Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

1842 and in its iconography and very conception it reflects the hopes and anxieties of a
generation on the eve of Darwinism.
John Milner (1752-1826)
A Catholic priest and bishop of the Midland district from 1803 Milner offers a
strong contrast to Lingard whom he criticised severely. He too had been educated at
Douai and was a vigorous polemicist both for the Catholic Church and for Gothic
architecture. Appointed to the mission at Winchester in 1779 he began his antiquarian
studies there. His History of Winchester was his major work in that field and his The End
of Religious Controversy (1818) his best-known doctrinal polemic. Among Catholics he
was the scourge of the old school of gentry recusants and insisted on the authority of
Rome. Antiquaries found him equally vigorous and satirical in defence of his views. Yet
Milner had close and lasting friendships and felt a passionate attachment to Gothic
architecture. In his own chapel, built with the help of his friend the antiquary John Carter,
and in the History of Winchester, Milner outlined the associations between Gothic and the
Catholic faith that were to inspire Pugin and the next generation of architects to see a
mystical and national significance in the buildings of the Middle Ages.
James Robinson Planché (1794-1880)
Planché was the son of a watchmaker of Huguenot extraction. Articled briefly to
a bookseller he became a prolific playwright and in later life a Herald. His first play went
on at Drury Lane in 1818 and he had a hit a few years later with The Vampire or The
Bride of the Isles, an adaptation of a French melodrama which introduced the popular
‘vampire trap’ effect. From 1822-28 he was the house author at Covent Garden and in
1823 persuaded Charles Kemble to put on a production of King John in period costume,
designed by Planché from historical sources. Planché was also consulted by the Royal
Family on ball costumes and was soon a recognised authority on the history of costume
and on the use of costume in the study of social history. In 1847 he was appointed to the
committee to purchase Shakespeare’s ‘Birthplace’. With Britton he was active in the
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