Bath, Art and Architecture

Tuesday, 23 December 2025

The 18th Century Monuments in All Saints Church Weston, Bath. No 6. General Joseph Smith by Viner of Bath, 1790. Some notes on the Viners and Morford Street, Bath.

The Viners (Stone and Marble Masons of Bath) fl 1779 - 1814.

Charles Viner, (d.1823) 10 Morford St, Bath (Bath Chronicle 18 Jan.1798).

Probably the most important member of the Viner family for the purpose of this essay.

Father Gabriel Viner (d. c 1795) listed as Mason, 7 Margarets Blgs in the New Bath Guide of 1780, 1784 and 1792.

Brother William Viner - carpenter owned 9 and 19 Morford St on the West side of the street.

Tomb of Gabriel Viner. c1795. Pennant stone sarcophagus located north-west of the crossing, close to the church at Weston. The tapering sarcophagus stands on end plinths over a base, with foliate corner decorations, and has two stone handles (in the form of garlands) on each side. The cover has a gadrooned edge. Listed as a strong example of a Neo-classical churchyard memorial. No 428 on the churchyard plan (see illustation below).

Gunnis notes that the monuments of Charles Viner are quite well executed but not particularly interesting, the best being that to Lady Dundonald, which is a large work in coloured marbles.

The diary of Sir Charles Throckmorton of Coughton Court, Warks contains the entry ‘l4 April, 1795. Agreed with Mr. Viner, of Morford Street, Bath, to erect a marble monument in the Abbey Church of Bath to the memory of Mr. Metcalfe according to the draught given in, for £15’ (Beard 1951, 1641).

In 1814 Viner was paid £133 for black marble for the staircase hall and, two years later, for the chimneypieces for Doddington Park, Glos, then being rebuilt by Christopher Codrington.

................................

A Preliminary List of Works - Charles Viner.

Lady Dundonald, Funerary Monument d.1779. All Saints, Weston, Bath Somerset. (below)

William and Catherine Wilton. St Mary Magdalene Church, Langridge, Bath.

Robert Coe. Funerary Monument ?1788. St Swithin's, Walcot, Bath, Somerset.

The Monument to Members of the Ditcher Family. All Saints, Weston, Bath. Presumed after 1790. (below)

Theophilus Ponting. Funerary Monument ?1791. Norton St Philip, Somerset.

Charlotte Wicker. Funerary Monument ?1795. Weston, Somerset.

Mr Metcalfe. Funerary Monument 1795. Bath Abbey, Somerset. untraced.

John Taylor. Funerary Monument ?1806. Newton St Loe, Somerset.

Brigadier-General Joseph Smith . Funerary Monument d.1790, Weston, Somerset (below).

Several Chimneypieces. 1816. Doddington Park, Glos. untraced.

John Dick. Funerary Monument ?1817. Devizes, Wilts.

..............................

The Monument to Brigadier General Joseph Smith.

After 1790.

All Saints, Weston, Bath.

Inscribed C.Viner.

At first glance an impressive work but to my eye flawed. the bust doesn't work and would have been much mre effective if it had been independent of the grey marble obelisque.

but the two female figures are well carved.

I suspect that this monument was a collaboration.

...................................

The Tomb of General Joseph Smith. c1790. In the Churchyard at Weston, Bath.

Presumably by the Viner Workshop.

The Chest tomb of Bath stone, located north of the north-west end of the church. An elaborate neo-classical memorial on an oval base, the rectangular chest with paired engaged columns with acanthus capitals at the projecting ends.

The main field sports a fine military trophy in relief, surrounding an inscription panel, the epitaph of which opens `Here is deposited the noblest work of God / an Honest Man / A Brave Officer etc. The other side bears a plain marble panel set amid drapery. The upswept fluted cover rises to a two-stage base bearing a decorated urn. Listed as an exceptional neo-classical memorial. General Smith died in 1790: he also has the memorial on the north wall (illustrated above) within Weston church. No 53 on the churchyard plan.

...............................

The Monument to William and Catherine Wilton.

Inscribed C Viner Bath on the supporting brackets

St Mary Magdalene Church, Langridge, Bath.

After 1792.

Mutilated the obelisque from above the inscription tablet is now missing.

...................

Another Monument by Viner of Bath.

All Saints Weston, Bath.

Catherine Countess of Dundonald, Died 1779.

.................................

The Monument to Members of the Ditcher Family.

All Saints, Weston, Bath.

Inscribed C Viner. Bath Ft.

Probably after 1790.

.................................

Martha Vandewall Williams.

Monument carved by C. Viner of Bath.

Bristol Cathedral.

d.1789.

