Lady Elizabeth Echlin (1702–82)

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Notes

 1. Keymer, ‘Elizabeth Echlin’, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 642–43; Blain et al., The Feminist Companion to English Literature, 327; Todd, A Dictionary of British and American Writers, 1660–1800, 125; St Michael Parish Records, Croston, Lancashire (1704).

 2. Passim, Proctor, ‘Notes on the Hesketh Pedigree’, 58–66.

 3. For genealogical detail and the Echlin family history see the Revd John R. Echlin, Genealogical Memoirs of the Echlin Family, Appendix 1–3; Coyle, ‘Echlin Family of County Dublin, Part 1’, 22–24; Coyle, ‘Echlin Family of County Dublin (1727–1799), Part 2’, 29–31.

 4. The first group of Bellinghams arrived in Ireland from Berrick-upon-Tweed during the Ulster Settlements in the Bann Valley. The first of the Westmoreland Bellinghams arrived about the same time as Alan Bellingham (1570–?) of Levens Hall had two sons, Sir James and Robert Bellingham. Robert Bellingham came to Ireland about 1608 and purchased estates in Longford. In 1612, he was appointed High Sheriff of the county. His descendant Daniel Bellingham of Dubber, County Dublin, was created baronet in 1666–67 for his services to Dublin Corporation. He was elected as the first Lord Mayor of Dublin City in 1664. In 1684, his son Sir Richard Bellingham (?–1699) was appointed County Dublin High Sheriff and was granted the forfeited estates at Finglas by the William III Commissioners. He died unmarried in 1699 and the line passed to the Swan family of County Cork. Colonel Henry Bellingham from Levens Hall was a Cromwellian officer and purchased the forfeited Germonston estate in County Louth. His grandson Thomas Bellingham refurbished the castle and by a mixture of grant and purchase the Bellinghams became of the one of the leading County Louth gentry families at Castlebellingham. Thomas was appointed aide-de-camp to William III and served at Aughrim and the Boyne. In retaliation, James IIs Irish Army burned Bellingham Castle and its village. The town of Castlebellingham became the ancestral home of the Irish Bellingham family from 1660 to the late 1890s, when it was converted into a hotel. See D'Alton, A History of County Dublin, 25, 190, 274; Dolan, ‘Colonel Thomas Bellingham's Diary of 1689’, 45–60: Coyle, ‘Part 1’ and ‘Part 2’.

 5. An Elegy on the Much Lamented Death of Sir Henry Echlin, Bart. Late Second Baron of His Majesty's Court of Exchequer, in Ireland, who departed this life the 29th of this instant November 1725. Published by the Inne of the Brazen Head, Dublin (1725).

 6. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 2 September 1755, in Barbauld, The Correspondence of Samuel Richardson, The Echlin Correspondence, vol. V. Referred to hereafter as The Echlin Correspondence.

 7. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 7 February 1755.

 8. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 2 August 1756.

 9. Eaves and Kimpel, Samuel Richardson, 449, 455–58.

10. Bishop Mark Hildesley, Bishop of Sador and Man (1695–1772), was a correspondent of Richardson and Echlin and translated religious tracts into Manx. Echlin frequently referred to his ‘Patsos’ or ‘Island of Banishment’ in her letters as she teased him about his Bishopric on the Isle of Man. The Revd Weeden Butler, Memoirs of Mark Hildesley, D.D., London, 1799, shows no record of the Echlin–Hildesley correspondence.

11. The Echlin Correspondence, Richardson to Echlin, 22 September 1755. Richardson suggested that she [Echlin] should write to the bishop to stop the illegal smuggling trade carried on between Rush [North County Dublin] and the Isle of Man and commented ‘Are not the inhabitants of the [Fingall] coasts through out Great Britain the worst plunderers of wrecks’?

12. The Echlin Correspondence, Richardson to Echlin, 23 February 1754. Lady Lambard was the wife of Sir Moulton Lambard, a junior politician at Dublin Castle. Elizabeth described her living in Dublin but ‘not a court lady … therefore, a candid intimacy subsists between her and me’.

