Charles Buxton

Charles Buxton (18 November 1822 – 10 August 1871) was an English brewer, philanthropist, writer and member of Parliament.

For the English philanthropist and politician, see Charles Roden Buxton.

Personal life and architectural legacy

Buxton was born on 18 November 1822 in Cromer, Norfolk,[1] the third son of Sir Thomas Buxton, 1st Baronet, a notable brewer, MP and social reformer, and followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a partner in the brewery of Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, & Co in Brick Lane, Spitalfields, London, and then an MP. He served as Liberal MP for Newport, Isle of Wight (1857–1859), Maidstone (1859–1865) and East Surrey (1865–1871). His son Sydney Buxton was also an MP and governor of South Africa.

On 7 February 1850, he married Emily Mary Holland, the eldest daughter of physician Henry Holland (physician to Queen Victoria and later president of the Royal Institution).

Around 1850, he commissioned construction of a small detached, but ornate, house, Foxholm (Grade II-listed architecturally) on Redhill Road, then in Wisley but now in Cobham, for the Chaplain to Queen Victoria.[2][3]

On 4 May 1860 he was commissioned Lieutenant in the part-time 3rd (Truman, Hanbury, Buxton) Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps raised by his nephew Sir Fowell Buxton, 3rd Baronet from employees of the family brewery.[4][5] The unit became part of the 1st Administrative Battalion, Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps in which Charles Buxton became Major and then Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 June 1861.[6] He left the unit in the later 1860s[7] but was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 1st (Poplar) Tower Hamlets Artillery Volunteer Corps on 15 August 1870.[8]

In 1860 he had his own house, Foxwarren Park, built on the neighbouring estate between a golf course and the Site of Special Scientific Interest which is Ockham and Wisley Commons. It is a Grade II* listed building. The building is stark Neo-Gothic: polychrome brickwork, red with blue diapering, and terracotta dressings, renewed plain-tiled roofs with crow-stepped gables.[9]

He died on 10 August 1871.[10] His probate was sworn in 1871 in a broad bracket of "under £250,000 (equivalent to about £24,800,000 in 2021)".[11]

His younger son was first and last Earl Buxton: Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton.

Anti-slavery parliamentary campaigners' memorial fountain

Following his father's death, Buxton commissioned architect Samuel Sanders Teulon to design the Buxton Memorial Fountain to commemorate his father's role, with others, in the abolition of slavery. The fountain was initially erected in Parliament Square but was later moved to its current position in Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster. It carries the dedication:

Erected in 1865 by Charles Buxton MP in commemoration of the emancipation of slaves 1834 and in memory of his father, Sir T Fowell Buxton, and those associated with him: Wilberforce, Clarkson, Macaulay, Brougham, Dr Lushington and others.

Published works

He produced Memoirs of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Baronet, with Selections from his Correspondence, first published in 1848. He later wrote a history, Slavery and Freedom in the British West Indies, published in 1860.

References
  1. General Register Office: Society of Friends' Registers, Notes and Certificates of Births, Marriages and Burials. Records of the General Register Office, Government Social Survey Department, and Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, RG 6. The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, England.
  2. Foxholm, Cobham, Surrey: sales brochure, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Foxholm, Grade II Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1030094)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  4. "No. 22383". The London Gazette. 8 May 1860. p. 1746.
  5. Ray Westlake, Tracing the Rifle Volunteers, Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84884-211-3, p. 293.
  6. "No. 22518". The London Gazette. 7 June 1861. p. 2401.
  7. Army List.
  8. "No. 23649". The London Gazette. 26 August 1870. p. 3951.
  9. Foxwarren Park Grade II* Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1189110)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  10. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition Wilmington, Delaware Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003 volume 1, page 622.
  11. https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk Calendar of Probates and Administrations
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