‘We went this afternoon to the Louvre, [. . .] Some of Canaletto’s views of Venice we admired very much; many of the subjects are not agreeable, particularly amongst the French paintings, no end to people wounded and dying’. This is from the travel journal of Emily Jane (nee Birch) Glyn who died 170 years ago today. There is very little information about Emily online, but the Epsom and Ewell History Explorer, where the journal can be found, describes her as ‘A typical, rather sheltered, Victorian lady.’
However, during the 19th century several members of the Glyn family - including Emily - travelled overseas and recorded their travels in journals. These journals form part of the large family archive held, I think, by the Surrey History Centre, but it is thanks to the Epsom and Ewell History Explorer that some of these diaries are freely available online. in particular Emily’s 1945 journal of a holiday in Normandy and Paris in 1845.
The website provides the following information about this journey and journal: ‘Emily travelled to Paris in 1845 with what appears to be a large family group, although presumably without her husband, as he is not mentioned. The group included Mama and Papa, and at least one uncle and aunt, and Charlie (brother?). The party travelled by steamer from Shoreham, via Brighton, to Dieppe, and then on by train to Paris. Emily Jane would have been thirty years old at the time, and had one child, George, aged four, who was presumably left behind in the nursery. Emily appears to have been a very conventional Victorian lady of rather limited outlook. She reacted to the ritual of mass, in a side chapel of the Madeleine, with shock and disdain, and was not very impressed by some of the pictures in the Louvre, of which she said: “Many of the subjects are not agreeable, particularly amongst the French paintings, no end to people wounded and dying”. She did like some of the Canalettos though. The party went to the Sèvres factory near St. Cloud, but apparently were not impressed with the china on display. The tapestries at the Gobelin factory met with more approval.
This visit to Paris was before Baron Haussmann transformed the city and created the grand boulevards, but the party visited most of the same sites and places that tourists visit today, and we really do not get a picture of the very different city that it must have been then, with narrow cramped streets unchanged since medieval times. They did climb the Arc de Triomphe, which had been completed around ten years earlier by the king Louis Philippe, although it was originally commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon following Austerlitz. [. . .]
Emily Jane’s account is quite impersonal. She recounts the facts about the places she visits, but does not really give us much of a reaction, other than saying a view or picture is ‘very pretty’, or ‘dreadful’, as she describes the orange trees in the Tuileries gardens. Neither does she give us any idea of what other individual members of the party may think at any time. She does seem particularly interested in the royal family, and in the tragic death of the Duc d’Orleans, the heir to the throne who had been killed in a carriage accident in 1842, aged 31. Her description of the memorial chapel, and the painting therein of his death, is the most animated of the journal, but the impression of the diary on the whole, is of a rather dutiful account by a typical, rather sheltered, Victorian lady.’
Here are severel of Emily’s journal entries.
3 July 1845
‘At 10 o’clock we all started in an omnibus for the station and left Brighton by the Shoreham train at 25 minutes past ten. At a quarter to 11 we got out at Kingston and walked to the steamer, which was close. The Steamer was the Menai, Capt. Goodburn, and was rather a small one, there were a good many passengers; we left Shoreham at 12 1⁄2 and reached Brighton Pier in about half an hour. Luggage without end was brought on board there, we were very glad that we had gone to Shoreham for we much enjoyed our Railway trip and also our steamer to Brighton. We left the pier at 1 1⁄2, we had a very bright day with not much wind, it rose however about 3 o’clock but soon sank again; we went along the coast as far as Beachy Head, this was the last English land we saw. We steered S.S.E. nearly the whole way, we saw the English coast for four or five hours. About six we came in sight of the French coast, it much resembled that of England, there being high cliffs. We entered a kind of bay having land on both sides of us. About 9 o’clock we entered the harbour of Dieppe; you see the town to the right as you enter. The entrance of the harbour is very narrow, it is formed by the embouchure of the little river Arques. We wound about for some time and then got into a large basin of water surrounded by houses on three sides. We stopped on the right side exactly opposite the Customs House, it was dark when we arrived and the lights of the shops and houses looked very pretty reflected in the water.