13. Harris, Samuel Richardson, 130. Harris commented that Lady Echlin was an undereducated, inexperienced and a typical inadequate female reader. However, Elizabeth's references in her letters to Richardson in 1755 to ‘primitive Christianity’ shows at least a knowledge of the works of both Conyers Middleton, A Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers, and John Howes, Devout Meditations. Richardson avoided entering into debate with her on these theological issues. Her obituary, written by her daughter in 1812, stressed her accomplishments, charitable good works and her deep knowledge and application of religious orthodoxy.

14. The Echlin Correspondence, Richardson to Echlin, 31 July 1757. Death of Sir Robert Echlin: The Echlin Correspondence, Richardson to Echlin, 10 November 1757.

15. Henry Echlin (1740–99) inherited Sir Robert Echlin's estates and title. In many ways Sir Henry Echlin was similar to Richardson's anti-hero Lovelace in Clarissa. In Peggy Leeson's Memoirs, Echlin was described as a dissolute rake who squandered his inheritance, accumulated huge debts, and was known as ‘Harry the Earthquake Earl’. Asked by a brothel keeper about this unusual nickname, Henry replied ‘Because Peg, m'lov, I have swallowed up above five thousand acres of land—did you ever hear of any earthquake doing much more damage?’ Rush House and the Echlin estate was inherited by Elizabeth Echlin-Palmer. It remained in Palmer hands until it was sold by public auction in 1963. Lyons, The Memoirs of Mrs Leeson, Madam 1727–1797, 219; Coyle, ‘Part 2’, 31.

16. Pollard, Dictionary of the Members of the Dublin Book Trade (1550–1800), 198–202.

17. Richardson, The Case of Samuel Richardson, of London, Printer, with his regard to his invasion of his Property (September 1753) was published at Richardson's own expense and distributed freely in London, Dublin and Edinburgh. His Irish agent was Robert Main.

18. Doody, The True Story of the Novel, 3–15. See also Temple, The Angry Owner.

19. Published in London as a preface to Grandison, IV, by Richardson on 14 March 1754. The Irish reading public loved the intrigue and controversy (which increased Faulkner's business), much to the discomfort of Samuel Richardson.

20. Spy, ‘The Dublin Spy’, 66.

21. Murphy, Grey's Inn Journal, no. 4 (October 1753), 20; Phillips, Printing and Bookselling in Dublin, 1670–1800, 105, 111.

22. Dobson, English Man of Letters, 192.

23. George Ewing, An Attempt to answer Mr George Faulkner's appeal to the Public, April 1758, and A confutation of Mr George Faulkner's Queries, 28 August 1758, were pamphlets both published by Ewing and seemed to put an end to the ‘piracy’ charges made by Richardson.

24. Phillips, Printing and Bookselling in Dublin, 114.

25. The Echlin Correspondence, Richardson to Echlin, 17 May 1754.

26. Tierny, ‘More on George Faulkner and the London Book Trade’, 8–10.

27. Eaves and Kimpel, Appendix, 670; see the preface of Richardson's second London edition of Grandison.

28. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 172, 174.

29. Echlin, An Alternative Ending to Richardson's Clarissa.

30. Crompton, ‘Richardson's Clarissa Annotated’, 101–03. Dorothy wrote to Elizabeth her own detailed criticism of Richardson which she planned to publish, but never did. More details about Lady Bradshaigh's correspondence are outlined in ‘Lady Richardson's Correspondent’, Notes and Queries, London, 1933, 164, 192–93.

31. Eaves and Kimpel, Appendix, 610–704. Barbauld devoted a complete volume of her six-volume work to the Bradshaigh–Richardson correspondence. Most of the surviving letters are between Richardson and Echlin. There are twenty-eight letters from Richardson to Echlin and fifteen from Echlin to Richardson. The remaining names mentioned include her young nephew Henry and Richardson's Irish literary agent Mr Main, Dr Young, the Revd Skelton, Mrs Green, Frances Sheridan and Mrs Ashurst.

