Buck Whaley in Smyrna in 1788-1789
Irish hell-raiser
"Buck" Whaley (born 1765)
travelled to Jerusalem in 1788-1789 for a bet.
He stopped in Smyrna on the way.
He recalled this in his memoirs, written in 1797, but not published until 1906.
For the timeline of the trip, see
p.342
of
[Buck Whaley's Memoirs, 1906].
In Smyrna in Dec 1788, Buck Whaley met with:
- Two Mr. Lee's.
[Ryan, 2019]
names them as John Lee and Peter Lee
(probably using information from
Moore's memoir).
- Mrs. Maltass and her 4 unmarried daughters,
and her adult son, Mr. Maltass.
Whaley names one of the daughters as "Margotten".
This must be our family:
-
This must be Mrs. Marguerite Maltass
(Marguerite Icard), the widow of William Maltass (who had died 1782),
and her 4 unmarried daughters and her son.
-
There is no other Maltass family in Smyrna. And the details match our one.
- "Margotten" is a French version of "Marguerite",
and a form of the name given to Mrs. Marguerite Maltass.
So "Mademoiselle Margotten" is clearly her daughter Marguerite Maltass.
-
[Ryan, 2019] actually
names the mother as Mrs. Marguerite Maltass,
but it is unclear if "Marguerite" is named in
Moore's memoir
or if Ryan is just making an assumption.
Lee is related:
-
The memoir says Mrs. Maltass is "aunt" of the two Mr.Lee's.
-
This must mean a sister of either
Marguerite Icard or
William Maltass
married a Lee and is their mother.
-
A footnote in the 1906 edition
says Mrs. Maltass is a "cousin" of Mr. Lee.
This seems to be an error, since the text says she is aunt
and the girls are cousins.
Which makes more sense, since it is hard to see how Mrs. Maltass (of French origin) could be his cousin.
- William Maltass had been in business with
Richard Lee and Richard Lee junior
and this may be the same family.
-
John Lee might be identical with
John Lee
who later married
Mary Maltass in 1797.
Maybe they were 1st cousins.
Whaley arrives at Smyrna on 1 Dec 1788.
From
pp.71-73
of
[Buck Whaley's Memoirs, 1906].
He leaves the Lee and Maltass families on 4 Dec 1788,
as he leaves Smyrna to go to Constantinople.
From p.83.
He returns to Smyrna on 27 Jan 1789.
From pp.157-158.
Whaley describes the life of the Maltass and other European families.
From pp.158-159.
He says the Europeans all live in Frank Street.
Since he is visiting the Maltass family, this implies they live in Frank Street,
or he would mention they do not.
[Ryan, 2019]
explicitly says that the Maltass family lives on Frank St
(maybe using information from
Moore's memoir).
-
Whaley left Smyrna on 2 Feb 1789.
-
He eventually got to Jerusalem on 28 Feb 1789.
-
He did not go through Smyrna on the way back home.
References
Sources yet to be consulted
- Memoir of Buck Whaley's trip, by Capt. Hugh Moore.
- Capt. Hugh Moore, who was on the trip with Whaley, wrote his own memoir.
- See discussion on p.xli
of [Buck Whaley's Memoirs, 1906].
As at 1906 this manuscript was in Moore family possession and unpublished.
- It was sold at
Sotheby's
in 2013
for £18,750.
- [Ryan, 2019]
says it is now owned by art collector
Ömer Koç
and is in his private collection in Istanbul.
It is still unpublished.
- Manuscript of Thomas "Buck" Whaley's memoirs.
London Library, St James Square, London.
NRA 20043.
2 vols.
- This is believed to be
an early copy of the original, which is lost.
Sullivan used both copies in 1906, but the original is now lost.
See discussion in [Ryan, 2019].
