2 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ 3 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ Abstract This thesis addresses literary representations of personal proper name change from 1779 to 1800, arguing that these representations function as sites upon which cultural anxieties about social classification - in which notions of kinship, gender and class all play important roles - are negotiated. Reading imaginative prose literature by Frances Burney, Hester Thrale Piozzi, Charlotte Turner Smith and William Godwin alongside historical sources including journals and newspaper articles, tracts, letters, trial transcripts and legal judgments, I show that these representations of name change offer insights into how competing models of personal identity were envisaged to come into conflict. The thesis contributes to studies of eighteenth-century theories of language, by examining how proper names were understood to exist in relation to common names within lexicography and philosophy of the period. It seeks to enhance understanding of identity formation in the eighteenth century by arguing for the importance of naming practices in constructing identities through social mediations. It modifies the history of personal naming in England by offering original qualitative and quantitative research concerning the practice of surname change by Royal Licence. It argues that the eighteenth-century novel interrogates competing models of personal identity in dialogue with the laxity of English common law around issues of personal naming, which enables individuals in England to participate in a rich variety of self-fashioning practices. Finally, it offers a contribution to studies of eighteenth-century fame within the commercialised public sphere by arguing that excavating the mutation and material circulation of the personal proper name is key to understanding how ‘reputation’ worked to confer value and status. 4 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ 5 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ Contents Abstract 3 List of tables / illustrations 7 Acknowledgments 9 Author’s declaration 13 Introduction 15 Section One: Contexts in the long eighteenth century 63 Chapter 1. Discourse and genre: Common and proper 65 naming, 1689-1779 Chapter 2. “What mischiefs have arisen!” Onomastic 95 taxonomies and the supersession of the surname, 1779-1818 Section Two: Gender and posterity in the 1780s 129 Chapter 3. ‘Nata nupta obit: A kind of satire.’ 130 Marital surname change and Hester Thrale Piozzi’s epigraphical epitaph Chapter 4. ‘Nothing the nearest our own hearts.’ The 177 point of the name in Frances Burney’s Cecilia Section Three: Class, property and reputation in the 217 1790s Chapter 5. Thomas Paine, George Dyer and Charlotte 218 Turner Smith: Strategies of reformist naming in the 1790s Chapter 6. ‘Men whose glory it is, to be known.’ 257 Crime, reputation and anonymity in Jeremy Bentham’s Indirect Legislation and William Godwin’s Caleb Williams 6 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ Conclusion 284 Appendix 1: Report on archival research into 287 Royal Licences for a change of surname 1761-1786 at the College of Arms (contains data tables) Appendix 2: Figures 305 Abbreviations 314 Glossary 315 Bibliography (list of works consulted) 320 7 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ List of tables / illustrations Figure 1. Richard Newton. ‘A Lesson for Spendthrifts by Dr. Johnson.’ London: William Holland, 1794 (British Museum, London). Appendix 2, p. 305. Figure 2. Richard Newton. ‘On a journey to a Courtship in Wales.’ London: William Holland, 1795 (British Museum, London). Appendix 2, p. 306. Figure 3: Isaac Cruikshank. ‘Hints Towards a Change of Ministry.’ London: S W Forbes, 1797 (British Museum, London). Appendix 2, p. 307. Figure 4: Charles Williams. ‘A Brighton Breakfast, or morning comforts.’ London: S W Forbes, 1802 (British Museum, London). Appendix 2, p. 308. Figure 5. Thomas Colley. ‘Perdito and Perdita – or – the man and woman of the people.’ London: William Richardson, 1782 (British Museum, London). Appendix 2, p. 309. Figure 6. ‘The Ladies Church Yard.’ London: B.Pownall, 1783 (British Museum, London). Appendix 2, p. 310. Figure 7. James Sayers. ‘Frontispiece for the 2nd Edition of Dr J-n’s Letters.’ London: Thomas Cornell, 1788 (British Museum, London) Appendix 2, p. 311. Figure 8. Number of Royal Licences registered at the College of Arms, 1761-1785. Appendix 2, p. 312. Figure 9. Proportion of petitions for Royal Licence mentioning the name recipient’s heirs bound to the same conditions, 1761-1785. Appendix 2, p. 313. 