| Date | 20 July 2007 |
|---|---|
| Source | The Express |
| Reference | WN-0011 |
| Volume | WLHG in the News |
| Collection | WLHG in the News |
Transcript
Curtain up on famous women
A TALENTED novelist and a unique artist who both became close friends of royalty were remembered when a plaque was unveiled outside Windsor Castle in their honour.
Fanny Burney was an 18th-century traveller, playwright and novelist, close friend to great figures of her day like Doctor Johnson. Her great friend Mary Delany was an admired botanist, who created beautiful collages of flowers on black and coloured backgrounds which are now prized exhibits at the British Museum.
King George III and Queen Charlotte admired Mrs Delany and gave her a house in St Albans Street, Windsor, where Fanny Burney often visited her. The house is gone, but earlier this month both ladies’ names were on a plaque unveiled on the site.
The unveiling coincided with a two-day conference attended by 45 people at the Vicars Hall in Windsor Castle.
Among the guests was the daughter of historical novelist Lady Antonia Fraser, Flora Fraser, who unveiled the plaque, and Ruth Hayden, a descendant of Fanny Burney.
The conference was organised by the British branch of the Burney Society to celebrate plans to publish her diaries, written during the time she was keeper of the robes to King George III’s wife Queen Charlotte.
Actress Karin Fernald read from her work as the plaque was unveiled.
Other guests included Frances Dimond, at one time in charge of the royal photographic collection, and Professor Peter Sabor, Rector of the Burney Collection at the University of Montreal.
Fanny herself would have been highly amused as a heavy wind forced Flora Fraser to fight a battle with the curtains covering the plaque she was trying to unveil.
Hester Davenport, chairman of Windsor Local History Group, said: “The curtains almost got blown shut again.
“The conference to celebrate Fanny Burney comes at a time when her celebrated diaries are being edited by scholars for the first time. They have appeared before but always in abbreviated form. This will tell the full story in six volumes, and it will take until about 2010 to prepare them for publication.“
Images
Curator's Notes
Image: Guests: Ruth Hayden, left, and Flora Fraser S12928f01