When Britton & Son, a legal company in Alcester (John James Britton) and Astwood Bank (Richard Waddams Nimmo Britton), went bankrupt in 1888, Richard and his family were forced to leave their home in Astwood Bank, then a hamlet with a tiny population. Richard transcribed several references, of which this, written by the Astwood Bank Mutual Improvement Society, is a fine example. It was written on 24 April 1888, and signed by members of the committee: W. Wright Robinson (President), William Henry Yeomans (Vice-President), Harry Woodward (Secretary), and W. R. John (committee member):
'We, the undersigned members if the Astwood Bank Mutual Improvement Society, desire to express to you, in view of your approaching removal from this neighbourhood, our sincere regret at the prospect of losing so valuable a member. In our debates we have been much advantaged by your conspicuous ability as a dialectitian [sic]; and we acknowledge your courtesy, suavity and good humour in controversy. We wish you success in your own learned profession, and a prolonged life of usefulness and happiness'.
Less than seven years later, Richard died of tuberculosis in Bournemouth.
It is difficult to understand why John James Britton, my great-great-grandfather, suffered the loss of his business.
ReplyDeleteHe was a very capable man: his son by his second marriage, Herbert Eyres Britton, recounts that John James was a scholar of Greek, Latin and French, and was always entertaining company with a ready wit.
He also had plenty of property inherited from his father, James Britton, and his aunt, Bertha Isabella Waddams.
Faced with the insolvency of his business, for whatever cause, he would probably have had no compunction about winding up its operations on terms which did not threaten the well-being of his family.
See the settlement prior to his marriage to Maud May Coward in 1882.
Robert Hughes.
It is difficult to understand why John James Britton, my great-great-grandfather, suffered the loss of his business.
ReplyDeleteHe was a very capable man: his son by his second marriage, Herbert Eyres Britton, recounts that John James was a scholar of Greek, Latin and French, and was always entertaining company with a ready wit.
He also had plenty of property inherited from his father, James Britton, and his aunt, Bertha Isabella Waddams.
Faced with the insolvency of his business, for whatever cause, he would probably have had no compunction about winding up its operations on terms which did not threaten the well-being of his family.
See the settlement prior to his marriage to Maud May Coward in 1882.
Robert Hughes.
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ReplyDeleteI'm sure that John James Britton and his son Richard Britton gave the legal profession the best efforts that they could, although I'm equally certain that their hearts weren't really in it; John James was also a poet, and Googling "John James Britton" (with the vital double quotation marks) at www.google/books gives just an indication of the poetry books he bought; Richard Britton was more interested in philosophy, and began a book containing his interpretation of philosophical terms.
ReplyDeleteTo make a wild understatement, I'm no great admirer of solicitors; but I'd have thought that the vast majority of solicitors themselves (today, at least) wouldn't put poetry or philosophy among their consuming interests.
(I only deleted my previous comment because I'd missed 'or philosophy' out.)