Author: Selby, H. A.
Biography:
SELBY, H. A. (fl 1793)
Despite a signed dedication and a subscription list boasting several members of the nobility, H. A. Selby cannot as yet be identified with confidence. The persecution of the clergy, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, during the Terror in France caused many of them to leave the country with their families. From 1792 a charity campaign based in London raised funds for their support, but after the committee had used up £16,000 they appealed to the government for assistance and the King accordingly issued a proclamation to be read in every church in the kingdom, using pulpits to encourage contributions. Selby’s only known publication was produced to further this cause, with profits being directed to it. (CR gave the work a frosty review while acknowledging its unexceptionable piety.) It is dedicated to the Rev. Mr. Montgomery--possibly Francis Montgomery, rector of Holcot in Northamptonshire at the time--who “so lately pleaded the cause of the unhappy Exiles.” Subscribers include several Scottish names, Lady Douglas and the Duchess of Buccleugh for instance, but all names appear without addresses and it is therefore hard to guess the residence of the author. The first name on the list, however, is the Duchess of Gloucester, which might point to someone from that county, perhaps Henry Selby, son of John Selby, who was baptised at Cirencester on 4 June 1768; the list also includes a “Mr. Selby and Mr. J. Selby” who would have been his father and elder brother. (ancestry.com 7 Oct. 2024; findmypast.com 7 Oct. 2024; CCEd 7 Oct. 2024; The Patriot [London] 25 June 1793; CR 10 [1794], 344-5; Dominic Aidan Bellenger, “Strangers and Brothers: The Emigré Clergy of the French Revolution in Great Britain and their Impact,” Litteraria Pragensia 29 [2019], 91-101, at dspace.cuni.cz) HJ