. The great success of Evelina reconciled Charles Burney to his daughter's authorship. Frances was taken up by literary and high society and became the first woman to make writing novels respectable. Her second novel, Cecilia, published in 1782, earned her more fame.
Plays
Frances' first theatrical comedy, The Witlings, was, supressed by her father and by close family friend Samuel Crisp, even though Richard Sheridan had agreed to produce it. Novel writing may have been deemed somewhat respectable for women, but writing for the theatre was out of bounds for Dr Burney's daughter. Frances Burney saw one tragedy, Edwy and Elgiva, produced during her lifetime. The rest of her plays would have to wait until the late 20th century before a critical assessment could be made of them. All but two of her plays were published for the first time only in 1995.
Court Life
Novel writing for Frances Burney ceased during the five years (1786-91) that she was Keeper of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, and her diaries chronicle much detail about the royal family and court life, including George III's sanity crisis. She began a number of her tragedies during these years, but her health began to give way under the strain of court life. Eventually, in 1791, Queen Charlotte gave Frances special permission to resign her position.
Marriage
After her release from court life, Frances' health improved, and she was able to visit some family friends and her sister Susan at Norbury Park. In October 1792, a group of French émigrés settled at nearby Juniper Hall. Among the newcomers was Alexandre-Jean-Baptiste Piochard d'Arblay (1754-1818), a career soldier and former aide de campe to the marquis de La Fayette. After their initial connection made at Juniper Hall, d'Arblay courted Frances at Chelsea in the spring of 1793. Dr Burney was impressed by his appearance and manner, but was skeptical of d'Arblay's comparatively liberal political opinions. Though Dr Burney's objections were worn down, he still declined to attend their wedding. On July 28, 1793, the couple was married at St Michael's Church, Mickleham with a small group of friends and family in attendance. Two days later, the ceremony was repeated at the Sardinian Chapel in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London for the Roman Catholic d'Arblay. The match proved to be a very happy one, and the two were extraordinarily devoted to each other throughout their lives. Their son, Alexander Charles Louis Pichard d'Arblay, was born on December 18, 1794.
Resumed Writing Career
After her marriage, Frances resumed her writing career. She began work on Camilla just before the birth of her son. Her husband acted as copyist, and a fair copy exists in his hand. Camilla was published by subsciption in 1796. The 36-page subscription list reads like a who's who of late 18th-century English society. Among the subscribers was a Miss J. Austen, Steventon. The profits from this literary work enabled the d'Arblays to build their own house, which they called "Camilla Cottage."
Life Abroad
In 1802, in hopes of recovering property lost during the French Revolution, d'Arblay moved his family to France in 1802, a temporary arrangement that was to last 10 years as the Peace of Amiens ended while the family was still in France. While there, Frances made medical history by chronicling her mastectomy without anaesthesia. During this time, she wrote her fourth and final novel, The Wanderer, published in 1814 after the family returned to England. The next year, she remained near her husband, who was fighting with French Royalists against Napoleon, and refused to flee Brussels when rumours swept through that Napoleon had won at Waterloo. She stayed to help nurse the English wounded who streamed off the battlefield for weeks afterward.
Final Years
After her father's death in 1814 and her husband's death in 1818, Frances Burney d'Arblay wrote no more fiction. Her literary effort until the end of her life focused on the Memoirs of Doctor Burney, published in 1832, and the editing of her own now monumental papers, which were first published as the Diary and Letters of Madame d'Arblay after her death in 1840.
Death
On January 6, 1840, at the age of eighty-seven, Frances Burney, Madame d'Arblay, died in London. She is buried at St Swithin's, Walcot, Bath, alongside her husband and son.
Modern Scholarly Interest
Although heavily bowdlerized versions of the diaries and letters were published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it wasn't until Joyce Hemlow published her landmark biography, The History of Fanny Burney, in 1958 that the full impact of Burney's contribution to literature and letters began to be better appreciated. Dr. Hemlow's 12-volume Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney (Madame d'Arblay), which covers the years from 1791 to 1840, also made a great contribution to the contemporary recognition of Burney's canonical status. The remainder of Frances Burney's journals, complete for the first time, are currently being published in two series. The Early Journals and Letters (1768-1783) is under the general editorship of Lars Troide and the Court Journals and Letters (1786-1791) is under the general editorship of Peter Sabor. Critical appreciation of Frances Burney's novels and plays continues to grow, sparked by new interest in 18th-century women writers.
Further Reading
Online Resources
Frances Burney biography
By Valerie Patten
Made available online by the Chawton House Library and Study Centre
Frances Burney DNB entry
By Pat Rogers
Available to online subscribers to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Frances Burney bibliography (as of 1999)
By Barbara Darby
Made available online by the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
Period reviews, comments, and publication details of The Wanderer (1814)
Made available online by the British Fiction, 1800-1829: A Database of Production, Circulation & Reception project at Cardiff University
Texts by Frances Burney available online
Links compiled by the Burney Centre at McGill University
Print Resources
Chisholm, Kate. Fanny Burney: Her Life. London: Chatto & Windus, 1998.
Davenport, Hester. Faithful Handmaid: Fanny Burney at the Court of King George III. London: Sutton, 2000.
