Elizabeth Ann Linley
Elizabeth Ann Sheridan was an English singer who was known to have possessed great beauty. She was the subject of several paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, who was a family friend, Joshua Reynolds and Richard Samuel. An adept poet and writer, she became involved with the Blue Stockings Society and participated in Whig politics.
The second of twelve children, and the first daughter of the composer Thomas Linley and his wife Mary Johnson, Elizabeth was herself the wife of the leading playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. She was one of the most noted soprano singers of her day, though her husband discouraged her from performing in public after their marriage. Her early life was spent in Bath, the town of her birth, and she probably first appeared on stage beside her brother, Thomas, in 1767 although she started singing in concerts when she was nine years old. The Maid of Bath, a comedy that dramatised and ridiculed her life story, played for 24 nights at the Haymarket Theatre in 1771.
An engagement to a wealthy elderly suitor at the end of 1770 was called off just prior to the anticipated wedding; Elizabeth later eloped to France with Sheridan and a marriage ceremony may have taken place in March 1772 although no records of the matrimony exist. The couple returned to Britain in late April and a formal marriage took place in 1773. Sheridan defended Elizabeth's honour twice during 1772 in duels with a married man, "Captain" Thomas Mathews, who had amorously pursued her.
The Sheridans' relationship was stormy, and both parties had affairs; Elizabeth also had several miscarriages and a stillborn baby before producing a son, Thomas, born in November 1775. One of Elizabeth's lovers was Lord Edward FitzGerald, who was the father of her daughter born on 30 March 1792. Elizabeth had suffered ill-health for some time, which the traumatic labour exacerbated. She died of tuberculosis in June 1792.
Early life
Elizabeth Ann Sheridan was born towards the end of 1754, but the exact date varies with sources giving 4, 5 or 7 September, at either Abbey Green or 5 Pierrepont Street, Bath. Her father was Thomas Linley, an English musician and composer, and her mother was Mary Johnson, who was also a talented musician. Elizabeth was baptised at St Michael's church, Bath on 25 September 1754.Elizabeth was the couple's eldest daughter, and like several of her siblings she inherited her parents' musical abilities. Her general schooling was provided by her mother although one, possibly two, years were spent at a school in Bristol where she was taught the rudiments of French conversation, dancing, drawing, painting and deportment. It is likely that she began singing at concerts when she was only nine years old, and she made her formal stage début alongside her brother, also named Thomas, in 1767 at Covent Garden, London. The concert, or masque, featured music by Bach and was called The Fairy Favour. Elizabeth sang and her brother played the part of Puck.
Their father was rigid in his enforcement of the children's schedules, making them perform weekly in concerts at Bath and at venues in Oxford and London. Mary Dewes, a concert attendee, expressed the view that he overworked them and required Elizabeth to perform songs which were too difficult for her age. Elizabeth was under indenture to her father as a music apprentice, which ensured that her performances increased his earnings. To manage her image, her father carefully selected the venues where she could perform, to ensure that she sang at only high-society festivals and avoided the pitfalls of performing on the London stage. Among the venues he selected as her manager were his concerts in Bath and the Three Choirs Festival, which included tours at Gloucester Cathedral, Hereford Cathedral, and Worcester Cathedral, as well as performances in Cambridge, Chester, London, Oxford, and Salisbury. The tours were lavish events accompanied by social gatherings held apart from the concert appearance, wherein Elizabeth and the other performers were expected to entertain for several hours prior to each performance.
In selecting a repertoire to enhance Elizabeth's fame, her father eliminated popular songs, instead choosing regional ballads with "impeccable national pedigree" and classics, centred on Handel. Among her noted performances include the May 1768 performance as Galatea in Acis and Galatea, which then became a staple in her repertoire. Contemporary critics, such as Fanny Burney, Daniel Lyons and Gaspare Pacchierotti, noted that her voice with its clear, unaffected, sweet expression was particularly compatible with Handel's oratorial style. These same traits used to describe her voice were also attributed to her behaviour by the composer William Jackson, Charles Burney and others, adding to the public's admiration of Elizabeth, propelling her to be for a time the most celebrated singer in England, as well as the object of cult-like devotion by her admirers. Jackson, a composer from Exeter, Linley family friend, and author of Observations on the Present State of Music in London wrote music specifically for Elizabeth to perform.
