CHARLES BURNEY was born at Shrewsbury, on the twelfth of April, 1726.
He was issue of a second marriage, of a very different colour with
respect to discretion, or to prejudice, from that with the account
of which he has opened his own narration. The poor actress was no
more; but neither her hardly judged, though enthusiastically admired
profession, nor her numerous offspring, nor the alienation she had
unhappily caused in the family, proved obstacles to the subsequent
union of her survivor with Miss * * * who in those days, though young
and pretty, was called Mrs. Ann Cooper, a Shropshire young lady, of
bright parts and great personal beauty; as well as an inheritress of
a fortune which, for the times, was by no means inconsiderable. The
parchments of the marriage settlement upon this occasion are still
remaining amongst the few family records that Dr. Burney preserved.
Whether attracted by her beauty, her sprightliness, or her portion; or
by the aggregate influence of those three mighty magnetizers of the
passions of man, is not known; but Wycherley, the famous poet, fine
gentleman, and Wit of the reign of Charles the Second, had been so
enamoured with Mrs. Ann Cooper in her earliest youth, which flourished
in his latest decadency, that he sought her for his bride.
The romance, however, of his adoration, did not extend to breaking his
heart; for though he expired within a few months after her rejection,
it was not from wearing the willow: another fair one, yet younger,
proved less cruel, and changed it to a wreath of myrtle. But the fates
were adverse to his tender propensities, and he outlived his fair
fortune and his nuptials only a fortnight.
A few years after this second marriage, Mr. Burney senior, finally,
and with tolerable success, fixed himself to the profession of
portrait-painting; and, quitting Shrewsbury, established himself in
the city of Chester; where, to his reputation in the delightful
arts of the pencil, he joined a far surpassing pre-eminence in
those of society. His convivial spirit, his ready repartee, and his
care-chasing pleasantry, made his intercourse sought by all to whom
such qualifications afford pleasure: and we are yet, I believe,
to learn where coin of such sterling value for exhilarating our
fellow-creatures, fails of passing current.
The then Earl of Cholmondeley was particularly partial to him, and his
most essential friend.
Charles, who was Mr. Burney’s last born son, had a twin sister, called
Susanna, whom he early lost, but for whom he cherished a peculiar
fondness that he seemed tenderly to transmit to the beloved and
meritorious daughter to whom he gave her name.[2]