Doody, Margaret Anne. Frances Burney: The Life in the Works. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1988.
Hemlow, Joyce. The History of Fanny Burney. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958.
Charles Burney (1726-1814)
Charles Burney (1781)
By Sir Joshua Reynolds
Born: April 7, 1726
Died: April 12, 1814
Works (musical):
- Six Sonatas for Two Violins, with a Bass for the Violoncello or Harpsichord (1748)
- Six Songs with a Cantata op. 2
- Songs for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1763)
- The Cunning Man (1766)
- I will Love thee, O Lord my Strength (1769)
For online recordings of Charles Burney's compositions, see Online Resources below.
Percy A. Scholes lists and discusses Charles Burney's musical compositions on pp 340-353 of Vol 2 of The Great Dr Burney, 1948. (Thanks to Tony Woolrich for this resource and many of the musical links below)
Works (literary):
- An Essay towards a History of Comets (1769)
- The Present State of Music in France and Italy (1771)
- The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands and United Provinces (1773)
- A General History of Music, 4 vols (1776-1789)
- Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio (1796)
Birth
Charles Burney was born on April 7, 1726 in Raven Street, Shrewsbury. He was the fourth child of James Macburney (1678-1749) and his second wife, Anne (née Cooper) (c.1690-1775). The family name of Macburney was changed to Burney about the time that Charles was born.
Youth and Education
Charles, along with his elder brother Richard, attended Shrewsbury Free School from 1737-1739. In 1739, Charles went to his father in Chester and began studies at Chester Free School. He had already showed musical ability and continued to learn. By 1742, he returned to Shrewsbury to be an assistant to his half-brother James, who was an organist at St Mary's Church. Charles enjoyed his exposure to musical performances at St Mary's. The following year he returned to Chester and continued to devote himself to further musical study.
Musical Apprenticeship
In 1744, Charles was introduced to Thomas Arne (one of London's top composers) and became his apprentice. As an apprentice, Charles gave lessons to Arne's students, copied out musical scores and parts, and occasionally played in the orchestra at Drury Lane Theatre. Burney was not personally fond of Arne: he felt that his master was selfish and immoral. In 1746, Charles encountered Fulke Greville, an aristocrat who engaged Burney in the capacity of a musical companion. Burney accompanied Greville to Bath and to Wilbury, Greville's country home. Greville paid Thomas Arne £300 in 1748 to release Burney from his apprenticeship. In early 1749, Greville was preparing for a lengthy stay in Europe and expected Burney to accompany him. Burney, however, had fallen in love with Esther Sleepe (c.1725-1762), and didn't wish to leave her, as she was pregnant with their first child. Burney requested, and was granted, leave to be released from Greville's employ so that he could marry Esther.
Marriage
Charles and Esther were married on June 25, 1749. Since his release from Greville's employ, Charles had no money or home to offer his wife, so he applied for the post of organist at St Dionis Backchurch, London. This position paid him £30 per year and also helped him to find music students. During this time Charles made his reputation as a performer on the organ, giving concerts and networking with London musicians. He and Esther became parents to a growing family, which included daughter Esther and son James (1750-1821).
Musical Composition
Though Charles Burney has not been remembered for his composition skills, he did write music consistently from the late 1740s through the 1760s, and occasionally after that. In addition to stand-alone compositions, he composed some songs for the stage. Much of his work was done in conjunction with his friend James Oswald (1711-1779), a violinist and publisher.
Move to King's Lynn
In 1751, Charles contracted a severe fever which made him bed-ridden for thirteen weeks. During his convalescence, the Burney family moved out of London, to King's Lynn, Norfolk, in the hopes of further improving his health. Charles found a position there as organist for St Margaret's Church. A number of the Burney children were born in King's Lynn, including Frances (1752-1840), Susanna (1755-1800), and Charles (1757-1817). Though Charles found friends in King's Lynn, he visited London every winter, and clearly missed life in the metropolis. In 1760, the Burney family moved back to London.
Remarriage
In September 1762, Esther Burney died after a long illness, and Charles remained a widower for five years. In October 1767, he married Elizabeth Allen (1728-1796), the widow of Stephen Allen, a wealthy merchant from King's Lynn. The couple eventually had two children: Richard Thomas (1768-1808) and Sarah Harriet (1772-1844).
European Tours and A General History of Music
In 1769, Charles received the degree of DMus from Oxford University. The following year, he went on a tour of Europe, during which he visited France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. His tour was motivated by a desire to collect material for what was to become the four-volume A General History of Music (1776-1789), but some of which was first published as The Present State of Music in France and Italy (1771) and The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands and United Provinces(1773). After the success of these books, Charles invited readers to subscribe to his forthcoming A General History of Music. The first volume was originally scheduled for 1774, but was actually published in 1776, and the fourth and final volume was issued in 1789. His history was praised for its elegant writing style and for the fact that its author was in fact a practising professional musician.
Other Endeavours
While much of Charles' intellectual life was devoted to A General History of Music during this period, he did continue to give music lessons, present a paper to the Royal Society, and deepen a friendship with Samuel Johnson. In 1783, Charles was appointed organist at Chelsea College. He also had ambitions to succeed at the royal court. He dedicated the first volume of A General History of Music to Queen Charlotte, and was very pleased when his daughter Frances was appointed keeper of the robes to the queen in 1786.
