Vauxhall Gardens

Privately owned, for-profit, seasonal, walled-off venues that boasted a variety of flora and fauna in addition to other services like stages, buildings, thespians, musicians, exhibits and victuals, New York City's Vauxhall and Ranelagh commercial pleasure gardens blossomed by the mid-eighteenth century. An in-depth analysis of these pleasure gardens not only contributes to how we understand colonists’ endeavours to support a more complete leisure sector, but also reveals the nuanced nature of the ‘rural vs. urban’ or ‘wilderness vs. civilization’ dyads. Ultimately, urban colonists hoped to embrace the rural nature of their surroundings to make their ‘cities in the wilderness’ more accessible, healthy places.

The discovery of a satirical list from 1732 helps us revisit Handel’s affairs during the early 1730s. Placing the composer among elite guests at the opening night of Vauxhall Gardens in 1732, the new document predates his known links with the venue by six years, offers a rare description of him as subservient to John James Heidegger and possibly alludes to his medical condition prior to 1737. It also invites an exploration of hidden affinities between English oratorio and John Henley’s much-abused Oratory, including a hypothesis about the strictures applied to Esther by the Bishop of London. Much more important, it helps launch a re-examination of Handel’s role in the ‘Second Academy’ as a court composer in an entrepreneurial milieu.

ABSTRACT: Privately owned, for-profit, seasonal, walled-off venues that boasted a variety of flora and fauna in addition to other services like stages, buildings, thespians, musicians, exhibits and victuals, New York City's Vauxhall and Ranelagh commercial pleasure gardens blossomed by the mid-eighteenth century. An in-depth analysis of these pleasure gardens not only contributes to how we understand colonists’ endeavours to support a more complete leisure sector, but also reveals the nuanced nature of the ‘rural vs. urban’ or ‘wilderness vs. civilization’ dyads. Ultimately, urban colonists hoped to embrace the rural nature of their surroundings to make their ‘cities in the wilderness’ more accessible, healthy places.

ABSTRACT: Privately owned, for-profit, seasonal, walled-off venues that boasted a variety of flora and fauna in addition to other services like stages, buildings, thespians, musicians, exhibits and victuals, New York City's Vauxhall and Ranelagh commercial pleasure gardens blossomed by the mid-eighteenth century. An in-depth analysis of these pleasure gardens not only contributes to how we understand colonists’ endeavours to support a more complete leisure sector, but also reveals the nuanced nature of the ‘rural vs. urban’ or ‘wilderness vs. civilization’ dyads. Ultimately, urban colonists hoped to embrace the rural nature of their surroundings to make their ‘cities in the wilderness’ more accessible, healthy places.

Abstract

In this article, I examine a painting representing the 1760 victory of the British Empire over France in North America, namely The Surrender of Montreal to General Amherst by Francis Hayman. I seek to understand the origins of this piece ordered by Jonathan Tyers, owner of London’s Vauxhall, the recreational space where The Surrender of Montreal was exhibited, and to understand the meaning that it sought to convey to the public regarding the events surrounding the fall of New France. The piece sought to convey a strong message regarding the apparent greatness of the British Empire, but it also sought to show that Britain had emerged as Europe’s only truly great power; the only power able to govern colonial populations through the universal – and typically British – values of humanity, clemency, and charity. These values allowed Britain to impose and legitimise the “Pax Britannica” in North America.

Résumé

Dans le présent article, j’analyserai le tableau The Surrender of Montreal to General Amherst de Francis Hayman, qui représente une victoire de l’Empire britannique sur la France en terre américaine en 1760. Mon objectif est de comprendre les origines de l’oeuvre commandée par Jonathan Tyers, propriétaire du Vauxhall à Londres, où est présenté le tableau, et de saisir ce qu’on a voulu transmettre par cette oeuvre exposée dans un contexte bien particulier, soit un espace de loisir. J’examinerai aussi de quelle façon elle a permis de raconter à un public donné les événements entourant la prise du Canada dans les années 1760. La manière de raconter et de représenter la conquête du Canada se rattache, certes, à l’idée de grandeur de l’Empire, mais aussi, et surtout, à celle qui consiste à montrer que l’Angleterre devient la seule grande puissance européenne (supériorité) à pouvoir soutenir des populations coloniales par des valeurs typiquement britanniques d’humanité, de clémence et de charité, mais qui ont également une portée universelle. Ces valeurs permettent d’imposer et de légitimer la Pax Britannica en Amérique.