Although Handel's works formed the core of Elizabeth's repertoire, William Jackson and both her brother and father composed music particularly for her. Though much of her father's work from his Bath period has not survived, Jackson's Twelve Songs and Twelve Canzonets were crafted to suit Elizabeth's young voice. Elizabeth was advertised in local newspapers as the soloist of the concert featuring Joseph Wharton's Ode to Fancy and Jackson's Lycidas which was performed on 26 November 1767. The cantata In yonder grove for Elizabeth's March 1773 final public performance was written by her brother Thomas, for which she penned the lyric. The aria was written to feature her vocal flexibility and specifically amplify the dramatic flair of her range. Many songs which were included in her performances invoked songbirds, such as Handel's aria "Sweet Bird" in L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, lark references of Semele, and her own verse in In yonder grove which speaks of the nightingale's song. Repeated linking of Elizabeth's voice and birds, was a device used to call attention to the specific qualities of her voice and raise the public appreciation of her natural abilities. George III saw her performing at Drury Lane; he was impressed and invited the family to entertain the Queen at Buckingham Palace in April 1773. The audience comprised the King, Queen and their family plus one female guest; the private concert lasted for five hours, for which the King paid Linley £100.
Elizabeth became properly acquainted with Richard Brinsley Sheridan in October 1770, not long after the Sheridan family arrived in Bath. The Sheridans were invited to the Linley home as Elizabeth's father was seeking to impress Thomas Sheridan with the grandeur of his house while Sheridan wished to elicit help gaining new students. A close friendship soon developed between the teenage members of the families. At the end of the year, she was betrothed to an elderly but wealthy suitor, Walter Long, but the engagement was broken off shortly before the date set for the wedding. Reports vary as to why the engagement was broken; Elizabeth's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Sheridan wrote that Linley had advised Long she would never be happy in their marriage, prompting him to withdraw his suit. Other reports indicate that the characterization of Long in the play The Maid of Bath written by Samuel Foote was the cause of the break. The play, which opened on 26 June 1771 was a new comedy, which premiered at the Haymarket Theatre, dramatising Linley's story. It played for 24 nights in London and was very popular but made Elizabeth a figure of ridicule. Yet other reports indicate that Long was put off by the attention of so many other men. Whatever the reason, the engagement was severed; Long paid her compensation of £3,000 in 1771, and she also received £1,000 worth of clothing and jewellery.
The unwanted attention from men continued, and Elizabeth became fearful of the lewd intentions of those who tried to court her. Among the men who were infatuated with her was Charles Sheridan, Richard's older brother, and Nathaniel Brassey Halhed. She was particularly worried about the advances made by 'Captain' Thomas Mathews, a married man. The Linley family had made his acquaintance when he moved to Bath in 1770; a descendant of Thomas Mathews, he had resigned his military career when he married. He amorously pursued Elizabeth despite his marital status, sexually harassing her and threatening to rape her. Still feeling mocked by the Maid of Bath comedy, Elizabeth endured further ridicule when her father and William Herschel had a strong public disagreement over whether she would sing at a benefit organised by Herschel. The acerbic exchanges between the two men were in the form of newspaper articles published in January 1772; life for Elizabeth was becoming unbearable and she wanted to escape. Contemplating suicide, and unable to discuss her concerns with her parents, Elizabeth turned to her friend Alicia Sheridan for help. The pair came up with a plan but although Alicia thought the idea to flee to a convent in France was romantic, she expressed reservations and wanted to discuss it with Richard, unaware of his own deepening affection towards Elizabeth.
In early March 1772 Elizabeth's agitation increased; she was short of breath, suffered headaches and continually argued with her father, refusing to willingly take part in performances. Sheridan went to visit her on a Sunday morning while the other Linleys were out and found her unconscious from drugs she had taken. Shortly after Elizabeth recovered from the overdose, the trio of friends conspired to put their plans into action; Elizabeth was to feign illness on the morning of 18 March so she would be left alone in the house as a concert was scheduled for that day.