32. Sabor, ‘Publishing Richardson's Correspondence’, 249; Slattery, The Richardson–Stinstra and Stinstra's Prefaces in Clarissa.

33. Elias, Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington, 65–67.

34. Ibid., 61, fns 57, 58. Laetitia Barbauld further adapted the Pilkington material for publication in 1804, as in the case of the Bradshaigh and Echlin correspondence. As far as can be ascertained, none of the original Pilkington material still exists and the only correspondence between Pilkington and Richardson is to be found in the Barbauld edition.

35. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 23 February 1753.

36. A Dublin Directory for the Year 1734 , 30.

37. The Revd Henry Echlin (1682–1752) was the younger son of Sir Henry Echlin of Rush, vicar of St Catherines from 1716 to 1752. His uncle was the Revd Robert Echlin (1650–1712) whose son was Dr John Echlin (1680–1763), noted by Swift as a choirmaster at St Patrick's. In 1734 he became the Vicar General of Tuam. See Leslie, Clergy of Dublin and Glendalough, 602–03; Leslie, Derry Clergy and Parish, 60; Cotton, Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae, Province of Connaught, 21–22, 40.

38. Delany, Observations upon Lord Orrery's remarks on the life and writings of Dr Jonathan Swift, 129; Williams, The Poems of Jonathan Swift, 956–61.

39. Ball, History of County Dublin, 6, 134–35. Clotilda Eustace married Thomas Tickell (1686–1740) in Dublin 1724. Her sister Penelope Eustace married Robert Echlin, father of Sir Robert Echlin. Both sisters were grand-nieces and co-heiresses of Lord Chancellor Sir Maurice Eustace. Swift referred to her as the ‘the Brat Clotilda’ because during her youth she had acquired fruit from his garden at the back of St Patrick's. Mary Delany described Clotilda as an entertaining ‘good actor performing the odd part’. Llanover, The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany, 3, 206.

40. Dictionary of National Biography, 380–81. Thomas Tickell (1686–1740). Tickell was remembered chiefly as a friend and supporter of Joseph Addison and may have occasioned the famous quarrel between Pope and Addison. Addison was appointed Secretary of State (1717) and chose Tickell as his Under Secretary and his official biographer. He edited Addison's works in 1721 and was appointed Irish Secretary to the Lord Justices in 1724. He lived in Glasnevin and was one of the Delany–Swift circle at Delville House. The Tickell demesne is now Dublin's Botanic Gardens. Williams, The Correspondence of Jonathan Swift, 3, 135n., 136, 492.

41. State Papers (Domestic) Ireland (1733), S.P. 63/396/19–20. Tickell to Delafaye, 3 April 1733. ‘This letter will be delivered to you by Sir Robert Echlin, my wife's nephew, who is equally concerned with me in a cause that we would endeavour to bring on this session in the House of Lords.’ The nature of the ‘cause’ is not known.

42. Kelly, Henry Flood, 36–37. Flood was unimpressed by Thomas Sheridan, whom he described as ‘crazy’, and also by the Hibernian Committee chairman John Tickell who he said was ‘frantic’.

43. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 23 February 1754. She remarked that Mr Tickell was a great admirer of Richardson and objected to the way in which his bookseller (Faulkner) had treated him. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 19 March 1754. Richardson was impressed and agreed that he would be ‘instructed’ by him in the matter of the piracy dispute.

44. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 22 January 1755. Tickell seemed to have recovered. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 7 February 1756. Tickell was in ‘high spirits’ and was actively involved in pursuing Richardson's case. Politically, Tickell was unpopular as he supported the Administration during the anti-Union riots and in 1761 he was refused entry into the Dublin Society because of his opinions as a Tory Alderman in Dublin Corporation. Barry, A History of the Royal Dublin Society.

45. Dictionary of National Biography, London, 1898, 56, 378–79. O'Toole, A Traitor's Kiss, 147. Richard Brinsley Sheridan wrote the satirical play The Camp in collaboration with Richard Tickell and General Burgoyne.

