John Hall-Stevenson (1718–March 1785), in his youth known as John Hall, was an English
country gentleman
''The Country Gentleman'' (1852–1955) was an American agricultural magazine founded in 1852 in Albany, New York, by Luther Tucker.Frank Luther Mott (1938A History of American Magazines 1850–1865"The Country Gentleman", page 432, Harvard Unive ...
and writer.
He is memorialised as "Eugenius" in
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768), was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' and ''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'', published ...
's novels ''
Tristram Shandy Tristram may refer to:
Literature
* the title character of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', a novel by Laurence Sterne
* the title character of ''Tristram of Lyonesse'', an epic poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne
*"Tristra ...
'' and ''
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy
''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'' is a novel by Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as Sterne was facing death. In 1765, Sterne travelled through France and Italy as far south as Naples, and after returning det ...
''.
Life
Hall-Stevenson was the son of Joseph Hall of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
by his marriage to Catherine, sister and heiress of Lawson Trotter of
Skelton Castle
Skelton Castle can refer to either a ruined medieval castle or an 18th-century Gothic style country house that replaced it. The site of both buildings is the village of Skelton, in North Yorkshire, England. The house is Grade I listed.
Castle
T ...
at
Skelton-in-Cleveland
Skelton-in-Cleveland or Skelton is a market town in the civil parish of Skelton and Brotton at the foot of the Cleveland Hills and about east of Middlesbrough centre. It is in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England.
The ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
.
Sidney Lee
Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic.
Biography
Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School
, ...
, '' Stevenson, John Hall-'' in ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (1885–1900), vol. 54
On 16 June 1735, at the age of seventeen, he matriculated at
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...
as a
fellow-commoner
A commoner is a student at certain universities in the British Isles who historically pays for his own tuition and commons, typically contrasted with scholars and exhibitioners, who were given financial emoluments towards their fees.
Cambridge
...
. He quickly struck up a close and lifelong friendship with
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768), was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' and ''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'', published ...
, who was five years older. They referred to each other as cousins, but no kinship is known. Hall was precociously ribald and loved
Rabelaisian literature. He left Cambridge without a degree in about 1738 and made the
grand tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
.
[
On his return to England at the age of twenty, Hall married Anne, the daughter of Ambrose Stevenson of the Manor House, Durham, and added his wife's surname to his own. After the ]Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Franci ...
, his uncle Lawson Trotter, a supporter of Jacobitism
Jacobitism (; gd, Seumasachas, ; ga, Seacaibíteachas, ) was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. The name derives from the first name ...
, fled overseas, and the fifteenth-century Skelton Castle came into the possession of Hall-Stevenson's mother. On her death, he inherited it, by then half-ruined.[
Hall-Stevenson had no love of ]field sports
Field sports are outdoor sports that take place in the wilderness or sparsely populated rural areas, where there are vast areas of uninhabited greenfields. The term specifically refer to activities that mandate sufficiently large open spaces and ...
and spent his time on literature and entertaining his friends. He wrote verse in imitation of La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine (, , ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Euro ...
and collected kindred spirits which whom he formed a "club of demoniacks" which met at Skelton several times a year. The club indulged in heavy drinking and orgies which were pale reflections of those of Francis Dashwood
Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer, PC, FRS (December 1708 – 11 December 1781) was an English politician and rake, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1762–1763) and founder of the Hellfire Club.
Life and career
Early life
Dashwood wa ...
and his friends at Medmenham
Medmenham () is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the River Thames, about southwest of Marlow and east of Henley-on-Thames. The parish also includes Danesfield, a housing estate predominantly for RAF ...
. The "demoniacks" included the clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
man Robert Lascelles, nicknamed Pantagruel, Zachary Moore, Colonel Hall, Colonel Lee, and Andrew Irvine of Kirkleatham. On his visits to London, Hall-Stevenson met John Wilkes
John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fo ...
and Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
, and three familiar letters from him to Wilkes written in 1762 survive. He also claimed a friendship with Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
.[
Hall-Stevenson became notorious for licentious verse. He published a ''Lyric Epistle'' (1760) to his friend Sterne on the triumph of '']Tristram Shandy Tristram may refer to:
Literature
* the title character of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', a novel by Laurence Sterne
* the title character of ''Tristram of Lyonesse'', an epic poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne
*"Tristra ...