Died at the Hot Wells /on the 18th March 1789 /and in the 19th Year of her age /Martha Vandewall Williams /Eldest Daughter and Coheiress /of John Williams Esq'r /of Panthowell, /in the County of Carmarthen /and lies interred near this place.

https://bristol-cathedral.co.uk/the-cathedral/search-the-collection/collection-item/index1154.html?id=1240136&page=37

The marriage settlement of John Williams and Martha Neate.

https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/b60fa140-359f-38af-ac1b-581992fe3b6c?component=3c084be3-d694-31ad-9e47-87bc8f60e135

The house of Panthowell, Trelech a'r Betws, Carmarthenshire, was owned by the Williams family for nearly three centuries. John Williams (d. 1773) was the last of the male line at Panthowell.

The property passed to his daughter Margarette Vandewall Williams, who married the Rev. William Shippen Willes, of Cirencester, (d. 1822) in 1797; their son, William Willes, inherited the estate.

By 1831, the estate consisted of Panthowell, Panthowell Mill, Crug y denyon and Ffynnon Sais. In 1834 the estate was sold to Lt-Col Thomas Samuel Nicholls (1787-1857), of Tenby, Pembrokeshire. In 1837, Nicholls adopted the name Trafford, his grandmother's family, and built a large mansion at Panthowell in c. 1850. His second wife, Maria, continued to live at Panthowell until her death in 1908. The property was then sold to local farmers.

I suspect that the choice of Viner as sculptor probably lay with her grandmother Martha Vandewall who was living at Lansdown Grove, Lansdown Road, Bath.

The enormously rich Quaker Vandewall / Neate family of Greenwich and Lindsey House, Lincolns Inn Fields have appeared several times in the blog - including -.

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-william-seward-martha-vandewall.html

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2023/06/some-more-vandewall-stuff.html

.....................

Morford St, Bath, looking North.

1960's Photographs.

The Viner's premises at No.9 and 10.

In 1972 the bottom houses on the west side were infuriatingly demolished as far as and including no 9 during the so called Sack of Bath and the comprehensive redevelopment of various areas of Bath.

The excuse given was slum clearance.

The buildings on the East side were completely cleared including the Georgian Riding School.

How and why did this wanton destruction happen??

The rest of the houses on the west side were saved but not before all the interiors were stripped.

................................

The West side Corner of Morford St and Julian Road (Formerly Cottles Lane).

The rear of Morford St photograph taken from the demolished Lampard's Buldings.

.........................

"Bath in Time."

An example of a blatent capatalist taking over / privatising one of Bath city's assets (payed for by the rate payers) and happening in plain sight.

Who allowed this to happen?

They coralled all the city's photographic archive - assembled the images on a website and made them unavailable for general consumption unless one was prepared to pay an extortionate price for a digital image.

Here are some examples - at least the images are of a reasonable resolution despite the enormous and unnecessary water marks - their map and plans are even worse - and are unreadable.

To rub salt into the wound the owner then sold the business back to the council.

.........................

Here are the Bath in Time photographs of the entrance and interior of Davies Place on the East side of Morford St.

.............................

Balance Street, Lampards Blgs and Morford Street.

The Cottrel Map showing Viners Court running between Lampards Buildings and Morford Street.

...........................

Ordnance Survey Map of the area - 1880's.

......................

Some notes ref. Charles Viner.

Bath Records Office. Archives.

Ref. BC/6/2/9/2057/1 Agreement. 16 Nov 1777. 8 Morford St. Bath

1. Gabriel Viner of the parish of Walcot Somerset, mason and Mark Spencer of Walcot, carpenter.

2. Joseph Pow of Walcot, carpenter.

Agreement from 1 to 2 subject to rent of a plot of ground in Morford Street formerly part of Payne's Leaze for building. Rent: £3.

Former Reference Number BC153/2057/1

.....................................

Ref. BC/6/2/9/2034/1 10 Morford St - Conveyance by lease and release.

25 Nov 1779 - 26 Nov 1779.

1. The Reverend Edward Sheppard and Francis Bennett, linen draper both of the parish of Walcot Somerset. This is almost certainly Rev. Sheppard later of Chatham Row.

2. Rebecca Morford of the parish of Walcot Somerset, spinster.

3. Henry Silcock of Walcot, gent. and Hannah his wife (nee Morford). Rebecca Morford and Hannah Silcock being daughters of John Morford, gent. and Mary his wife of Walcot, both deceased.

4. Gabriel Viner of Walcot, mason and Mark Spencer of Walcot, carpenter trustee for Gabriel Viner.

Conveyance from 1, 2 and 3 to 4 subject to rent of a messuage in Morford Street. Rent: £2:10.

Former Reference Number BC153/2034/1

The ref to Dr Sheppard is tantalising .....

