Charles Buxton

For the English philanthropist and politician, seeCharles Roden Buxton.

Charles Buxton(18 November 1822 – 10 August 1871) was anEnglishbrewer,philanthropist,writer andmember of Parliament.

Personal life and architectural legacy

Buxton was born on 18 November 1822 inCromer, Norfolk,the third son ofSir Thomas Buxton, 1st Baronet,a notable brewer, MP and social reformer, and followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a partner in thebreweryofTruman, Hanbury, Buxton, & CoinBrick Lane,Spitalfields,London,and then an MP. He served asLiberalMP forNewport, Isle of Wight(1857–1859),Maidstone(1859–1865) andEast Surrey(1865–1871). His sonSydney Buxtonwas also an MP and governor ofSouth Africa.

On 7 February 1850, he married Emily Mary Holland, the eldest daughter of physicianHenry Holland(physician toQueen Victoriaand later president of theRoyal Institution).

Around 1850, he commissioned construction of a small detached, but ornate, house,Foxholm(Grade II-listedarchitecturally) on Redhill Road, then inWisleybut now inCobham,for the Chaplain to Queen Victoria.

On 4 May 1860 he was commissionedLieutenantin the part-time3rd (Truman, Hanbury, Buxton) Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corpsraised by his nephewSir Fowell Buxton, 3rd Baronetfrom employees of the family brewery.The unit became part of the1st Administrative Battalion, Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corpsin which Charles Buxton becameMajorand thenLieutenant-Colonelon 1 June 1861.He left the unit in the later 1860sbut was appointedHonorary Colonelof the1st (Poplar) Tower Hamlets Artillery Volunteer Corpson 15 August 1870.

In 1860 he had his own house,Foxwarren Park,built on the neighbouring estate between a golf course and theSite of Special Scientific Interestwhich isOckham and Wisley Commons.It is a Grade II*listed building.The building is starkNeo-Gothic:polychrome brickwork, red with blue diapering, and terracotta dressings, renewed plain-tiled roofs withcrow-stepped gables.

He died on 10 August 1871.His probate was sworn in 1871 in a broad bracket of "under£250,000(equivalent to about £29,400,000 in 2023) ".

His younger son was first and lastEarl Buxton:Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton.

Anti-slavery parliamentary campaigners' memorial fountain

Following his father's death, Buxton commissionedarchitectSamuel Sanders Teulonto design theBuxton Memorial Fountainto commemorate his father's role, with others, in theabolition of slavery.The fountain was initially erected inParliament Squarebut was later moved to its current position inVictoria Tower Gardens,Westminster.It carries the dedication:

Erected in 1865 by Charles Buxton MP in commemoration of the emancipation of slaves 1834 and in memory of his father, Sir T Fowell Buxton, and those associated with him:Wilberforce,Clarkson,Macaulay,Brougham,DrLushingtonand others.

Published works

He producedMemoirs of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Baronet, with Selections from his Correspondence,first published in 1848. He later wrote a history,Slavery and Freedom in the British West Indies,published in 1860.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Charles Buxton