STOP PRESS – 2 Upcoming events for 2025 on Monday 7 April and Wednesday 9 July.
Monday 7 April 2025 – Burney Society UK Visit to National Portrait Gallery Archive
The Burney Society UK has arranged a free visit for members to the Heinz Archive at the National Portrait Gallery on Monday 7 April, from 14:30 – 15:30 (London time). Please arrive at the Archive for 14:15 and bring ID such as a passport or driving licence. The Heinz Archive is located behind the NPG in Orange Street, London, WC2H 0HE The nearest tube stations are Leicester Square and Charing Cross.
Curator Paul Cox will show us some of the Burney and Burney circle-related prints and documents held in the Archive. There are only 12 places and we have to give the Archive a list of visitors in advance. Please contact us at ukburneysociety@gmail.com to reserve your place on this visit. We are also planning to visit Larry’s bar, in the NPG basement at 12:30 for a brunch before the tour & also around 16:00 for tea and cake after the tour. This is bookable venue so please let us know if you would like to join us for both brunch & tea – or only brunch or tea. Larry’s Lunch menu can be viewed at https://www.npg.org.uk/visit/eat-and-drink/larrys-bar/.
Larry’s teatime menu is available at https://www.npg.org.uk/assets/uploads/files/larrys-afternoon-menu.pdf .
Please email ukburneysociety@gmail.com asap as I will need to book Larry’s soon.
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Burney Society UK One-day Symposium Wednesday 9 July 2025
Ovation Suite, Mayflower Theatre, 22 – 26 Commercial Road Southampton, Hampshire SO15 1GE
* Please note updated address
Details and Proposal form below.
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for our 2025 one-day symposium on the theme of ‘The Burney family and their Times’. The theme is deliberately wide, and we look forward to receiving a range of proposals. The closing date for receipt of proposals is 31 April 2025 and applicants will be informed of our decision no later than 10 May 2025. Proposal forms are now available below. We are pleased to announce that our President, Distinguished James McGill Professor Emeritus, Peter Sabor has kindly agreed to present a paper at this Symposium.
The Ovation Studio is on the top floor of Mast Mayflower Studios, with air conditioning and level access. It is a short walk from the station, buses, car parking & accommodation options. Registration information will be uploaded to our website soon and we look forward to you joining us.
2025 Symposium Proposal Form in Word format
2025 Symposium Proposal Form pdf
2025 Symposium Registration Form
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Our 2024 UK Conference ‘Exploring Burneys‘ was held in the Queen Anne Building, Greenwich University, Old Royal Naval College campus from 13 – 15 June, celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Founding of the Burney Society. (See Large image below) The conference theme ‘Exploring Burneys’ was deliberately designed to encompass a variety of approaches, from exploration and travel by members of the Burney family and their circle, to explorations of their lives, literature, music, art, cultural milieu, and significance.
Greenwich has important connections to the Burney family. Charles Burney Jr (1757-1817) ran a school in Greenwich, attended by his son, Charles Parr Burney (1785-1864) who would later take on the role of headmaster. This school was lucrative, and Charles Parr Burney lived at Croom’s Hill, Greenwich. St Paul’s Church, Deptford, where Charles Burney Jr was rector and is buried, is less than a mile to the east.
Although the nearest James Burney seems to have come to Greenwich is serving onboard the SS Greenwich, the Royal Museum Archive in Greenwich houses the world’s largest collection of manuscripts and original documents related to maritime history, including publications by James Burney. We arranged a private visit to the Caird Library archive as part of the conference programme, enabling our delegates a close view of relevant resources, including documents related to Captain James Cook’s last voyage, on which he was accompanied by James Burney.
The Burney Society UK are delighted that Paula Stepankowsky, founding member and first President of the Burney Society of North America, flew in from American to attend this conference. Elaine Bander, another former NA Burney Society President, who also attended the founding dinner, flew in from Canada. We invite you to join us in recognising Paula & Elaine’s immense contribution to the Burney Society of North America and Paula’s contribution to the Burney Society UK as Founding President of the joint Burney Society, and for her work in persuading Westminster Abbey to agree to the Frances Burney window in Poet’s Corner. We would also like to thank all the speakers and delegates who made it so worthwhile.
