Arabella Hunt (1662–1705) was an English

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can refe ...

, celebrated for her

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...

and talents.

Early life

Arabella Hunt was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 27 February 1662 to Richard and Elizabeth Hunt. She sang at court and is recorded to have performed a part in the court masque "Calisto, or the Chaste Nymph" by

John Crowne John Crowne (6 April 1641 – 1712) was a British dramatist. His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey. He emigrated to Nova Scotia where h ...

in 1675. In 1678 or 1679, her father died, and as the only surviving child (two siblings died in childhood), she inherited a house at Upton in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

Marriage

On 12 September 1680 Hunt married James Howard at

St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near Ox ...

, and the couple moved into her mother's house at the

Haymarket Haymarket may refer to: Places Australia * Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia Germany * Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market) Russia * Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...

. However, after six months of living together Hunt left her husband, and instituted a case against him at the

consistory court A consistory court is a type of ecclesiastical court, especially within the Church of England where they were originally established pursuant to a charter of King William the Conqueror, and still exist today, although since about the middle of th ...

in London, seeking to

annul Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

the marriage on the grounds that Howard was not in fact a man, but was actually a woman called Amy Poulter (née Gomeldon). Moreover, at the time of their marriage, Poulter was already married to a man called Arthur Poulter, who had only died recently. Hunt further claimed that her 'husband' was an

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

, but when Howard/Poulter was examined by five

midwives A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; con ...

appointed as the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

in the case it was found that she was a biologically ordinary woman. The marriage was eventually annulled on 15 December 1682, on the basis that two women could not legally marry each other. Both women were now free to remarry, but Poulter died very shortly afterwards, and Hunt remained unmarried for the rest of her life.

Career

For many years, Hunt was employed at the royal court as a singer and lutenist. She was well thought of by Queen Mary, and taught singing to

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

. Later Queen Mary gave her an annual pension of £100.

John Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

tells with great detail how the queen, after listening to some of

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

's music performed by Hunt,

John Gostling John Gostling (1644–1733) was a 17th-century Church of England clergyman and bass singer famed for his range and power. He was a favourite singer of Charles II and is particularly associated with the music of Henry Purcell. Background John Gos ...

, and the composer, abruptly asked her to sing a popular Scottish ballad, ''Cold and Raw,'' which she did, accompanying herself on the lute. Purcell, according to Hawkins, was "not a little nettled" by the queen's preference, and when he composed a birthday ode for Queen Mary in 1692 he used ''Cold and Raw'' as the repeated bass line for the "May her blest example" movement. Mrs. Hunt's voice was said by a contemporary to be like the pipe of a bullfinch; she was also credited with an "exquisite hand on the lute". She was admired and respected by the best wits of the time;

John Blow John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of the Baroque music, Baroque period. Appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in late 1668,John Hughes, the poet, was her friend;

William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a min ...

wrote a long irregular ode on "Mrs. Arabella Hunt singing", and after her death penned an epigram under a portrait of her sitting on a bank singing. The painting was by

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...

. There are mezzotints by Smith (1706) and

Charles Grignion the Elder Charles Grignion the Elder (1721–1810) was a British engraver and draughtsman. Grignion was born in London to Huguenot refugees. He was a prolific historical engraver and book illustrator. He studied in London at Hubert-François Gravelot's sc ...

; and Hawkins gives a vignette in his ''History''.William Hawkins, ''A General History of the Science and Practice of Music'', iii. 761 In an ode, ''On the Excellency of Mrs Hunt's Voice, and Manner of Singing'', composed in 1700, John Blow declared that "she reigns alone, is Queen of Musick by the People's choice".

Death

Hunt died, aged 43, at home in London on 26 December 1705.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Arabella English women singers English lutenists 1705 deaths 1662 births LGBT history in the United Kingdom