George Soane (1790–1860) was an English writer and dramatist.
Life
The younger son of John Soane, he was born in London. He graduated B.A. from Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1811.[1][2] Shortly afterwards he married Agnes Boaden, against his parents' wishes. His writing career was not enough to earn a living. Soane fell into debt, and was imprisoned. In 1814 he was editing the Theatrical Inquisitor, but also served time for fraud.[3][4] He gave evidence on the King's Bench Prison, from his experience of it, to a committee of enquiry in 1815.[5]
In The Champion during September 1815 Soane attacked his father's reputation as an architect, in two anonymous articles. His mother died shortly afterwards. These pieces led to a family rupture, and indirectly to the foundation of Sir John Soane's Museum.[3] Soane attempted to block the private Act of Parliament of 1833 that set up the museum's endowment. The matter was debated in the House of Commons for an hour, with William Cobbett putting Soane's side of the argument, that he would be deprived of a rightful inheritance. Joseph Hume spoke in favour of the act, which was passed.[6]
^Timothy Hyde, Some Evidence of Libel, Criticism, and Publicity in the Architectural Career of Sir John Soane, Perspecta Vol. 37, Famous (2005), pp. 144-163, at p. 158. Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of Perspecta. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40482251
^William Seddinger Dye, A Study of Melodrama in England from 1800 to 1840 (1919), p. 39; archive.org.