Nigel Edward Buxton (29 May 1924 – 30 November 2015) was a British
travel writer
The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...
and
wine critic
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...
, also known for appearing as in the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
comedy series ''
The Adam and Joe Show
''The Adam and Joe Show'' is a British television comedy show, written and presented by Adam and Joe (Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish), which ran for 22 episodes and four series on Channel 4 from 6 December 1996 to 16 May 2001. All four series are ...
''.
Early life
Buxton was born at
Cowfold
Cowfold is a village and civil parish between Billingshurst and Haywards Heath in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village is at the intersection of the A272 and A281 roads. The parish has a land area of 1926 hectare (475 ...
,
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
, where his father, Gordon Offord Buxton, worked as a 'general
factotum
Factotum may refer to:
*A handyman, employed as a servant
* ''Factotum'' (novel), a 1975 novel by Charles Bukowski
* ''Factotum'' (film), a 2005 film adaptation of the novel
* Factotum (arts organisation), an arts organisation based in Belfast
* fa ...
' at Brook Hill House, owned by Lt-Col Edward William ('Robert') Hermon of the 1st King Edward's Horse, to whom the elder Buxton had been a servant since 1908, accompanying him as his
batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Career
Travel writer
After education at
Collyer's Grammar School,
Horsham
Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
and the
Imperial Service College
The Imperial Service College (ISC) was an English independent school based in Windsor, originally known as St. Mark's School when it was founded in 1845.
In 1906, St Mark’s School absorbed boys from the former United Services College, which ha ...
, Windsor, followed by the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
and
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...
, at the latter of which he read Modern History, graduating in 1954, Buxton became travel columnist - later travel editor - of ''
The Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings.
It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'' in 1961.
BaaadDad
In the 1990s, Buxton appeared as "BaaadDad" on ''
The Adam and Joe Show
''The Adam and Joe Show'' is a British television comedy show, written and presented by Adam and Joe (Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish), which ran for 22 episodes and four series on Channel 4 from 6 December 1996 to 16 May 2001. All four series are ...
'' on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
, which was written and presented by his son
Adam Buxton
Adam Offord Buxton (born 7 June 1969) is an English actor, comedian, podcaster and writer. With the filmmaker Joe Cornish, he is part of the comedy duo Adam and Joe. They presented the Channel 4 television series '' The Adam and Joe Show'' (19 ...
along with Adam's friend
Joe Cornish
Joseph Murray Cornish (born 20 December 1968) is an English comedian and filmmaker. With his long-time comedy partner, Adam Buxton, he forms the comedy duo Adam and Joe. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut ''Attack the Block''. He ...
. The comedy behind the character of BaaadDad was the juxtaposition of the fact that he was clearly an
elderly
Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...
and
upper middle class
In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...
man with the topics that he discusses, which relate to
youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community.
An emphasis ...
-
clubbing,
drug use, and so on. In this character, he featured in the video for
Frank Black
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Fo ...
's single "Dog Gone".
Personal life and death
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, having been commissioned in the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
in 1943, Buxton served in France and Germany. Prior to his journalistic career, Buxton also served as assistant adjutant in India during the last days of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. With his wife, Valerie (née Birrell), Buxton had a daughter and two sons.
Buxton wrote several books, including ''A Penguin Guide to Travel in Europe'', published by Penguin in 1965, ''Travel '67'', published by Follett in 1967,
[World's Press News and Advertisers' Review, vol. 77, 1967, pg 5] and ''Walking in Wine Country'', published by
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.
History
George Weidenfeld a ...
in 1993.
Buxton died from complications arising from lung cancer at his son
Adam Buxton
Adam Offord Buxton (born 7 June 1969) is an English actor, comedian, podcaster and writer. With the filmmaker Joe Cornish, he is part of the comedy duo Adam and Joe. They presented the Channel 4 television series '' The Adam and Joe Show'' (19 ...
's Norfolk home on 30 November 2015.
References
1924 births
2015 deaths
British travel writers
Royal Artillery officers
Writers from London
People from Cowfold
British Army personnel of World War II
{{UK-actor-stub