Sutton the Parvenu

Abstract

This chapter assesses how Daniel Sutton became a veritable Georgian parvenu. Greatly admired as he was for his skills as an inoculator, Sutton was aware that he was regarded socially as no more than an avaricious upstart. He belonged to no societies, medical or otherwise; he had no qualifications nor had he published anything more profound than a series of newspaper advertisements. Then, in the spring of 1766, at the age of thirty-two, with his fortune made, he began to take steps to enhance his status and reputation. In just one year he hired a clergyman to officiate at a small chapel he had built in Ingatestone for his pious patients. At the same time, he applied for a Sutton coat of arms, which would cost him a considerable sum in fees. While he maintained his home, Maisonette, in Ingatestone, he took up residence in a grand house in London. His social standing now assured, he married a rich young widow whose parents owned land in the West Indies.