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CATHERINE FREW
ARNOLD MYERS
figure 1. samuel hellier's bookplate bearing the hellier crest
THE Wodehouse, as it has been known for centuries, is situated just outside the village of Wombourne, some four miles south of Wolverhampton in Staffordshire. This stately home, set in eighteen acres of land, was the residence of Samuel Hellier (1736-1784), the fourth in line of this name (Plate 1, see colour supplement). Orphaned at the age of fourteen years, Samuel's interests were taken care of by three guardians, of whom one was a disapproving grandmother, until his coming of age, when he inherited the family estate, while another was Charles Lyttleton, Dean of Exeter. It was due to the recommendations of the latter that his charge undertook study at Exeter College, Oxford, beginning in 1753. During these years in Oxford, Hellier began to pursue seriously his interest in music: a pastime that, later in life, would become an obsession.
During the 1750s, Oxford was a hive of musical activity. There were concerts and musical societies abounding and several firms of musical copyists, one of which was under the leadership of J.C. Smith I, who had a close working relationship with Handel's copyists in London. Handel's music was being performed a great deal, and parts and scores were in demand. Hellier, who himself played the violin and harpsichord, added to the collection of music passed on to him by his father, who was also interested in music, and purchased a great many volumes of newly published works. Usually, he took the trouble of attaching his bookplate to the inside cover of each volume (see Figure 1 ), and often added his signature and date of acquisition to the adjacent page.
Following his graduation with the degree of Master of Arts in 1758, Samuel Hellier returned to the Wodehouse in Wombourne to take on the responsibilities of managing his estate. In 1760 he was appointed to the position of High Sheriff of Worcestershire, then was knighted two years later, after making a speech on the occasion of the birth of the Prince of Wales. Subsequently, as a nonpractising barrister, he took a suite of rooms at the...