Biography

John Britton (1771-1857), antiquary and topographer, was born on 7 July 1771 at Kington St Michael, near Chippenham, Wiltshire. It was in a Clerkenwell bookshop in 1789 that he first met Edward Wedlake Brayley and from this encounter stemmed a topographical partnership lasting sixty-five years; its first fruits were The Beauties of Wiltshire (2 vols., 1801). Britton was the first to attempt a complete survey of English cathedrals since Browne Willis (1727-42). During the last twelve years of his life Britton published little apart from his rambling two-volume Autobiography (1850, 1857); this included an exhaustive list of works compiled by his secretary T. E. Jones. John Britton died of bronchitis at his home, 17 Burton Street, St Pancras, London, on 2 January 1857.

Found in 3 Collections and/or Records: