Social Victorians/Timeline/1884

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January 1884

5 January 1884, Saturday

Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida opens at the Savoy.

February 1884

16 February 1884, Saturday

Funeral of Thomas Chenery, editor of the Times.

Untimely as the close of Mr. Chenery's busy life was, and quiet, unpretending, and retiring as his habits were, he had, in the comparatively short period during which he filled the post of Editor of The Times largely increased the number of friends whom his genial, kindly nature, and unassuming knowledge attracted in the literary circles where he was best known; and these amiable characteristics of his were, perhaps, most generally in the remembrance of those who met on Saturday at the house in Sarjeants'-inn, where he died, as also of the more numerous gathering at Brampton Cemetery, where his remains were buried. The coffin of polished oak with brass mountings, and without pall, but covered with memorial wreaths of flowers sent by friends, was borne in an open funeral car. The first of the eight mourning coaches which followed was occupied by Mr. J. McMillan, Mr. J. C. MacDonald, Mr. R. F. McMillan, and Mr. D. McMillan, and in others there were Mr. Walter, M.P., Mr. A. F. Walter, Mr. Frederick Clifford, the Rev. Dr. Ginsburg, the Rev. Dr. Aldis Wright, Professor Stanley Leathes, Mr. T. Woolner, R.A., Mr. De la Pryme, the Rev. Dr. Wace, the Rev. R. J. Simpson, Mr. N. McColl, Mr. E. L. Brandreth, besides almost all Mr. Chenery's colleagues and assistants at The Times Office. Many friends had, however, assembled at the cemetery, and among these were Sir Henry Sumner Maine, Sir Owen Tudor Burne, Sir George Birdwood, the Right Hon. G. J. Shaw-Lefevre, M.P., Mr. Courtney, M.P., Sir R. Blennerbassett, M.P., Mr. Ralls, M.P., Mr. Joseph Cowen, M.P., Mr. Justin M'Carthy, M.P., Sir George Dasent, Mr. J. R. Dasent, Dr. Gilbert, Professor Sylvester, Mr. James Payn, Mr. Charles Shaw, Dr. Lightner, Mr. Hyde Clarke, Dr. Quain, Mr. Frank Hill, Mr. G. Barnett Smith, the Hon. Algernon Bourke, Colonel Knollys, Captain Hozier, Mr. R. Giffen, Mr. T. W. Snagge, Mr. Cordy Jeaffreson, Mr. D. C. Boulger, Mr. O'Hara, Dr. Hueffer, Mr. Davidson, Mr. Eaton (secretary of the Royal Academy, representing Sir Frederick Leighton, who was unavoidably prevented from attending the funeral), and Mr. Scharf, Director of the National Portrait Gallery. There were also present many members of the Parliamentary corps, of the Law reporting staff, and literary contributors to the columns of this journal, and representatives of the printing and publishing departments of The Times. The funeral service was read by the Rev. A. J. D. D'Orsey, assisted by the Dean of Westminster, who read the lesson in the cemetery chapel, where the first part of the service was held, and pronounced the benediction at the grave side. The plate on the coffin bore the inscription,

THOMAS CHENERY.

Died 11th February, 1884.

Aged 57 years.

Among those friends who sent funeral wreaths were Mrs. Walter, Lady John Manners, Miss Delane, Mrs. E. Lennox Boyd (a cushion of violets), Mrs. McMillan, and her four daughters, Mrs. A. Symes Shand, Mr. J. Brinsley Richards, Mrs. E. L. Brandreth and her daughter Mrs. J. E. H. Gordon, Sir J. Whittaker and Lady Ellis, Mrs. Batt, Mrs. Locking, and Mrs. Fielder. The Rev. Dr. Herman Adler would have attended the funeral, but was unable to be present, as it took place during the time of Divine Service at his synagogue. Lord Randolph Churchill, M.P., Profaner Bryce, M.P., and others wrote expressing regret at being unable to attend. The grave, it may be mentioned, in which Mr. Chenery was laid, is next to that in which the remains of his mother and her two sisters were interred.

