Patrick Byrne part 9: Playing for the Queen, summer 1849

Header image © National Galleries Scotland, used under license CC-BY-NC

As we get further and further on in Patrick Byrne’s life-story, we have more and more information. So this post deals with just three months, from July to October 1849, following Patrick Byrne as he chases Queen Victoria around different parts of her realm.

Continue reading Patrick Byrne part 9: Playing for the Queen, summer 1849

Patrick Byrne part 4: 1841-4

In Part 1, I wrote about Patrick Byrne’s early years and education, down to his discharge from harp school in 1822. Then in Part 2, we looked at his early career, working for patrons in Ireland and England from 1822 to 1837. Part 3 covered his first visit to Scotland over the winter of 1837-8, and his tour of Ireland in 1839-40.

By the beginning of 1841, Patrick Byrne was in his mid 40s. His regular job at the Royal Hotel in Leamington Spa had given him access to high-ranking aristocratic patrons in England and Scotland, and he spent time visiting them at their houses around Warwickshire and near Edinburgh, as well as maintaining a circuit of patrons in Ireland. He seems to have deliberately built these networks of patronage, so that by the beginning of 1841 he got as high as he ever could, by performing for Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle.

Continue reading Patrick Byrne part 4: 1841-4