Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet (1 April 1786
[Olwyn Mary Blouet, "Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, first baronet (1786–1845)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed., May 201]
accessed 25 April 2013
– 19 February 1845) was an English
Member of Parliament,
brewer,
abolitionist and
social reformer.
He had connections with the
Gurney family.
Early life
Buxton was born at
Castle Hedingham,
Essex. His father, also named Thomas Fowell Buxton, died young, leaving three sons and two daughters. His
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
mother's maiden name was Anna Hanbury. He completed his education at
Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1807. Through his mother's influence Buxton became associated with the Gurney family of
Earlham Hall,
Norwich, especially with
Joseph John Gurney and Gurney's sister, the prison reformer
Elizabeth Fry. He married their sister Hannah in May 1807. He lived at Belfield House,
Weymouth, Dorset in the constituency he represented as an MP, and later at
Northrepps Hall in Norfolk, where he died aged 57,
In 1808, Buxton's Hanbury connections led to an appointment to work at the
brewery of
Truman, Hanbury & Company, in
Brick Lane
Brick Lane (Bengali: ব্রিক লেন) is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest ...
,
Spitalfields
Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...
, London. In 1811 he was made a partner in the business, renamed
Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co, and later its sole owner.
Although he was a member of the
Church of England, Buxton attended Quaker meetings with some of the Gurneys, and so became involved in the social reform movement, in which Friends were prominent. He helped to raise money for the weavers of London, who were being forced into poverty by the factory system. He provided financial support for Elizabeth Fry's prison reform work and joined her Association for the Improvement of the Female Prisoners in
Newgate
Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...
.
Buxton was elected to Parliament for
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in 1818. As an MP he worked for changes in prison conditions and criminal law and for the
abolition of slavery, in which he was helped by his sister-in-law
Louisa Gurney Hoare. He also opposed
capital punishment and pushed for its abolition. Although he never accomplished that, he worked to restrict the crimes for which capital punishment could be meeted, whose number eventually fell from over 200 to eight.
Other moves for which Buxton argued were the suppression of lotteries and abolition of
suttee, the practice of burning widows in India.
Thomas and Hannah Buxton had eight children, but four died of
whooping cough over a five-week period around April 1820. Another died of
consumption some time later. Hannah would send boxes of toys to the missionary
Anna Hinderer in Nigeria in 1855. By 1866 her grandchildren were parcelling them up.
Abolitionism
The slave trade had been abolished in 1807, but existing slavery remained and Buxton joined in the campaign to abolish it. In 1823 he helped to found the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (later the
Anti-Slavery Society). In May 1823, Buxton introduced in the House of Commons a resolution condemning the state of slavery as "repugnant to the principles of the British constitution and of the Christian religion", and called for its gradual abolition "throughout the British colonies". He also pressured the government to send dispatches to the colonies to improve the treatment of slaves.
Buxton took over as leader of the abolition movement in the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
after
William Wilberforce retired in 1825. The petition he presented to the House of Commons bore 187,000 signatures. This had been partly organised by
Priscilla Buxton in 1833; she and
Amelia Opie
Amelia Opie (née Alderson; 12 November 1769 – 2 December 1853) was an English author who published numerous novels in the Romantic period up to 1828. Opie was also a leading abolitionist in Norwich, England. Hers was the first of 187,000 nam ...
were the first two signatories. He largely achieved his goal when slavery was officially abolished in the
British Empire, except in India and Ceylon. Buxton held his seat in Parliament until 1837.
In 1839 Buxton urged the British government to make treaties with African leaders to abolish the slave trade. The government in turn backed the
Niger expedition of 1841 The Niger expedition of 1841 was mounted by British missionary and activist groups in 1841-1842, using three British iron steam vessels to travel to Lokoja, at the confluence of the Niger River and Benue River, in what is now Nigeria. The British ...
(not including Buxton) put together by missionary organizations, which was also going to work on trade. More than 150 people were part of the expedition, which reached the Niger Delta and began negotiations. The British suffered such high mortality from fevers, with more than 25 per cent of the group dying rapidly, that the mission was cut short in 1841.
David Livingstone was strongly influenced by Buxton's arguments that the
African slave trade might be destroyed through the influence of "legitimate trade" (in goods) and the spread of Christianity. He became a
missionary in Africa and fought the slave trade all his life.
On 30 July 1840 Buxton was created a
baronet. His health failed gradually – according to some, due to disappointment over the failed mission to Africa. He died five years later at his home, Northrepps Hall, near
Aylsham, Norfolk and was buried at
Overstrand, Norfolk.
Founding RSPCA chairman
On 16 June 1824 a meeting was held at Old Slaughter's Coffee House, St Martin's Lane, London, that created the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – it became the RSPCA when
Queen Victoria gave royal assent in 1840. The 22 founding members included William Wilberforce,
Richard Martin,
Sir James Mackintosh,
Basil Montagu and Reverend
Arthur Broome. Buxton was appointed chairman for the year 1824.
Legacy and honours
*A monument to Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton stands in
Westminster Abbey.
*A memorial to the
emancipation of slaves, dedicated to Buxton, was installed in
Victoria Tower Gardens. Commissioned by his son
Charles Buxton MP, the
Buxton Memorial Fountain
The Buxton Memorial Fountain is a memorial and drinking fountain in London, the United Kingdom, that commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, and in particular, the role of British parliamentarians in the abolition ...
was designed by
Samuel Sanders Teulon and installed in
Parliament Square. In 1940 it was removed during the German bombings of London in
World War II. It was installed at its present location in 1957.
*A plaque is dedicated to him in
Norwich Cathedral and another at the Norwich Friends Meeting House.
*A bust of him by
John Bell appears in
St. George's Cathedral, Freetown,
Sierra Leone.
