James Worsdale (c.1692-1767)
The English painter James Worsdale appears to be the person who links the English and Irish Hellfire Clubs, and he was instrumental in the foundation of both the famous branches Irish Hellfire Clubs. Firstly at Dublin, and later, at Askeaton in Limerick. James Worsdale is believed to be the illegitimate son of Sir Godfrey Kneller, the famous court painter of monarchs from Charles II to George I (5). Though other accounts state that Worsdale was only an apprentice to Kneller, but that he eloped with his niece (6). This latter theory is quite believable, as Worsdale appeared to relish debauchery, and had a talent for attaching himself to wealthy and dissolute gentry. His notoriety worked against him in 1740, when he unsuccessfully sued Matthew Gardiner and James Wynne in 1740 for publishing the rather biting poem:
“Though Worsdale is for satire too obscure
Must he uncensored artfully procure?
Frequent as painter his employer’s house
And thence delude his mistress or spouse?
True to the lover’s procreating cause
He breaks all ties, all hospitable laws
And pimps resistless while his pencil draws”
Worsdale apparently met some resistance when he tried (and failed) to seduce the famous Laetitia Pilkington. The lady who was once described by Jonathan Swift as ‘the most profligate whore in either kingdom’. (7). Laetitia, a poet and adventuress, once found herself under siege in her lodgings by the Earl of Rosse and ‘several persons of distinction’, likely to be the Hellfire Club members. She described how the party broke into her lodgings and she was forced to lock herself in the dining room to escape:
“When those worthy peers could not find me, they threaten’d to kick the landlady… being disappointed, they were forced to decamp, cursing, and vowing revenge against the woman of the house.” (8).
Remarkably, James Worsdale’s special wine glass from the Hellfire Club’s meetings in the Eagle Tavern still survives and it is housed in Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of The George H. Lorimer Collection, (1953). The glass is engraved with ‘James Worsdale, Master of the Revels’ and ‘The Hell Fire Club’, with a depiction of the members all seated with glasses, bar one who stands to give a toast, and a scaltheen-filled silver punchbowl in front of them. You can find more information on the glass by following this link.
James Worsdale left Dublin for Munster. Where he would go on to help to found another Hellfire Club at Askeaton in County Limerick, before he eventually returned to England. Worsdale died in June 1767, having outlived all but one of his fellow club members (9). He was buried in St. Paul’s Covent Garden, with the following epitaph of his own composition:
“Eager to get, but not to keep the pelf,
A friend to all mankind, except himself.” (10).
