My wife's ancestors - Maltass - Contents

Buck Whaley in Smyrna in 1788-1789

Irish hell-raiser Thomas "Buck" Whaley (born 1765) travelled to Jerusalem in 1788-1789 for a bet.
He stopped in Smyrna on the way, where the Maltass family lived.
He recalled this in his memoirs, written in 1797, but not published until 1906.

In Smyrna in Dec 1788, Buck Whaley met with:

Two Mr. Lee's (brothers).
Whaley gives no first names.
[Ryan, 2019, p.68] names them as John Lee and Peter Lee. But on examining this again, Ryan is unsure what the source is.
Mrs. Maltass and her 4 unmarried daughters. Also her adult son, Mr. Maltass.
Whaley gives no first names, apart from one of the daughters who he names as Margotten.
[Ryan, 2019, p.68] names the mother as Mrs. Marguerite Maltass. But on examining this again, Ryan is unsure what the source is. He may be making an assumption based on my website (which turns out to be right, see the following).

This must be our family:

The Mr. Lee's must be the sons of Richard Lee, the business partner of William Maltass. However, Peter Lee is too young at this time. The sons must be Richard Lee junior and John Lee, or possibly other sons.
Mrs. Maltass must be Mrs. Marguerite Maltass (Marguerite Icard), the widow of William Maltass (who had died in 1782), and her 4 unmarried daughters and her son. There is no other Maltass family in Smyrna. And all 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.

Lee is related:

Interestingly, Whaley says that Mrs. Maltass is "aunt" of the two Mr.Lee's. Lee and Maltass are not just business partners, but related.
This means that Margaret, wife of Richard Lee must be Margaret Maltass, a sister of William Maltass. (She presumably cannot be a sister of Marguerite Icard because we cannot have two Margaret sisters.)
A footnote in the 1906 edition says Mrs. Maltass is a "cousin" of Mr. Lee. This comes from [Moore's memoir, p.9]. This seems to be an error by Moore, since Whaley says she is an 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.
John Lee later married Mary Maltass in 1797. If Whaley is right, they were 1st cousins.

Buck Whaley (born 1765) as a boy.
From front page of [Buck Whaley's Memoirs, 1906].

Timeline of the trip.
From p.342 of [Buck Whaley's Memoirs, 1906].

Whaley arrives at Smyrna, Dec 1788

Whaley arrives at Smyrna on 1 Dec 1788.
From pp.71-73 of [Buck Whaley's Memoirs, 1906].
On 3 Dec (in Whaley's memoir) they wander about Smyrna and end up in a mosque.
[Moore's memoir, p.13] says that after visiting the mosque they returned to "Frank Street" (so this is where the Maltass family lives).

Whaley meets the Maltass mother and daughters.
From p.159 in [LL manuscript, vol.1].
See full size. Used with the kind permission of The London Library.

The above printed section corresponds somewhat to pp.158-170 in [LL manuscript, vol.1].
In the LL manuscript, the names are disguised. The text refers to: "my two good friends [Messrs.] L---". No surname is given for the mother and daughters. He sits next to the daughter "Mademoiselle M---".

He leaves the Lee and Maltass families on 4 Dec 1788, as he leaves Smyrna to go to Constantinople.
From p.83.

The above corresponds somewhat to pp.187-196 in [LL manuscript, vol.1].

Whaley returns to Smyrna from Constantinople, Jan 1789

He returns to Smyrna from Constantinople on 27 Jan 1789.
From pp.157-158.

The above printed section corresponds to pp.370-372 in [LL manuscript, vol.1], from which the above are extracts.
Used with the kind permission of The London Library.
See full size p.370 and p.371 and p.372.

Whaley describes the life of the Maltass and other European families.
From pp.158-159.
He says the Europeans all live in Frank Street.

The above corresponds to pp.373-375 in [LL manuscript, vol.1].
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

Buck Whaley's memoirs (early copy of original manuscript).
- Manuscript in 2 volumes in [LL]. National Register of Archives reference NRA 20043.
- This is believed to be an early copy of the lost original.
- This and the original were used by Sullivan in his book in 1906.
- This copy was left to the London Library by Sullivan when he died in 1928. It is labelled "Original Manuscript (No.2)".
Buck Whaley's Memoirs, edited by Sir Edward Sullivan, 2nd Baronet (1906).
Buck Whaley: Ireland's Greatest Adventurer, David Ryan, 2019.

Sources yet to be consulted

Capt. Hugh Moore's memoir.
- Capt. Hugh Moore, who was on the trip with Buck 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, Acknowledgements] says it is now owned by art collector Ömer Koç and is in his private collection in Istanbul. It is still unpublished.
- Smyrna section is on pp.9-14 and pp.18-19 and maybe more pages.

Lost manuscript

Buck Whaley's memoirs (original manuscript).
- This original manuscript and the London Library copy were used by Sullivan in his book in 1906.
- The original was sold at auction in 1926 (before Sullivan died). See The Irish Times, 17 Dec 1926.
- Whereabouts are now unknown. See discussion in [Ryan, 2019, p.xx and p.204].