ABSTRACT
Julius Soubise (1754–98) was born on the Caribbean island of St Kitt’s and brought to England as a ten-year-old. Just as Ignatius Sancho had been fortunate to find a patron in John, 2nd Duke of Montagu, Soubise was taken under the wing of Kitty, Duchess of Queensberry. She tried to bribe Dominico Angelo Malevolti Tremamondo, an Italian fencing master based in Windsor, to take him on and teach him to fence and ride. Reluctantly he agreed – though rejecting her financial inducements. Soubise was an adept student and soon became an accomplished equestrian and fencer. He also learned to play the violin, compose musical pieces and, with the help of the elder Sheridan, to improve his elocution.
