William Wade, born about 1733, was the great nephew of Field-Marshal George Wade (1673 – 1748), best remembered as the builder of military roads in Scotland and as a long-time member of Parliament for Bath. William Wade, sometimes incorrectly stated to be one of the illegitimate sons of the Field Marshall, is named in George Wade’s 1747 will as the son of George Wade’s nephew Major Wade.
I am distantly related to William Wade: he was the father-in-law of my fifth great uncle Philip Champion Crespigny.
William Wade was educated at the Westminster School and then had a career in the army.
In December 1760 he married Catherine Gore, daughter of Henry Gore of Leatherhead, Surrey. William and Catherine had at least four children, three daughters and a son.
In April 1769, William Wade, at that time holding the rank of Captain, was elected Master of Ceremonies at Bath. Beau Nash (1674 – 1761) was his most notable predecessor in the position. Nash’s place there was unofficial but he met visitors to Bath, encouraged them to subscribe to the Assembly Rooms and kept the peace by enforcing the rules there. Nash made money by sharing in the receipts from the subscriptions and the benefit balls. By the time Wade was appointed, the position was by the election of subscribers of the Assembly Rooms and a salary was paid to the holder of the position from the proceeds of the benefit balls.
The season at Bath ran from October to May. Patronised by the Prince of Wales, Brighton also became a fashionable summer resort, known for sea bathing. Since the social seasons of Bath and Brighton did not overlap, Wade was able to occupy positions in both places; he held the post of Master of Ceremonies at Brighton from 1767.
At Bath, the Lower Assembly Rooms were built in the early 1700s. The Upper Assembly Rooms, which had four rooms: the Ball Room, the Tea or Concert Room, the Octagon Room (which links the rooms together), and the Card Room, were built between 1769 and 1771. William Wade presided over the ball conducted to open the new Rooms.
The Octagon Room began life as a card room, where people gathered at tables to play whist and other games of chance. At the centre of the room is a particularly spectacular Whitefriars crystal chandelier, the largest in the building. It was made in 1771 and has 48 lights, originally candles.
In 1771 Thomas Gainsborough, then living in the Circus at Bath, painted a portrait of Captain William Wade as a present to the new Assembly Rooms. This picture of the first Master of Ceremonies at the Assembly Rooms was hung in the Octagon Room, and hangs there again today. The portrait includes his badge of office, a gold medal enamelled blue worn on an indigo ribbon.
In 1777 Captain Wade was named in divorce proceedings between John Campbell Hooke Esq and Elizabeth Eustatia Campbell Hooke nee Bassett.
Wade lost the position of Master of Ceremonies at Bath as a consequence of the scandal but continued as Master of Ceremonies at Brighton.
Henry Gore, the father of Catherine Wade nee Gore, died in 1777. He left his estates to his son-in-law William and daughter Catherine. These estates included the Mansion at Leatherhead, Surrey, 47 miles north of Brighton and close to one of the main routes from London to Brighton. William Wade would have found the residence conveniently close to Brighton for his duties there.
Following the death of Catherine Wade nee Gore on 26 April 1787 William Wade married Elizabeth Eustatia Bassett, a ‘single woman’, by licence on 30 June 1787. They had already had a daughter together, Georgina Dennison Bassett Wade, who was born in 1783 or possibly as early as 1777. (The index of her death in 1863 said she was 86 when she died and thus born 1777; the census of 1851 gives her age as 68 and thus born 1783.) Georgina was mentioned in her father’s will.
William Wade’s son, Henry Gore Wade, died at sea in 1814. William’s three daughters by Catherine Gore shared in the estate. One of the daughters, Emilia, married Philip Champion Crespigny (1765 – 1851). Philip and Emilia lived in the Mansion at Leatherhead after Henry Gore Wade’s death. Emilia died in 1832.
In his role of Master of Ceremonies at Bath he would possibly have met my 5th great grandfather Philip Champion Crespigny (1738 – 1803), who built his house there in 1786.
Related posts
Sources and further reading
- Dodgson, Stephen. “THE BABE OF TANGIER: AN ENQUIRY INTO THE LIFE AND CIRCLE OF GENERAL GEORGE WADE.” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, vol. 82, no. 330, 2004, pp. 109–131. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44231055.
- Sloman, Susan Legouix, ‘The Immaculate Capt. Wade’, Gainsborough’s House Review 1993/4 (1994): 46 – 62 retrieved through University of Melbourne library
- John Eglin (2005). The Imaginary Autocrat: Beau Nash and the Invention of Bath. Profile Books. pp. 241-2. Retrieved through Google books.
- THE GENTLEMAN’S MAGAZINE, AND HIFTORICAL CHRONICLE. VOLUME XXXIX. 1769 p. 213.
- ‘The borough of Brighton’, in A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 7, the Rape of Lewes, ed. L F Salzman (London, 1940), pp. 244-263. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol7/pp244-263 [accessed 19 March 2019].
- Rendell, Mike. “The Bath Adonis – a Man in a Gorgeous Waistcoat – and a Penchant for Married Women…” Georgian Gentlemen, Mike Rendell, 10 Feb. 2019, mikerendell.com/the-bath-adonis-a-man-in-a-gorgeous-waistcoat-and-a-penchant-for-married-women/.
- Trials for Adultery, Or, The History of Divorces. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. pp. 26–35. Republished by the Lawbook Exchange in 2006 and viewed through Google Books
- https://www.fashionmuseum.co.uk/works-art
- https://thebathmagazine.co.uk/let-me-entertain-you/
- https://thebathmagazine.co.uk/thomas-gainsborough-making-ugly-people-beautiful/
lindamaycurry said:
Sounds like William Wade was quite a character and certainly attracted to women. He looks very elegant in his Gainsborough painting. His banishment from Bath would have been a bitter pill.
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kristin said:
This has nothing to do with anything, but my sister used to like a boy named William Wade in a elementary school and that was all I could think about as I read.
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The JOYOUS Living (@thejoyousliving) said:
great history. thanks for sharing. due to my love for Jane Austen I’ve been to Bath several times. The Circus and Assembly Rooms are favourite haunts to visit. Did your 5gg live on the Circus?
Joy at The Joyous Living
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Anne Young said:
Thanks for visiting and following along. My 5ggg’s house was at 5 Portland Place, Bath. The house is one of ten symmetrical terrace houses built in 1786 by John Eveleigh. Number 5 is the largest house in the terrace and was built for P. C. Crespigny. I suspect he was visiting Bath before that but need to do more research. I love Jane Austen. I look forward to visiting Bath soon.
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cassmob said:
You’ve done some amazing research Anne. That cartoon is very funny. And why do I not remember those spectacular chandeliers in Bath.
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Anne Young said:
Thanks for following along.
I am looking forward to looking up and admiring the chandeliers.
The chandelier in the octagon room fell and nearly killed Gainsborough! https://books.google.com.au/books?id=YO9oDQAAQBAJ&pg=PR4-IA47
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Mary Dominey said:
I am currently researching the vicars of Biggleswade and discovered that Georgina Dennison Bassett WADE married Joseph DOUTON in 1818 in Harpenden, Herts. I have searched under every possible combination of surname, christian name, date of birth, and place that seems relevant to me, but can find no trace of her birth. have you got any idea of where she was born? Mary Dominey
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Anne Young said:
Dear Mary. Thank you for visiting. Based on the 1851 census she was born in London about 1783. She would have been illegitimate. Happy to elaborate. Regards Anne email ay.familyhistory at gmail dot com
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