The Final Artistic Adventures of Thomas Dudgeon, Esq. b.1805 - d.1880 (14)

On the 14th October, 1880, my Great Great Grandfather, Thomas Dudgeon died in Glasgow, Scotland. This is exactly 140 years ago to the day, which I thought was worth mentioning here. So as Neil and I publish this post, I am quite taken with the significance of no. 14 today as this is also the 14th chapter of his story that we have written. Perhaps numerologists would make something of all of that. Neil McNee has written most of this story,  and I have edited it and added the references.  Here is Thomas's final chapter.

In Belfast, Ireland, on 2nd November 1879, Ellen Stella's Mother, and Thomas Dudgeon's partner, Agnes Plunkett, who was Pauline McNee's Maternal Great Great Grandmother, collapsed and died in one day succeeding obstructive vomiting. This is according to her death certificate.  Agnes was only 34 years old.  Granny said in her diary that her mother  had caught a bad cold on the passage over to Ireland, but it seems she did not die from any condition related to the cold.  It was all incredibly sad and so unexpected.

 

A copy of Agnes Dudgeon's Death Certificate

Following the funeral in Belfast, Ellen Stella and Thomas travelled to London in a state of shock and mourning. Ellen Stella was only 11 years old. During this period in history, the Zulu War was raging, and Granny says in her diary that there was "great distress in England."

"The poor suffered a lot and it was so cold that a lot of the wealthy people got together and raised funds for clothes and food for Christmas. The slums are terrible. You could not imagine what they are like and the poor little children suffered so much." (Granny, c.1949.) 

Thomas was commissioned to paint from photos and drawings, the scene of Prince Eugene’s death at Rorke's Drift in Africa which took place in April 1879.  According to Granny's account there was much acclaim in the London papers and the front of the picture showed the farm as it was in all its beauty, and the back was where it was all set on fire by the Zulus. The flames looked so real.  This painting may have been done in early 1880 before Agnes's death, or did Thomas throw himself straight back into his work when arriving in London from Ireland around December 1879. It is possible that this painting was part of a Diorama, as Thomas made himself available to entrepreneurs such as Colville Dyke and George Strange who satisfied the public interest in the Zulu wars and events in India by producing dioramas of paintings depicting major events in these conflicts.

After a cold, sad and bleak Christmas in 1879, Thomas decided to leave London with Ellen Stella for France as it was not so cold on the continent.  Sadly, he still had not recovered from Agnes's death and wasn't feeling well, so before they left for France a Grand Concert was organised in London at the Philharmonic Hall, Kings Road, London. While the location of the Philharmonic Hall was not on Kings Road as Granny pictured it in her diary, but was on the High Street of Islington, Kings Road would have been a place Granny was very familiar with.  During the 19^th century, Kings Road, Chelsea became a bohemian haven. Artists, writers, poets came to live and breathe the life of a Romantic there. More on Chelsea shortly.

 A Grand Concert in London at the Philharmonic Hall, Islington. 1880

"They got up a grand concert, all the gentlemen and ladies in London were there and the programmes were printed on white satin in gold letters." (Granny, c. 1949)

Who were these people that organized the Grand Concert? Over 1,000 people attended, and it seems certain that many of the attendees would have been Thomas's friends from his Masonic links.  Click on this link to find out more about Thomas's affiliation with the Masonic Lodge. The Freemasons of London had a connection with the Philharmonic Hall as Brother Such Granville was the manager in 1878 and Brother R. G. Thomas the acting manager in 1880. On the 13/11/1880 The Freemasons Chronicle reported that R. G. Thomas had a benefit concert in his honour at the Philharmonic Theatre Islington.   It is worth noting here that from 1874 the name had changed from the Philharmonic Hall to the Philharmonic Theatre. It was known as the Philharmonic Theatre for 8 years until destroyed by fire in 1882 and was rebuilt and named the Grand Philharmonic Theatre in 1883.  Benefit concerts seemed to be a feature of the Philharmonic Theatre entertainments and to give Brother Thomas Dudgeon a benefit concert would only be fitting given his esteemed lifetime association with the theatre. 

Photo courtesy of www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Philharmonic.htm#grand

Other benefits given in 1880 were bestowed on none other than Mr. Arthur Lloyd, a titan of the theatre and an associate of Thomas’s from his early days in Glasgow.

