Monthly Archives: March 2011

“Mary Elisabeth Atcherley (aus der Grafschaft Somerset in England) (geb. 9. Marz 1820…” Source: Justhus Perthes (ed.) (1894), Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Gräflichen Häuser.

Elizabeth Atcherley lived a remarkable life, one that began in Somerset, England, on this day in 1820 (according to the quote above from the Gotha Genealogical Handbook, a publication which for some reason gave Elizabeth an extra forename). Why was her life remarkable? Partly because she married a Prussian Count and became Countess Elizabeth Krockow von Wickerode. But also because of the intimate friendships she developed – with a German baroness who travelled Europe promoting kindergartens, with a leading German novelist, with a brilliant Polish pianist, with the mistress (and later wife) of a famous composer of operas, and with the great composer himself, Richard Wagner. It was written of her that “She knew half the world, most of the well-known and celebrated personalities of her time, many scholars, and above all, many artists.” Continue reading →

“We hear that Yesterday Roger Acherley, Esq; Author of the Book, call’d, The Britannic Constitution, presented the same to his Majesty ; which his Majesty received very graciously.” (Source: Daily Journal, 15 Feb 1727, page 1.) Since Roger Atcherley (or … Continue reading →