'', which Gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
called "absolute nonsense". Better known were his ''Fables for Grown Gentlemen'' (1761), and his ''Crazy Tales'' (1762, new editions in 1764 and 1780), which describes the meetings of his friends at Skelton, or "Crazy Castle".[
]Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
credited Hall-Stevenson with "a vast deal of original humour and wit", but Smollett Smollett is an English and Scots surname, originally meaning ''small head''.
Notable people with the surname include:
Individuals
* Jake Smollett (born 1989), American actor
* Jurnee Smollett (born 1986), American actress
* Jussie Smollett (b ...
and ''The Critical Review
''The Critical Review'' was a British publication appearing from 1756 to 1817. It was first edited by Tobias Smollett, from 1756 to 1763. Contributors included Samuel Johnson, David Hume, John Hunter, and Oliver Goldsmith.
Early years
The Ed ...
'' were contemptuous, with the result that in 1760 Hall-Stevenson abused Smollett and his associates in ''A Nosegay and a Simile for the Reviewers'' and ''Two Lyrical Epistles, or Margery the Cook Maid, to the Critical Reviewers''. Hall-Stevenson's ''A Sentimental Dialogue between two Souls in the palpable Bodies of an English Lady of Quality and an Irish Gentleman'' (1768) was seen as a parody of his friend Sterne's ''Tristram Shandy''.[
Hall-Stevenson also wrote on politics. He denounced the ]Earl of Bute
Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute.
Family history
John Stuart was the member of a family that ...
and all politicians, whether Whig or Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
, with such works as ''A Pastoral Cordial; or an Anodyne Sermon, preached before their Graces Newcastle and Devonshire'' (1763), ''A Pastoral Puke; a second Sermon preached before the people called Whigs; by an Independent'' (1764), ''Makarony Fables, with the new Fable of the Bees'' (1767), ''Lyric Consolations, with the Speech of Alderman Wilkes delivered in a Dream'' (1768) and ''An Essay upon the King's Friends'' (1776).[
Hall-Stevenson gave some financial support to his friend Sterne, who often visited him at Skelton, and they liked to race chariots over the sands at ]Saltburn
Saltburn-by-the-Sea, commonly referred to as Saltburn, is a seaside town in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England, around south-east of Hartlepool and southeast of Redcar.
It lies within the historic boundaries of the North Rid ...
, and Hall-Stevenson appears under the name of "Eugenius" in Sterne's novels ''Tristram Shandy Tristram may refer to:
Literature
* the title character of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', a novel by Laurence Sterne
* the title character of ''Tristram of Lyonesse'', an epic poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne
*"Tristra ...
'' and ''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy
''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'' is a novel by Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as Sterne was facing death. In 1765, Sterne travelled through France and Italy as far south as Naples, and after returning det ...
''. This was unfinished at Sterne's death, and Hall-Stevenson wrote a continuation entitled ''Yorick's Sentimental Journey Continued: to Which Is Prefixed Some Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. Sterne''.[
Hall-Stevenson's heavy drinking led to chronic hypochondria and he also had money troubles. In 1765 he reopened an ]alum
An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...
works at Selby Hagg which had been closed down for near fifty years, but it lost money. He failed to make it pay, and gave it up in 1776. On 17 February 1785 he wrote to his grandson that he had suffered from marrying too early and that shortage of funds had forced him to live in the country.[ William Durrant Cooper, ''Seven Letters by Sterne and his Friends'' (1844), p. 17]
He died at Skelton in March 1785, and his widow survived him until 1790.[ One of Hall-Stevenson's two sons, John, died unmarried, and the other, Joseph William Hall-Stevenson (1741–1786), died a year after his father, leaving a son, ]John Hall-Stevenson
John Hall-Stevenson (1718–March 1785), in his youth known as John Hall, was an English country gentleman and writer.
He is memorialised as "Eugenius" in Laurence Sterne's novels ''Tristram Shandy'' and ''A Sentimental Journey Through France and ...
(1766–1843), who inherited Skelton Castle and rebuilt it. In 1788 he changed his name to John Wharton. He was Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for Beverley
Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...
between 1790 and 1820.[
Hall-Stevenson's works were collected and published in three volumes in 1795.][
]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall-Stevenson, John
1718 births
1785 deaths
Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge
18th-century English poets
People from Durham, England
18th-century English novelists
British male poets
English male novelists
18th-century English male writers