 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Edward Topham" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Edward Topham (1751–1820) was an English journalist and playwright, who publicized theWold Cottage meteorite which fell on his property.
He was the son of Francis Topham, LL.D. (d. 15 October 1770), Master of Faculties and judge of thePrerogative Court inYork, whose feud withDean Fountayne waslampooned byLaurence Sterne inThe History of a Warm Watch Coat.[1]
Edward was educated atEton College underDr. John Foster (1731–1774), and remained there for eleven years. While at school he dabbled in poetry and was one of the leaders in the rebellion against Foster's rule. He was admitted atTrinity College, Cambridge, aspensioner on 22 April 1767, and asfellow-commoner on 23 October 1769, but he left without taking a degree. On leaving the university, Topham travelled on the continent and spent six months in Scotland, publishing on his return in 1776 a volume ofLetters from Edinburgh, 1774 and 1775, containing some Observations on the Diversions, Customs, Manners, and Laws of the Scotch Nation. He next came to London and purchased a commission in the First Regiment of Lifeguards. By 1777, he was "cornet of KingGeorge III's secondTroop of Horse-guards", and for about seven years he was theadjutant. He brought his regiment to a high state of efficiency, for which he received the thanks of the King and figured in the press as "the tip-top adjutant". In 1803, he was made a Captain in The Yorkshire Wolds Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry.[2]
Topham soon became known in London's fashionable society for his original style of dress and the ease and elegance of his manners. His personal and sartorial peculiarities were copied by his friendFrederick Reynolds to enliven the characters in his comedies.[3] Meanwhile, Topham's talent as a writer of prologues and epilogues introduced him to the leading actors of the day, and led to his first appearance as a playwright. An epilogue, spoken byCharles Lee Lewes in imitation of aMolière character, filledDrury Lane for several nights. Another, on a recent tragedy, spoken byMiss Farren, was equally popular. He wrote an epilogue for the benefit ofMary Wells, and their friendship soon became intimate. They lived together for several years, and four children resulted from the union.[4]
The plays produced by Topham during this period of his life were:
A daily paper calledThe World was established by Topham (partly with the object of promoting Mary Wells) on 1 January 1787. Two of his principal colleagues in its direction wereMiles Peter Andrews and the Rev. Charles Este (died London 1828)Charles Este.John Bell, the publisher, had a share in the management.[5] Its "unqualified and audacious attacks on all private characters" were at the start "smiled at for their quaintness, then tolerated for their absurdity", and ultimately repudiated with disgust.[6] In it appeared accounts of "elopements, divorces, and suicides, tricked out in all the elegancies of Mr. Topham's phraseology".[7] It was in this paper that the fantastic productions of theDella Cruscans, a small set of Englishpoetasters dwelling for the most part at Florence, made their appearance. Topham contributed articles under the title ofThe Schools, in which he gave reminiscences of many of his companions at Eton, and hisLife of the LateJohn Elwes, Esquire (1790) made its first appearance in its columns. This memoir of the miser (sometimes credited with being the inspiration forEbenezer Scrooge) passed through seven editions during 1790, and in 1805 reached a twelfth edition, "corrected and enlarged, and with a new appendix". A German translation was published atDanzig in 1791.Horace Walpole considered it "one of the most amusing anecdotal books in the English language". It is said to have raised the sale ofThe World by a thousand copies a day; but an even better hit was made by the correspondence between the rivalpugilistsRichard Humphries andDaniel Mendoza.
WhenGeorge Nassau Clavering, Third Earl Cowper, died in Florence on 22 December 1789, his character was assailed with virulence inThe World. Topham was indicted for libel, and the case was tried beforeBuller, who pronounced the articles to have been published with intent to throw scandal on the peer's family and as tending to abreach of the peace. The proprietor was found guilty.[8] Counsel moved for an arrest of judgment on the ground of the misdirection of the judge to the jury. It was argued at great length before theCourt of King's Bench, and after a protracted delayKenyon delivered on 29 January 1791 the judgment of the court in favour of Topham (Charles Durnford andEdward East,Reports of Cases..., iv. 126–30). By the autumn of 1790, he and Este had separated in anger. The latter had acquired a fourth share in the paper, but had surrendered it from 25 December 1788, conditionally, on the payment of an annuity to him. Topham claimed that its payment was dependent on the existence of the paper, and Este thereupon "opened a literary battery against him in theOracle". The printed letters are appended to a copy of Este'sMy Own Life at theBritish Museum.
After five years, Topham disposed of his paper, abandoned Mary Wells for someone else, and retired with his three surviving daughters to Wold Cottage, about two miles fromThwing, East Riding of Yorkshire.[9] It was rumoured that he intended to spend the rest of his days in farming some hundreds of acres of land and in writing the history of his own life. His kennels were considered the best in England, and his greyhound "Snowball" was praised as "one of the best and fleetest greyhounds that ever ran", and "his breed all most excellent".[10] In 1801, he was offering a reward of Five Guineas on conviction of those poaching hares.[11]
While Topham was living at Wold Cottage, ameteoric stone fell at around three o'clock on the afternoon of Sunday, 13 December 1795, within two fields of his house. In a letter dated 8 February 1796 and published in the press he states it fell on Sunday 20 December and immediately on being dug up, warm and smoking, weighed 3 stone 13 pounds, it had buried itself through 12 inches of soil and in six inches of solid chalk rock.[12] Part of it was exhibited at the museum ofJames Sowerby, London, and is now in theNatural History Museum, London. Topham publishedAn Account of it in 1798, and in 1799 erected a column on the spot. The stone was "in breadth 28 inches, in length 36 inches, and its weight was 56 pounds"[13]
The Life of John Elwes, Esq., M.P. For Berkshire, by Edward Topham, Esq. late Captain in the Horse Guards (11th Ed), was published in 1815.[14]Topham died inDoncaster on 26 April 1820, aged 68. He was for many years an acting magistrate for the North and East Ridings.[15] He had three daughters, who were reckoned "the best horsewomen in Yorkshire".
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Topham, Edward".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