The ERA, 8th February, 1880

 So, Annie Plunkett, Granny's stepsister, travelled from Glasgow to sing in the concert. Thomas played "The Meeting of the Waters" on the piano, Annie sang "My love must wait" and Granny sang "Annie Laurie".  Ellen Stella (Granny) had a lovely singing voice just like her Mother, and received an encore encouraging her to sing "Annie Laurie" twice. She wrote that she just sang the last verse over again and that it was awful looking at so many faces. Granny had one of the beautifully embossed concert programmes for years after, but unfortunately, she lost it with all of her things during her voyage over to Australia in 1882.

 Following the concert, Ellen Stella and Thomas sailed to France and stayed there until April 1880. They then went to nearby Jersey and stayed until June. Jersey is a small island in the English Channel located in the Bay of St. Malo. It is 19 miles off the French Coast and is also just 85 miles from the south coast of England. Granny wrote in her diary that the countryside there was lovely. They hired a little carriage and went for long drives, admiring the wildflowers and primroses. They travelled back by Weymouth, and then went to Wales to see the Prince of Wales launch the first lifeboat at Llandudno. Then they travelled to Winchester, where Thomas was in search of old things to paint, an indication that he was starting to recover and looking forward to working again.

Thomas Dudgeon had a long association with Colville Dyke, a promoter of dioramas, a photographer and an accomplished ventriloquist, and at some stage in the 1870s Thomas became his publicist.  The Era newspaper on the11/2/1877 advertises  that Advance Agent Thomas Dudgeon is at liberty to work for other people.

Two seasons with Dykes Diorama of India,  (included the) Testimonial: Can safely recommend Dudgeon as hardworking, honest, sober. Should be glad to re-engage him at any time. Signed Col. Dyke. 

The ERA, 7th January, 1877, issue 1996

  

Thomas was indeed re-signed, as The Era 1/9/1877 refers to Advance Agent Thomas Dudgeon in the Dyke and Hunter’s entertainment, A Two Hours Melange of Hunter’s impersonations and Dyke’s Ventriloqual Magical Séance.  Advance Agent was the term for a publicist.

The ERA,1st September, 1878, issue 2159

The position would have required Thomas to paint the posters to advertise the entertainment being offered.  By 1/12/1878 Thomas is again at liberty to work after spending the summer at Theatre Margate with Mr. Sidney and having finished with Dyke and Hunter the same day.  It is interesting to note that in the Classified Ads section of the Era newspaper, Thomas's address is now with George Strange at 30 George Street, Oxford and with a footnote, “Can paint a poster.”  In 1881 George Strange owned and operated the Anchor Inn at 25 Cornmarket Street, Oxford as did an Arthur Lloyd in 1871. All just a coincidence, who knows?

AGENT or BILL INSPECTOR at Liberty. Last Summer at Theatre, Margate, with Mr. W'. Sidney. Finish with Messrs' Dyke and Hunter this day. Highest references, T. DUDGEON, at Mr. Strange's, 30, George-street, Oxford. Can paint a poster. (The ERA, Dec. 1, 1878).

Theatre Royal Margate
photo provided by Yell

Granny says in her Diary, that on their return to London via Glasgow where she spent time living with Walsh family, Thomas  was given a Royal Commission to restore the picture of the Death of Cromwell that was hanging in the lobby at Windsor Castle, which was one of Queen Victoria's homes. Our correspondence with Windsor Castle enquiring about the existence of this painting, and the subsequent reply from Windsor Castle indicates that they have never had a painting of Thomas Cromwell in their collection with this title. This suggests to me that the painting Granny is referring to in her diary was either part of a diorama needing to be restored and hanging in the lobby of the castle, or one to be used in a future theatrical performance at the Castle. It seems probable that this painting was not catalogued as part of the Castle’s art collection and has since gone missing. 

When Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, she was the first British monarch to publicly embrace the arts and theatrical performances. After the death of Prince Albert in 1861, the Queen entered a period of mourning, and withdrew from public engagements, however she did continue to show her passion for the arts by once again inviting theatrical performances into her homes. Queen Victoria's renewed interest in private theatricals in later life no doubt influenced the most spectacular of all the nineteenth century's private theatricals - those arranged by the eighth Duchess of Devonshire in Derbyshire. David Coates (2013) says that whilst many private theatricals were produced for nothing but a little amusement, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that these amusements have added to our knowledge and understanding of social, cultural, theatrical, political and indeed economic histories for various reasons. I like to think that Thomas Dudgeon played a role in this history by contributing pieces of art to the private theatricals.

 Thomas had permission to have Ellen Stella with him when he was doing up the picture of Cromwell. Ellen Stella (Granny) says in her diary “Two soldiers walked up and down all the time father was painting. That is what he got his letters R.A – for”. (Diary,    )

 At this time of his life, while still keeping busy, Thomas is able to pick and choose who he works for and the type of work he can do. Clearly large diorama scenes and theatre backdrops are beyond him now and the poster work as a publicist is more to his liking.  Also painting scenes for pleasure is a luxury he can now afford himself. Surely, one of his final works was the drawing of a globe surrounded by scenes of Iceland,  Zululand, the Niagara Falls, Switzerland, Afghanistan etc. The copyright registration for this work was the 13/8/1880. The copyright owner of the work was Messrs. Hamilton and Overend of Diorama Proprietors, Portsea and the Copyright author of the work was Thomas Dudgeon of 103 Walkingshaw Street, Glasgow.  This address was Thomas’s last known address before he died. Unfortunately, when we requested a copy of the globe drawing from the National Archives at Kew in England, they replied that it was missing despite catalog details indicating it's location in the archives and only a photocopy of the original registration has been forthcoming.

Drawing of a globe surrounded by scenes of Iceland, Zululand, the Niagara Falls,..., 13th August, 1880. [Catalogue description] Copy 1/50/226 contained within Box Number 1 of  COPY 1/50. 

 Back to Chelsea now for the penultimate adventure of Thomas Dudgeon and his daughter Ellen Stella.  During the period of the Zulu wars, it was a time of economic stress for Great Britain and the poor suffered terribly. The Gentlemen and Ladies of London were encouraged to tour the slums of East End, London to see firsthand the plight of these poor wretches. As Ellen Stella recalls regarding Paradise Walk Chelsea:

The name sounds lovely, but you should have seen it. It was terrible. All the poor little children and their mothers, and the streets so narrow with filthy rags that hung out of the windows. No wonder the people of London wanted to try and feed these poor hungry children. This is one thing I will never forget. The Missionary and his wife lived nearby. They gave us afternoon tea in their thick cups and bread and butter and celery.  Anyway, it did good for there was a lot of money given to Mr. Booth to buy food and clothes for those in the Walk.  If you ever go to London, you must see Paradise Walk.

 The name of William Booth’s workplace, his Mission, underwent various changes, before becoming the Christian Mission in 1868-70 and then finally in 1878 it was renamed the Salvation Army.  The Salvation Army was evangelistic in nature and open-air meetings and street parades were used to spread the good word.  Also, secular locations such as Music Halls and theatres, all helped to bring the attention of the Salvation Army and their work to the people.  One can assume that this is how Thomas got to hear of William Booth and the Salvation Army. 

William Booth, 1829-1912 (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

A major undertaking of shipowner and entrepreneur Charles Booth (no relation to William Booth) in 1889-90 was his mapping of poverty in London. To do this his helpers would go on police patrols and with the police notes and observations taken on these walks a map of London streets divided into districts was produced and called Charles Booth’s London poverty and police notebooks. These maps and notebooks are available online at https://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks and Paradise Walk features in a number of them.

Charles Booth, social reformer, 1840-1916 (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Granny would be pleased to know now that in only a few short years after her visit to Paradise Walk the area received a much needed economic boost and employment for the residents with the construction of what is known as the Embankment in 1874 with the consequent housing construction in full swing by the early 1880’s.  What is more intriguing about Paradise Walk at the time of Thomas's and Ellen Stella’s visit was the newly constructed Tite Street, which in 1877 ran parallel to Paradise Walk, and many of the houses backed directly onto Paradise Walk. 

