26 August 2008

John Britton (1771–1857): Father of John James Britton (1832–1913)?


The image above gives a rough profile sketch of the antiquary John Britton, who may well have been the father of the poet John James Britton and the paternal great-grandfather of the working-class writer Lionel Britton. The link in this sentence is to three rather more substantial sketches of John Britton from the National Portrait Gallery (NPG).

The NPG gives a passing mention to John Britton's apparently prominent role in the 'neo-Gothic revival' (surely a tautology?), and to his collaboration with Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin 'on several books', although the names of them are not given.

As ever, my sincere thanks to the restless Robert Hughes, a great-nephew of Lionel Britton, for this information.

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