Gabriel Viner was the father of Charles Viner.

https://collections.batharchives.co.uk/bc.6.2.9.2034.1

Friday, 19 December 2025

The 18th Century Monuments in All Saints Church Weston, Bath. No 5. The Mural monument to Sophia Cotton and her sister Sidney Arabella Cotton . Slight return.........

The Monument to Sophia Cotton (b. c 1704 - died 1767).

and Sidney Arabella Cotton (b. c.1709 d. 1781).

Daughters of Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet and Philadephia Cotton.

Sisters of Thomas Salusbury Cotton; Henry Cotton; Anne Cotton; Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, MP, 3rd Baronet; Philadelphia Cotton and 10 other siblings.

The monument which is not inscribed by the sculptor bears all the hallmarks of the Bath workshop of the Fords father and son.

John Ford I (1711 - 1767) Mason and John Ford II (1736 - 1803) who described himself as a Statuary.

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2025_10_24_archive.html

The Monument was probably put up shortly after the death of Sophia in 1767.

For an in depth look at the works of both father and son see -

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2025/10/monuments-by-ford-of-bath-bath-abbey.html

The Cotton monument could do with a very gentle wash which would reveal the delicate detail and allow the quality to be more easily assessed.

A notable feature on the Cotton monument is the textured background of the relief of the grieving lady which also appears on several other of the earlier monuments by the Fords including the relief formerly on the Malone Monument in Bath Abbey of 1765/66, the Monument to Leonard Coward (d. 1764) and his wife Elizabeth d.1759, and their son Leonard (1717 - 1795) also in Bath Abbey and the The Monument to Martha Maria Phillips at St Swithun's Parish Church, Bathford of 1759.

I will take the opportunity here to illustrate the five variants of the version of the relief with the reclining and grieving lady clutching the urn.

Variations of this relief (all illustrated below) were used by the Fords on several other monuments including -

that of Robert Cox monument at Piddletrenthide, Dorset where the urn is slightly different and the sarcophagus on the right is replaced with a Palm tree.

The John St Aubyn monument at Stringston, Somerset, again with the palm tree to the right.

The Day family monument at St Mary Magdalene, Ditcheat, Somerset,

The Monument to Richard Long d.1760 in the Church of St Mary's, Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire.

...................

It is strange that as time progressed the quality of the workmanship of the Ford monument reliefs gradually deteriorated. I suspect Ford Jnr had little to do with the carving.

Here the textured background of the relief is plain to see.

............

The Robert Cox d.1777 and George Cox (d. 1777) Monument in All Saints Church, Piddletrenthide, Dorset.

Clearly inscribed on the supporting bracket - Ford Bath. Fct.

This monument was very difficult to photograph - it is on the North East wall of the Aisle of Chancel tucked away behind the organ.

Another Monument inscribed by Ford of Bath to William Cox d.1790 is also in the church.

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2025_10_24_archive.html

A Memorial on the Floor of Bath Abbey.

In a Walled Grave / are deposited the Remains of / John Cox / Esquire / fourth Son of the late / William Cox Esquire / of Piddletrenthide / in the / County of Dorset / Died / 20th. January 1814 / Aged 41.

............................

John St Albyn - Funerary Monument - 1766 -

Stringston, nr Bridgwater. Somerset.

Inscribed Ford Bath Ft on the supporting bracket.

...............................

Day (or Dawe) family member - Funerary Monument,

The inscription is illegible.

St Mary Magdalene - Ditcheat, Somerset.

The form of the skull on the apron should be noted - it is repeated on other Ford monuments - including on the reliefs with the grieving child on both the Coward Monument at Bath Abbey, the Phillips Monument at Bathford, and the Smith monument at Combe Hay.

.............................

The Monument to Richard Long - d. 6 May 1760.

Church of St Mary's, Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire.

...................................

Thursday, 18 December 2025

John Padmore - a portrait by van Diest.

Post under construction -some rough notes

The Ingenious Mr John Padmore ( - 1734).

son of John Padmore the Elder

Padmore and Ralph Allen and the transport of Bath Stone from the Combe Down quarries to the Dolemeads Wharf at Widcombe, Bath and thence to the rest of England.

Some notes and links -

The painting, now in the collection of the Bath’s Victoria Art Gallery.

It is possibly the painting listed in an auction catalogue of Ralph Allen’s estate in 1769.

https://eprints.oxfordarchaeology.com/765/13/7_CODOM01_Chapter05.pdf

https://b-i-a-s.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BIAS_Journal8_JOHN_PADMORE.pdf

https://brassmill.com/linked/2017_02_03_-_john_padmore_-_iss_2.pdf

https://sanhs.org/wp-content/uploads/6-A-Elton.pdf

https://brassmill.com/linked/2017_02_03_-_john_padmore_-_iss_2.pdf

https://collections.batharchives.co.uk/b12176

Surprisingly little is known of the life of John Padmore, whose major achievements in engineering occurred in the 1730's.

