series of public breakfasts under royal patronage. This final effort had no success, and she died in the Fleet Prison 19 Aug. 1797, at the age of seventy-four (Gent. Mag. 1797, pt. ii. p. 890). She had a son and a daughter. The former, ‘le petit Aranda’ of Casanova, took the name of Altorf, and was tutor for some years to ‘the late Earl of Pomfret, who … held him in esteem for his talents, attainments, and moral character’ (J. Taylor, Records of my Life, i. 266). He died before his mother, for whom he had provided during his life. Sophie, the daughter, was highly educated at the Roman catholic nunnery at Hammersmith. ‘An artful hypocrite’ (ib. i. 271), she gave out, after her mother's fall, that she was of noble parentage. Casanova, on the other hand, claims the paternity. Charles Butler made her an allowance, and she subsequently lived with the Duchess of Newcastle in Lincolnshire, and with Lady Spencer (who left her an annuity) at Richmond. She took the name of Miss Williams, and was employed by the Princess Augusta as a kind of almoner.
[Newspaper cuttings and manuscript materials brought together by the late Dr. E. F. Rimbault for a History of Soho, and obligingly lent by Messrs. Dulau & Co. These collections were also used in the privately printed pamphlet, Mrs. Cornelys' Entertainments at Carlisle House [by T. Mackinlay, of Dalmaine & Co., 1840]. The facts for the early career of Mrs. Cornelys are given by Casanova, of unsavoury memory. The statements made in his Mémoires respecting her (see Brussels edition, 1881, i. 72, 130, ii. 305–6, iii. 311–21, 322–51, v. 426, &c.) are corroborated by notices derived from other sources. Thus some remarkable and hitherto unnoticed proofs of Casanova's veracity are furnished in addition to those supplied by F. W. Barthold, Die geschichtlichen Persönlichkeiten in J. Casanova's Memoiren, Berlin, 1846.]
CORNER, GEORGE RICHARD (1801–1863), antiquary, born in 1801 in the parish of Christ Church, Blackfriars Road, London, was the eldest of the six children of Richard Corner, a solicitor in Southwark, by Maria, daughter of Mr. James Brierley. He was educated at Gordon House, Kentish Town, and followed his father's profession with success. About 1835 he was appointed vestry clerk of the parish of St. Olave, Southwark; during the prevalence of the cholera in that parish he displayed great activity. On 28 Nov. 1833 Corner was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and from this time forward he published numerous archæological papers, many of them connected with the history of Southwark. His first communication to the Society of Antiquaries was made on 9 Jan. 1834, when he pointed out the distinction, not previously recognised, between the three manors of Southwark (see the memoir in the Archæologia, xxv. 620). He contributed other papers to the ‘Archæologia’ from 1835 to 1860.
Corner was one of the original members of the Numismatic Society of London, founded 1836 (see list of members in Numismatic Journal), but apparently did not make a special study of coins. He was also a member of the British Archæological Association from the time of its establishment in 1843; he exhibited numerous antiquities before this society, and contributed accounts of them to its journal (a list is given in Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xx. 184–6). He took much interest in the Archæological Society of Surrey, and contributed to its ‘Proceedings,’ as also to the ‘Sussex Archæological Collections,’ vol. vi., the ‘South London Journal’ (1857), and the ‘Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica,’ vols. v. and vii. He was also an occasional contributor to the ‘Gentleman's Magazine.’ Corner published separately:
- ‘A Concise Account of the Local Government of the Borough of Southwark,’ Southwark, 1836, 8vo.
- ‘The Rental of St. Olave and St. John, Southwark,’ 1838, 4to; a second edit. in 1851.
Corner is described as a man of social habits and of kind and agreeable manners. Towards the close of his life ‘he fell into difficulties occasioned … by family misfortunes.’ He died suddenly on 31 Oct. 1863, at Queen's Row, Camberwell, and was buried in Nunhead cemetery, Peckham. Corner married in 1828 Sarah, youngest daughter of Timothy Leach of Clapham, by whom he had two sons and two daughters who survived him. His brother, Arthur Bloxham Corner (d. 17 Jan. 1861), was her majesty's coroner and attorney in the court of Queen's Bench. Another brother, Richard James Corner, was appointed chief justice of her majesty's settlement on the Gold Coast, and was joint author (with A. B. Corner) of Corner's ‘Crown Practice,’ 1844.
[Gent. Mag. xv. 3rd ser. (1863), 808, xvi. 3rd ser. (1864), 528–30; Journal of British Archæological Association, xx. 181–6; Proceedings Soc. Antiquaries, ii. 2nd ser. (1864), 392.]
CORNER, JOHN (fl. 1788–1825), engraver, is best known by a publication entitled ‘Portraits of Celebrated Painters.’ This work was intended to be a serial, and the first part was published in 1816. The plates combined a portrait of each painter with his most celebrated work, accompanied by a memoir; but as it did not command any sale it only reached twenty-five portraits. Corner was largely employed as an engraver, especially for por-