Summary Conference Report by Trudie Messent, Conference Organiser.
(Lorna Clark’s Conference Report is available in the Burney Letter Fall 2024, Vol. 30 No. 2 (pp.5 – 7)
Conference Day One: Thursday 13 June 2024
Dr Sophie Coulombeau (University of York) opened the conference with an intriguing and thoroughly researched Keynote: “A Queer Burney?” Charles DD and the Earl of Findlater. The interpretation of what may have been the nature of their relationship, through the exchange of their letters as presented by Sophie, provoked considerable interest and a very lively Q & A session. After a tea break this was followed by Panel 1, Frances Burney’s novels & eighteenth-century society, which included papers by four postgraduate speakers. Madeline Maya spoke on “(T)he most agreeable meal, in ease and plenty”: Cecilia and the Eighteenth-century Breakfast. Madeline referred to a range of breakfast scenes in Cecilia to demonstrate how skilfully Frances Burney used these scenes to illuminate the differences between households. The following paper, ‘Happily ever after? Marriage Law, Gift Exchange and the Courtship Novel Genre in Frances Burney’s Cecilia (1782) and Camilla (1796)’, presented by Hannah Wilson, argued that Burney adopted an unusual perspective to the traditional marriage plot, injecting a comical element and subverting the conventions. The next paper, Frances Burney’s Literary Exploration: Masculine Women, Female Wits, by Alina Aulbur, was awarded The President’s Prize, as the best conference paper by a postgraduate or early career speaker. Alina explored Burney’s use ‘masculine outspokenness’, as exemplified by Mrs. Arlbery in Camilla, noting that Burney presented early examples of strong women who took on the role of mentor. The final paper in this panel, Frances Burney, Eighteenth-Century Heterosociability, and the figure of the Hypersensible, presented by Beth Stewart, Beth referred to Hume and Hobbes, exploring the importance of identity and self-perception to Burney herself and the physical impact of emotion on some of her characters, such as Evelina and Edgar Mandlebert.
After the finger buffet lunch provided in the adjacent room, delegates walked to the nearby Chapel of St Peter & St Paul, re-built in 1779, after it was damaged by fire. Delegates were offered refreshments on their return to Queen Anne building. The afternoon session opened with Panel 2, The Burney Family. Val Adams opened the panel with ‘Mapping the Burney Archive’ in which Val explained that she had inherited a Burney family archive from her late husband, which contained a quantity of artefacts dating from the mid – eighteenth to the twentieth century. Val is cataloguing the letters, photos, diaries, legal and other documents, dating up to 1848, for a Master’s degree at the University of York. Delegates were pleased to hear that Charles Burney Jr., Charles Parr, and his son feature in these papers, which also extend to the involvement of Burneys in the First and Second World Wars. We very much look forward to hearing more about this fascinating archive. Lorna Clark (Carleton University, Canada) then presented a paper on ‘Exploring the case of Richard Thomas Burney’ in which she re-examined misconceptions in Burney scholarship in the light of the newly available unexpurgated texts of the letters of both Frances and Charles Burney. Lorna argued that, rather than Richard may have migrated to India for economic reasons, rather than having been ‘banished’ for unknown ‘crimes’. Richard died without returning to India but Lorna suggested he public and private writing of the Burneys, before tracing his descendants and their visits to England and their Burney relatives. Elaine Bander then presented ‘The Late Explorations of Doctor Charles Burney: A Tale of Two Fannys’. Two important ‘Fannys’ in his life were his daughter, Frances (Burney) d’Arblay and Frances (Greville) Crewe, who was a member of an astronomical coterie, together with Charles Burney and Lady Templetown. Elaine described Burney’s enduring interest in astronomy, noting he published An Essay towards a History of the Principal Comets in 1769, with the aid of his first wife, and working on a poem about astronomy whilst mourning his second wife. Charles gave copies of these to both Fannys and Elaine notes that. whilst the astronomical poem and his childhood memories were valued by Mrs Crewe, Frances Burney burnt both the poem and his ‘Memoires’. After a brief refreshment break, Trudie Messent closed the afternoon session with a ‘Workshop on Eighteenth-Century Gaming’. This included a brief presentation on ‘Eighteenth-century gaming and the Burney family’ in which Trudie noted Dr and Mrs Burney’s declared antipathy to gaming, whilst quoting accounts of Charles Burney’s attendance and participation at gaming clubs as a young adult. Trudie also showed extracts from A Treatise on the Game of Whist (1823) written by James Burney. Trudie then introduced a few eighteenth-century games, before circulating the rules and materials needed for some for delegates to try, including her own eighteenth-century ‘roulette wheel’.
On Thursday evening the delegates walked to the adjacent Trafalgar Tavern, and up to the Hardy Suite for our evening entertainment and conference dinner. The Hardy Suite is on the 2nd floor, with a balcony overlooking the Thames, which commands excellent views over London. The evening commenced with a recital of music composed by Dr Charles Burney, which Trudie had located in the archives of the Bodleian Library in Oxford. This recital was sponsored by the Burney Society UK with soprano Antonia Thwaites, accompanied by Chiara Naldi on a portable harpsichord. They performed several songs written by Charles, dating back to his 1750’s opera, ‘Robin Hood. We are very grateful to Antonia and Chiara for the time and effort they put into studying and preparing this material by Burney, which was completely new to them.
After the recital our President, Prof Peter Sabor, proposed a toast and presented commemorative lead crystal trophies to former Burney Society Presidents, Paula Stepankowsky and Elaine Bander, who were both present at the Burney Society Founding dinner. This was followed by our 30th Anniversary Dinner, at which we were pleased to be joined by Antonia and Chiara.
PAST BURNEY SOCIETY UK CONFERENCES
2022 UK Conference ‘Windows on the Burneys’ Conference + Visits 10 – 16 June 2022
This conference was organised by Trudie Messent to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the unveiling of the stained-glass window to commemorate Frances Burney in Westminster Abbey with a wreath laying in Westminster Abbey and the unveiling of the Frances Burney bench at Chawton House.
Alton to Chawton Jane Austen trail and unveiling of Frances Burney bench in rose garden of Chawton House on Friday 10 June 2022.
Coffee was available at Alton House Hotel, Alton from 10:40, courtesy of the Burney Society UK. We then followed the Jane Austen trail along Alton High Street to Chawton village. You can download a pdf of the Jane Austen trail map from this link by scrolling down slightly. https://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/things-to-do/jane-austen-trail-walk-alton-to-chawton-p360641
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We had lunch at Cassandra’s in Chawton and some people took the opportunity to visit the Jane Austen Museum before we proceeded to Chawton House, where free garden entry had been arranged for Burney Society members. A number also availed themselves of the option to tour Chawton House before we convened in the rose garden at 15:00 for the unveiling of the Chawton House bench, which was jointly funded by the North American and UK Burney Societies.
We were honoured by the presence of Dr Elaine Bander, President of the North American Burney Society, and Paula Stepankowsky, who was instrumental in both the founding of the Burney Society and in negotiating with Westminster Abbey for the inclusion of the Frances Burney window in Poet’s corner. Paula unveiled the Frances Burney bench with a toast of champagne, with Miriam ‘gifting’ the bench an appropriate drop, before we enjoyed an al fresco tea, also courtesy of the Burney Society UK.
Saturday, 11 June at the Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AZ
The conference was preceded by the Burney Society UK 2022 AGM. Draft minutes by Alison Daniell & Trudie Messent are available on the Annual General Meetings webpage.
The Conference was opened by the Keynote by UK President, Prof Peter Sabor: ‘Frances Burney’s Windows: New Light on her Novels’.
Keynote report by Conference organiser, Trudie Messent
Panel A: Frances Burney & the Law. Chair – Cassie Ulph
Alison Daniell, ‘The Disappearing Woman: Disrupting Couverture in Frances Burney’s The Wanderer‘
Penny Pritchard, ‘Blundering officiousness’ and the ‘credit of the connection’: The law and Morrice.
Lunch was catered by Miriam Al Jamil and Trudie Messent.
Panel B Research Projects Chair – Francesca Saggini
Catherine Pocock, ‘Frances Burney D’Arblay: A case study of women’s publishing experience in eighteenth-century Britain.’
Sophie Coulombeau & Daniel Waterfield, ‘Collecting Charles Burney: Progress So Far’.
Catherine Bussell, ‘Reporting the French Revolution: A case study from the Burney newspaper collection’.
Panel B report by Francesca Saggini
Panel C: Important women Chair – Miriam Al Jamil
Karin Fernald, ‘Clinging to the edge of life’s prec’pice’ Mrs Piozzi and God’.
Karin Fernald on Hester Davenport and their collaborations.
Panel C report by Miriam Al Jamil
Sunday 12 June at the Foundling Museum.
Panel D: Evelina Chair: Gillian Skinner
Kristin Zodorow, ‘Narrative Tides: Epistolarity and Astronomy in Frances Burney’s Evelina’.
Svetlana Kochkina, ‘Dressing up Evelina: Pictorial History and Evolution of Fashion in the Novel’s Illustrations’.
Panel D report by Dr Gillian Skinner
Panel E: Evelina and Cecilia Chair: Lucy-Anne Katgely
Avantika Pokhriyal, “of a young lady’s walking out without me?” Spatial enunciations in Cecilia and Evelina. Read by Lucy-Anne Katgely.
Ariella Kharasch, ‘Jews as the Other in Cecilia or Memoirs of an Heiress‘.
Panel E report by Dr Lucy – Anne Katgely
Panel F: Society and the novels of Frances Burney Chair: Sophie Coulombeau
Oren Abeles Where is Frances Burney? Finding the Cultural Critic in Cecilia
Marceline Morais Foolish characters and social criticism in Frances Burney’s novels.
Lunch was held at The Lamb, Lamb Conduit Street
Panel G: Susanna Burney & Burneys in Bath Chair: Lorna Clark
Nathan Richards-Velinou Our Sweet Pacc: Pachierotti and the Burneys
Marie Egan Susanna Burney’s Irish Exile 1796 – 1799: The Lifeline of her Correspondence with Frances Burney
Lucy- Anne Katgely A city of their own: Georgian Bath: Georgian Bath, the Burney sisters, and the anonymous novelist
Panel G report by Dr Lorna Clark
13 June at St Bride Foundation, Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London EC4
Announcement of President’s Prize winners.
The President’s Prize sub-committee of Miriam Al Jamil, Dr Gillian Skinner and Dr Sophie Coulombeau, announced that they had decided to award a President’s Prize of £100 to Kristin Zodrow for her paper ‘Narrative tides: Epistolarity and Astronomy in Frances Burney’s Evelina‘ and a Conference Prize of £100 to Ariella Kharasch for her paper ‘Jews as the Other in Cecilia or Memoirs of an Heiress‘. Prizes were awarded by the UK Society President, Prof Peter Sabor.
Panel H: Publication Research Chair: Miriam Al Jamil
Simon Macdonald Introduction to Mrs Meeke catalogue entry. St Bride Foundation houses the important catalogue listing with Simon Macdonald used to confirm Elizabeth Meeke as a Burney.
Simon Macdonald “London Review’d in Paris”: The Argus Newspaper between France and Britain during the Peace of Amiens (1802-3).
Panel H report by Miriam Al Jamil
The St Bride archivist brought up the Minerva catalogue mentioned by Dr Simon Macdonald and associated publications for delegates to view.
Panel J: Dr Charles Burney Chair: Peter Sabor
Elaine Bander Doctor Burney’s “Doggrel Dialogue”: A Window on the Crewe Album
Lorna Clark A Revisioning of the Life & Letters of Charles Burney.
Panel J report by Prof Peter Sabor
Panel K: Memorialising the Burneys Chair: Trudie Messent
Francesca Saggini Death and Madame: Ghosting the Doctor in Burneyland.
Paula Stepankowsky ‘A Six Year window’.
Panel K report by Trudie Messent
Conference closing paper and roundtable.
Gillian Skinner ‘Research on the Burneys and their circle’. Closing Roundtable led by Gillian Skinner with Francesca Saggini and Paula Stepankowsky.
Closing paper by Dr Gillian Skinner
Close and depart. Delegates had the option to visit St Bride’s Church and to join conference members for lunch at ‘The Blackfriar’ on Queen Victoria Street. Delegates then made their own way to Westminster Abbey for 16:30, when delegates were escorted by Westminster Abbey staff to view the Dr Charles Burney and Charles Burney Jr. memorials.