Padmore was consulted regarding the stability of St Nicholas' Church Bristol by the Churchwardens and the removal of the medieval gateway in 1730 and referred to as the ingenious Mr Padmore - it took until 1760 to move forward with this project

He was involved in the design and construction of Ralph Allen's Combe Down tramway, built c.1729-30 for transporting stone from the newly-opened Combe Down quarries to Dolemead Wharf, on the river Avon at Bath.

In 1735 the Great Crane of Bristol was erected on the quayside of the new Mud Dock, and in the 1742 edition of his Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, Daniel Defoe refers to this crane as being 'the workmanship of the late ingenious Mr Padmore'.

According to Halfpenny, the Great Crane was erected at the Gibb of Bristol in 1735. It is marked on John Rocque’s A Plan of the City of Bristol of 1742, and in a vignette on his 1745 map of the city. The same illustration appears in Barrett's The History and Antiquities of the City of Bristol of 1789, but the clearest representation is that by William Halfpenny, made in 1747, and in the possession of Bristol City Museum

It is possible that Padmore had died a little earlier, in about 1740, for a minute of the Committee of the Society of Merchant Venturers for the 18th of October of that year notes that Mrs Padmore attended and offered to sell a crane 'which is already made'.

https://sanhs.org/wp-content/uploads/6-A-Elton.pdf

Padmore's Great Crane on the Quay at Mud Dock from John Roques Plan of Bristol -

A Survey of the City and Suburbs of Bristol Survey'd by John Rocque Land Surveyor at Charing Cross, 1750 / Plan de la Ville et Faubourgs de Bristol Leve par Jean Rocque a Charing Cross a Londres 1750.

Extracts below courtesy -

https://www.vintage-maps.com/en/antique-maps/europe/british-isles/rocque-british-isles-bristol-1750::951

.........................

Theophilus Desagulier -

A Course of experimental philosophy / by J. T. Desaguliers ... ; Vol. II, Adorn'd with thirty-two Copper-Plates.

Unfortunately the engravings within have been folded and the automatic scanning process does not recognise this and so they are very much compromised. Volume 2 -

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ucm.532665645x&seq=6

Amore useful online version of Volume 1 is available at

https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_a-course-of-experimental_desaguliers-j-t-john_1745/page/n331/mode/2up

.............................

https://eprints.oxfordarchaeology.com/765/13/7_CODOM01_Chapter05.pdf

Wednesday, 10 December 2025

The Monuments in All Saints Church at Weston, Bath, Part 4. The Monument to Dr William Oliver MD.

William Oliver MD FRS (1695 - 1764). (the younger)

He was born at Ludgvan, Cornwall, and baptised on 27 August 1695, described as the son of John Oliver the owner of the Trevarno Estate.

His family, originally seated at Trevarnoe in Sithney, resided afterwards in Ludgvan, and the estate of Treneere in Madron, which belonged to him, was sold in 1768 after his death.

When he decided to erect a monument in Sithney churchyard to the memory of his parents, Alexander Pope wrote the epitaph and drew the design of the pillar.

He was admitted a pensioner of Pembroke College, Cambridge on 17 September 1714, graduated M.B. in 1720, and M.D. in 1725, and to complete his medical training, entered at Leiden University on 15 November 1720.

On 8 July 1756 he was incorporated at Oxford, and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 22 January 1729–30

After qualification he practised for a time at Plymouth, where he introduced inoculation for smallpox.

In about 1725 he settled in Bath and remained there for the rest of his life, obtaining in a very short time the leading practice of the city.

He came to Bath with his cousin Rev. Walter Borlase. This was perhaps due to his friendship with Ralph Allen (a fellow Cornishman, who introduced him to Pope, Warburton, and members of the Prior Park set), and with Dr. William Borlase, his ‘friend and relation,’

Dr Oliver was one of the founders of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital.

He was elected physician to the Hospital on 1st May, 1740, and retired on 1st May, 1761, dying three years later in 1764.

On arrival in Bath, he probably resided in Westgate Street.

When completed in 1734, the west side of Queen Square (below) consisted of three separate houses, with Dr Oliver occupying the centre one. In 1830 the house was demolished to be replaced by the building that now bears the plaque -

The house was designed and built by the elder Wood for Sir John Buckworth, who paid rates on it from 1736 to 1754.

However, Dr. Oliver did pay rates in 1742 for the house now numbered 19, and by 1754 he was rated for the three houses now numbered 18a, 19 and 20 on the north side of Buckworth's house

In 1755 he leased the site for a new house at No. 17 Gay Street on the west side next to the first house in the Circus.

