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Samuel Linley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Samuel Linley, in his midshipman's uniform, by Thomas Gainsborough, who painted this image, according to family tradition, in 48 minutes flat.[1]

Samuel Linley (1760 – December 1778) was the second son of Thomas Linley the elder and Mary Johnson, one of seven musical siblings born to that couple.

Life

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Samuel Linley was born when the family were living in Bath, Somerset, during 1760;[2] he was baptised on 23 June that year.[3] His first public performance was dancing the hornpipe for a production of King John in Bristol when he was six years old.[2] He sang in his father's concerts during 1774 and 1775, and played the oboe, an instrument he was probably taught to play by William Herschel.[2] In 1778 he became a midshipman on HMS Thunderer, aboard which he contracted the fever from which he died.[4] The register of his burial is dated 6 December 1778.[5]

Emma Hart, who went on to be Lady Hamilton, was employed by the Linley family as a maid servant;[6] she nursed Linley during his illness but was distraught when he died, immediately leaving the house.[2] Henry Angelo, one of the pallbearers, recalled in his memoirs that she said "no entreaties could prevail upon her to remain, not even a day."[7]

References

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Citations

  1. ^ Waterfield (1988), p. 88
  2. ^ a b c d Waterfield (1988), p. 87
  3. ^ Black (1911), p. 10
  4. ^ "Samuel Linley", Dulwich Picture Gallery, archived from the original on 9 February 2019, retrieved 26 July 2017
  5. ^ Black (1911), p. 147
  6. ^ Pocock, Tom (2004). "Hamilton , Emma, Lady Hamilton (bap. 1765, d. 1815)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online, October 2007 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12063. Retrieved 26 July 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ^ Angelo (1830), pp. 240–241

Bibliography

  • Angelo, Henry (1830), Reminiscences of Henry Angelo: With Memoirs of His Late Father and Friends, vol. 2, Colburn and Bentley
  • Black, Clementina (1911), The Linleys of Bath, Martin Secker
  • Waterfield, Giles (1988), A Nest of Nightingales, Dulwich Picture Gallery