16 September, 1883
Whatton. quiet morning – church in the
afternoon – played the service in a surplice,
Cellier assisting – tea on the lawn – a pretty
little woman Mrs. Badger (husband embezzled
& bolted) came to tea – quiet evening – Cellier
& I played the organ in the billiard room.
As we read in Sullivan’s diary for 15 September, 1883, Sullivan and Alfred Cellier are staying with Edward Hall at his family manor, Whatton. Today is a Sunday, and eventually (in the afternoon) the party goes to church.
The church is almost certainly St John of Beverley, in the village of Whatton in the Vale, Nottinghamshire. The history of this church is recounted well by the Southwell & Nottingham Church History Project. Like many English country churches, its origins are ancient even though its current building is mostly Victorian. In this case, there is a late 14th-century effigy of a Knight Templar in the church, along with stained glass made by William Morris from a design by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones.
Is it a coincidence that the church’s current architecture dates from 1846? No. Edward Hall’s father Thomas Dickinson Hall paid for and directed the Victorian renovations, just a few years after building his immense home nearby at Whatton Manor. By 1851, the Vicar was one Rev Thomas Hall. I think it is safe to call this a family church at this point.
The organ Sullivan played was installed in 1878. Inside the church hangs a monument to Thomas Cranmer, the 16th century Archbishop of Canterbury, and later namesake of one of Sullivan’s race horses. Another famous connection to the church, and Edwin Hall, is the novelist Samuel Butler. The Halls of Whatton are said to be portrayed in characters in Butler’s novel Erewhon.
Cellier is still Alfred Cellier, who apparently assisted Sullivan in performing on Whatton Manor’s own organ, in its billiard room.
But the story of this diary entry gets rather weird in Sullivan’s comment “Mrs. Badger (husband embezzled & bolted) came to tea”. Considering what happened to Mr. Edwin Hall’s business—and Sullivan’s investments therein—just a few weeks later, the idea that Sullivan could meet a woman there whose husband had embezzled money and disappeared is just a bit, well, too on-the-nose.
Sullivan had probably met the wife of Mr Thomas Wright Badger. Badger was a solicitor and wine merchant in Rotherham, Yorkshire, until in August, 1882 when he suddenly disappeared, leaving a reported £20,000 in liabilities. He was declared a bankrupt. By October 1882 he was seen to be living, quite well, in Spain. The story was a sensation in the press for several months.