In 1746 Oliver acquired a country cottage near Bathford which he named Trevarno to remind him of his childhood residence. The cottage has disappeared but the water mill which was on his land and was rebuilt in the last century and now a paper manufactory was called Trevarno Mill.

Towards the end of his life Oliver acquired the lordship of the manor of Weston with all the obligations that title bestowed on the holder. His descendants remained Lords of the Manor until 1882 when the title passed to the Carr family.

It is uncertain how much time Oliver spent in the Manor House - it has been suggested that he may have died there because he was buried in the parish church along with his wife and other family members.

........................

He did not write a great deal about his medical cases, though he published an essay on gout in 1751, which ran to three editions. In 1753 he published a “pastoral” called Myra and he was the anonymous author of A faint sketch of the life, manner and character of the late Mr. Nash which was praised by Goldsmith as “written with much good sense and still more good nature.” Oliver’s “compassionate and benevolent nature” motivated his interest in founding the Bath General Hospital (now Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases) with Ralph Allen, John Wood and Richard (Beau) Nash

He was elected physician to the Hospital on 1st May, 1740, and retired on 1st May, 1761, dying three years later in 1764. He is buried in the churchyard of All Saints, Weston (where he owned the Manor House with members of his family). He is said to have bequeathed to his coachman Atkins the recipe for the famous Bath Oliver biscuit, together with a sack of flour and a sum of money. Atkins set up in business at 13 Green Street and became rich by making the biscuit

Later the business passed to a man named Norris who sold out to a baker called Carter. At length, after two further changes of ownership and a period of 120 years, the Oliver biscuit recipe passed to James Fortt. In 1952 the Fortt family business was still baking 80,000 biscuits a day in Bath.

...................

Alexander Pope - Dr Oliver and George Cheyne

"I was forced hither & to Bristol on account of a Complaint I formerly mentiond to you. I believe the Bristol waters at the Hot Well would be serviceable, could I stay long enough, for they are apparently softer & as warm as New Milk, there, & known to be excellent in all Inflammatory Cases.

But the Rigor of the Season & the Want of all Conveniencies to guard against it, of Coaches, chairs, & even warm Lodging, is too great to bear without hazard of Colds &c., which would do me, ev’n inthis Complaint, more harm than I could expect benefit. I have therfore after a Fortnights tryal returnd to Bath where Dr Oliver & Cheyne advise me to mix Bristol water with a small quantity of Bath at thePump, & with some other Medicines, which Dr Mead prescribd me to add".

Excerpt from The Correspondence of Alexander Pope, ed. G.Sherburn. 5v. (Oxford, 1956)), v.4, p.206, Pope to Hugh Bethel, Bath, 27 Nov 1739.

............................

The Memorial to William Oliver (the Elder)d 14 April 1716 in Bath Abbey.

In Memory of/WILLIAM OLIVER , M.D. F.R.S./He was descended from the/Family of TREVARNOE, in the County of Cornwall./While he was prosecuting the Study of Physic in Foreign Universities./The Miseries of his Country called aloud for a Deliverer./He was ambitious of contributing his Mite to so great a Work;/He came into England an Officer in King Williams Army in 1688;/He was appointed Physician to the Fleet in 1693,/And continued in that Station till the Year 1702./He was appointed Physician to the Hospital for/Sick and Wounded Seamen at Chatham 1709;/And in the year 1714,/He had the Pleasure to have his Old Fellow Sailors committed to his Care/He being then appointed Physician to the Royal Hospital at Greenwich/In which honourable Employment he died a Bachelor,/April 4th: 1716:/His Love to this City, where he practised Physic many Years/Appears in his Writings./

Monday, 8 December 2025

The Monuments in All Saints Church at Weston, Bath, Part 3. The Monument to George Cheyne MD.

George Cheyne MD.(1673 - 1743).

Some notes

Scottish Physician. Elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1702.

Died 13 April 1743.

His monument is on the South Wall of the nave.

An executor of his will was George Middleton whose monument is also on the south wall of the nave at Weston.

An excellent starting place to discover more about Dr Cheyne -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cheyne_(physician)

For Cheyne in Bath see - https://historyofbath.org/images/documents/Spa%20Medicine%20-%20An%20anthology.pdf

"Riding is certainly the most manly, the most healthy, and the least laborious and expensive of Spirits of any[exercise]; shaking the whole Machine, promoting an universal Persiration and Secretion of all the Fluids...and thereby, twitching the nervous Fibres, to brace and contract them, as... new Scenes amuse the Mind."

"George Cheyne was a Newtonian physician and Behmenist, deeply immersed in mysticism".

He was born in 1672 in Methlick, near Aberdeen in Scotland, he was baptized in Mains of Kelly, Methlick, Aberdeenshire, on 24 February 1673. Son of James Cheyne.