The Burney Society delegates were extremely fortunate in being seated in the Choir stalls for Evensong, directly adjacent to the the Choir. After Evensong the Burney group were joined by the Dean who conducted a wreath laying service below Frances Burney’s window in Poet’s corner. Prof Peter Sabor gave a eulogy to Frances Burney and also accompanied Paula Stepankowsky in the laying of the wreath.
Wednesday 15th June; Tunbridge Wells and Hammerwood Park. A small group toured Royal Tunbridge Wells, a popular spa town visited by Frances Burney. This was followed by a short trip to have lunch at High Rocks, a striking collection of sandstone rocks which were a popular tourist destination in the eighteenth century. Frances Burney is likely to have visited High Rocks, although she does not mention High Rocks in her journal.
The afternoon included a tour of Hammerwood Park in East Sussex. This eighteenth-century stately home, was designed by the architect Benjamin Latrobe, a member of the Burney circle, who later emigrated to North America and designed the Capitol Building having added a pediment to the White House, Washington, USA. Hammerwood has many original features, including Coade plaques, a Victorian ‘Parthenon frieze’ and beautiful gardens which retain many eighteenth-century features.
Hammerwood Park houses a collection of period instruments, including those from the eighteenth century and we were extremely fortunate that Dr Penelope Cave LRAM GRSM ARAM PhD, FISM PhD agreed to perform Sonata no V in G major, written by Dr Charles Burney on a harpsichord in their eighteenth-century Drawing-room. Penelope then transferred to an early pianoforte to perform Le Séjour Agréable, Op.2 by his grand-daughter, Cecilia Burney. The Spring 2022 edition of the Burney Letter, includes an article on the music of Dr Charles Burney and Cecilia Burney.
Thursday 16 June: Visit to Weymouth and Dorchester In 1789 Frances Burney accompanied Queen Charlotte to Weymouth. This visit is celebrated in a stunning extra-illustrated book by Alexander Meyrick Broadley which was viewed by delegates at Dorset History Centre in Dorchester. The group then drove to Weymouth to view Sandsfoot Castle, most likely destination for walk by Frances Burney with Queen Charlotte’s dogs. The last site viewed was Gloucester House on Royal Parade, where Frances Burney stayed with the court of Queen Charlotte.
Conference registration for 11-13 June, to include refreshments and lunch, was £130 for 3 days, £100 for 2 days, £70 for one day with a 50% reduction for students and precariously employed. I am pleased to state that the conference stayed within budget.
Trudie Messent, 2022 Conference Organiser
Past Burney Society UK Conferences
Burney Society (UK) 2019 Conference
We would like to thank Dr Cassie Ulph who organized our 2019 Conference at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln and all our speakers, particularly our Keynote Speakers, Professor Lorna Clark (Carleton University, Canada) and Dr. Gillian Dow (University of Southampton). The Keynotes and panels are listed below. The Conference is reported in our Autumn 2019 Newsletter .
2019 CONFERENCE REPORT by Montana Davies-Shuck
2019 CONFERENCE REPORT by Trudie Messent
2019 Conference: ‘Locating the Burneys: from the Margins to the Mainstream’. Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, 30 July-1 August
Keynote Speakers: Dr. Gillian Dow, University of Southampton and Prof. Lorna Clark, Carleton University, Canada.
