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,
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.
Whaley gives no first names.
[Ryan, 2019]
names them as John Lee and Peter Lee,
but it is unclear what the source is.
He may be making an assumption (which turns out to be slightly wrong, see below).
- 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]
names the mother as Mrs. Marguerite Maltass,
but it is unclear what the source is.
He may be making an assumption (which turns out to be right, see below).
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.
Timeline of the trip.
From
p.342
of
[Buck Whaley's Memoirs, 1906].
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).
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.
-
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.
- Smyrna section is on pp.9-14 and pp.18-19 and maybe more pages.
- Manuscript (early copy) 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 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.
Lost manuscript
This manuscript may be out there somewhere. But it has been lost for a century.
- Manuscript (original) of Thomas "Buck" Whaley's memoirs.
- The original manuscript and the London Library copy
were used by
Sullivan in his book in 1906.
- The original was purchased by Ellis, a London bookseller, c.1920s,
and is now lost.
See discussion in [Ryan, 2019].