Margaret Middleton married George Cheyne, son of James Cheyne and Marie Maitland, in about 1705.

They had three surviving children, Francis, who was baptized on 23 August 1713 at St Michael's parish in Bath, Peggy (Margaret), and John, possibly born in 1717. John became vicar of Brigstock in Northamptonshire

His many famous clients included Alexander Pope, John Gay, Samuel Richardson and the Goldsmith and Banker George Middlton who is also buried at Weston. (see my previous post)

"Cheyne did not believe that the present state of things is "from all Eternity". Using the metaphor of "a Piece of Clock-work",[5] he argues that when a thing depends upon another thing as its cause, this implies that “the first thing exists that the second may exist”. He adds: "remove the sun and there will be no fruit, take away the moon and the seas would stagnate, destroy our Atmosphere and we should swell like poison´d Rats". Therefore, it is absolutely impossible, according to Cheyne, that “any of the Species of Animals or Vegetables should have existed from all Eternity”.

Cheyne also wrote on fevers, nervous disorders, and hygiene. In 1740 he wrote The Essay on Regimen and this work is often quoted by vegetarians and animal rights activists, particularly the following passage:

"To see the convulsions, agonies and tortures of a poor fellow-creature, whom they cannot restore nor recompense, dying to gratify luxury and tickle callous and rank organs, must require a rocky heart, and a great degree of cruelty and ferocity. I cannot find any great difference between feeding on human flesh and feeding on animal flesh, except custom and practice"

George Cheyne M.D. aged 59.

1732

from a painting by van Diest (died c. 1757)

Mezzotint John Faber. First State Sold at the Great Toy Shop in Bath?

Second State here sold by Overton at the White Hart without Newgate (London)

Johan van Diest was the son of London-based Dutch landscape painter Adriaen van Diest (1655-1704), and was probably a pupil of Sir Godfrey Kneller, whose work he copied.

He was a protégé of Ralph Allen

Army officer and road builder General George Wade (1673-1748) MP for Bath (1722 - 47)commissioned van Diest to paint several works, including ‘The Wise Men’s Offerings’ (c.1725; now destroyed), part of an elaborate altarpiece which Wade presented to Bath Abbey,

He painted portraits of 28 ? Bath Councillors (commissioned 1728; seven now in the Council Chamber of the Guildhall, Bath) and a full-length portrait of Wade (1731; Council Chamber of the Guildhall, Bath).

Ralph Allen (1693-1764) Mayor in 1742 (BATVG 1984.9)

Thomas Atwood senior (d.1732) Mayor in 1728 (BATVG 1984.10)

Thomas Atwood junior (1709-1770) Mayor in 1753, 1760 and 1769 (BATVG 1984.11)

James Atwood (d.1760) Mayor in 1734 and 1748 (BATVG 1984.12)

Unknown councillor (BATVG 1984.13)

Henry Atwood (d.1763) Mayor in 1741, 1750 and 1758 (BATVG 1984.14)

William Chapman (d.1729) Mayor in 1727 (BATVG 1984.15)

Despite numerous Bath commissions, van Diest remained London-based probably coming to Bath for the season and produced decorative work for the London home of poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744).

...................

Ralph Allen (1694 - 1764).

Johan van Diest (1695 - 1757).

117 x 95 cms.

Oil on Canvas.

c Late 1720's

A Gift to the Corporation of Bath by General George Wade in 1728.

on display in the Guildhall. Bath.

Image courtesy Art uk website

......................

George Cheyne MD and Bath.

In the spring of 1706 Cheyne travelled to Bath to continue his cure with a course of the waters. The waters worked only too well, for he found himself again slipping into his old bad habits of excess.

Exchanging Bath water for Bristol water helped, but on his next return to Bath in the spring of 1707 he heard of a "wonderful Cure" administered by another self medicating doctor, a Dr. Taylor of Croydon, who had cured himself in an Epileptick Case" by a milk diet. In the winter of 1707—8 he visited Taylor at Croydon and became a convert to his dietary therapy.

He ate abstemiously and exercised regularly, usually by riding. Cheyne's resolutions, however, were characteristically short-lived, and his health and weight for the next decade seesawed back and forth with depressing regularity"

Cheyne nonetheless found in Bath a place where he could remake himself and, at last, build a medical practice. He followed the increasingly popular migration to Bath in the summer and back to London in the winter for the next dozen years, finally settling in Bath in 1718.

Keith wrote of him in that year, "Dr. Ch. is indeed extreamly fat but yet has pretty good health. He writes that he has for ever bid an adieu to London." During this period, Cheyne wrote, "1 followed the Business of my Profession, with great Diligence and Attention," and he began to specialize in the "low and nervous Cases" with Which he had gained close familiarity from his own sufferings."