March 1884

The relationship between the Prince of Wales and Lord Randolph Churchill:

It would be eight years before the Prince [of Wales] spoke to the Churchills again. Then, in March 1884, pressed by the Queen and well aware of Lord Randolph's rising reputation in the House of Commons, His royal Highness consented to attend a dinner given by the Attorney General where the guests included a Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone and Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill. The meeting passed off well, but another two years elapsed and Lord Randolph had become Secretary for India before the Prince could bring himself to enter the Churchill home. (Leslie 66).

28 March 1884, Friday

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany died, his wife Helen pregnant with their second child. He was 30.

April 1884

5 April 1884, Saturday

The funeral of Prince Leopold George Duncan Albert, Duke of Albany at St. George's, Windsor.

7 April 1884, Monday

Helena Blavatsky comes to London from Paris, "arriving unexpectedly on the evening of a meeting of the 'London Lodge,'" and then returns a week later.

9 April 1884, Wednesday, through 20 April, Sunday

Henry Steel Olcott and perhaps Blavatsky attended

Almost nightly meetings aid receptions at the Sinnetts. [Olcott] Meets Edwin Arnold, F. W. H. Myers, William Stead, Camille Flammarion, Oscar Wilde, Prof. Adams, discoverer of Neptune, the Varleys, the Crookes, Robert Browning, Sir Oliver Lodge, Matthew Arnold, Lord and Lady Borthwick, C. C. Massey, Stainton Moses ('M. A. Oxon.') (Diaries).

13 April 1884, Sunday

Easter Sunday

14 April 1884, Monday

Helena Blavatsky returns to Paris from London, having been there a week.

26 April 1884, Saturday

Dinner party at the Lord Mayor's Mansion House for conservatives to meet Sir Stafford Northcote:

The Lord Mayor, M.P., gave a dinner party at the Mansion House, on Saturday evening, to meet Sir Stafford Northcote. The guests, 250 in number, included a considerable number of the Conservative party in the House of Commons and of selected Conservative candidates at the next general election. The company included the Marquis of Exeter, Earl De La Warr, Earl Percy, M.P., Visoount Midleton, Mr. Walpole, Sir Richard Cross, M.P., Lord John Manners, M.P., Mr. Robert Bourke, M.P., Lord Eustace Cecil, M.P., Viscount Cole, M.P., Viscount Galway, M.P., Lord Henry Lennox, M.P., Hon. Edward Stanhope, M.P., Viscount Stopford, Lord Henry Bruce, Lord Charles Beresford, Colonel Burnaby, Lord Muncaster, Lord Arthur Somerset, Mr. Alderman Cotton, M.P., Sir Robert Carden, M.P., Sir John Hay, M.P., Mr. Hubbard, M.P., Sir Massey Lopes, M.P., Sir Matthew White Ridley, M.P., Mr. J. G. Talbot, M.P., Mr. Rowland Winn, M.P., Mr. Marriott, M.P., Mr. Frederick Greenwood, Sir Reginald Hanson, Baron H. de Worms, M.P., Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott, Sir Henry A. Hoare, Dr. Tristram, Q.C., Mr. Scoble, Q.C., Mr. Morgan Howard, Q.C., Sir Lewis Pelly, Mr. Sheriff Cowan, Sir John Monckton, Hon. J. S. Gathorne-Hardy, Sir George Douglas, Lord Francis Hervey, Hon. Algernon Bourke, Sir George Russell, Vicount Valentia, the Hon. Humphry Sturt, and others. The gathering was of a private nature.

May 1884

16 May 1884, Friday

Meeting of the Fabian Society, the first meeting George Bernard Shaw attended (Holroyd, vol. 1, p. 131).

28 May 1884, Wednesday

Derby Day.

According to the Morning Post,

Mrs. Warner Hyde's first reception at 24, Grosvenor-place.

Mrs. W. H. Smith's evening party, 3, Grosvenor-place.

