| Description | Transcription and notes provided by Emmeline Leary, August 2024
Ann Selina Storace (1765-1817) was a soprano singer based in London. She achieved widespread popularity in England and Europe performing on stage and on the concert platform. Today, she is chiefly remembered as the first Susanna in Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro (See Dictionary of National Biography and Grove Music Online).
Transcript:
[Storace's handwriting is difficult to read and her punctuation, spelling and capitalisation are inconsistent with modern practice.]
London Post Office 11th September 1800, evening
Foreign Office branch of the London Post Office for 11th September 1800 [1]
Bolton Esqr [2]
Soho
Angleterre
Birmingham
Leghorn 25th July 1800 [3]
Dear Sir
Recollecting with pleasure the agreeable house [4]
I have so often pass'd [5] at the charming Soho, it is also
impossible to forget Mr. Bolton, [6] whom I now take the
Liberty to address thanking him for the Letter he fa-
vored me with to Minet & Factor at Dover, [7] and
interceding his future protection and Kindness towards My Nephew
Brinsley Storace [8] who is at School at Windson Green-
near Birmingham, [9] Of Course you are acquainted with his having lost his Fa
ther [10] and at present is entirely under his Mother's care, [11]
as I understand from my friends in England [12] it is Mrs.
Stephen Storace's intention to bring him up in a Mer
-cantile line [13] and as I too well know that in every line
and particularly in that a good friend and Patron
is one of the Greatest Blessings I trust by the attention
and Politeness you have ever shewn me, [14] you will also have the goodness to extend it to Patronage for this
little Boy, who is now ten years of age and with
pleasure I can inform you, is very full of spirits, & talent and whom I flatter myself will turn out a cle
-ver Man, if properly guided; [15] but as my Sister [16] is but
a woman, of course stands in need of good advice; If
Mr. Bolton with his usual good Heart will now and
then interest himself for this Boy, and advise his
Mother [17] the proper steps she must take to bring him
up for the Mercantile Business, I shall esteem it a
most particular favor, and I make no doubt as the
Boy is so well instructed in what is right that he
will be ever grateful for your Kindness as will his
Mother and Aunt - A Boy having lost his Father
at so early an age stands in need of friends; Should
there be any thing you might esteem necessary for his
Education that his Mother cannot perhaps grant him
[18] if you will only have the goodness to inform me, nothing
shall be wanting on my part to make him that
ornament to Society his talents,
and the Affection I hold for my late Brother may
entitle him to therefore I am willing to think I may look up to you Sir for his future Protector and Friend-
Mrs. Stephen Storace is Sister to Mrs. James Aspinall
of Birmingham, and is at present with her. [19]
Excuse I beg the Liberty I have taken, which if troublesome
originates from your own innate goodness - I flatter myself
you will favor me with an answer [20] addressed to me chez
Monsr. Donat Orsi et fils à Florence, [21] which I trust
will be a favorable one - I need make many apologies for
trespassing so long on your time, I hope you and Family enjoy
perfect health; & that you may long enjoy that greatest of
Blessings is the Sincere wish of
Dear Sir
Yr Most Oblig'd Hble Sert.
Ann Storace
[1] The Foreign Office postmark was stamped on letters sent to England from overseas. The postmarks indicate that the letter took six weeks to arrive in London from Leghorn.
[2] Storace spells Boulton's name incorrectly throughout the letter.
[3] Storace's address in Leghorn (Livorno), located in Tuscany, Italy, is explained by the fact that for some time she and her partner, John Braham also a singer had been performing at opera houses in northern Italian cities. They had left England for France and Italy in August 1797 and did not return until the summer of 1801. In the letter, Storace gives no indication that for two months, until 4 June she and Braham had been trapped in Genoa, the location of their previous theatrical engagement, during an increasingly desperate siege which formed part of the Napoleonic wars. The date of the letter indicates that they arrived in Leghorn to perform at the Teatro Regio at least six weeks before the start of the autumn season which began on 6 September. Storace performed in two operas alongside Braham during this season.
[4] Boulton and his family lived at Soho House during the years 1766-1809.
