John Carteret Pilkington (1730–1763) was an Irish singer and writer who left lively memoirs of his early life and collaborated on the memoirs of his mother

Laetitia Pilkington Laetitia Pilkington (born Laetitia van Lewen; ''c.'' 1709 – 29 July 1750) was an Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant ...

Origins

Known as Jack, the younger surviving son of the art historian

Matthew Pilkington Matthew Pilkington (1701–1774), Church of Ireland priest, writer, and art historian, was the author of a standard text on painters that became known as ''Pilkington's Dictionary''. His first wife was the poet and memoirist Laetitia Pilkington a ...

and the poet

, he was christened by the rites of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

in Dublin on 1 May 1730. His godparents were the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

, Viscount Carteret later 2nd

Earl Granville Earl Granville is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is now held by members of the Leveson-Gower family. First creation The first creation came in the Pee ...

, for whom Dr Patrick Delany was proxy, a churchman, Robert Clayton later

Bishop of Killala The Bishop of Killala () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Killala in County Mayo, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bis ...

, and two women writers, Constantia Grierson and Mary Barber.

Life

When his parents divorced and his mother left for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1738, he remained in the care of his father in Dublin. Unhappy there, in about 1740 he ran away to

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, where his mother's childless uncle Dr George van Lewen gave him a temporary home. Going back alone to Dublin, he met the eccentric Richard Pockrich, inventor of the

glass harp A glass harp (also called musical glasses, singing glasses, angelic organ, verrillon or ghost fiddle) is a musical instrument made of upright wine glasses. It is played by running moistened or chalked fingers around the rim of the glasses. Each ...

. He was then taken up for a while by the widower Charles O'Neill of

Shane's Castle Shane's Castle is a ruined castle near Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, which was mostly destroyed in 1816 by fire. The castle is situated on the north-east shores of Lough Neagh, 2.7 miles from Randalstown. Built ...

, who enjoyed his company and singing abilities. From there, he joined the composer

Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song " Rule, Britannia!" and the song " A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of '' The Beggar's Opera'', w ...

's operatic troupe, with whom he made his stage debut in Dublin on 7 May 1743, singing the title role in

Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first known fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, ...

. Tensions in the company led him to flee to Scotland in 1744, shortly before the outbreak of the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

, from where he joined the ship's company of a

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

and ended up in London in 1746. There he found his mother and gained work at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

. War called him once more, when he enlisted in the force assembled by his relation, Captain John Meade of the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

, that left on 7 September 1746 for the abortive

Raid on Lorient The raid on Lorient was a British amphibious operation in the region around the town of Lorient from 29 September to 10 October 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession. It was planned as an attempt to force the French to withdraw their for ...

. Returning to London, next year he took his mother back to Dublin, where he acted and sang in Dublin shows, some written in part by Laetitia. After her death in 1750, he was warned by the Irish government that her activities had been tolerated but he was liable to be deported. Finishing Volume III of her Memoirs, he left with his wife in 1754 to get it printed in London. There he tried to live as a writer, becoming friendly with fellow-Irishman

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer. A prolific author of various literature, he is regarded among the most versatile writers of the Georgian e ...

, but suffered three spells of imprisonment for debt in the

Marshalsea The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners—including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition—it became known, ...

. He had little further success in the theatrical world, quarrelling with both

Samuel Foote Samuel Foote (January 1720 – 21 October 1777) was a Cornish dramatist, actor and Actor-manager, theatre manager. He was known for his comedic acting and writing, and for turning the loss of a leg in a riding accident in 1766 to comedic oppor ...

and

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

. His own memoirs were printed in London in two editions, coming out in 1760 and 1761. Aged 33, he died in 1763, being buried on 15 May 1763 at

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Family

On 7 July 1753, at St. Peter's Church, Aungier Street, Dublin, he married Ann Smith and they had three children, including Georgiana Caroline Pitt Pilkington (1757–1838),"England Births and Christenings, 1538–1975," database, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NDW4-P5H: Georgiana Carolina Pitt Pilkington, 09 Feb 1758; citing reference 2:2GTVBXP; FHL microfilm 1,042,308. Accessed 10 December 2015 known as Caroline, who was named after her godmother Georgiana Clavering-Cowper, Countess Cowper, the daughter of Earl Granville. Caroline married or lived with several men, including two Americans, the New Jersey loyalist Joseph Smyth and the Massachusetts artist

James Earl James Earl (May 1, 1761 – August 18, 1796) was an American painter and younger brother of fellow portrait painter Ralph Earl. He was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, and died of yellow fever in Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, South Ca ...

. With Smyth, she had the scientist Admiral

William Henry Smyth Admiral William Henry Smyth (21 January 1788 – 8 September 1865) was an English Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist. He is noted for his involvement in the early history of a number of learned societies, for his hy ...

, and with Earl she had two artists, Phoebe Earle, who married fellow-painter

Denis Dighton Denis Dighton (1792 – 8 August 1827) was an English painter, best known for his military portraits and battle scenes. Life Denis Dighton was the son of the caricaturist Robert Dighton and a younger brother was Richard Dighton. He enrolled a ...

, and

Augustus Earle Augustus Earle (1793–1838) was a British painter. Unlike earlier artists who worked outside Europe and were employed on voyages of exploration or worked abroad for wealthy, often aristocratic patrons, Earle was able to operate quite indepen ...

Works

His surviving writings are the original and a later expanded version of his

picaresque The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt ...

autobiography, which give a vivid picture of his early years and of the varied milieus in which he moved: * The Real Story of John Carteret Pilkington, Written by Himself. ondon, 1760* The Life of John Carteret Pilkington Vol. II. To which are added, Letters Between Lord K ---gsb-----h (Kingsborough), and Mrs. Laetitla Pilkington, Also Poems, &c. by the Rev. Mr. Matthew Pilkington Revised and Corrected by the late

Dean Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swift". His trademark d ...

. ondon, 1761

References

Bibliography

A.C.Elias, Jr.(ed) ''Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington'' thens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press,1997 Norma Clarke. ''Queen of the Wits: A Life of Laetitia Pilkington'' ondon, England: Faber & Faber, 2008

External links

Autobiography at https://archive.org/details/realstoryjohnca00unkngoog and at https://books.google.com/books?id=srBYAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22john+carteret+pilkington {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilkington, John Carteret 1730 births 1763 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Writers from County Dublin 18th-century Irish writers 18th-century Irish male writers 18th-century Irish autobiographers Anglo-Irish artists Irish Anglicans 18th-century Irish biographers