12. A Literary Celebrity

Trowbridge 1814 - 1832

By Kate Pugh

Church of St. James, Trowbridge, 2007
Church of St. James, Trowbridge, 2007
Holland House by C. Stanfield A.R.A. engraved by E. Finden
Holland House by C. Stanfield A.R.A. engraved by E. Finden
Hampstead Heath by C. Stanfield A.R.A. engraved by E. Findon
Hampstead Heath by C. Stanfield A.R.A. engraved by E. Findon
Crabbe Memorial, St. James', Trowbridge
Crabbe Memorial, St. James', Trowbridge
Crabbe Memorial, Church of St. Peter and St Paul, Aldeburgh
Crabbe Memorial, Church of St. Peter and St Paul, Aldeburgh

In Muston Crabbe had felt isolated and unappreciated . Once settled in Trowbridge, for a few months of each year he took up the life of literary celebrity which he had left more than thirty years before. Crabbe’s younger son, John, looked after his parish while Crabbe visited friends or stayed in Bath or London. In London he came to know many of the most noted literary figures of the day; Thomas Moore, Samuel Rogers, Thomas Campbell, Thomas Greville, Robert Southey and became associated with the Holland House circle.

In 1819 he published Tales of the Hall and John Murray paid him the impressive sum of £3,000 for the rights to all his works. He continued to enjoy the theatre, knew Kemble and Mrs Siddons, had his portrait painted by Thomas Phillips R.A., became a reluctant confidant of Lady Caroline Lamb and walked on the Heath with William Wordsworth.

In 1822 he visited Walter Scott in Edinburgh during the first royal visit to Scotland since 1745 and was, for the third time, presented to the Prince Regent, now George !V. Crabbe was astonished to find he was remembered and wrote some celebratory verses:
‘O give me to breathe, while this scene I describe:
A Monarch in Scotland I see,
When she pours from her Highlands and Lowlands each tribe,
Who are loyal and happy and free.’

All is well at last
After his years in Muston as a ‘solitary with a social mind’, Crabbe’s last years seem packed with incident, meetings with old and new friends and trips around the country.  According to his son, John, who acted as his curate in Trowbridge, ‘he did not omit the duty on one Sunday for nearly forty years  … He continued to officiate till the last two Sundays before his decease.'(1)

Crabbe died at 7 a.m. on February 3rd 1832. His last words to his son were; ‘All is well at last! … You must make an entertainment.'(2) It does not sound as if Crabbe’s sons followed this final instruction. ‘The shutters of the shops in the town were half closed, as soon as his death was known. On the day of his funeral, ninety-two of the principle inhabitants, including all the dissenting ministers … followed him to the grave…the other inhabitants of the town were in their seats and in mourning – the church was full- the effect appalling.‘(3)

Whether any of his former parishioners in Muston mourned when the news reached them is not recorded.

A memorial to Crabbe was erected by public subscription in Trowbridge church:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
THE REV. GEORGE CRABBE, LL.B.,

WHO DIED FEBRUARY THE THIRD 1832
IN THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH YEAR OF HIS AGE, AND THE
NINETEENTH OF HIS SERVICES AS RECTOR
OF THIS PARISH.
BORN IN HUMBLE LIFE, HE MADE HIMSELF WHAT HE WAS.BY THE FORCE OF HIS GENIUS,
HE BROKE THROUGH THE OBSCURITY OF HIS BIRTH;
YET NEVER CEASED TO FEEL FOR THE
LESS FORTUNATE;
ENTERING (AS HIS WORKS CAN TESTIFY) INTO
THE SORROWS AND DEPRIVATIONS
OF THE POOREST OF HIS PARISHIONERS;
AND SO DISCHARCHING THE DUTIES OF HIS STATION AS A MINISTER AND A MAGISTRATE,
AS TO AQUIRE THE RESPECT AND ESTEEM
OF ALL HIS NEIGHBOURS.
AS A WRITER, HE IS WELL DESCRIBED BY A GREAT
CONTEMPORARY AS
‘NATURE’S STERNEST PAINTER, YET HER BEST.’

Another memorial celebrating him as the ‘poet of nature and truth’ was erected in Aldeburgh church.

References
(1) Life p. 291
(2) ibid p. 302
(3) ibid p. 303

Displays of material relating to George Crabbe can be seen at:

The Aldeburgh Museum
Moot Hall
Aldeburgh
Suffolk
IP15 5DS
www.aldeburghmuseum.org.uk

Trowbridge Museum
Home Mills
The Shires
Court Street
Trowbridge
Wilts.
www.trowbridgemuseum.co.uk

This page was added on 26/02/2007.

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