Angelo family papers

Collection

Call Number: LWL MSS 3

Scope and Contents

The Angelo Family Papers contains letters, photographs, legal documents, and other papers related to the family of Domenico Angelo, who ran a fashionable fencing and riding academy in London from the 1750s to the 1780s. The materials were collected by a descendant, John Cecil Cortlandt Angelo, who had arranged them in a small annotated notebook along with letters he received from two of his Van Cortlandt cousins in America, and others interested in his Angelo ancestors. Among the eighteenth-century letters are those from Domenico Angelo's colleagues Richard Brinsley Sheridan, his wife Elizabeth Anne Sheridan, and his father Thomas Sheridan; William Douglas, the Duke of Queensberry and his wife Catherine Hyde Douglas; and Domenico Angelo's son Henry Angelo, daughter Anne Caroline Angelo St. Leger, and nephew Anthony Angelo Tremamondo. The letters are largely social in content but do discuss family matters as well as government events in Calcutta and Paris.

Also present are legal documents including leases, annuity assignments, and grants concerning the Angelo and Johnson families (1783-1806) and two minor receipts (1768, 1854) for schooling and clothing. Images include a watercolor drawing of Sophia Angelo's home in Eton, a cut paper silhouette portrait of an unidentified man, and eight portraits of St. Leger family members represented in engravings and photographs of drawings.

The single item unrelated to the family is a manuscript copy, unsigned and undated, of the first scene of a play titled "Angelo," by Alfred Forman.

Dates

1762 - 1939
Majority of material found within 1762 - 1834

Creator

Angelo, John Cecil Cortlandt, 1869-1957

Language of Materials

In English, French, and Italian.

Conditions Governing Access

This material is available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Angelo Family Papers is the physical property of the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the W. S. Lewis Librarian/Executive Director.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Sotheby's, London, December 2007.

Arrangement

Organized into two series: I. Correspondence, 1762-1939. II. Documents, 1768-1854.

Extent

2.3 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/lwl.mss.003

Additional Description

John Cecil Cortlandt Angelo (1869-1957)

John Cecil Cortlandt Angelo was born in London on August 30, 1869, the son of Major John Angelo of the 15th Bengal Lancers, and Emily Louisa Blyth Angelo. He attended the Tonbridge School in Kent, the Hermitage School in Bath, and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst before joining the Army. Angelo served in India beginning in 1898 and rose in rank to Lietuenant-Colonel before retiring in 1916; he also served on the Punjab Commission. He died in Brighton, England, on December 14, 1957.

Domenico Angelo (1717?-1802)

Domenico Angelo (born Angiolo Domenico Maria Tremamondo), an Italian fencing master and equestrian, made his career in England. Prior to opening his fencing, riding, and dancing academy in London at Carlisle House, Soho Square, Angelo was employed as master of the horses to Henry Herbert, tenth earl of Pembroke, at Wilton in Salisbury and in London. Angelo's academy was located in Carlisle House, Soho Square, and attracted fashionable men from high society including the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan and young members of the royal household. In addition to working with his students, Angelo published a respected manual on fencing, L'école des armes (1763), and served as a model for its engraved illustrations.

Domenico Angelo married Elizabeth Johnson (1738–1805) in 1755. The couple had two sons, Henry Charles William (1756-1835) and George Xavier (1773-), and four daughters, Florella Sophia Angelo (1759-1847), Anne Caroline (1763-1833), Catherine Elizabeth (1766-1825), and Elizabeth (1768- ). Leaving his academy in the hands of his son Henry, Domenico Angelo retired to Eton in 1780, to live with his daughter Sophia, and died there in July 1802.