*Fowell Close in
Norwich is named after him.
*A representation of Buxton was printed on the English
five-pound note used between 2002 and 2017. He is the figure wearing glasses in the group to the left of
Elizabeth Fry.
*In
Weymouth, Dorset, which he served for 19 years as MP, the main route to the
Isle of Portland is named Buxton Road. It runs past
Belfield House
Belfield House is an 18th-century country house, located in Wyke Regis, Weymouth, Dorset, England. Built around 1775-80 of stone and yellow brick in a late classical design, the house has four Ionic columns at its entrance. It originally had its ...
, his former home in
Wyke Regis.
*A permanent memorial to him was unveiled in 2017 on Bincleaves Green in Weymouth.
''The memorial on Bincleaves Green:''
Thomas Fowell Buxton Monument Weymouth 2021aa.jpg
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Descendants
Buxton had a number of notable descendants through his five sons and six daughters:
Sir Edward North Buxton, 2nd Baronet (1812–1858) married Catherine Gurney (1814–1911). They had seven sons and five daughters.
::
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 3rd Baronet (1837–1915) married Lady Victoria Noel (1840–1916).
::::
Sir Thomas Fowell Victor Buxton, 4th Baronet (1865–1919)
::::
Noel Edward Noel-Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton
Noel Edward Noel-Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (9 January 1869 – 12 September 1948) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal and later Labour Party (UK), Labour politician. He served as Minist ...
(1869–1948)
::::
Charles Roden Buxton
Charles Roden Buxton (27 November 1875 – 16 December 1942) was an English philanthropist and radical British Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party. He survived an assassination attempt during a mission to the Balkans in 1 ...
(1875–1942)
::::
Harold Jocelyn Buxton (1880–1976)
::::Leland William Wilberforce Buxton (1884–1967)
::Samuel Gurney Buxton (1838 – February 1909) of Catton served as
High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1891–1892.
::
Edward North Buxton, MP (1840–1924)
::Henry Edmund Buxton (1844–1905)
::Charles Louis Buxton (1846–1906)
::
Francis William Buxton
Francis William Buxton (5 August 1847 – 14 November 1911) was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician.
Buxton was the son of Sir Edward Buxton, 2nd Baronet, and the grandson of the anti-slavery campaigner Sir Thomas Buxton, 1st Barone ...
(1847–1911)
Thomas Fowell Buxton (1822–1908) married Rachel Gurney (1823–1905) and had six sons and five daughters.
::Elizabeth Ellen Buxton (later Barclay) (1848–1919)
::John Henry Buxton (1849–1934), director of Truman, Hanbury, Buxton Brewery, chairman of the London Hospital
:::
Arthur Buxton
The Reverend Arthur Buxton (7 August 1882 – 6 January 1958) was a clergyman of the Church of England, Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, Marylebone, after serving as Chaplain to the Forces during the First World War.
Early life
Buxto ...
(1882–1958), Rector of
All Souls Church, Langham Place
All Souls Church is a conservative evangelical Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street. It was designed in Regency style by John Nash and consecrated in 1824.
As it is d ...
, and
Chaplain to the Forces
:::Margaret Katherine Buxton (1885–1974)
::::
David Charles McClintock (1913–2001), natural historian, botanist, horticulturist and author
::Geoffrey Fowell Buxton (1852–1929), a director of Barclays Bank
::
Alfred Fowell Buxton
Alfred Fowell Buxton (28 March 1854 – 5 May 1952) was a British banker and local politician.
He was the son of Thomas Fowell Buxton and his wife Rachel Jane ''née'' Gurney of Easneye House near Ware, Hertfordshire. He was educated at Rugby Sc ...
(1854–1952), chairman of London County Council
::
Barclay Fowell Buxton
Japan, 1937
Rev. Barclay Fowell Buxton (16 August 1860 – 5 February 1946) was an English evangelical Christian missionary in Japan.
Biography
Buxton was the son of Thomas Fowell Buxton and Rachel Jane Gurney and grandson of Sir Thomas Buxton, 1 ...
(1860–1946), missionary
::::Murray Barclay Buxton (1889–1940)
::::Alfred Barclay Buxton (1891–1940)
::::George Barclay Buxton (1892–1917)
::::
Barclay Godfrey Buxton (1895–1986)
Charles Buxton, MP (1823–1871) married Emily Mary Holland (1824–1908) and had two sons and four daughters.
::Bertram Henry Buxton (1852–1934)
::
Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton, MP (1853–1934)
Priscilla Buxton (1808–1852) married
Andrew Johnston, MP (c. 1798–1862)
[Clare Midgley, "Buxton, Priscilla (1808–1852)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed., September 201]
accessed 25 June 2017
/ref> and had two sons and four daughters.
:: Andrew Johnston, MP (1835–1895)
::Fowell Buxton Johnston (1839–1914), army officer, married Alice Douglas (1846–1891).
:::: Edward Johnston (1872–1944), calligrapher
Thomas Mark Buxton (born 1874)
Writings
*''An Enquiry, Whether Crime and Misery are produced or prevented by our present system of Prison Discipline'' (1818)
*''The African Slave Trade and Its Remedy'' (London: J. Murray, 1839)
See also
* Travers Buxton
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Buxton, Fowell
1786 births
1845 deaths
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Burials at Bunhill Fields
Fowell
English abolitionists
English brewers
English businesspeople
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
People from Castle Hedingham
British social reformers
UK MPs 1812–1818
UK MPs 1818–1820
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs 1826–1830
UK MPs 1830–1831
UK MPs 1831–1832
UK MPs 1832–1835
UK MPs 1835–1837
Verderers
19th-century British businesspeople
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis
Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge