(c.1707 - 1783), dramatist, Fanny Burney's 'Daddy Crisp'; s. of Samuel Crisp; author of Virginia [1754]; unm.
1738 - 40 [Lyons], Turin (3 Dec. 1738), Piacenza (Jan. 1739), Bologna, Rome (by 8 Jan. 1739 - 13 Feb. 1740) [Naples , Leghorn, Florence, Bologna, Modena, Parma; England Jun./Jul.]
Crisp described his tour in letters to his grandmother, Mrs Sheppard.1 His main subject was the presence of other English travellers, who were 'so numerous' in Rome at Easter 1739 'that my other Studies are much embarrassed by these idle tho' unavoidable Engagements' (18 Apr. 1739). He did not perceive this as a handicap and was particularly friendly with Sir Erasmus Philipps and Sir James Steuart. When there were few compatriots, as at Rome on 26 September 1739, he wrote with a touch of self pity that 'I go on here as well as I can among the Italians'. On 13 February 1740 he was still in Rome, but proposing to be home 'in June or July next', having visited Naples where he would stay 'about a fortnight' and 'thence to Leghorn, Florence, Bologna, Modena, Parma, and home as fast as I can'. Many of Crisp's observations will be found in other entries in this Dictionary.
On his return he first lived at Hampton, surrounded by a collection of pictures and musical instruments arranged 'with the most classical elegance'.2
1. Macnaghten, 1 - 5. 2. Scholes 1948, 1:190.