Isabella Beeton in West Norwood, London

'IN AFFECTIONATE MEMORY

OF

SAMUEL ORCHART BEETON,

AUTHOR EDITOR PUBLISHER

BORN 1830 – DIED 1877.

AND HIS WIFE AND FELLOW WORKER

IN MANY OF HIS LITERARY ENTERPRISES

ISABELLA MARY (MAYSON)

BORN 1836 – DIED 1865.

ALSO OF THEIR TWO ELDEST SONS,

WHO DIED IN INFANCY 1857 & 1863.

THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY THEIR TWO SURVIVING SONS IN 1933,

IN REPLACEMENT OF THE ORIGINAL FALLEN INTO DECAY.'

This grave is one I forgot to post in 2012, although Robert Hughes (great-nephew of Lionel Britton) quite by chance jogs my memory by telling me of a book Lionel gave his brother Bob and sister-in-law Maisie Britton, Robert's maternal grandparents, as a wedding present on 30 July 1914. This was Isabella Beeton's immensely successful Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1862), which was added to through the years, and Wikipedia claims that it had sold almost two million copies by 1868.

Funny how the inscription on the headstone pushes Samuel's literary works so much but not those of his 'wife and fellow worker', because Samuel Orchart Beeton, if he's remembered at all today, is only remembered as Isabella Beeton's husband. According to Wikipedia again, biographers Nancy Spain and Kathryn Hughes make the suggestion that Samuel 'had unknowingly contracted syphilis in a premarital liaison with a prostitute, and had unwittingly passed it on to his wife'. Another page is of more interest: 'The 2006 TV drama The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton, based in part on Kathryn Hughes' biography The Short Life & Long Times of Mrs. Beeton, implied that Isabella Beeton suffered from syphilis contracted from Samuel, and that this could have led to her early death and those of her first two children, and an alleged number of early miscarriages, although there is no firm evidence for this speculation'.

John Britton in West Norwood Cemetery, Thomas Britton in Clerkenwell: London #11

This 10 foot block of millstone grit is not at all difficult to find in West Norwood Cemetery. It marks the grave of the antiquary and topographer John Britton (1771–1857),  the author of a large number of books and the editor of the architectural journal The Builder. This is a Grade II* listed monument sculpted by George Godwin.

There is also a window in the parish church at Kingston St Michael, Wiltshire, dedicated to Britton and John Aubrey (1625–97).

There is no known relation between John Britton and Lionel Britton.

 

This monument is much smaller than John Britton's, but is just a few yards from his and shares the same basic shape. A series of photos on ceramics are of rock formations and are on two sides of it, although there appears to be no inscription, so this one defeats me.

 

'HERE STOOD

THE HOUSE OF

––––––––––––––––––––

THOMAS BRITTON

––––––––––––––––––––

1644–1714

THE MUSICAL

COALMAN'

 

This is on the corner of Artichoke Passage and Aylesbury Street, and is the kind of plaque that surely begs anyone who reads it for more information. Again, no relation to Lionel Britton as far as I know, and although Lionel hated music, Thomas seems to have a similar mixture of working-class credentials and intellectual curiosity. Perhaps one of the most informative articles about him is in the Cheapside Standard website, which I link below.

 

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Thomas Britton – Music Pioneer