Thomas Skinner Surr
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Thomas Skinner Surr (1770–1847) was an English novelist whose most famous work was ''A Winter in London'' (1806). This popular tale of fashionable London life initiated a small genre of "season novels" and influenced
silver fork novel Fashionable novels, also called silver-fork novels, were a 19th-century genre of English literature that depicted the lives of the upper class and the aristocracy. Era The silver-fork novels dominated the English literature market from the mid-1 ...
s in the 1820s and 1830s.


Life

Surr's father was the grocer John Surr; his mother Elizabeth ( Skinner) was the sister of
alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
Thomas Skinner, who was
Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...
in 1794. He was baptised on 20 October 1770 at
St Botolph's, Aldersgate St Botolph without Aldersgate (also known as St Botolph's, Aldersgate) is a Church of England church (building), church in London dedicated to St Botolph. It was built just outside Aldersgate, one of the gates on London Wall, London's wall, in ...
. On 18 June 1778 he began school at
Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...
, which he left on 7 November 1785. After this, he became a clerk at the
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
, and eventually became principal of the drawing office. Surr married Mary Ann Griffiths, the sister-in-law of Richard Phillips, on 13 August 1799. He died at his home in
North End, Fulham North End was, until the last quarter of the 19th-century, a scattered hamlet among the fields and market gardens, between Counter's Creek and Walham Green in the Parish of Fulham in the County of Middlesex. In connection with the development o ...
on 15 February 1847.


Works

Surr wrote several novels, including ''Consequences'' (1796), '' The Magic of Wealth'' (1815), and '' Richmond, or, Scenes in the Life of a Bow Street Officer'' (1827), some of which were translated into French or German. ''The Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature'' calls him "perhaps the most famous author of novels of 'fashionable life'".


''George Barnwell''

Surr's three-volume novel ''George Barnwell; or, The Merchant's Clerk'' (1798) is an adaption of George Lillo's play ''
The London Merchant ''The London Merchant (Or The History Of George Barnwell)'' is playwright George Lillo's most famous work. A tragedy that follows the downfall of a young apprentice due to his association with a prostitute, it is remarkable for its use of midd ...
'' (1731), itself based on a seventeenth century
broadside ballad A broadside (also known as a broadsheet) is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between the ...
. It was inspired by
Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known Tragedy, tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder siste ...
, who played Millwood in a 1796 production of the play at
Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...
. The plot concerns an apprentice named Barnwell who arrives in London and is seduced by Millwood, a prostitute; they embezzle from Barnwell's master and murder his uncle for money. The first volume includes a subplot about an abandoned, possibly haunted, abbey which is thought to be the meeting place of a secret society. Eventually, Millwood betrays Barnwell to the law; both are arrested and die. In the novel, Barnwell is torn between his parents' desire for him to enter the world of work, and intellectual interests shared with his atheist and republican friend Mr Mental, a radical philosopher. The critique of Mr Mental's modern philosophy is one expression of Surr's conservative point of view, which is shown throughout his works. In this context, M. O. Grenby discussed it as an example of then-contemporary anti-Jacobin fiction.


''A Winter in London''

Surr's most famous novel was ''A Winter in London, or Sketches of Fashion'', a bestseller which went into thirteen editions. The plot is a mixture of romance, fashionable novel, and
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...
. A baby, Edward, survives a shipwreck and is adopted by the Dickens family. His childhood is shown in the first volume; in the second, he enters London society, guided by a doctor who provides information and satirical commentary. There is a subplot about usurpation, involving Edward's true father; in the end, Edward is restored to his inheritance and marries one of the Dickens daughters. Its popularity owed a great deal to its depictions of upper-class wealthy life. In particular, one of the characters, the confused and continually-defrauded Duchess of Belgrave, is a parody of
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spencer; ; 7 June 1757 – 30 March 1806), was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she wa ...
. She is tricked into bribing someone to stop publishing a libellous memoir, and when she tries to pawn a friend's jewels is robbed by the maid she sends to the pawn shop. The real Georgiana was "dreadfully hurt" by this portrayal;
Elizabeth Wynne Fremantle Elizabeth "Betsey" Wynne Fremantle (born Elizabeth Wynne; 19 April 1778 – 2 November 1857) was a British diarist. She was the main author of the extensive ''Wynne Diaries'' and wife of Royal Navy officer Thomas Fremantle, a close associate of ...
wrote in her diary that the Duke said it had given her a "death blow";
Samuel Rogers Samuel Rogers (30 July 1763 – 18 December 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. ...
and
Sydney Owenson Sydney, Lady Morgan (; – 14 April 1859), was an List of Irish novelists, Irish novelist, best known for ''The Wild Irish Girl'' (1806)'','' a romantic, and some critics suggest, "proto-feminist", novel with political and patriotic overtones. ...
also suggested that the novel hastened her death. ''A Winter in London'' contains several descriptions of upper-class conspicuous consumption, intended to satisfy the curiosity of the middle class; however, unlike other season novels, Surr had a conservative streak and criticised the nouveau riche. It has also been written about for its interest in and detailed descriptions of clothing, problematising the novel's satirical aspects. This emphasis on clothes has been suggested as an influence on
Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel i ...
's ''Tales of Fashionable Life'' and on
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
's use of clothing in '' Waverley''. ''A Winter in London'' is an example of the fashionable novel, intermediate between
Frances Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post of "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Meckle ...
's ''
Evelina ''Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World'' is a novel written by English author Frances Burney and first published in 1778. Although published anonymously, its authorship was revealed by the poet George Huddesford in ...
'' and "silver fork" novels of the 1820s and 1830s. In the wake of its success, a subgenre called the "season novel" appeared and was popular for a few years. These imitators, like ''A Winter in London'', had titles including a brief period of time and the name of a fashionable location; many also include satirical depictions of upper-class life. Later season novels, beginning with the anonymous ''A Winter in Bath'', are often patterned around infidelity or divorce, include a scene at a ball where the protagonist is lectured on notable society figures, and feature real people, sometimes under their real names.


Other works

Surr's other writing included "Christ's Hospital: a Poem" (1797), commemorating his admission to the school. He also wrote three pamphlets on banking. One, which rebutted a pamphlet by Walter Boyd attacking the Bank of England, asserted the Bank's independence from the Government. Titled ''A Refutation of Certain Misrepresentations Relative to the Nature and Influence of Bank Notes and of the Stoppage of Specie at the Bank of England upon the Price of Provisions'' (1801), it has been called a foreshadowing of banking theory for its statement that the Bank could not issue notes which had lost their value.


Bibliography


Novels

* ''Consequences'' (1796) * ''George Barnwell; or, The Merchant's Clerk'' (1798) * ''Splendid Misery'' (1801) * ''A Winter in London, or Sketches of Fashion'' (1806) * '' The Magic of Wealth'' (1815) * ''
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
'' (1827, also attributed to
Thomas Gaspey Thomas Gaspey (31 March 1788 – 8 December 1871) was an English novelist and journalist. Gaspey was born in Hoxton as the son of William Gaspey, a lieutenant in the navy. His older brother, who was ten years his senior and shared his father's n ...
) * ''Russell: or, The Reign of Fashion'' (1830)


Other works

* "Christ's Hospital: a Poem" (1797) * ''A Refutation of Certain Misrepresentations Relative to the Nature and Influence of Bank Notes and of the Stoppage of Specie at the Bank of England upon the Price of Provisions'' (1801)


References

{{reflist


External links


Surr at the Online Books Page
1770 births 1847 deaths 18th-century English novelists 19th-century English novelists English male novelists Novelists from London