William Godwin's Diary

Weld,

  • Gender: Male
  • Birth Date:
  • Death Date:

Weld appears correctly under 1796 in the 1796 list but falls into the category of people we can tell quite a lot about without being able to fully identify. He must be the same Weld who appears in Holcroft's diary - both Godwin and Holcroft describe him often appearing at Debrett's. From the references in Holcoft:

22 June 1798 'Went to Debrett's; the opinion of Mr. Weld is, that the force sent over by government will be sufficient to quell the Irish insurrection for the present.'

29 June 1798 'At Debrett's,-Conjectures were made on Buonaparte's expedition, and the difficulties attending it. Weld of opinion that he would cross the Great Desert as the least difficult.'

3 August 1798 'Asked Weld at Debrett's if he knew Boswell. He had met him a coffee-houses, &c. where Boswell used to drink hard and sit late.'

13 December 1798 'At Debrett's, Weld rallied Tarleton on his approaching marriage, and military appointment.'

So he must be fairly senior, Whiggish, and 'au courant' with London politics and people.

Godwin's entries include 'Dine at col Barry , w. O'Connor, Byrne, Weld & Ht; talk of God & matter' (3 March 1796) House of Commons, Fox on the war; Weld, Mac, Perry, P Stuart, Fenwick, Marsh; R Adair, Tierney & O Brien' (10 May 1796) and 'Hustings; Weld, Cline & Merry:' (11 June 1796). Weld also appears with Tierney, Bosville, Lauderdale, Burdett and Curran and the overwhelming majority of his appearances are at Debrett's.

  • Thomas Holcroft, The life of Thomas Holcroft, continued by William Hazlitt, ed. by Elbridge Colby, 2 vols (London: Constable & Co., 1925), vol. 2, pp. 122, 133, 136, 171, 182, 188, 189, 192, 208, 220, 228 and 237.

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.

Name Number of Meetings
Debrett, John 16
Barry, Major Henry 8
Tierney, George 8
Tarleton, Sir Banastre (baronet) 6
Perry, James (Pirie) 6
Adair, Robert 5
Holcroft, Thomas 5
Bosville, William 4
Fergusson, Robert Cutlar 4
Parry, 4
Maxwell, William 3
Este, Reverend Charles 2
Grey, Charles 2
Burdett, Sir Francis (fifth baronet) 2
Maitland, James (eighth earl of Lauderdale) 2
Fitzpatrick, Richard 2
Courtenay, John (Courtney) 2
Macleod, Norman 2
O'Connor, Arthur (Conner) (Condorcet-O'Connor) 2
Knight, Robert 2
Reynolds, Frederick 1
Kemble, John Philip 1
1
Maurice, Thomas 1
1
Keppel, fourth earl of Albemarle William Charles 1
Wollstonecraft, Mary (Godwin) 1
Russell, Francis (fifth duke of Bedford) 1
Stanley, Earl of Derby Edward 1
Hanger, George (Baron Coleraine) 1
Greatheed, Bertie 1
Dealtry, Peregrine (Perry) 1
Smith, William 1
Adam, William 1
Wilson, 1
Biddulph, Robert Myddleton 1
Hare, James 1
Moore, Sir Graham 1
Mackintosh, Sir James (of Kyllachy) 1
Fenwick, John 1
Marsh, Charles 1
O'Bryen, Dennis (O'Brien) 1
Cline, Henry 1
Merry, Robert 1
Northcote, James 1
Twiss, Richard 1
Robinson, Mary (née Darby, Perdita, Polly Derby) 1
Fox, Charles James 1
Francis, Sir Philip 1
Moore, Matthew (Mathew) 1