September 1857
I took my leave at half past ten, and found my cab at the door, and my cabman snugly asleep inside of it; and when Mr. Du Val awoke him, he proved to be quite drunk, insomuch that I hesitated whether to let him clamber upon the box, or to take post myself, and drive the cabman home.
However, I propounded two questions to him:
first, whether his horse would go of his own accord;
and, secondly, whether he himself was invariably drunk at that time of night, because, if it were his normal state, I should be safer with him drunk than sober.
Being satisfied on these points, I got in, and was driven home without accident or adventure; except, indeed, that the cabman drew up and opened the door for me to alight at a vacant lot on Stretford Road, just as if there had been a house and home and cheerful lighted windows in that vacancy.
On my remonstrance he resumed the whip and reins, and reached Boston Terrace at last; and, thanking me for an extra sixpence as well as he could speak, he begged me to inquire for “Little John” whenever I next wanted a cab.
Cabmen are, as a body, the most ill-natured and ungenial men in the world; but this poor little man was excellently good-humored.
Nathaniel Hawthorne Old Trafford
Manchester Town Hall
There's a certain impatience in Nathaniel Hawthorne's tone in his English Journals as the summer of '57 crawls by. In February he had tendered his resignation as US Consul to Liverpool, and had heard as long ago as April that it had been accepted and a new Consul had been chosen. Hawthorne planned to take the family to Italy to do the Grand Tour, but his replacement was dragging his heels.
In late July the family had given up the house in Southport they had been staying in, and moved into digs in Manchester, to be near the Art Treasures Exhibition. In mid September they upped sticks again and went to lovely Leamington Spa. Before they go let's see what the Hawthorne family thought of Manchester.
Manchester Free Trade Hall, built 1857“Nothing but the Palace of Art would ever have made us think of being one hour in such a nasty old ugly place” wrote Mrs Hawthorne. Nathaniel himself observed "It is singular that the great Art-Exhibition should have come to pass in the rudest great town in England".
“Nothing but the Palace of Art would ever have made us think of being one hour in such a nasty old ugly place” wrote Mrs Hawthorne. Nathaniel himself observed "It is singular that the great Art-Exhibition should have come to pass in the rudest great town in England".
That was the point, though. Manchester's merchants and civic dignitaries were fed up being thought of bumpkins, or only in it for the money - they wanted to show that Manchester could be a Capital of Culture. The Art Treasures Exhibition followed in the footsteps of great exhibitions, such as the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851, with one major difference - no commerce, no technology, just Art. The greatest collection of Art ever assembled, before or since, in the UK or anywhere in the world.
Nathaniel Hawthorne bought into it wholesale “We spent seven weeks in Manchester, and went most diligently to the Art Exhibition; and I really begin to be sensible of the rudiments of a taste in pictures."
One reason for the Hawthornes' interest was to acquire a knowledge and understanding of Art before they went to the Continent. Next door to the Art Treasures Exhibition was the Botanical Gardens amd on July 30th 1857 Nathaniel's son, Julian, paid it a visit. Here's the entrance . . .
. . . . and guess what, it's still there! Well done, Manchester.
At the entrance to the White City shopping mall, near Old Trafford.
Victoria Station
It wasn’t the first time Hawthorne had visited Manchester, but despite being based only 30 miles away in Liverpool, it took Hawthorne nearly three years to summon up the resolve to go there. Despite being only 30 miles between the two city centres it still takes over an hour to make the journey. In Hawthorne’s time it was 90 minutes to two hours.
Nathaniel Hawthorne first visited Manchester in May 1856, as a guest of. Francis Bennoch.
May 22nd 1856
The same day I took the rail from the Little Street station for MANCHESTER, to meet Bennoch, who had asked me thither to dine with him. I had never visited Manchester before, though now so long resident within twenty miles of it; neither is it particularly worth visiting, unless for the sake of its factories, which I did not go to see. It is a dingy and heavy town, with very much the aspect of Liverpool, being, like the latter, built almost entirely within the present century.
I stopped at the Albion Hotel, and, as Bennoch was out, I walked forth to view the city, and made only such observations as are recorded above. Opposite the hotel stands the Infirmary, — a very large edifice, which, when erected, was on the outskirts, or perhaps in the rural suburbs, of the town, but it is now almost in its centre. In the enclosed space before it stands the statue of Peel, and sits a statue of Dr. Dalton, the celebrated chemist, who was a native of Manchester.
Statue of Robert Peel in Piccadilly Gardens
The next morning we went out to see the Exchange, and whatever was noticeable about the town. Time being brief, I did not visit the cathedral, which, I believe, is a thousand years old [it's not]. There are many handsome shops in Manchester; and we went into one establishment, devoted to pictures, engravings, and decorative art generally, which is most perfect and extensive. The firm, if I remember, is that of the Messrs. Agnew, and, though originating here, they have now a house in London.
Bennoch left town for some place in Yorkshire, and I for Liverpool. I asked him to come and dine with me at the Adelphi, meaning to ask two or three people to meet him; but he had other engagements, and could not spare a day at present, though he promises to come before long.
I stopped at the Albion Hotel, and, as Bennoch was out, I walked forth to view the city, and made only such observations as are recorded above. Opposite the hotel stands the Infirmary, — a very large edifice, which, when erected, was on the outskirts, or perhaps in the rural suburbs, of the town, but it is now almost in its centre. In the enclosed space before it stands the statue of Peel, and sits a statue of Dr. Dalton, the celebrated chemist, who was a native of Manchester.
