A RADICAL NOVELIST IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND: ROBERT BAGE ON POVERTY, SLAVERY AND WOMEN Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Birmingham for the degree of MASTER OF LETTERS by JOHN CHRISTOPHER GOSS Department of Language and Literature School of Humanities The University of Birmingham April 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the progression of Robert Bage‘s development as a novelist by looking at his main campaigns for social reform through literary undertakings, namely: to improve the social standing of the impoverished, to work towards the emancipation of slaves, to reform the educational system for women. Little has been previously written about Bage‘s personal contribution to any of these campaigns and a good amount of new biographical research has been introduced to show how he put into practice the things in which he believed. Within this structure is an argument that historical events, at local, national and even international level, helped change his perspective on life and society at the same time as his approach to novel-writing changed. It has been noticed by all commentators who have discussed Bage‘s literary works that the last two novels outshine the first four. An attempt will be made to show how his literary direction altered; what changes actually took place, and what may have contributed to the changes. To achieve this and at the same time help introduce one of our more radical and accomplished eighteenth-century English authors to readers who may be unfamiliar with him and his novels, two chapters concentrate on his life giving factual and chronological accounts which contain significant new information about the author and correct a few errors from former biographies. Emphasis is given to the novel-writing years and the information included has been specifically chosen to support the main argument under discussion. The second of these biographical chapters 1 details the last decade of Bage‘s life and examines what effects the American Revolution, French Revolution, Birmingham Riots of 1791, other major historical incidents and Bage‘s personal affiliations may have had on his life and writings as they appear within the context of the three social concerns bulleted above. How his approach to these concerns took on a more mature guise is the subject of the literary-critical chapters which deal with poverty, slavery and women‘s advancement. Each of these topics, in its own way, shows just how important he considered a good educational system was to human progress. As far as my reading goes no authority has ever tried to assess the reasons why his reputation rests largely on the last two novels, which all consider to be his best. Likewise nobody has questioned whether this evolution was in any way influenced by external events and a change in his personal ideas and beliefs. That is the purpose of this thesis. 2 CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. 1 CONTENTS .................................................................................................. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................... 4 TIMELINE ................................................................................................... 5 ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... 8 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 BEFORE THE BIRMINGHAM RIOTS ................... 27 CHAPTER 2 THE LAST DECADE................................................... 48 CHAPTER 3 RICH AND POOR ........................................................ 68 CHAPTER 4 SLAVERY AND FREEDOM ...................................... 98 CHAPTER 5 BAGE AND WOMEN ................................................ 127 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 158 APPENDIX A ENGLISH EDITIONS .............................................. 164 APPENDIX B TRANSLATIONS ...................................................... 168 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................... 174 INDEX ....................................................................................................... 180 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis was researched and written whilst the author was engaged in full-time work. I thank my supervisors, Dr Sebastian Mitchell (Literature) and Dr Malcolm Dick (Midlands History) for their guidance and continued support over a long period. I am also indebted to archivists and staff at record offices throughout the Midlands ― too many to mention individually without offending those omitted ― especially to the staff at Birmingham Archives and Heritage, Stafford, Shrewsbury, Derby and Matlock for the preservation and production of documents which have made possible much of the historical content of this research. I also express my thanks to special collections departments for providing me with photocopies of original documents thus saving me the need for a visit. These are: The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, The Bodleian Library, Oxford and The National Library of Ireland, Dublin. My thanks also go too to The Bodleian Library staff, again, for accommodating me at short notice and finding for me Bage‘s letter to Godwin when the Abinger Collection was being re-catalogued. I must also mention the kindness of Pamela Perkins who, when I was unable to find a holding repository, sent me an offprint of an article she had written about literary representations of the Lunar Society. Likewise my sincere thanks go to Olga Baird who on a visit to Petersburg obtained photocopies of Karamzin‘s Russian translation of an extract from Man as He Is. German antiquarian Uwe Turzynski discovered a German edition of James Wallace and shared this information with me. I am much obliged to Mr Hodgetts, an Elford farmer, who went out of his way to point out the location of the gravestone of Bage‘s youngest son, John, which I might otherwise not have found. Particular thanks go to my wife, Basia, who has supported me when there have been demands on my attention which I may have neglected in pursuing these and other personal endeavours. 4 TIMELINE 03/1730 The date Robert Bage gives for his birthday. 05/1733 Elizabeth Woolley baptised at Wychnor. 1746-7 A series of deaths leaves Robert in charge of Darley Abbey Paper Mill, Derby. 12/11/1749 Elizabeth's father, Paul Woolley of Wychnor buried at Barton-Under-Needwood. 1749-1758 Elizabeth (Mrs Woolley senior) takes responsibility for the Swan Inn and farm at Wychnor. 08/1751 Robert Bage marries Elizabeth Woolley. He takes an apprentice, William Wood. 02/1752/3 First son Charles baptised at St Alkmund's. 03/1753 Robert advertises tenancy of Darley Abbey Paper Mill and buys Elford Mill. 01/1755 Second son Edward baptised at St Peter's, Elford. 1756c Bage meets Erasmus Darwin. Starts trading with Hutton 10/1758 Third son John baptised at St Peter's, Elford. 1759c Bage builds a footbridge over the Tame which becomes a matter of contention with the Elford ferryman. 1760 George III accedes to the throne. The Earl of Donegall buys the Fisherwick estate from Samuel Swinfen for £30,250. 3/1761 Hutton agrees to purchase all the paper from Elford Mill. 1765c Bage goes into partnership with Darwin and others in an Ironworks enterprise. Footbridge contest settled. 1765 Bage takes a seat on the Lichfield Turnpike Trust. 1766 Sells Elford Mill to Earl of Donegall for £2,000 and leases it back at £46 per annum. 1768c Charles Bage starts his career as a surveyor. 1770 Bage expands Elford Mill without Donegall‘s permission. 1770 Joseph Williams & Robert Bage are elected Overseers of the Poor at St Peter‘s, Elford. 01/1770 Ed. Bage becomes an indentured apprentice surgeon. 1772 Bage withdraws £517 from the Wychnor Project. 1773 Day and Bicknell write The Dying Negro. 1775 American War of Independence. 08/1779 Robert Bage and Francis Mundy are witnesses to the marriage of William Bourne, Farmer, and Elizabeth Garlick, spinster. 1779-80 Bage‘s youngest son, John, under treatment for an unknown ailment. 1780-2 Works on his first novel, Mount Henneth. 1780c Goes into partnership with George Webb. 5 1781 The year commences with a new duty on paper. 1781 John Barker, banker and partner at Wychnor dies. 06/1781 Charles Woolley Bage marries Margaret Botevylle, daughter of Thomas Botevylle of Shrewsbury, at St Julian's. 1782 Ironworks at Wychnor fails due partly to Garbett's bankruptcy. Bage loses just under £1,500. 1782 Mount Henneth published anonymously by T Lowndes. 03/1782 Hutton's History of Birmingham published by Rollason and Pearson. 1782 Cornwallis defeated at Yorktown. War with America ends. July 1782 Shelburne appointed prime minister. Signs