From 1705—6, Cheyne lived quietly for a decade, assiduously avoiding controversy.

He settled into family life with his marriage to Margaret Middleton, daughter of a nonjuring Scottish Episcopalian clergyman, Patrick Middleton (1662—1736).

Middleton was related to George Middleton (1645—1726), principal of King's College, Aberdeen, from 1684 to 1717, when he was removed for Jacobitism. The Aberdeen Middletons were also related to the Gardens, whose mother was Isobel Middleton; George Middleton was probably their first cousin.

Margaret Middleton migrated to England with her brother John, a physician who settled in Bristol.

Another brother, George, was a London goldsmith. The Cheynes had three surviving children: two daughters, Frances and Margaret (known as Peggy), and the youngest, a son, John, born about 1717."

Although Oliver was his usual physician at Bath, (Alexander) Pope consulted Cheyne in the 1730s and was an ardent admirer. Chronically poor health, Pope followed a Cheynean regimen of little wine, few suppers,and much mineral water. He recommended the doctor to others, writing of him, "there lives not an Honester Man, nor a Truer Philosopher."" He often asked his Bath friend Ralph Allen to convey his "Religious Respects" to Cheyne, describing him in 1739 as "yet so very a child in true Simplicity of Heart," comparing him to Don Quixote?'

1763 Beau Nash averse to the cabbage and carrot cure

It is well known, that Mr. Nash and Dr. Cheney had frequent Disputes about the non-Naturals and a vegetable Diet; in short, they often reasoned about Health till they made all the Company sick.

Nash was for curing all Complaints with the Bath Water, and Cheney with Cabbage and Carrots; and their disputes, which sometimes began with Temper and Joke, were frequently heightened to Clamour and quarrelling… However… I have known Nash in his cooler Moments do Cheney the Honour to say, That he was the most sensible Fool he ever knew in his Life;

and the Doctor with equal Justice observed, That Nash was less of a Blockhead than he used to be.

The Jests of Beau Nash (London, 1763). ***Richard (Beau) Nash – George Cheyne – see no.22.

From around 1728, although still a big man, he no longer suffered from extreme obesity or the depression that accompanied it. The 1730s were a time of health, happiness and prosperity for Cheyne. He and his family including son John and daughters Frances and Peggy, lived in a grand new house in Monmouth Street adjacent to the Globe Inn, a new street just outside Bath's old west gate.

In the 1730s Monmouth Street was an expensive address near John Wood's contemporary development in Queen's Square. The Churchwarden's Accounts Book of Walcot Parish, in Bath City Archive, records Cheyne as a parish resident in 1735 and at Monmouth Street from 1737 when he paid a rate of ten shillings; by 1738 it was two pounds and in 1742 one pound and twelve shillings.

see Walter Ison, The Georgian Buildings of Bath: 1700-1830 (London: Faber and Faber, 1948), 33.

At the time this house, built by the Bristol architect John Strahan sometime after 1727, was in an expensive, salubrious location on the edge of the city.16 It no longer stands, but six months after Cheyne's death, when his executors advertised the property in a London newspaper as being 'For Lett for a Term of Years, or Sold', they described it as 'A Convenient and well-built House, late in the possession of Dr. Cheyne, deceas'd, three Rooms on a Floor, with a Coach-House, stabling for two Horses, and a Garden, situate without West-Gate.' Rival Bath architect John Wood, who designed nearby Queen's Square, denigrated Strahan's work, but his surviving houses, over four floors, are solid and well designed. Writing to Samuel Richardson, Cheyne refers to the garden - which backed onto the King's Mead — as his 'Paradise' where, weather permitting, he takes the therapeutic walks 'without which there is no Health,

see - Daily Advertiser, November and December 1743 (nos. 4010—23).

Presumably the house was on the South side of the street

Cheyne's house was demolished having been damaged or destroyed by bombing in World War Il.

In 1739 Pope wrote -The Correspondence of Alexander Pope, ed. G.Sherburn. 5v. (Oxford, 1956)), v.4, p.206, Pope to Hugh Bethel, Bath, 27 Nov 1739.

" I was forced hither & to Bristol on account of a Complaint I formerly mentiond to you. I believethe Bristol waters at the Hot Well would be serviceable, could I stay long enough, for they are apparently softer & as warm as New Milk, there, & known to be excellent in all Inflammatory Cases.

But the Rigor of the Season & the Want of all Conveniencies to guard against it, of Coaches, chairs,& even warm Lodging, is too great to bear without hazard of Colds &c., which would do me, ev’n in this Complaint, more harm than I could expect benefit. I have therfore after a Fortnights tryal returnd to Bath where Dr Oliver & Cheyne advise me to mix Bristol water with a small quantity of Bath at the Pump, & with some other Medicines, which Dr Mead prescribed me to add".