8 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ 9 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ Acknowledgments The writing of this thesis was funded for three years by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which also awarded me two substantial travel grants to carry out archival work in London and New York. Further grants from the F.R. Leavis Fund and the English Department at the University of York enabled me to attend conferences in London, Oxford, Swansea, Cambridge and Newcastle. I am very grateful for this assistance, and for the help and expertise of staff at Durham County Record Office, the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, the British Library, Parliamentary Archives and National Archives (London), the John Rylands Library (Manchester), the Beinecke Library at Yale University (New Haven), and the New York Public Library. While writing this thesis, I was based at the Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies at the University of York. I have felt privileged to develop my thinking about naming and identity in such a uniquely supportive and intellectually dynamic environment. My greatest debt is to my supervisor, Harriet Guest, for her support, guidance, patience and encouragement. I also owe special thanks to Kevin Gilmartin and John Barrell for their advice and assistance as members of my Thesis Advisory Panel. Discussions with faculty and students within CECS, undertaken at research seminars, graduate forums and in the Lamb and Lion, have also been profoundly influential in developing the ideas and approaches that have shaped this thesis. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to learn from Jim Watt, Alison O’Byrne, Emma Major, Alan Forrest, Jon Mee, Mary Fairclough, Joanna Wharton, Adam Perchard, Ruth Scobie, Amy Milka, Arlene Leis, Harold Guizar and Jessica 10 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ Haldeman, as well as the range of visiting speakers invited by CECS from other institutions. There is not space here to thank all the colleagues working in the field of eighteenth-century studies and beyond who have been generous with their time and expertise over the last four years, so I must restrict myself to a few whose generosity has been most important for the development of my ideas. At the College of Arms in London, the Richmond Herald Dr. Clive Cheesman and the archivist Lindsey Derby provided expert advice and encouragement over the course of a research trip in January 2012. Robert Hume sent me work-in-progress that aided my understanding of eighteenth-century monetary values. Research associates from the Bentham Project at University College, London offered valuable assistance towards my work on Jeremy Bentham: Tim Causer responded to my queries promptly and generously, and Michael Quinn was kind enough to read a draft of my sixth chapter and offer me constructive feedback. Gemma Angel, Matt Lodder and Maggie Reilly provided help when I was trying to track down surviving examples of the tattoos in William Hunter’s collection. I am grateful too to Rowland Weston for his thoughts concerning my work on William Godwin; Amy Erickson for answering my queries about the early history of marital name change; and Elizabeth Eger for providing me with transcripts of two of Elizabeth Montagu’s letters about the Royal Licence procedure that are not yet generally available. I would like to express my gratitude to the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and McGill University for awarding me the ASECS-McGill Fellowship 2013, and to thank everyone at the Burney Centre for making it such a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Peter Sabor, Stewart Cooke, Richard Virr, Elaine Bander, Anna Lewton-Brain, Hilary Havens, Megan Taylor and Laura Cameron provided scholarly guidance, stimulating 11 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ conversation, access to important work-in-progress, support in my eternal war with the microfilm machine, and excellent advice on Montreal’s culinary scene. I owe special thanks to Peter Sabor, who has gone far beyond the call of duty to provide advice and mentorship as regards my work on Frances Burney. I first became interested in eighteenth-century cultures of naming while studying for my MA at the University of Pennsylvania. I would like to express my gratitude to the Thouron Foundation for giving me the opportunity to study there, and to thank Stuart Curran and Michael Gamer for first showing me what a rich and exciting period the late eighteenth century could be, for fostering my interest in naming, and for encouraging me to pursue a doctorate. Finally, I am grateful to my parents for their constant support, and to Rich Hardiman for everything under the sun. 12 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ 13 Sophie Coulombeau ‘The Knot, that ties them fast together’ Author’s Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own original work, has not been submitted for any previous degree and does not include any material that infringes any third party’s rights. Material from Chapters Five and Six, entitled ‘“Men whose glory it is to be known”: Godwin, Bentham and the London Corresponding Society’, will be published in a special double issue of Nineteenth-Century Prose (Vol. 41, Nos 1/2, Spring/Fall, 2014). I am grateful to the editors for their permission to use this material in my thesis.