46. Thomas Sheridan was an actor, theatre manager, educationalist, elocutionist and father of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In 1745 the Theatre Royal, Smock Alley, came under the management of Thomas Sheridan and had the support of both government patronage and public popularity. Politically motivated riots followed audience reaction to performances seen to favour the city Patriot faction and Sheridan's theatre was badly damaged.

47. Rae, Sheridan, 1, 11; 4, 147; O'Toole, 21–22. Embittered and deeply in debt to the tune of £7,000, Thomas Sheridan, with his wife and two small children, left Ireland and settled permanently near Covent Garden, London.

48. Dictionary of National Biography, London, 1898, 56, 378–79.

49. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 31 July 1757. ‘[H]e [Mr Sheridan] appeared to be in pretty good spirits: but I think he cannot be tolerably happy, unless he quits the slavish management, which does not better his health or fortune … the little wonder [folly?] was quite a new scene to him but it does not afford me pleasure as usual.’

50. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 2 August 1756.

51. Sheridan, British Education, or a source of the Disorders of Great Britain. He is frequently confused with his father, also Thomas Sheridan (1678–1738), close friend and biographer of Swift.

52. Le Fanu, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Mrs Frances Sheridan. Private correspondence, Tom Keymer, 25 April 2002.

53. Anne Donnellan first appears in Mrs Delany's letters in 1729, five years after Mary Delaney's first husband Pendarves had died. In 1729, it was at Donnellan's suggestion that they both travelled to Ireland. For the next decade the two women were practically inseparable and often in residence together in London or Dublin. Swift described her as ‘a virtuous modest gentlewoman, with a great deal of good sense’.

54. The Echlin Correspondence, Echlin to Richardson, 2 August 1756; ‘I am not a stranger to Mrs Donnellan: she has an amiable character; and I rejoiced that there is a friendship subsisting between this worthy woman and my child.’

55. Pilkington was commissioned by Cobbe to buy paintings from Irish, British and Dutch galleries for the Great Red Drawing Room at Newbridge House and as a result published at the age of 70 (in 1770) The Gentleman's and Connoisseur's Dictionary of Painters, which remained an influential reference work well into the nineteenth century.

56. Deane, Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, 993–96.

57. Anon., ‘The Age of Johnson’, 10, 210–12.

58. Dr Patrick Delany and Mrs Delany were also correspondents of Samuel Richardson. Barbauld, The Correspondence of Samuel Richardson, IV, 1–120.

59. Flynn, Samuel Richardson, 71, 76.

60. Ibid., 83.

61. Greene, The Oxford Authors, 139–40.

62. Coleridge, ‘Reflections on Richardson and Fielding, 5 July 1834’, 332.

63. The Echlin Correspondence, Richardson to Echlin, 22 September 1755.

64. Echlin, An Alternative Ending, 172, 174.

65. Lady Echlin was a conscientious, enthusiastic but totally unreceptive reader who would not acknowledge the evidence of her own emotional responses … she would not accept that the naturalistic world, with which she unconsciously identified, could be tragic, that society was so powerfully hostile to women and that a woman had no practical mode of defending herself … her notion of virtue is naively materialistic and like superman, it is notable for winning. Such a combination of miracle-working virtue and worldly shrewdness would seem destined to triumph, yet Clarissa and Lovelace still die in her fictional world where the terrors of rape, prostitution, physical and psychological abuse are firmly excluded … other women abuse and oppress as they destroy reputations, self-respect, and, in this fiction, Clarissa's life. (Knights, ‘Daring but to touch the hem of her garment’, 231)

66. Echlin, An Alternative Ending, 20–29, 171–74.

67. Echlin, An Alternative Ending, 20–29, 176–80.

68. Doody and Sabor, eds, Samuel Richardson, Tercentenary Essays, 249.

69. Rogers, ‘Richardson and the Bluestockings’, 147–65. This is a study of eighteenth-century women's perceptions and emotional responses on reading Clarissa.