Further Works
After the publication of the final volumes of A General History of Music in 1789, Charles turned his attention to other literary endeavours. He was a contributor to the Monthly Review and to Abraham Rees's Cyclopaedia, and published the Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio(1796).
Final Years and Death
In 1793, a serious attack of rheumatism sent Charles to Bath. In 1807, he visited Bath again, this time due to a stroke which paralysed his left hand. From 1813 onwards, he was largely confined to his rooms at Chelsea College. On April 12, 1814, Charles died. He was buried in the grounds of the College, along with his second wife, who had died in 1796. A memorial in Westminster Abbey was later installed, which has a glowing epitaph from his daughter Frances.
Further Reading
Online Resources
Audio
Charles Burney Radio Program - April 7, 2003
Made available online by Composers Datebook from American Public Media
'Burney and Hawkins' Programme on BBC 3
On the rivalry between Charles Burney and Sir John Hawkins. Featuring Simon Callow as Burney and John Fortune as Hawkins, with contributions from Alvaro Ribeiro, Rosemary Sweet, William 'Bill' Weber, and Kate Chisholm.
Charles Burney: Selected Preludes, Fugues, and Cornet Pieces, by Fernando De Luca - YouTube Playlist
Charles Burney: Sonatas for Four Hands, by Anna Clemente and Suzanna Piolanti - YouTube Playlist
'Overture,' The Cunning Man: A Musical Entertainment (1766) - YouTube
Alfred (most music by Burney) (1745/51) - YouTube
Aria. Affettuoso [sonata op. IV, n.1] - YouTube
Sonata I in la mag - YouTube
Sonata n.1 per piano a 4 mani - YouTube
Sonata V in sol mag - YouTube
Sonata VI in re mag - YouTube
Cornet Pieces (1751) - YouTube
Introduction and Cornet Voluntary I - YouTube
Cornet Voluntary III - YouTube
Cornet Voluntary IV - YouTube
Cornet Voluntary - YouTube 1, YouTube 2
Cornet Piece in A Minor - YouTube 1, YouTube 2
Piece for Organ - YouTube
Pieces for the Queen Mab pantomime: link 1, link 2
Hark the Herald Angels Sing - YouTube
Tell Us, O Women - Dialogue Hymn - for purchase
Fugue - YouTube
Prelude Fuga c minor - YouTube
Introduction and Fugue I - YouTube
Introduction and Fugue in A Minor - YouTube
Fugue in F Minor for Organ - YouTube Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
Fughetta in A - YouTube
Introduction and Fuga - YouTube
Introduction and Fuga, D-dur [c1787] - YouTube
Text
Charles Burney at the International Music Score Library Project
Dr Charles Burney biography
Made available online by the Encyclopædia Britannica
Dr Charles Burney DNB entry
By John Wagstaff
Available to online subscribers to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
"Jean Pierre Brissot and Charles Burney: unpublished letters reveal a dance to society's music"
By Peter Sabor
Available online at the Voltaire Foundation
Texts by Dr Charles Burney available online
Links compiled by the Burney Centre
The libretto of The Cunning Man (HathiTrust)
A contemporary parody: Musical travels through England. Third edition on HathiTrust.
Print Resources
Bander, Elaine. "'The Astronomic Muse': Charles Burney and Astronomy." Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies (21 July 2021): 1-18.
Brofsky, Howard. "Doctor Burney and Padre Martini: Writing a General History of Music."The Musical Quarterly 65.3 (July 1979): 313-345.
Burney, Charles. "The Cunning Man: A Musical Entertainment in Two Acts." The Clandestine Marriage, together with two short plays. Ed. Noel Chevalier. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 1995. 165-185.
---. Music, Men, and Manners in France and Italy 1770. Ed. H. Edmund Poole. London: Eulenburg Books, 1969.
---. Dr. Burney's Musical Tours in Europe: An Eighteenth-Century Musical Tour in France and Italy. Ed. Percy A. Scholes. London: Oxford University Press, 1959.
---. Dr. Burney's Musical Tours in Europe: An Eighteenth-Century Musical Tour in Central Europe and the Netherlands. Ed. Percy A. Scholes. London: Oxford University Press, 1959.
Burney, Frances. Memoirs of Doctor Burney: Arranged from his own Manuscripts, from Family Papers, and from Personal Recollections, by his Daughter, Madame d'Arblay. London: Edward Moxon, 1832.
Grant, Kerry S. Dr Burney as Critic and Historian of Music. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1983.
Highfield, Philip H. Jr., Kalman A. Burmin and Edward A. Langhand, (eds). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers,and other Stage Personnel in London, (1660-1800): Vol. 2, Belfort to Byzand. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973, pp. 425-427 [Charles Burney], 427-428 [ Charles Rousseau Burney], 428-429 [Esther Burney].
Klima, Slava, Garry Bowers, and Kerry S. Grant. Memoirs of Dr. Charles Burney, 1726-1769. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1988.
Lonsdale, Roger. Dr Charles Burney: A Literary Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Ribeiro, SJ, Alvaro. "The 'Chit-Chat way': The Letters of Mrs. Thrale and Dr. Burney." Tradition in Transition: Women Writers, Marginal Texts, and the Eighteenth-Century Canon. Ed. Alvaro Ribeiro, SJ and James G. Basker. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996, pp. 25-40.