Tuesday 30 July
10:15-11:30: Panel 1 Marriage and Property
- Cleo O’Callaghan Yeoman (University of Edinburgh), ‘Marriage as the new mainstream: Evelina and the Bluestockings’
- Beth Cortese (Aarhus University), ‘Novel Developments: Frances Burney and the rise of the Heiress Novel’
11:30-13:00: Panel 2 Identities
- Montana Davies-Shuck (Northumbria University), ‘Marginalised Identities: Madame Duval and the physical representation of hostility to foppish bodies’
- Marie Egan (DCU Dublin), ‘In Frances Burney’s Bad Books’
- Gina Maddison (Coleg Llandrillo University Centre, Grwp Llandrillo Menai), ‘What’s in a name? Identity through First Names in Frances Burney’s Novels’
12.45 -13:45: Lunch
13:45 -14:45: Keynote 1 Professor Lorna Clark (Carleton University), ‘Progress of a Heroine: From the Margins to the Mainstream with Frances Burney’
14:45 -15:00: Coffee Break
15:00-16:00: Panel 3 Burneys and Beyond: New Directions and Connections
- Lucy-Anne Katgely (Université de Strasbourg), ‘Aspiring Burneys: Anonymous Novelists on the Margins of Literary Fame’
- Francesca Saggini (Università degli Studi della Tuscia), ‘Frances Burney and the Muses: a new contribution to Burney Studies’
16:00-17:15: Break; check-in to accommodation
17:15-19:00: Entertainment and Drinks Reception
19:00: Conference Dinner (optional)
Wednesday 31 July
9:00-9:15: Coffee Break
9:15-10:15: Keynote 2 Dr Gillian Dow (University of Southampton), ‘« Des riens, sans consequence, et sans interet » : Some Things of Interest in Frances Burney’s French Journals’
10:15 – 11:15: Panel 4: Edward Francisco Burney, Man of Mystery
- Miriam Al Jamil (Birkbeck College, London), ‘Frances, Edward Francisco and the Portrait Conspiracy’
- Cassie Ulph (Bishop Grosseteste University), ‘Locating Edward Burney’s “Death of Major Peirson”‘
11:15 -11:30: Coffee Break
11:30-13:00: Panel 5 Public and Private Spaces
- Gillian Russell (University of York), ‘Locating Frances Burney at the trial of Warren Hastings: the Evidence of Tickets’
- Karen Lipsedge (Kingston University), ‘Evelina, the Dressing-Room, and a Heroine’s Movement from the Margins to the Centre’
13:00-14:00: Lunch
14:00-15:30 Roundtable: Living memory? The challenge of heritage without a house. Gillian Dow (Associate Prof. in English, University of Southampton; former director of Chawton House Library); Katherine Fennelly (architectural historian and post-medieval archaeologist, University of Lincoln); Claudia Capancioni (Senior Lecturer, BGU); Miriam Al Jamil (Chair, Burney Society UK)
15:30 – 15:45 : Coffee
15:45 – 17:00: Burney Society UK AGM – all welcome
Thursday 1 August Optional outing: Lincoln Castle, including wall walk, Victorian Prison and the Magna Carta.* Leaving BGU at 10:00 (on foot; transport available on request). Delegates wishing to join a group visit to Lincoln Castle should email cassie.ulph@bishopg.ac.uk by Wednesday 24 July. Entrance fee is applicable (£14/£11.50 Concessions): a group discount is dependent on minimum numbers.
Alternatively, delegates are welcome to explore uphill Lincoln on their own. Joint tickets for the Castle and Cathedral (£18/15 Concessions) are available from both venues and from the tourist information office in Castle Square. You can join the group leaving from BGU, or make your own way.
*The conference coincides with the display in the Magna Carta vault of a first edition of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking Glass’ (1871), gifted by the author to Alfred Lord Tennyson.
PREVIOUS CONFERENCES
2016: Our conference was held at St Chad’s College, Durham, and our theme was ‘Burney and Popular Entertainments: the business of pleasure in Late-Georgian Britain’. (For 2016 Conference Summary CLICK HERE)
2013: Our conference was held at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, and our theme was ‘Education in the Life and Work of Frances Burney and her Family’. It included a day trip to King’s Lynn.
2010: Our conference was held in Paris, where we examined the subject ‘Women under Napoleon’. Our aim was to promote Anglo-French relations and to set Burney’s work in the context of other women writers of the period, both French and English.
2007: The conference in Windsor Castle precincts marked the beginning of the editing of Burney’s Court Journals. A Plaque was unveiled on the Castle walls recording the friendship of Mrs. Delaney and Fanny Burney.
2002: At Westminster we celebrated the 250th anniversary of Burney’s birth, unveiling a window in Poet’s Corner.
2005: In Bath we began with a ceremony following the restoration of the ‘sarcophagus’ in St Swithin’s churchyard which commemorates Frances Burney d’Arblay and her son Alexander.
2002: At Westminster we celebrated the 250th anniversary of Burney’s birth, unveiling a window in Poet’s Corner.