Everyone from the steamer went straight to the Douane, the door of which was guarded by two gens d’armes; the room into which we went was not very large, in one part there sat two or three men at a desk, one had on a cocked hat and looked very fierce. Immediately before them there was a railing and about a yard beyond another, between these two railings. Papa [Josiah Birch, a merchant from Manchester who lived and worked in St. Petersburg] was called and all of us who were down in his passport, the passport was most carefully examined as to the number of persons and who they were. When that was finished we walked a few paces towards their right and were met by another man who opened two doors, one on each side, turning the ladies into one and the gentlemen into the other. The room into which we went was very small and might have done very well for the Black Hole. Two French women were in it, when we got in they shut up the doors and I thought they were going to search our persons, but they did not. They first seized hold of Mama’s basket, put in their hands and pulled out her work box which they insisted upon opening; they soon finished with her and the rest of our party and let them out and began searching other people’s things. I thought they had forgotten me; I had charge of Charlie’s dressing case. I said to one of them ‘Voulez vous chercher cette boite’. I opened it, she looked at the top and shut it immediately, saying ‘Tres bien’. I now thought I might be released and made for the door when the other woman stopped me and asked if I had been ‘visitée’. Hearing that I had she let me out; I found our party waiting for me. Mama now could not be found but we soon discovered her in the crowd. Being all assembled we walked up to the Hotel Royal, we went along the Quai and then turned up a street towards the right which took us up to the Hotel. We got very nice rooms and found everything very comfortable. The Hotel faces the sea. As soon as our rooms were settled Uncle Robert and Charlie set off for the Douane to get through our carpet bags. They asked Charlie to declare that he had nothing contrabande in his box and said something about ‘pour declarer’, he only heard ‘clarer’ and thought they were asking him if he had any claret in his box; he answered ‘non’ but soon found out his mistake. When he and uncle came back to the Hotel, we had tea, it was nearly twelve when we finished.’
7 July 1845
‘We went this afternoon to the Louvre, it is behind the Tuileries, the Place du Carrousel being between them. We entered the southern side of the Louvre, the passports were looked at and all the umbrellas kept below, for which we were obliged to pay 2 sous each. We only had time to look at one picture gallery, it contained many paintings by the best masters; first were those of the French school, then followed Dutch, German, Spanish and Italian. Some of Canaletto’s views of Venice we admired very much; many of the subjects are not agreeable, particularly amongst the French paintings, no end to people wounded and dying. Everything almost in Paris is closed at 4 o’clock, we were obliged to leave the Louvre at that hour.
In the morning I went with the gentlemen to see the Bourse, it is in the direction of the Palais Royal and is a very handsome building, surrounded by Corinthian pillars, the ceiling inside is covered with monochrome paintings which are so much like bas-reliefs that people are often deceived; they are chiefly allegorical, France receiving the tribute of the four quarters of the globe, the City of Paris delivering the keys to the God of Commerce and inviting Commercial Justice to enter the walls, the Union of Commerce and the Arts giving birth to the prosperity of the State and Paris receiving from the nymph of the Seine and the Genius of the [.........] the productions of abundance. There were also representations of the four quarters of the globe and of all the commercial cities of Europe. In the evening we dined at the Café de l’Europe in the Place Royal.’
9 July 1845
‘Today we went first to the Pantheon, it was formerly the church of St. Genevieve. Over the cornice is now written ‘Aux grands hommes à la patrie reconnaissante’. It is a beautiful building, the portico is supported by Corinthian columns, in the middle is a large dome, the highest in Paris. The building is nearly in the form of a Greek cross. On the walls are inscribed the names of those who were killed in the revolution of July [the 1830 revolution resulting in the enthronement of Louis-Philippe]. In the dome is a fine painting by Gros, representing St. Genevieve etc. and the monarchs whose reigns have formed epochs in the history of the country. We went downstairs and passed through a series of vaults, in some of the passages there is a very loud echo; here are buried in opposite vaults Voltaire and Rousseau, also many other people whose names I do not remember. From the Pantheon we went to the Gobelin manufactury, it is situated in the outskirts of Paris towards the S.E. We saw the whole process and afterwards the Salle d’exposition; the Gobelins were very beautiful, we could hardly tell them from paintings. There were several of the King and others of the royal family, in one place carpets were being made for the King, the pieces take from two to six years to complete.
We went next to the Jardin des Plantes, it is a kind of Zoological Garden. We were too late to see the large animals, we saw quantities of deer and of large birds. Many medicinal plants are cultivated here; there are green houses, hot houses, galleries, an amphitheatre with laboratories, but we did not see them. On our way home we passed the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Hotel Dieu, both situated on an island. Soon after we passed on our left the Mint and the Institute of France, we crossed the Seine by the Pont Neuf, in the midst of the bridge is a statue of Henri 4. We went to the Palais Royal where we dined.’
27 July 1845
‘We went this morning to Mr. Lovett’s Chapel, he did not preach. It was given out that there would be service in the Chapel next Sunday for the last time, we do not know why the Chapel is going to be given up. We walked home. This was the first day of the fête, many more amusements were going on in the Champs Elysées than usual. In the afternoon we went to the Ambassador’s Chapel and heard a very nice sermon from the Bishop. After dinner we went to see the Statue of the Duke of Orleans which has today been put up in the Quadrangle of the Louvre. We went through the Tuilleries, across the Place du Carravell (Carrousel?), and under the western side of the Louvre, we thought the statue very bad, both horse and man are out of proportion and very stiff.’
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