Julia Ann Grimani

Notes:

From the famous Grimani family of Venice, she was famed for her youthful beauty and talent. Born in Paris and named after Lady Suffolk, by whom she was partly brought up, and of whose daughter, Lady Catherine, she became a close friend. She became an actress, starting at the Theatre Royal in Bath (1800 - 1803), then Haymarket, London (1804) and Liverpool, where she met her husband, Charles Mayne Young, and they were married there in 1805. They played together in Manchester, where their son, Julian Charles, was born in 1806, and where Julia died 10 days later at the age of 21. Charles Mayne Young went on to be a very famous actor.

Julia married Charles Mayne Young on 9 Mar 1805 in St. Annes, Liverpool, Lancashire. Charles was born on 10 Jan 1777 in Fenchurch Street, London; died on 28 Jun 1856 in Brighton, Sussex. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Rev. Julian Charles Young was born in 1806 in Warminster, Lancashire; died on 3 Jul 1873 in London.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1729, Venice, Italy

Notes:

According to the story handed down through the family, Gasparo was born in Venice, second son of the Marquis Grimani of the noble and ancient Grimani family. There are two books which contain versions of his flight from Venice, both written some time after his death by his descendants. Research has however failed to confirm this, and other documents suggest that he came instead from Bologna.

It seems Gasparo had intended to become a priest and studied in Rome, but fell foul of the Church for reasons unknown and fled from Italy (about 1755). In a letter to the Pope (about 1779) he pleads for reconciliation.

Gasparo married twice. His first wife was Antonia Fabbri, daughter of ... Fabbri of Lyon. They were living in London in 1769, when Gasparo was imprisoned for an unpaid debt of £17 which he claimed he did not owe, and in 1773, when he and Antonia were godparents at an Italian christening. They also lived in Paris, from about 1774. Gasparo taught physics as well as languages. They had two children: a son, Guglielmo or William (b. about 1759), and a daughter, Maria Rosalba (born Livorno 27 June 1763), said to have been kidnapped in Paris and never found. Antonia is said to have fallen ill shortly after this and died in Paris (about 1776). After this Gasparo travelled a lot, for a while making a living from exhibiting a model of Rome he had made. This 'plan-relief' still exists and is at the Museum of National Antiquities of Sainte-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, but is not on display.

Gasparo married Cecilia Wagner on 6 Aug 1781 in Old Church, St Pancras, London. Cecilia was born in 1751; died in Mar 1838 in Strabane. Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was the daughter of "a German gentleman and a Spanish lady of noble birth". She was reputed to be a 'great beauty'.

Gasparo's appeal for reconciliation with the Catholic Church seems to have failed, as on 6 August 1781 he was remarried at St.Pancras Old Church (Church of England). He was 52, she was in her twenties. Their first child was baptised in London in 1782, but they also lived in Paris (about 1784 - 1788) before settling at Bath - 5 St James' Street in 1791/2 (picture) and 11 Portland Place in 1800.

Gasparo, described as Professor of mathematicks, exhibited a model of London and Westminster at the Fantoccini Room, in Panton-Street, in the Hay-market, London, in 1785?, and in 1788 he exhibited his model of Rome together with one of Versailles at the Pantheon, Oxford Street.

In 1792 Gasparo was a member of the Bath Loyalist Association, whose purpose, in the wake of the French Revolution, was "to preserve liberty, property and the constitution of Great Britain against republicans and levellers". He also had several books published, two of which are listed in the British Library catalogue‡. Both are dedicated to the Duchess of Devonshire†.

Gasparo (also known as Gaspar or Jasper) made his living as a teacher of French and Italian. He died at Bath 27 July 1801, aged 71. His obituary in the local paper described him as "a linguist and father of the promising young actress of that name at our theatre".

After Julia's marriage in 1805, Cecilia moved to London with her son, Francis, and later to her daughter's, Cecilia (Smith) in Strabane, Ireland, where she died, aged 77, in March 1838.