A Chronology

1780	29 Feb	George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower* is born in Biala (Poland/Saxony) to Friedrich Augustus Bridgetower (Caribbean/African) and Maria Anna (Polish/German)
1780–1789		Friedrich Bridgetower serves as personal page to Prince Esterházy (aka “Miklós the Magnificent”)
		Franz Josef Haydn is musical director of the Esterházy estate at Esterháza (now in Hungary)
1784		Ferdinand Ries, composer, is born
		Thomas Jefferson arrives in Paris, followed by his daughter Martha and her personal slave, Sally Hemings
1785	10 Mar	Thomas Jefferson becomes U.S. Minister (ambassador) to France
	15 Dec	The Prince of Wales marries Mrs. Fitzherbert in an “illegal” ceremony in her London drawing rooms
1789	11 Apr	GPB’s professional debut, at the prestigious Concert spirituel in Paris
	14 July	Storming of the Bastille
	Sept	Thomas Jefferson leaves Paris for the United States
	pre-Oct	GPB performs at Windsor
	13 Oct	GPB’s London debut, a private concert at the Papendieks
	5–8 Dec	GPB gives concerts in Bath & Bristol
1790	2 Jan	Mozart’s opera Così Fan Tutte premieres in Vienna
	19 Feb	GPB’s first public concert in London, Drury Lane Theatre
> A mild winter <
	2 June	GPB and Franz Clement (1780–1843), violin prodigy from Austria, perform at the Hanover Square Rooms, London
	28 Sept	Miklós I dies. His successor, Antón Esterházy, disbands orchestra and choir, keeping only the military band—whereupon Haydn quits after twenty-nine years of service and leaves for Vienna
	Dec	Johann Peter Salomon, violinist and concert promoter, comes to Vienna to lure Haydn to London
	15 Dec	Haydn and Salomon set out on seventeen-day journey to London; French Revolution continues to rage
1791	1 Jan	Haydn and Salomon arrive in England: The white cliffs of Dover!
		Friedrich Bridgetower is ordered to leave England; the Prince of Wales becomes GPB’s official guardian
	Mar–June	The Salomon concert series introduces new work by
		Haydn to the London musical scene
	30 Sept	Mozart’s Magic Flute premieres in Vienna
	5 Dec	Mozart dies in Vienna
1792	summer	Haydn leaves London, returns to Vienna
1793	21 Jan	Louis XVI of France is executed
	1 Feb	Great Britain declares war on France
	10 Aug	The Louvre, originally a fortress in the Tuilleries complex, officially opens its doors as the Museum Central des Arts
	26 Oct	Marie Antoinette is executed
1794	Jan	Haydn returns to London
	10 Feb	Salomon’s second concert series begins with a première of Haydn’s Symphony No. 99 in E-flat Major
		Upon Antón Esterházy’s death, Nicolas (II) assumes princely title and asks Haydn to return
		GPB benefit concert for Spitalfields weavers
	23 June	Prince of Wales separates from Mrs. Fitzherbert
	6 Nov	GPB concert in Salisbury (playing a concerto in the style of Viotti)
1795	8 Apr	The Prince of Wales marries his German cousin Caroline
	15 Aug	Haydn leaves London for the last time
>A dry year; especially hot & dry September<
	26 Oct	Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Commander of the French Army
1796	7 Jan	Princess Charlotte is born to the Prince of Wales and his wife; a scant five months later, Prince George separates from Caroline
1797	14 Jan	Napoleon defeats Austria in Rivoli (northern Italy)
1798		Rudolphe Kreutzer spends two months in Vienna, meets Beethoven
		Napoleon annexes Egypt
1798–1799		GPB plays Covent Garden, Drury Lane, and Haymarket theatres
1799	12 Mar	Austria declares war on France
	summer	The Prince of Wales forces Mrs. Fitzherbert to return to him
	9 Nov	Napoleon Bonaparte declares himself Dictator of France
1800		Due to astronomical time adjustments, no leap year, no birthday; GPB remains “four” years old
		Countess Giulietta Guicciardi arrives in Vienna, receives piano instruction from Beethoven
1801		Beethoven composes “Moonlight Sonata” for Countess Guicciardi
	24 Apr	Haydn’s oratorio Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) premieres in Vienna
1802	May	Great Britain declares war on France
	2 Aug	French Senate declares Napoleon Bonaparte Consul for Life
	6 Oct	Beethoven writes the Heiligenstadt Testament
24 July–Mar 1803		GPB performs (with brother Ferdinand) in Dresden, Teplitz, and Carlsbad
1803		GPB arrives in Vienna sometime between Mar 18 (his last documented Dresden concert) and April
	Apr	GPB meets Beethoven