Chevalier and Mrs. Desanges' at home, at 16, Stratford-place, four till seven. No cards.

The New Club Dance.

... Royal College of Music, annual meeting, Albert Hall, 4.

... Royal Society of Literature, meeting, 8.

June 1884

1 June 1884, Sunday

Whit Sunday

18 June 1884, Wednesday

A "thought-reading" experiment, based on a challenge by Henry Labourchere, was performed with some

Mr. Irving Bishop last evening gave a "Thought-Reading" séance in the drawing-room of the Westminster Palace Hotel, in the presence of a large and fashionable audience, which included some twenty or thirty members of both Houses of Parliament. The Committee selected to watch the experiments, with Mr. Edward Stanhope, M.P., in the chair, were: — Mr. Algernon Bourke, Canon Wilberforce, Mr. Henry Hermann, Mr. Justin McCarthy, M.P., Dr. Cameron, M.P., Mr. Clement Scott, Lord Mount-Temple, Mr. M'Lagan, M.P., Mr. Millais, R.A., Lord Mayo, and Mr. Cross. Before commencing the task of trying to read the number of a bank note sealed in an envelope, in accordance with the conditions of Mr. Labouchere's challange of a year ago, Mr. Bishop succeeded in finding a, pin hidden by Mr. M'Lagan, M.P, but failed in attempts to discover one concealed by Mr. Millais, or to locate a supposed pain in the body of Mr. Healy, M.P. Mr. Bishop's first attempt with a bank-note, with Sir Henry Holland, M.P., as the subject, was wrong, and then Mr. Bishop claimed that he ought to be allowed to select his subject from one of the fifty gentlemen whose names were chosen by Mr. Labouchere. After much discussion, this was agreed to, and the experimenter selected Mr. M'Lagan and Mr. Stanhope as his subjects, they being furnished with a fresh bank-note by Sir H. Holland. On their return to the room, Mr. Bishop put the figures 33425 on the board, but they were declared by Sir H. Holland, who held the note, to be wrong. Mr. Bishop then tried with Mr. Stanhope, when he made it out to be 33,245, which was announced to be correct. The cheers greeting the announcement were renewed as Mr. M'Lagan stated that he had made a mistake in the number, and was really thinking of 33,425. Mr. Bishop said he thought Mr. Laboucheie owed him an apology for what he had written about him, and also 1000/. to the Children's Hospital.— On the motion of Mr. Stanhope, seconded by Mr. M'Lagan, a vote of thanks was accorded the performer!

29 June 1884, Sunday

Helena Blavatsky returned to London:

She came over to London again on the 29th of June, and stayed with friends [the Arundales, I think] in Elgin Crescent, Notting Hill, where she remained till early in August, going over then to Germany with a party of Theosophists on a visit to friends in Elberfeld. Her presence in London during the period referred to became rather widely known, and large numbers of people contrived to make her acquaintance. Streams of visitors were constantly pouring in to see her, and with her usual abandon of manner she would receive her callers in any costume, in any room which happened to be convenient to her for the moment — in her bedroom, which she also made her writing-room and study, or in her friends' drawing-room thick with the smoke of her innumerable cigarettes, and of those which she hospitably offered to all who cared to accept them.

July 1884

3 July 1884, Thursday

Bret Harte met Oscar Wilde "for the first time at an 'at home' at the Lawrence Barretts."

1884 July 25, Friday

Garden Party at Marlborough House Hosted by the Prince and Princess of Wales

In the afternoon, the Prince and Princess of Wales hosted a Garden Party at Marlborough House. The copy of the Morning Post with the article about the party is in very poor condition.

August 1884

"Early in August," Helena Blavatsky left London.

25 August 1884, Monday

Summer Bank Holiday

October 1884

31 October 1884, Friday

Halloween

November 1884

5 November 1884, Wednesday

Guy Fawkes Day

December 1884

25 December 1884, Thursday

Christmas Day

26 December 1884, Friday

Boxing Day