Tite Street became the place to live and was regarded as the centre of bohemian London.  Devon Cox in “The Street of Wonderful Possibilities” says that:- Tite Street was laid out as a series of empty plots and, slowly, artists began buying them up, commissioning fashionable architects. (Cox, 2015) Cox goes on to say the brilliant architect E. W. Godwin (who also designed theatre costumes and sets) had clientele who included the American artist James Whistler and Oscar Wilde.  

An online blog article, titled Chelsea-thestreetnames, Little slices of London’s history, will have the final say on Paradise Walk.  In the latter half of the 19^th century the area was a dismal slum, with more than one family often crammed into small houses. Wilde had a house that overlooked the Walk and hid the view with a screen. (Steynor, Elizabeth [2017]

 The final adventure for Thomas is just the beginning of a whole new world for Ellen Stella but the scope of this blog is to highlight Thomas’s life story.  While in Winchester and staying with the Buchan family Thomas took ill and knowing how ill he was he tried to prepare Ellen Stella for the inevitable. Both Thomas and the doctor tried to tell Ellen Stella that the situation was serious but by her own admission she was too young to understand and got angry at the doctor and hit him and stamped her feet,  and told him he dare not tell me that he may die.

The doctor got a nurse, and arranged for our journey to London, and friends there had engaged a Pullman car for us so in 3 days we were in Glasgow. It was snowing when we arrived and it is a long drive to Rutherglen.

Control of Thomas’s final days and Ellen Stella’s future now lay in the hands of family. Thomas’s eldest daughter from his first marriage, Agnes McCallum, took control and had him transferred from Rutherglen to her house at 385 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow where he died on the14th October 1880, at 11 am. James, his brother was the informant (witness) to his death. Thomas died of Bright's disease of the kidney and Dropsy. Ellen Stella at age 11, had lost two beloved parents in two years. She probably had a very real understanding of her predicament as she states in her memoirs:-

  I don’t think anyone would ever understand how I felt.  I was nearly 11 years old then, but life has never been the same to me.  He was so good in every way - a God fearing man.  After the funeral, they were looking for his will, but none was found, so all he had went to his eldest daughter.  She offered to let me live with her, but my Uncle David and Aunt Susan both said I would not be happy with her, nor would I, so I went to Aunt Susan's and lived with her and her daughter, Janet, who was married to  Jim Davidson, the chief engineer on the Wentworth Steamboat.  

 It is not clear how much contact Thomas had with his first offspring but according to Ellen Stella’s memoirs  regarding her Mother's marriage to Thomas Dudgeon:- 

She (Agnes Pollock)  was only 19 when her husband was killed so my father persuaded her to marry him, though he was old enough to be her father, but his two girls from his first wife never forgave him for my mother was younger than they were.

 If Thomas was on the outer with his daughters one can only imagine how they would react to  subsequent children such as Ellen Stella threatening any future inheritance. The question needs to be asked, given that it seems very unlikely that Thomas would not have provided for Ellen Stella in the event of his death, and given the length of his illness, and all the friends prepared to help him in those final days.  Was there in fact a will after all which was knowingly kept from Ellen Stella and others because Ellen Stella was the main beneficiary? A conspiracy theory I know, but this whole episode seems quite out of character for a man that worked so hard throughout his life and was held in such high esteem that he would neglect such an important aspect of providing for those he loved and left behind.

Thomas Dudgeon, Royal Academician or not, left a legacy that in the modern world of art and theatre has gone generally unrecognized.  His diorama paintings travelled the world and newspapers as late as the 1890’s still promoted his work in theatres all over the British Isles.  While art critics regard Thomas as a minor contributor to British Art it became obvious that any detailed research into Thomas Dudgeon the artist has never been done.  The Glasgow Museum and Art Gallery curator Hugh Stevenson acknowledges in a letter dated 19/10/1987, "We were delighted to receive the biographical information on Dudgeon, which was contained in your letter, as this artist is poorly documented. "

 At the time of writing this post we have been contacted by a lady in America who has recently purchased two of Thomas Dudgeon's paintings at auction not knowing anything about the artist, just loved the landscapes, and was thrilled to have the background and biographical detail made available from this Blog. It has been a pleasure to bring back to life in the 21^st century a most endearing character that was Pauline's maternal Great Great Grandfather. How can we not feel very proud of him.

Whilst this is the final chapter in Thomas's life, this won't be the last chapter we write about the Dudgeon family,  their relatives and achievements. 