	24 May	GPB premieres Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Opus 47, in the Augarten Pavilion series, with the composer on piano
	July	GPB leaves Vienna, visits the Esterházy estate at Eisenstadt
	end of July	GPB visits his mother in Dresden, before returning to England
	3 Nov	Countess Guicciardi marries Count Wenzel Robert Gallenberg, composer of ballet and occasional music
1804		Haydn officially resigns his post to Prince Esterházy
		Beethoven finishes Eroica at Jezeri, Lobkowitz’s Bohemian castle
	18 May	French Senate proclaims Napoleon Bonaparte emperor; enraged, Beethoven tears up the dedication page of his Third Symphony (the Eroica)
	2 Dec	Napoleon crowns himself emperor, Notre Dame Cathedral
	20 Dec	United States buys Louisiana Territory from France
1805	Apr	Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9 published with the dedication: “al suo amico R. Kreutzer”
	26 May	Napoleon is crowned King of Italy
1806	27 Oct	Napoleon marches into Berlin
	3 Dec	Franz Clement premieres Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (which he commissioned) at Theater an der Wien
1807	28 Jan	London’s Pall Mall becomes the first street lit by gaslight
1808	21 May	Eston Hemings is born to Sally Hemings at Monticello
1809	13 May	Napoleon invades Vienna and stations guards around Haydn’s home; Haydn counters by playing the Austrian national anthem once a day, loudly
	31 May	Haydn dies in his sleep, shortly after midnight
1811	5 Jan	The Prince of Wales (“Prinny” to his friends) becomes prince regent after his father, George III, slips into permanent dementia
	19 June	Regency Fete at Carlton House; Mrs. Fitzherbert makes the final break with Prinny (who is partying with his new mistress, Lady Hertford)
	28 June	GPB receives Bachelor of Music degree from Cambridge
1812		Construction commences on Millbank Prison
	June	Napoleon begins his Russian Campaign
	18 Dec	Napoleon arrives in Paris with depleted troops after the Russian Campaign has turned into a disaster
1813	8 Mar	First concert of the Royal Philharmonic Society; the thirty founding members include Muzio Clementi, Johann Peter Salomon, and George Bridgetower)
	27 Aug	Napoleon is defeated in the Battle of Dresden
1814	1–4 Feb	Frost Fair in London
>among five coldest winters on record, esp. Jan–March<
	31 Mar	The Coalition army enters Paris
	11 Apr	Napoleon is banished to Elba
1815	Feb	Napoleon escapes Elba, gathers forces for new offensive
	18 June	Napoleon defeated at Waterloo
	15 July	Napoleon exiled to St. Helena
	25 Nov	Johann Peter Salomon dies
1817	18 Apr	Records show that the royal pension for GPB’s mother is discontinued
		Prinny is pelted with stones in London’s streets, decamps to his Marine Pavilion in Brighton more and more frequently
1820	29 Jan	George III (eighty-one years old) dies, insane, at Windsor Castle
	19 July	Coronation: The Prince of Wales becomes George IV
	7 Nov	Haydn’s remains, minus the head, are transferred from Vienna to Eisenstadt for reinterment
1821	5 May	Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St. Helena, of slow arsenic poisoning
1821–23		Stage run at Adelphi Theatre of the play Tom and Jerry, or Life in London (by William Moncrieff); Black Billy Waters plays himself
1824	7 May	Premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Vienna
1825–27		GPB in Rome
1827	26 Mar	Beethoven dies
1828		GPB removes himself from Royal Society of Musicians to “reside abroad”
>A WET year<
1830	26 June	George Augustus Frederick of Hanover, King George IV of England, aka “Prinny,” dies; the locket found around his neck contains a miniature of Mrs. Fitzherbert
1833		Charlotte Papendiek begins her journal
1837		Mrs. Fitzherbert dies in Brighton
1839		Charlotte Papendiek dies
>GPB spends many years on the Continent, leaving considerably fewer traces than during his younger years<
1840		en route from Dresden to London
1845		Vienna
1846		London
1848		St. Cloud (Paris)
1860	20 Feb	George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower dies in Peckham, South London, No. 8 Victory Cottages
1895		Haydn’s skull is given to the Museum of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, where it remains for fifty-nine years
1954		Haydn’s skull is finally reinterred with his body in the crypt of the Bergkirche (“Mountain Church”) in Eisenstadt

^* hereafter designated as GPB