The next morning we went out to see the Exchange, and whatever was noticeable about the town. Time being brief, I did not visit the cathedral, which, I believe, is a thousand years old [it's not]. There are many handsome shops in Manchester; and we went into one establishment, devoted to pictures, engravings, and decorative art generally, which is most perfect and extensive. The firm, if I remember, is that of the Messrs. Agnew, and, though originating here, they have now a house in London.
Bennoch left town for some place in Yorkshire, and I for Liverpool. I asked him to come and dine with me at the Adelphi, meaning to ask two or three people to meet him; but he had other engagements, and could not spare a day at present, though he promises to come before long.
Hawthorne’s next visit was in April 1857, when he stopped overnight on the way back from Durham to Liverpool. He spent a night at the Palatine Hotel, before catching a late morning train to Liverpool.
April 13th 1857
We took the train for Manchester, [returning from Durham] over pretty much the same route that I travelled last year. Many of the higher hills in Yorkshire were white with snow, which, in our lower region, softened into rain; but as we approached Manchester, the western sky reddened, and gave promise of better weather.
We took the train for Manchester, [returning from Durham] over pretty much the same route that I travelled last year. Many of the higher hills in Yorkshire were white with snow, which, in our lower region, softened into rain; but as we approached Manchester, the western sky reddened, and gave promise of better weather.
The site of the Palatine Hotel
We arrived at nearly eight o’clock, and put up at the Palatine Hotel. In the evening I scrawled away at my journal till past ten o’clock; for I have really made it a matter of conscience to keep a tolerably full record of my travels, though conscious that everything good escapes in the process.
Manchester CathedralIn the morning we went out and visited the MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, a particularly black and grimy edifice, containing some genuine old wood carvings within the choir.
We stayed a good while, in order to see some people married.
Interior of Manchester CathedralIn a biography of his father Julian Hawthorne wrote:
I am not arranging this narrative in chronological sequence; but I think it was in this year that we went to Manchester to see the exposition. The town [Manchester] itself was unlovely; but, as we had Italy in prospect, it was deemed expedient to accustom ourselves in some measure to the companionship of works of art, and the exhibition professed to contain an exceptionally fine and catholic collection of them.
My father made a thorough study of them, going to learn and not to judge, and he learned much, though not quite to believe in Turner or to like the old masters. For my own part, when not taken on these expeditions, I busied myself with the building of a kite six feet high, of engineer’s cambric, with a face painted on it, and used to go out and fly it on a vacant lot in the rear of our lodgings, accompanied by a large portion of the unoccupied population of Manchester. The kite broke its string one day, and I saw it descend over the roofs of a remote slum region towards the south, and I never recaptured it.
William Wyld: View of Manchster (1752) They only stayed seven weeks in Manchester, before the "foul air of the manufactories" compelled then to move. Sophia wrote to her sister:
In Manchester, which we have lately visited, I found that the foul air of the manufactories made me cough more, and the moment Mr. Hawthorne perceived it, he decided to come away.
Nathaniel Hawthorne explainedMoreover, the smoky and sooty air of that abominable Manchester affected my wife’s throat disadvantageously; so, on a Tuesday morning, we struck our tent and set forth again regretting to leave nothing except the kind disposition of Mrs. Honey, our housekeeper.
Lansdowne Circus [Leamington Spa] is really delightful after that ugly and grimy suburb of Manchester. Indeed, there could not possibly be a greater contrast than between Leamington and Manchester, — the latter built only for dirty uses, and scarcely intended as a habitation for man; the former so cleanly, so set out with shade trees, so regular in its streets, so neatly paved, its houses so prettily contrived and nicely stuccoed, that it does not look like a portion of the work-a-day world.
The site of the Palatine Hotel
We arrived at nearly eight o’clock, and put up at the Palatine Hotel. In the evening I scrawled away at my journal till past ten o’clock; for I have really made it a matter of conscience to keep a tolerably full record of my travels, though conscious that everything good escapes in the process.
We stayed a good while, in order to see some people married.
In a biography of his father Julian Hawthorne wrote:
I am not arranging this narrative in chronological sequence; but I think it was in this year that we went to Manchester to see the exposition. The town [Manchester] itself was unlovely; but, as we had Italy in prospect, it was deemed expedient to accustom ourselves in some measure to the companionship of works of art, and the exhibition professed to contain an exceptionally fine and catholic collection of them.
My father made a thorough study of them, going to learn and not to judge, and he learned much, though not quite to believe in Turner or to like the old masters. For my own part, when not taken on these expeditions, I busied myself with the building of a kite six feet high, of engineer’s cambric, with a face painted on it, and used to go out and fly it on a vacant lot in the rear of our lodgings, accompanied by a large portion of the unoccupied population of Manchester. The kite broke its string one day, and I saw it descend over the roofs of a remote slum region towards the south, and I never recaptured it.
They only stayed seven weeks in Manchester, before the "foul air of the manufactories" compelled then to move. Sophia wrote to her sister:
In Manchester, which we have lately visited, I found that the foul air of the manufactories made me cough more, and the moment Mr. Hawthorne perceived it, he decided to come away.
Moreover, the smoky and sooty air of that abominable Manchester affected my wife’s throat disadvantageously; so, on a Tuesday morning, we struck our tent and set forth again regretting to leave nothing except the kind disposition of Mrs. Honey, our housekeeper.
Lansdowne Circus [Leamington Spa] is really delightful after that ugly and grimy suburb of Manchester. Indeed, there could not possibly be a greater contrast than between Leamington and Manchester, — the latter built only for dirty uses, and scarcely intended as a habitation for man; the former so cleanly, so set out with shade trees, so regular in its streets, so neatly paved, its houses so prettily contrived and nicely stuccoed, that it does not look like a portion of the work-a-day world.
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