***Alexander Pope – see no.32. William Oliver, 1695-1764, physician to Bath General Hospital 1740-61, wrote on gout and other cases –

see also nos.47, 56, 57, 64, 65, 72, 73, 75. George Cheyne – see no.22. Richard Mead – see no.28.

...............................

Obesity and Depression in the Enlightenment : the Life and Times of George Cheyne by Anita Guerrini, University of Oklahoma Press. 2000.

Partially available on line at -

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=upXHAxsWNhQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Obesity+and+Depression+in+the+Enlightenment:+The+Life+and+Times+of+George+Cheyne+(University+of+Oklahoma+Press,+2000)&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Obesity%20and%20Depression%20in%20the%20Enlightenment%3A%20The%20Life%20and%20Times%20of%20George%20Cheyne%20(University%20of%20Oklahoma%20Press%2C%202000)&f=false

The Works of George Cheyne.

1. 'New Theory of Fevers,' 1st edition, Edinburgh (?), 1702; 2nd edition, London, 1702; 4th edition (with author's name), London, 1724, 8vo (Latin by Vater, Wittemberg, 1711, 4to).

2. 'Philosophical Principles of Religion,' part i., London, 1705, 8vo; both parts, London. 1715, 1726; 4th edition, London, 1734; 6th edition, 1753 (?).

3. 'Observations on the Gout,' London, 1720;

An essay of the true nature and due method of treating the gout ... : together with an account of the nature and quality of Bath-waters, the manner of using them, and the diseases in which thry are proper as also of the nature and cure of most chronical distempers, not published before / by Geo. Cheyne. 1723

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/frhy8hf2/items

4. 'Essay of Health and Long Life,' London, 1724; 7th edition, 1726; 9th edition, 1754, 8vo; also London, 1823, 1827, 12mo. In Latin, 'Tractatus de Infirmorum sanitate tuendâ,' &c., London, 1726 (translated by John Robertson, M.A.) In French, Brussels, 1726, 8vo. In German, Frankfort, 1744, 8vo (Haller).

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/agffke2z/items

5. 'De Natura Fibræ, ejusque laxæ sive resolutæ morbis tractatus, nunc primum editus' (Latin by J. Robertson). London, 1725, 8vo; Paris, 1742, 8vo (Haller).

6. 'The English Malady,' London, 1733, Pub Strahan, London and Leake, Bath 8vo, Dublin, 1733; 6th edition, London, 1739.

https://archive.org/details/englishmaladyort00cheyuoft/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Bath

7. 'Essay on Regimen,' London, 1740, 8vo; 3rd edition, London, 1753. In Italian, Padua, 1765, 8vo (Haller).

8. 'The Natural Method of Cureing Diseases,' &c., in three parts, London, 1742, 8vo; 5th edition, London, 1753. In French, Paris, 1749, 2 vols. 12mo. dedicated to Lord Chesterfield

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/dnx8tduf/items?canvas=5

9. 'Historical Character of the Hon. George Baillie, Esq.,' by G. C., M.D., F.R.S., in 'Gent. Mag.' viii. 467 (1738).

Dr. Cheyne's own account of himself and his writings / faithfully extracted from his various works. 1743

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/qgscfnyh/items?canvas=10

For Further Biographies of George Cheyne see -

[Biog. Brit. (Kippis), iii. 494; Haller's Bibliotheca Med. Pract. 1778, iv. 436; Cheyne's Account of himself and his writings, extracted from his various works, London, 1743; Life of Dr. George Cheyne (by Dr. W. A. Greenhill), Oxford and London, 1846.]

..................

Correspondence with Samuel Richardson - Shuttleton and Dussinger Pub Cambridge 2013 truncated version on line

The Letters of Dr. George Cheyne to the Countess of Huntingdon, ed. Charles F. Mullett

(San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library, 1940.

Bath, Art and Architecture

Tuesday, 23 December 2025

The 18th Century Monuments in All Saints Church Weston, Bath. No 6. General Joseph Smith by Viner of Bath, 1790. Some notes on the Viners and Morford Street, Bath.

Friday, 19 December 2025

The 18th Century Monuments in All Saints Church Weston, Bath. No 5. The Mural monument to Sophia Cotton and her sister Sidney Arabella Cotton . Slight return.........

Thursday, 18 December 2025

John Padmore - a portrait by van Diest.

Wednesday, 10 December 2025

The Monuments in All Saints Church at Weston, Bath, Part 4. The Monument to Dr William Oliver MD.

Monday, 8 December 2025

The Monuments in All Saints Church at Weston, Bath, Part 3. The Monument to George Cheyne MD.

About Me

Blog Archive