---. "Real Business, Elegant Civility, and Rhetorical Structure in Two Letters by Charles Burney." Sent as a Gift: Eight Correspondences from the Eighteenth Century. Ed. Alan T. McKenzie. Athens and London: U of Georgia P, 1993, pp. 90-108.
---. "Prattling upon Paper: The Correspondence of Hester Lynch Thrale and Dr. Charles Burney." Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century 304 (1992): 934-37.
---. The Letters of Dr Charles Burney, Volume I (1751-1784). New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Rogal, J. Samuel. "Charles Burney and Sacred Music." The Hymn. New York: Hymn Society of America, 1975-76, pp. 50-56.
Sands, Mollie. "An Oxford Companion to Eighteenth Century Music" [Review of The Great Doctor Burney] The Musical Times, vol 89, No. 1267, (Sept 1948): 265-268.
Scholes, P. A. The Great Dr Burney: his life, his travels, his works, his family and his friends. London: Oxford University Press, 1948.
Charles Burney Jr (1757-1817)
Image by National Portrait Gallery.
Charles Burney [Jr] (published 1 December 1821)
By William Sharp
Born: December 4, 1757
Died: December 28, 1817
Works:
- Appendix ad lexicon Graeco-Latinum a Joan. Scapula constructum (1789)
- Remarks on the Greek Verses of Milton (1790)
- Richardi Bentleii et doctorum virorum epistolae (1807)
- Tentamen de metris ab Aeschylo in choricis cantibus adhibitis (1809)
- Philemonos lexikon technologikon (1812)
Birth and Early Life
Charles Burney was born on December 4, 1757, in King's Lynn, Norfolk. He was the second surviving son of Charles Burney (1726-1814) and his first wife, Esther Sleepe (c.1725-1762). At the age of ten, he began attending the Charterhouse School through the recommendation of George Spencer, fourth duke of Marlborough.
Cambridge
In January 1777, at the age of nineteen, Charles was admitted to Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge. He was not, however, admitted as a 'scholar', but rather as a 'pensioner' or 'commoner' (a student who was required to pay for his own tuition and college fees).
Theft of Books
In October 1778, Charles was discovered to have stolen books from the university library. He had taken the Cambridge nameplate out of the front, replaced it with his own, and had sold the books to London book dealers. His sister Frances later tried to explain Charles' crime as an overly strong desire to possess his own library. It is more likely, however, that Charles was attempting to get some money without the knowledge of his family, in order to discharge his gambling debts. Whatever the cause, Charles was immediately sent down (expelled) after Cambridge University learned of his theft. His father was so angry that he considered both disowning his son and forcing him to change his last name.
Classical Studies at Aberdeen
After some time spent in Shinfield, Berkshire, Charles was admitted to King's College, Aberdeen. He pursued his interest in classical studies, and graduated MA in March 1781. Though he industriously applied himself to his studies, he still had time to gamble, drink heavily, and socialize with rakish friends (among which included the earls of Fife and Lindlater). During this time, he also suffered unrequited love for Jane Abernethie, a cousin of Fife's.
Schoolmaster
When Charles returned to London in July 1781, he attempted to obtain a position as a curate, but his dubious past made this difficult. Instead, he chose to become a schoolmaster. He first taught at Highgate School in London, then at William Rose's private academy in Chiswick, Middlesex. He fell in love with Rose's daughter, Sarah Rose (1759-1821), and the two were married on June 24, 1783. Their only child, Charles Parr Burney (1785-1864), was born two years later. William Rose died in 1786, and Charles became headmaster in his father-in-law's stead.
Classical Scholar
During his time as a schoolmaster, Charles continued to publish on Greek and Latin topics, including translations and commentaries. He was highly regarded as a classical scholar in his own time, but his reputation declined after his death.
Degrees and Promotion
In 1792, Charles obtained honorary doctorates in law from both King's College, Aberdeen and the University of Glasgow. In 1807, he became a deacon of the Church of England. The same year, through the influence of his close friend Samuel Parr, Charles was reinstated at his former Cambridge college. In 1808, he was both ordained a priest and granted the degree of MA from Cambridge by royal mandate. After his scandalous past at Cambridge was redeemed, Charles continued to quickly advance in the church. He also continued to be lauded as a scholar; he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (1802), made professor of ancient literature at the Royal Academy (1810), and elected to the Literary Club(1810).
Final Years
Charles retired from his post as schoolmaster in 1813, allowing his son, Charles Parr, to take over his duties. On December 28, 1817, at the age of sixty, Charles died of an apoplectic stroke. He is buried in St Paul's Churchyard, Deptford.
Legacy
During his life, Charles collected an immense private library. His collection included about 13,500 printed books and manuscript volumes, nearly 400 volumes of notes, cuttings, playbills and other material related to the history of the English theatre, and about 700 volumes of newspapers spanning the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. His library was purchased in 1818 by the British Museum for the sum of £13,500. The Burney Collection of Newspapers is now held by the British Library.