Add your email address to the box on the side of this blog if you would like to receive our future posts, or you can leave a message on the contact form at the end of the blog, or contact Pauline via an email in the email box provided in the side panel of the blog. I would love to hear from you.

Warmest wishes,

Pauline and Neil McNee

Bibliography:

[Baxter, Arthur L.] Notebook: Police District 24 [St John Westminster], District 25 [St Margaret and Belgrave], District 26 [Chelsea], District 27 [Brompton] 1899.

Bennett,  David Malcolm. William and Catherine Booth: the rapid rise of the Salvation Army in Britain in the 1880s. July 24th, 2013.  http://www.williamandcatherinebooth.com/uncategorized/the-rapid-rise-of-the-salvation-army-in-britain-in-the-1880s/

Berwick Advertiser, 12th March, 1875, p. 3, column 6, Local News. Strange and Wilson's Entertainment.

Charles Booth's London poverty maps and police notebooks 1898-99. London, School of Economics & Political Science, c2016.https://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks 

Charles Booth's London poverty maps [compiled by] Mary S. Morgan and Iain Sinclair.  London, Thames & Hudson with London School of Economics Library, 2019. https://booth.lse.ac.uk/learn-more/new-booth-book

Coates, David.  A little bit of history, Mansfield Park.  http://www.theatreroyal.org/a-little-bit-of-history-mansfield-park/  August 27th, 2013.

Cox, Devon. The street of wonderful possibilities:  Whistler, Wilde  & Sargent in Tite Street. London, Francis Lincoln, 2015

The Era, (London, England) Sunday 7th January, 1877, Issue 1996, British Newspaper Library, Part 1, 1800-1900. (Gale Cengage,)

The Era, (London, England) Sunday, 1st September, 1878, Issue 2084, British Newspaper Library, Part 1, 1800-1900. (Gale Cengage)

 The Era, (London, England) Sunday, 1st December, 1878, Issue 2097, British Newspaper Library, Part 1, 1800-1900. (Gale Cengage)

The Era, (London, England) Sunday, 8th February, 1880, issue 2159  British Newspaper Library, Part 1, 1800-1900. (Gale Cengage)

Fitzgerald, Percy. The Project Gutenberg ebook of Picturesque London. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59188/59188-h/59188-h.htm#ill_86. Accessed 20th May,/2020

The Freemason's Chronicle, 13th November, 1880, p. 327.

 Liverpool Mercury, Wednesday, 2nd July, 1879, issue 9818. The "Salvation Army".

The National Archives, Kew, England. Paintings, drawings and photographs registered at the Stationers' Company, 1 July 1880-... July-September, 1880. [Catalogue description] Copy 1/50. 

The National Archives, Kew, England, Photograph. Drawing of a globe surrounded by scenes of Iceland, Zululand, the Niagara Falls,..., 13th August, 1880. [Catalogue description] Copy 1/50/226 contained within Box Number 1 of COPY 1/50. 

Stevenson, Hugh. (Curator)  [Letter] Glasgow Museum and Art Gallery, 19th October, 1987.

https://the streetnames.com/tag/chelsea/ [online blog] Steynor, Elizabeth.  Chelsea - thestreetnames, little slices of London's history. Accessed 4th October, 2020.

 https://www.pia-journal.co.uk/articles/10.5334/pia.429/print/ Stinking foreshore to tree lined avenue: investigating the Riverine lives impacted by the construction of the Thames Embankment... 1881 Census information. Accessed 19th May, 2020

https://pubwiki.co.uk/Oxfordshire/Oxford/AnchorMarket.shtml Anchor, 25 Cornmarket street, Oxford, Oxfordshire. Accessed  5th April, 2020.

https://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/kings-road-chelsea King's Road Chelsea, Explore 20th century London. Accessed 21st February, 2014.

http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/sa1.html The origin and early development of the Salvation Army in Victorian England. Funds. Accessed 3rd September, 2014.

www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/cornmarket/east/24_25.html. No. 25A (Anchor Pub): George Strange (47), 24-25 Cornmarket, 1881,  Accessed 5th April, 2020.

This article is Copyright (c) 2020 by Hope Pauline McNee and Alan Neil McNee