[5] Storace remark suggests that Soho House was visible from the Holyhead Road which ran in a north westerly direction out of Birmingham. Storace may have travelled along this road in 1794 on her journey from London to Liverpool to perform in concerts but she appears to be exaggerating when claiming that she had often passed Soho House as all her other engagements before 1797 took place in Birmingham itself or at locations in the south or east of England such as Oxford, Bath and Norwich.
[6] Storace had presumably met Boulton in July 1797 when she appeared at the New Street Theatre in a series of English operas, five of which were composed by her brother Stephen. These performances took place shortly before her journey to the continent. She had also appeared in the Birmingham Music Festival of April 1791 which raised funds for a painted glass window at St Paul's church, Birmingham where Boulton owned a pew.
[7] The letter probably concerned financial matters as Minet & Fector (spelt Factor by Storace and usually known as Fector & Minet) was an important firm of shipping agents and bankers based in Dover. In August 1797, Storace stayed briefly in Dover on her journey to France.
[8] Brinsley John Storace (1790-1807) was the only child of Storace's brother, Stephen John Seymour Storace a successful composer of English and Italian operas.
[9] The school, located in Winson Green was run by the Pickering family at this time. By 1800, Leonard Pickering was the owner and advertised the start of the January term of 1800 in Aris's Birmingham Gazette (ABG) 6 January 1800. By coincidence, Boulton's son, MR Boulton had attended the same school at an earlier period. Brinsley did not remain long at Winson Green; by the summer of 1803, he was a pupil at Abingdon School, Oxfordshire.
[10] The death of Brinsley father in March 1796 had been widely reported in London and elsewhere. The ABG of 21 March 1796 described Stephen Storace as a "Composer and a man of considerable genius and great skill".
[11] Brinsley's mother was Mary Storace née Hall. She probably moved to Birmingham from London late in 1799 or early in 1800 to join her sister Julia Hall and mother Mrs Mary Hall who had arrived there from London by October 1799. A married sister, Elizabeth Aspinall already lived in Birmingham. (see note 18)
[12] Probably Storace's mother and Brinsley's grandmother, Elizabeth Storace.
[13] That Mary Storace should be considering this career for Brinsley is surprising as Storace, her brother and father were all musicians. Brinsley's uncles on the Hall side of the family were an Oxford don and an attorney. The choice must be linked to Brinsley's aunt Elizabeth whose husband, James Aspinall, was a Birmingham merchant. His stock of "mercantile goods" which included "several thousand gross" of buttons and a wide variety of metal goods was advertised for sale in 1806 following his bankruptcy. (See ABG, 12 May 1806). Ultimately, Brinsley trained as an architect after rejecting an academic career.
[14] The reference to Boulton's "attention and politeness" is another indication that he and Storace had met.
[15] Storace's opinions of her nephew's character, and predictions for his future were, sadly, wide of the mark. Brinsley's poor behaviour during his apprenticeship to the architect John Soane led to his dismissal in 1805. Although later reinstated, Brinsley died before completing his training.
[16] Storace refers to her sister-in-law.
[17] No evidence has been found to indicate whether Boulton contacted Mary Storace to offer advice.
[18] Storace is perhaps suggesting that she will cover the cost of any necessary expenses. She took her responsibilities as an aunt seriously: under the terms of her will, written in 1797, Brinsley was to inherit £5000 in East India Company stock together with Storace's household goods following her death and that of his grandmother, Elizabeth Storace. (See National Archives PROB 11/1597/149)
[19] Boulton knew James Aspinall as both were involved in the campaign for the Metal Button Act, 1796. (See ABG 28 December 1795) Two letters to Boulton from Aspinall, dated 28 June 1798 and 22 April 1799 Ref: MS 3782/12/43/110 are in the Boulton archive, which also contains other documents relating to Aspinall. In 1800, Aspinall and his family were living in Great Charles Street, Birmingham.
[20] No evidence had been found to indicate whether Boulton replied to Storace.
[21] Donat Orsi et Fils was a banking firm in Florence. Presumably it was intended that any correspondence sent there by Boulton would be forwarded to Storace. |