Further Reading
Online Resources
Charles Burney DNB entry
By Lars Troide
Available to online subscribers to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Full-text database of the Burney Collection of 17th and 18th Century Newspapers
Available to authorized McGill users
Print Resources
Brink, C. O. English Classical Scholarship: Historical Reflections on Bentley, Porson, and Housman. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Clarke, M. L. Greek Studies in England, 1700-1830. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1945.
Goodwin, Arthur. "Charles Burney, DD (1757-1817)." Dictionary of National Biography, Volume III. Ed. Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Smith, Elder, and Company, 1908.
Miller, Edward. That Noble Cabinet: a History of the British Museum. London: Andre Deutsch, 1973.
Walker, Ralph S. "Charles Burney's Theft of Books at Cambridge." Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society. 3.4 (1962), 313-26.
James Burney (1750-1821)
James Burney (charcoal drawing after bust, n. d.)
By R. H. Dyer (?)
Born: June 13, 1750
Died: November 17, 1821
Works:
- With Captain James Cook in the Antarctic and Pacific (Burney's personal journal) (1772-1773)
- A Voyage to the South Sea in HMS Bounty, by William Bligh (edited) (1792)
- A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean, 5 vols (1803-1817)
- A History of the Buccaneers of America (1816)
- A Treatise on the Game of Whist (1821)
Birth and Early Life
James Burney was born on June 13, 1750, in London. He was the second child and first son of Charles Burney (1726-1814) and his first wife, Esther Sleepe (c.1725-1762). At the age of ten, he was sent to sea to act as a captain's servant on the Princess Amelia. By the age of fifteen, he was a midshipman on the Aquilon.
Voyages with Captain Cook
In 1772, John Montagu, fourth earl of Sandwich, arranged a post for James as an able seaman on Captain James Cook's ship, the Resolution. James accompanied Cook on his second voyage of discovery to the south seas. During the voyage, he received his first commission, as second lieutenant of the Adventure, the sister-ship of the Resolution. Upon his return to England in 1774, James acted as an interpreter for Omai, the first Tahitian to visit Britain. In 1776, he accompanied Cook on his third voyage of discovery, during which James witnessed the death of Captain Cook. At the very end of the voyage, upon the death of his immediate superior, Captain Charles Clerke, in 1779, James was promoted to commander of the Discovery.
End of Naval Career
James was made captain of the Bristol in June 1782. His task was to accompany a dozen East India Company ships to Madras (now called Chennai). On June 20, 1783, the Bristol was involved in the Battle of Cuddalore against the French fleet. The following year, Burney became ill and was forced to return to England. Though he later petitioned for a new command, the Bristol was his final active naval position. His forced retirement was in part due to his insubordination (he had disobeyed orders in 1782) and in part due to his republican political stance. Only in July 1821, at the age of seventy-one, did he receive a promotion to rear-admiral on the retired list, due to the influence of the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), admiral of the fleet.
Personal Life
Over the course of his lifetime, James counted amongst his friends such major figures as Samuel Johnson, Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Sir Joseph Banks, and others. After his retirement from the navy, James married Sarah Payne (1759-1832) on September 6, 1785. They had two children. In 1798, James left his family for five years and lived with his younger half-sister Sarrah Harriet Burney (1772-1844). He returned to his wife and children in 1803.
Literary Career
After his forced retirement, Burney began his second career as a writer on the topic of exploration. His first project was to edit an edition of William Bligh's A Voyage to the South Sea in HMS Bounty, published in 1792. His major work was A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean, published in five volumes from 1803 to 1817. In 1809, James was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Death
On November 17, 1821, at the age of seventy-one, Rear-Admiral James Burney died of an apoplectic stroke. He is buried the churchyard of St Margaret's, Westminster.
Further Reading
Online Resources
James Burney DNB entry
By Lars Troide
Available to online subscribers to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Texts by James Burney available online
Links compiled by the Burney Centre.
Print Resources
Burney, James. A History of the Buccaneers of America. Ed. Malcolm Barnes. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1949.
---. New Method Proposed for Measuring a Ship's Rate of Sailing. London: Royal Society, 1809.
---. Observations on the progress of bodies floating in a stream: with an account of some Experiments made in the River Thames, with a view to discover a method for ascertaining the direction of Currents. London: Royal Society, 1809.
---. On the Causes which Influence the Direction of the Magnetic Needle. London: Royal Society, 1819.
---. A Treatise on the Game of Whist. London: Thomas and William Boone, 1823.
---. With Captain James Cook in the Antarctic and Pacific: The Private journal of James Burney, Second Lietenant of the Adventure on Cook's Second Voyage, 1772-1773. Ed. Beverley Hooper. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1975.
Manwaring, G. E. My friend the admiral: the life, letters, and journals of Rear-Admiral James Burney. London: George Routledge, 1931.
Sarah Harriet Burney (1772-1844)
Sarah Harriet Burney
Born: August 29, 1772
Died: February 8, 1844
Works:
- Clarentine (1796)
- Geraldine Fauconberg (1808)
- Traits of Nature (1812)
- The Shipwreck (1816) (published in Tales of Fancy)
- Country Neighbours (1820) (published in Tales of Fancy)
- The Renunciation (1839) (published in The Romance of Private Life)
- The Hermitage (1839) (published in The Romance of Private Life)
Birth
Sarah Harriet Burney was born on August 29, 1772, in King's Lynn, Norfolk. She was the youngest child of Charles Burney (1726-1814) and his second wife, Elizabeth (née Allen) (1728-1796). She was about twenty years younger than her six half-siblings.
