The Beautiful Englishman
The Beautiful Englishman
Described by Marie Antoinette as ‘le bel Anglais’ or ‘beautiful Englishman’ the extravagant Reverend Doctor Thomas Sedgwick Whalley, was a playwright, poet, cleric, horticulturist, traveller and bon vivant, who socialised among such influential figures as William Wilberforce and Hannah More.
ISBN: 9781909446212
Size: 157mm (W) X 235mm (H)
Pages: 160
Published: 2020
From Lavish literary soirees in Royal Crescent, Bath - four doors down from Jane Austen’s aunt - to summers at Mendip Lodge, the ‘cottage’ he built in Langford, to Clifton in Bristol, from his love for his sister to his devotion to his niece, Frances, the ‘Queen of Bath’, his was a life of generosity and intellect.
Drawing from source material including Whalley’s own journals - edited and published by his nephew - as well as personal correspondence, Chris Stephens paints a colourful portrait of the Georgian socialite, recalling his life, his loves and his many travels.
About the author
When he retired from academic dentistry in 2002, Chris Stephens was able to spend more time undertaking charitable work for the Woodland Trust and the Dry Stone Walling Association, of which he had been Deputy Chairman. His interest in local history arose through helping to rebuild the dry stone walls of the trust’s Dolebury Warren Wood.
Chris is an emertitus Professor of the University of Bristol and received an OBE for his services to dental education in 1999. He is an Honorary Life member of both the British and European Orthodontic Societies, a Fellow of the British Dental Association and is currently Vice President of the Dry Stone Walling Association.
Chris is also the author of Bristol’s Australian Pioneer.
