Richard Fenton (January 1747 – November 1821) was a Welsh lawyer,

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scie ...

and poet.

Biography

Fenton was born in January 1747 in

St David's St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, Wa ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, and was baptised in

St David's Cathedral St Davids Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi) is situated in St DavidsBritain's smallest city in the county of Pembrokeshire, near the most westerly point of Wales. Early history The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot ...

on 20 February 1747, "being then a month old". He was educated at the cathedral school, and at an early age obtained a situation in London in the custom house. Later he entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, and studied for the legal profession. After being

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

he attended the circuits in Wales for several years. Subsequently he devoted his time to literary pursuits; he was a friend of

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

and Sir

Richard Colt Hoare Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet FRS (9 December 1758 – 19 May 1838) was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home ...

. He travelled throughout Wales, studying local records and publishing several topographical volumes. After a merchant uncle died, he took over his mercantile fleet. Fenton died at his home at Plas Glynamel,

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...

, in November 1821, and was buried nearby at

Manorowen Manorowen is a small settlement and parish on the A487 road, A487 southwest of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, West Wales, in the Community (Wales), Community of Scleddau; the parish includes the village of Scleddauthe eastern part of which is in the ...

Works

Fenton's works include: * ''Poems'', London 1773; 2 vols. 1790. * ''A Historical Tour through Pembrokeshire'', London 1811, with thirty plates and a map. This was the work censured by Thomas Burgess, in his ''Bishops and benefactors of St. David's vindicated from the misrepresentations of a recent publication'', 1812. Fenton's reply to the bishop remained in manuscript. Prefixed is the author's portrait, engraved by

Thomas Woolnoth Thomas Alfred Woolnoth (1785–1857) was an English engraver. He was known for his portraits of theatre people. He also painted, and engraved works of Correggio and Van Dyck. Woolnoth was engraver to Queen Victoria. His work was also included in Ca ...

, from a painting by

Samuel Woodforde Samuel Woodforde (29 March 1763 – 27 July 1817) was a British painter. Life Woodforde was born at Castle Cary, Somerset. He was the second son of Heighes Woodforde, an accountant of Ansford, and his wife Anne. He was a lineal descendan ...

; the original is at Stourhead. The work made use of manuscripts of

George Owen Harry George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

. * ''A Tour in quest of Genealogy through several parts of Wales, Somersetshire, and Wiltshire in a series of letters … interspersed with a description of Stourhead and Stonehenge … and curious fragments from a manuscript collection, ascribed to Shakespeare. By a Barrister'', London 1811. * ''Memoirs of an old Wig'', London, 1815, (anon.), a humorous work. * A translation of the ''Deipnosophistæ'' of Athenæus; manuscript deposited in the library of Richard Colt Hoare at Stourhead. * "Cromlech at Llanwnda, Pembrokeshire" in ''

Archaeologia Cambrensis ''Archaeologia Cambrensis'' is a Welsh archaeological and historical scholarly journal published annually by the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It contains historical essays, excavation reports, and book reviews, as well as society not ...

'', No 12 (October 1848), at p. 283 *''Tours in Wales (1804–1813)'' (ed. John Fisher), ''

'' Supplemental Volume, 1917. Fenton also left comedies in manuscript, and manuscript materials for the history of every county in Wales.

Family

Fenton married Eloise, the daughter of David Pillet, a Swiss military officer.

Biography

Works

Family

References

Further reading