James Burton (property developer)

James Burton was born in Strand, London, as James Haliburton, on 29 July 1761.[1][2] He was the son of William Haliburton (1731–1785),[1] a London property developer of Scottish descent,[1][2][3][4] whose family originated in Roxburghshire,[1][4] and of Mary Foster (previously Mary Johnson) (1735–1785),[5] whom his father married in 1760.[5] Mary Foster was the daughter of Nicholas Foster of Kirkby Fleetham, Yorkshire,[5][2] and William Haliburton was her second husband:[5] Mary had been previously married to a man surnamed 'Johnson'.[5] William Haliburton and Mary Foster had two sons,[1] James and another who died in infancy.[2][1][5] Burton's father William Haliburton's paternal grandparents were Rev. James Haliburton (1681–1756) and Margaret Eliott, daughter of Sir William Eliott, 2nd Baronet and aunt of George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield.[5] They had 7 daughters and 2 sons,[5] William (father of James), and Andrew.[5] James Burton's father William was descended from John Haliburton (1573–1627),[6] from whom Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was descended on the maternal side.[7][1][6] Burton was a cousin of the Canadian author and British Tory MP Thomas Chandler Haliburton,[8] and of the British civil servant Lord Haliburton,[3][9][10] who was the first native Canadian to be raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[11]

James (b.1761) was christened with the name 'James Haliburton' at Presbyterian Chapel, Soho, London.[1][5] He shortened his surname to Burton in 1794, subsequent to a dispute with his family,[7][3] between the birth of his fourth child and the birth of his fifth child.[1][6][5]

Burton was a cousin of the poet Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet.

James was educated at a day school in Covent Garden before being privately tutored,[12] in which he received architectural training.[2] In July 1776 he was articled to a surveyor named James Dalton,[2] with whom he remained for six years,[12] until 1782,[1] when he commenced with speculative construction projects,[1] in some of which Dalton was his partner.[2]

• Bloomsbury: including Foundling Hospital Estate,[2][13] which included Brunswick Square, Guilford Street, and Mecklenburgh Square[14](on which he built 600 houses);[15] Bedford Square;[2] Bloomsbury Square[2][16] (where the remaining north side are Burton's original houses);[16] Russell Square;[2][16][13] Bedford Place;[13][16] Montague Street;[13] Tavistock Square[13][2] and Tavistock House (for himself);[2] Cartwright Gardens[13] (once named Burton Street and Burton Crescent, after him) (1785 - 1815)[13][17]
• St John's Wood[18][19]
• Regent Street:[20][2] Burton built 191 of the houses of Regent Street, and their joining archways.[21] Five of the largest blocks of Regent Street were purchased by Burton in 1817.[2] Burton's houses on Regent Street are No. 4 to No. 12; No. 17 to No. 25; No. 106 to No. 128; No. 132 to No. 154; No. 133 to No. 167; No. 171 to No. 195; and No. 295 to No. 319.[21] These were built, together with Carlton Chambers, between 1817 and 1820.[21] He also built between Leicester Street and No. 129 Swallow Street in 1820.[21] He built the east side of Regent Street in 1821, and the west side of Regent Street, specifically the part between the Quadrant and Oxford Street, and its archways, in 1822.[21] He built north of Old Burlington Street, and the east side of the street between Chapel Court and the entrance to the King Street Chapel SW1, in 1822.[21]
• Regent Street St. James (Lower Regent Street)[22][23][2]
• Waterloo Place, St. James's[24][2][21] Burton built Waterloo Place, whose facades he modelled on those of the Place Vendome in Paris, between 1815 and 1816.[21]
• Regent's Park, including the Inner Circle villas;[25][2] Cornwall Terrace[2] (1821);[20] York Terrace;[2] Clarence Terrace (1823);[26][27] Chester Terrace (1825)[2]
• The Holme, Inner Circle, Regent's Park, (1818)[2][23][20] The mansion of the Burton family, designed by Decimus Burton and built by James Burton's company.[2] It has been described as 'one of the most desirable private homes in London' by architectural scholar Guy Williams,[28] and the architectural critic Ian Nairn described it as 'a definition of western civilization in a single view'.[29]
• St Leonards-on-Sea (1827 - 1837)[2][26]

• 
  Regent Street
• 
  Regent's Park, designed by his son Decimus Burton
• 
  The Holme, the Burton family mansion in Regent's Park, designed by his son Decimus Burton
• 
  Cornwall Terrace, designed by his son Decimus Burton
• 
  Chester Terrace, designed by his son Decimus Burton
• 
  York Terrace, designed by his son Decimus Burton
• 
  Clarence Terrace, designed by his son Decimus Burton
• 
  Athenaeum Club, London, designed by his son Decimus Burton, and of which he and Decimus were founders
• 
  Bedford Square
• 
  Tavistock Square
• 
  Bloomsbury Square

The architectural scholar Guy Williams contends, "He [Burton] was no ordinary builder. He could have put up an imposing and beautifully proportioned building, correct in every constructional detail, from the roughest of sketches tossed patronizingly at him by a "gentleman architect".[1] James vigorously industrious and quickly became 'most gratifyingly rich'.[30] Burton worked as an 'Architect and Builder' in Southwark between 1785 and 1792.[31] By 1787, Burton had established a positive reputation in Southwark: in 1786 he had built the Blackfriars Rotunda in Great Surrey Street (now Blackfriars Road) to house the Leverian Museum,[2] for land agent and museum proprietor James Parkinson;[32] this building subsequently housed the Southwark Institution.[2]

