Genealogy research by Mark Humphrys.
Genealogy research by Mark Humphrys.
William Baldwin,
George Baldwin,
He
mar 1779 [her age 16, him age 35]
to
Jane Maltass
[born 26th June 1763, Smyrna, Turkey].
They travelled to England.
They stopped en route
in Vienna
in 1780 (her age 17),
where they were received by the
British Ambassador
to the Holy Roman Empire,
Robert Murray Keith.
In Vienna,
Emperor Joseph (born 1741)
was so entranced with Jane's beauty he commissioned a bust of her,
and the elderly
Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg
commissioned a portrait of her.
They arrived in London in 1781
[Jane's obituary].
She was known as the "pretty Greek" in London society.
(She was not Greek, but the W European merchants lived among the
Greek community of W Turkey.)
"This pretty Greek as we call her"
[Diary of Mrs Hester Lynch Thrale].
Her portrait was painted in London
by Sir Joshua Reynolds
in Feb 1782 (her age 18).
He painted her in Eastern dress.
Fanny Burney
and others in London society were much impressed by her.
Her portrait was painted by
Richard Cosway.
She lived in England for a number of years.
Her intelligence and beauty attracted many admirers,
including the Prince of Wales
(future George IV, born 1762).
Even old Dr Johnson
(died 1784) asked permission to kiss her.
British Consul-General in Egypt:
George was
British Consul-General
in Egypt 1786 to 1796.
He departed England with his wife in Aug 1786.
They
stopped with her family at Smyrna.
He went on to
Alexandria, Egypt.
He
built up extensive property in Alexandria.
Jane joined him in Egypt and was there as at 1789.
He warned London of French plans for Egypt, but was not listened to and
his post was terminated in 1793 (though oddly he did not receive the message until 1796).
He
left Egypt 1798
as the French invasion loomed,
leaving behind his property in Alexandria,
which the French seized.
He
went to Italy, where he assisted with the planning of the British counter-invasion of Egypt.
He
returned to Egypt with the British forces
in Mar 1801.
He
returned to England in May 1801.
Jane's portrait was painted by
William Pyne
(born 1769).
Their marriage was unhappy.
George wrote on his belief in
magnetic therapy.
(Now regarded as
pseudoscience.)
He retired to
Earl's Court, London.
He died Earl's Court, 19 February 1826,
age 81 yrs.
Jane died 1839, age 76 yrs.
George and Jane
had issue:
The "lovely Greek", Mrs. Baldwin (Jane Maltass), causing a stir in London society in 1782.
Letter from
Samuel Crisp
to
Fanny Burney, 25 Feb 1782.
Pages 98-99
of Diary and letters of Madame d'Arblay
(Diary of Fanny Burney),
vol.2,
1854.
Letter from Fanny Burney to Samuel Crisp, 15 Mar 1782.
Page 102
of above.
George
Baldwin features in an undated, unpublished poem
found in the notebook
of
William Blake.
Untitled, and so normally titled
after the opening line,
"Cosway, Frazer, and Baldwin of Egypt's Lake",
it is thought to be from 1808 to 1811.
Scan from
Blake: The Complete Poems (2007).
Also in
The poetical works of William Blake (1905).
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