John Adey Repton by Follower of Joseph Wright of Derby

John Adey Repton (1775–1860) was an English architect.

Biography

John Repton was the son of

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...

, born at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

on 29 March 1775, and educated at Aylsham

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

and later in a Norwich architect's office. From 1796 to 1800 he was assistant to John Nash of Carlton House, the great

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

architect, and he then joined his father at Hare Street near

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

preparing architectural designs as adjuncts to landscape gardening.Notes supplied by G. C. Boase, esq.; Gent. Mag. 1861, i. 107–10; Roget, ''Old Water-colour Soc''. 1891, i. 372 In 1822 John Repton went abroad, and was consulted professionally at

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

and at

Frankfort-on-the-Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

. Subsequently he restored the Earl De La Warr's seat of Buckhurst Park, near

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

. Before 1835, when he sent in designs for the new Houses of Parliament, he had retired to

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

near

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

; he gave his services as architect of Springfield church in 1843. He had been elected F.S.A. in 1803, and was a frequent contributor to '' Archæologia'' (see vols. xv, xvi, xix, xxi, xxiv and xxvii.). The last two of these communications treated of male and female headdress in England from 1500 to 1700. Another curious paper, "on the beard and the mustachio, chiefly from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century," which was read before the Society of Antiquaries, but not published, was printed at Repton's expense in 1839 (London, 8vo). In 1820 he displayed his

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

learning in the production of an "olden-style romance", entitled ''A trewe Hystorie of the Prince Radapanthus'', of which he printed eighty copies in a very small size. His name is not on the title-page, but may be spelt out from the initial letters on turning over the pages. Many articles by him appeared in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' from 1795 and in the British Archæological Association's ''Journal'' (cf. xvii. 175–80). In 1816, he contributed a series of drawings of Norwich Cathedral to John Britton's ''Cathedral Antiquities of Great Britain''. He was deaf from infancy and died unmarried at Springfield on 26 November 1860.

References

;Attribution: * This source cites: **''Gent. Mag.'' 1818, i. 372–3, 648, ii. 102; **Allibone's ''Dict. of Engl. Literature''; **Ann. ''Biogr''. for 1819, pp. 285–310; **''Dict. of Architecture'', vii. 29; **Cunningham's ''London'' (ed. Wheatley), ii. 329, iii. 191.

Biography

References

Further reading