Youth and Education
From the age of nine, Sarah Harriet was schooled for two years by a governess in Switzerland (1781-1783). She studied French, Italian, drawing, and music.
Personal Life
As the last remaining child in the Burney household, Sarah Harriet was left to act as a companion and caregiver to her mother. After her mother's death in 1796, Sarah Harriet kept house for her father, but became increasingly emotionally isolated from him. In 1798, she left her father's household to live with her half-brother James, who had left his wife and family. James and Sarah Harriet kept house together for five years, moving between London and Bristol. In 1803, James returned to his wife and children. Sarah Harriet found a position as a governess for the Wilbraham family, in Cheshire. In 1807, she returned home to Chelsea to care for her father. After her father's death in 1814, Sarah Harriet found work, first as a companion to a young invalid and later as a governess for the granddaughters of Lord Crewe. In 1829, she left for Italy, where she spent time in Rome and Florence before coming back to England in 1833. She spent her final years at boarding houses in Bath and Cheltenham.
Literary Career
Sarah Harriet was widely read and had a particular regard for the works of Sir Walter Scott and Jane Austen (Sarah Harriet's copy of Pride and Prejudice was recently put on sale by Simon Finch). Sarah Harriet, though now largely overshadowed by her more famous half-sister Frances, was a novelist in her own right. Her writing also provided her with a necessary source of income. Her first two novels, Clarentine (1796) and Geraldine Fauconberg (1808) were published anonymously. Her third, Traits of Nature (1812), was published under her own name and sold out within four months. Tales of Fancy was a three volume collection that includes The Shipwreck (1816) and Country Neighbours (1820). Her final work, The Romance of Private Life (1839), includes The Renunication and The Hermitage.
Death
On February 8, 1844, at the age of seventy-one, Sarah Harriet Burney died at Belgrave House, the Promenade, Cheltenham. She is buried at St Mary's, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Further Reading
Online Resources
Sarah Harriet Burney DNB entry
By Lorna J. Clark
Available to online subscribers to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Sarah Harriet Burney biography & plot synopses
By Claire Murley
Made available online by the Corvey Project at Sheffield Hallam University
Period reviews, comments, and publication details of Geraldine Fauconberg (1808)
Made available online by the British Fiction, 1800-1829: A Database of Production, Circulation & Reception project at Cardiff University
Period reviews, comments, and publication details of Traits of Nature (1812)
Made available online by the British Fiction, 1800-1829: A Database of Production, Circulation & Reception project at Cardiff University
Period reviews, comments, and publication details of Tales of Fancy (1816-1820)
Made available online by the British Fiction, 1800-1829: A Database of Production, Circulation & Reception project at Cardiff University
Print Resources
Clark, Lorna J. The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney. Athens: U of Georgia Press, 1997.
---. "The Family in the Novels of Sarah Harriet Burney." Lumen 20 (2001): 71-81.
---. "Jane Austen and Sarah Harriet Burney." Persuasions 17 (1995): 16-25.
---. "Sarah Harriet Burney: Traits of Nature and Families." Lumen 19 (2000): 121-34.
Morley, Edith J. "Sarah Harriet Burney, 1770-1844." Modern Philology 39.2 (Nov 1941): 123-158.
Elizabeth Meeke (née Allen) (1761-1826?)
Title page to volume 1 of What Shall Be, Shall Be
By Elizabeth Meeke
Born: November 13, 1761
Died: unknown [1826?]
Works:
- Count St Blancard, or the Prejudiced Judge (1795)
- The Abbey of Clugny (1796)
- The Mysterious Wife (1797)
- Palmira and Ermance (1797)
- The Sicilian (1798)
- Harcourt (1799)
- Ellesmere (1799)
- Anecdotes of the Altamont Family (1800)
- The Mysterious Husband (1801)
- Which is the Man? (1801)
- Independence (1802)
- Midnight Weddings (1802)
- Amazement (1804)
- The Nine Days’ Wonder (1804)
- The Old Wife and Young Husband (1804)
- Something Odd! (1804)
- The Wonder of the Village (1805)
- Something Strange (1806)
- "There is a Secret, Find it Out!" (1808)
- Langhton Priory (1809)
- Stratagems Defeated (1811)
- Matrimony, the Height of Bliss, or the Extreme of Misery (1812)
- Conscience (1814)
- The Spanish Campaign; or The Jew (1815)
- The Veiled Protectress; or, The Mysterious Mother (1819)
- What Shall Be, Shall Be (1823)
Birth
Elizabeth Allen was born on November 13, 1761, and baptised the same day in St Margaret’s Church, King’s Lynn, Norfolk. She was the youngest child of Stephen Allen (1724–1763) and Elizabeth (Eliza) Allen (1728–1796). Her parents were cousins.
Youth and Education
Elizabeth Allen became related to the Burneys when, following their father’s death, her mother married Dr Charles Burney in 1767. In December 1775, Elizabeth Allen was sent to Paris for education purposes, initially under the care of a family friend, Isabella Strange, and later as a boarder with a Mlle. Picot.
Personal Life
Eliza Burney travelled to Paris in August 1777, planning to accompany her daughter home. But the fifteen year-old Elizabeth Allen then left Paris with an ill-famed man named Samuel Meeke (c.1737–1802). They were married on October 12, 1777, at the Reformed Church at Ypres. Following this scandal, the Meekes are next recorded in 1781, living in Geneva. By this point they were sufficiently reconciled to their Burney relations that Elizabeth Meeke’s half-sister Sarah Harriet Burney and her half-brother Richard Burney were sent to be educated under their supervision. They moved to France in 1782, and Elizabeth Meeke subsequently made occasional visits to her family in Britain. By the mid-1780s, Samuel Meeke was working as an English tutor at Paris under the supervision of Mme. de Genlis. In 1787 the Meekes were legally separated, and it appears that Elizabeth Meeke left her husband for another man. She then seems to have continued to reside abroad, before returning to Britain in 1793.
Literary Career
Between 1795 and 1823, twenty-six novels by Elizabeth Meeke were published. This made her the most prolific novelist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, outpublishing even Sir Walter Scott. Most of these works were published as 'Mrs Meeke', with six appearing under the pseudonym 'Gabrielli' and five appearing anonymously. All her novels were published through William Lane's Minerva Press and its successor ventures. She also worked extensively as a translator of novels and other works, mostly from French-language sources, and wrote a series of children’s books.
Final Years
Little is known about Elizabeth Meeke's later years. Around 1796, she was masquerading socially as 'Mrs Bruce'. Yet, even though Samuel Meeke died in 1802, she appears not to have remarried until late in life: legal documents from 1824 record her impending marriage with a man named Benjamin Rawlings. Her date of death is unknown, but her decease is referred to in an undated letter which may have been written in October 1826.
Further Reading
Print Resources
Macdonald, Simon. "Identifying Mrs Meeke: Another Burney Family Novelist." Review of English Studies, forthcoming 2013.
Susanna Elizabeth Phillips (née Burney) (1755-1800)
Image by National Portrait Gallery.
Susanna Phillips (née Burney) (circa 1775-1800)
By Edward Francisco Burney
Born: 1755
Died: January 6, 1800
Birth and Early Life
Susan Elizabeth Burney (also known as Susanna or Susannah) was born in 1755 in London, the third daughter of Charles Burney (1726-1814) and his first wife, Esther Sleepe (c.1725-1762). She was very close to her elder sister, Frances Burney, with whom she continued a regular correspondence in adulthood.
Music Salon
As the most musical of the Burney children, Susan grew up particularly close to her father, the well-regarded musician and music historian. She was a regular fixture in her father's London music salon, and she mixed with many famous musicians, including the castrato singer Gasparo Pacchierotti. Susan's letters provide unique insight into London's musical culture of the eighteenth century, as she had privileged access to private events such as rehearsals and informal gatherings. For music historians, Susan's notes help to document the network among patrons and artists as well as amateur and professional musicians.
Marriage and Family Life
Susan met Captain Molesworth Phillips (1755-1832) in October 1780. Phillips was an officer in the Royal Marines, and a close friend of Susan's brother James. Both Molesworth and James had been along on Captain Cook's last expedition, and Phillips had apparently behaved with great bravery. Susan and Molesworth were engaged in early 1781, and were married in 1782. In 1784, the pair lived briefly in Boulogne, then moved to Mickleham, Surrey, near Juniper Hall. They had three children: Frances Raper, née Phillips (1782-1860), Charles Norbury Phillips (1785-1814), and John William James Phillips (1791-1832).
Disintegration of Marriage & Move to Ireland
By 1787 the Phillips' marriage had begun to fall apart, and by 1795, it had nearly collapsed. Phillips had proven himself to be a gambler and a womanizer, and treated his wife badly. After inheriting his Irish estate from an uncle, Phillips left for Belcotton, County Louth in 1795, taking his eldest son Norbury with him. As Phillips had given up their residence at Mickleham, Susan and her two remaining children had to stay with family in London. In August 1796, Phillips came to London and demanded that Susan join him in Ireland, along with their Frances and William. Susan reluctantly joined him, realizing that if she did not, she would likely not see her son Norbury again. At Belcotton, an old-fashioned farmhouse with few amenities, Susan was cut off from family and friends. She was essentially abandoned by her husband, who was openly carrying on an affair with his second cousin, Jane Brabazon.
Illness and Death
Susan's health seriously declined while at Belcotton, but her husband was unwilling to allow her to return to England. In 1799, her concerned family was able to convince Phillips to allow Susan to come home due to her ill health. Susan survived the sea journey, and alighted at Parkgate, near Chester, on December 30, 1799. However, she died a few days later, on January 6, 1800. She is buried at the parish church of St. Mary & St. Helen, Neston, Wirral, Chester.
Further Reading
Online Resources
Brief biographical outline of Susan Burney
Available through the British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries Collection
Selected letters exchanged between Susan Burney and Frances Burney
Available through the British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries Collection
Cheshire Parish Register Project
Susanna Elizabeth Phillips' burial record available through last-name search under "Database" link
Molesworth Phillips DNB entry
By Albert Frederick Pollard and Andrew C. F. David
Available to online subscribers to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Print Resources
Burney, Frances. The early diary of Frances Burney, 1768-1778: with a selection from her correspondence, and from the journals of her sisters Susan and Charlotte Burney. Ed. Annie Raine Ellis. London: George Bell, 1889.
Kelly, Linda.Susanna, the Captain & the Castrato: Scenes from the Burney Salon, 1779-80. London: Starhaven Books, 2004.
---. "Writing About Susanna Burney." The Burney Letter 11.1 (Spring 2005): 1-2.
Olleson, Philip. The Journals and Letters of Susan Burney: Music and Society in Late Eighteenth-Century England. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2012.
---. "The Susan Burney Letters Project." Society for Eighteenth-Century Music Newsletter 6 (April 2005): 4.
---. "The Susan Burney Letters Project." The Burney Letter 10.2 (Fall 2004): 1, 5.
Price, Curtis, Judith Milhous, and Robert D. Hume. Italian Opera in Late Eighteenth-Century London: The King's Theatre, Haymarket, 1778-1791. London: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Willier, Stephen. "Gasparo Paccierotti in London: The 1779-1780 Season in Susanna Burney's Letter-Journal. Studi Musicali 29.2 (2000).
Woodfield, Ian. Salomon and the Burneys: Private Patronage and a Public Career. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2003.
Edward Francisco Burney (1760-1848)

Edward Francisco Burney (circa 1785-1800)
By Edward Francisco Burney
Born: September 7, 1760
Died: December 16, 1848
Birth and Family
Edward Francisco (also known as Francesco or Francis) Burney was born in Worcester on September 7, 1760. He was the son of Richard Burney (1723-1792) and Elizabeth Humphries (c.1720-1771), the brother of Charles Rousseau Burney (1747-1819), the nephew of Charles Burney (1726-1814), and a favourite cousin of Frances Burney (1752-1840).
Artistic Training
In 1776, at the age of 16, Edward became a student at the Royal Academy School of Art. He received encouragement from Joshua Reynolds, then-president of the School. Edward exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art from 1780 through 1803. His collection included historical pieces and portraits of friends and family, including his cousin Frances (he was apparently too shy to paint other sitters).
Illustration
Though he was a capable oil portraitist, Edward worked mainly as an illustrator. In 1780, he exhibited three drawings to accompany Frances Burney's Evelina, one of which was later engraved and incorporated into a 1791 edition of the novel. He went on to do a series of illustrations for Milton's Paradise Lost, which are now held by the Huntington Library.
Satire
Edward was influenced by the satirical style of Hogarth. In the 1820s, Edward did a set of four large watercolours which satirized musical and social life of the time: The Waltz and The Elegant Establishment for Young Ladies (held by the Victoria and Albert Museum), and Amateurs of Tye-Wig Music and The Glee Club, or, The Triumph of Music (held by the Yale Center for British Art). An oil version of Amateurs of Tye-Wig Music is available to view online at the Tate Gallery.
Death
Burney died in London on December 16, 1848, at the age of 88, and was buried in Marylebone. He was unmarried.
Further Reading
Online Resources
Edward Francisco Burney DNB entry
By Robin Simon
Available to online subscribers to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Press release regarding Edward Burney's Amateurs of Tye-Wig Music
Made available online by the Tate Gallery
Selected works by Edward Burney
Made available online by the Tate Gallery
Selected works by Edward Burney
Made available online by the National Portrait Gallery
Selected works by Edward Burney
Made available online by the The City of London Libraries and Guildhall Art Gallery
Selected works by Edward Burney
Made available online by the Royal Academy of Arts
Artcyclopedia listing for Edward Burney
Made available online by the Artcyclopedia.com
Print Resources
Patricia D. Crown. "Edward Francis Burney, The Artist." The Burney Letter 5.2 (1999): 1-2.
---. Drawings by E. F. Burney in the Huntington Collection. San Marino: Huntington Library, 1982.
---. "Visual music: E. F. Burney and a Hogart revival." Bulletin of Research in the Humanities 83.4 (Winter 1980): 435-472.
---. Edward F. Burney: An Historical Study in English Romantic Art. PhD thesis, 1977.
Eaves, T. C. Duncan. "Edward Burney's Illustrations to Evelina." PMLA 62.4 (December 1947): 995-999.
Graves, Algernon. The Royal Academy of Arts: a complete dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904. New York: Burt Franklin, 1972.
Hallett, Mark. "Reading the Walls: Pictorial Dialogue at the Eighteenth-Century Royal Academy." Eighteenth-Century Studies 37.4 (Summer 2004): 581-604.
Loussouarn, Sophie. "An Elegant Establishment for Young Ladies d'Edward Burney: La Représentation d'une institution de jeunes filles." RSÉAA XVII-XVIII 45 (1997): 263-280.
Peckham, Morse. "Blake, Milton and Edward Burney." The Princeton University Library Chronicle XI (1950): 107-126.
Solkin, David H., ed. Art on the Line: The Royal Academy Exhibitions at Somerset House 1780-1836. New Haven & London: Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre, 2001.
Waterhouse, Ellis. The Dictionary of British 18th Century Painters in Oils and Crayons. Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1981.