George Bridgetower

George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (11 October 1778 – 29 February 1860) was an Afro-European born in Poland. He grew to be a virtuoso violinist, living in England for much of his life. He was born in Biała in Galicia, where his father worked for Hieronim Wincenty Radziwiłł, in 1778. He was baptised Hieronimo Hyppolito de Augusto on 11 October 1778.

His father, John Frederick Bridgetower, was probably a West Indian (possibly Barbadian) servant of the Hungarian Prince Esterházy (Joseph Haydn's patron), although he also claimed to be an African prince. His mother was from Germany, and was probably a domestic servant in the household of Sophie von Thurn und Taxis. He moved to London at an early age and was performing at the Drury Lane Theatre by the age of ten.

He exhibited considerable talent in his childhood, giving successful violin concerts in Paris, London, Bath and Bristol in 1789. In 1791, the British Prince Regent (later George IV) took an interest in him, and oversaw his continuing musical education. At the Prince's direction, he studied under François-Hippolyte Barthélémon (leader of the Royal Opera), with Croatian-Italian composer Giovanni Giornovichi (Ivan Jarnovic), and with Thomas Attwood (organist at St Paul's Cathedral and professor at the Royal Academy of Music). Bridgetower performed in around 50 concerts in London theatres, including Covent Garden, Drury Lane and the Haymarket Theatre, between 1789 and 1799, and was employed by the Prince to perform in his orchestra in Brighton and London. In the spring of 1789 Bridgetower performed to great acclaim at the Abbaye de Panthemont in Paris, with Thomas Jefferson and his family in at attendance.

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