When 28 years of age, Burton made his first proposition to build on the land made available by the Foundling Hospital,[2] on which he worked from 1789.[31] He built the earliest part of the Royal Veterinary College in Camden Town in 1792 - 1793.[2]

Between 1790 and 1792, he asked the Governors of the Foundling Hospital for a permission to exclusively build on the whole of Brunswick Square, but they underestimated his ability, and declined to waive their principle of not allowing any one speculator to develop more than a small proportion of the ground, and granted Burton only a small part of land on the south side and part of Guildford Street.[2] Subsequently, however, he rapidly expanded this estate with further purchases until he became the most important builder on the hospital's estate,[2] and owned most of the western property: between 1792 and 1802 he built 586 houses on the estate,[2] and, at a time when other builders were struggling financially, expended over £400,000 on the estate,[2] thus bringing the total number of his constructions on the estate to nearly 600.[33] Samuel Pepys Cockerell, advisor to the Governors of the Foundling Hospital, commended Burton's excellence:

"Without such a man [James Burton], possessed of very considerable talents, unwearied industry, and a capital of his own, the extraordinary success of the improvement of the Foundling Estate could not have taken place... By his own peculiar resources of mind, he has succeeded in disposing of his buildings and rents, under all disadvantages of war, and of an unjust clamour which has repeatedly been raised against him. Mr Burton was ready to come forward with money and personal assistance to relieve and help forward those builders who were unable to proceed in their contracts; and in some instances he has been obliged to resume the undertaking and complete himself what has been weakly and imperfectly proceeded with...".[34]

The contemporary Oxford Dictionary of National Biography contends that 'there is certainly no doubt about his energy and financial acumen'.[2] Burton was vigorously industrious, and quickly became 'most gratifyingly rich'.[30] Throughout his development of the Foundling Hospital Estate, Burton was encouraged by Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford, and his successor, John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, and by the Skinners' Company to develop the remainder of Bloomsbury, including their adjacent estates.[2] In 1800, Burton bought a portion of the London estate of the Dukes of Bedford,[30] and immediately demolished the Bedfords decaying London mansion, Bedford House,[30] on the site of which he constructed several family homes, including the houses of Bedford Place[30] and Russell Square.[2]

In addition to his property development enterprises, James Burton invested greatly in the manufacture of gunpowder from 1811.[2] This enterprise was based at Powder Mills, Leigh, and was managed by Burton in partnership with his eldest son, William Ford, who directed the sales of the product from his office in the City of London.[44][45][2] The mills, which were initially known as the Ramhurst Powder Mills,[46] and later as the Tunbridge Gunpowder Works,[2] were that established in 1811 in partnership with Sir Humphry Davy, who later sold his shares to the Burton family, who became thereby the sole owners of the Works.[2][47][48][49][44] After the retirement of James Burton in 1824,[46] William Ford became the sole owner of the mills until his death in 1856,[46][47] at which point the gunpowder business to his brother, Alfred Burton JP, Mayor of Hastings.

In 1827, James Burton became aware that part of the ancient Manor of Gensing, which was situated between Hastings and the Bulverhythe Marshes, was on the market and could be developed.[50] Decimus Burton advised against this prospective project of his father, which limited his supply of capital for his own development of the Calverley Estate,[50] but James ignored him, bought it, and proceeded to build St Leonards-on-Sea as a pleasure resort for the gentry.[2] James Burton designed the town 'on the twin principles of classical formality and picturesque irregularity', to be a rival to Brighton.[2] The majority of the first part of the town had been completed by 1830.[2] In 1833, St. Leonards-on-Sea was described as 'a conceited Italian town'.[2]

James Burton had a close friendship with the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria (the future Queen Victoria), who stayed at his private residence in St Leonards-on-Sea for several continuous months in 1834 and 1835

During the year 1800, in which his tenth child Decimus was born, James was living at the 'very comfortable and well staffed' North House in the newly built Southampton Terrace at Bloomsbury.[30] He subsequently lived at Tavistock House, which later became the residence of Charles Dickens. Subsequent to the birth of his twelfth child, Jessy, in 1804, Burton purchased a site on a hill about one mile to the south of Tonbridge in Kent, where he constructed, to the designs of the architect Joseph T. Parkinson, in 1805,[31] a large country mansion which he named Mabledon House,[51][2] which was described in 1810 by the local authority as 'an elegant imitation of an ancient castellated mansion'.[51] The majority of the stone that Burton required for Mabledon was quarried from the hill on which it was to be built, but Burton also purchased the stone that had been released by the recent demolition of a nearby mansion, Penhurst Place.[51] Subsequent to the commencement of his residence at Mabledon, Burton employed a bailiff and a gamekeeper, hosted balls, and was shortly invested as Sheriff of Kent[51] for 1810.[2] A diary written by James Burton, wbich records his activities between 1783 and 1811, survives and is kept at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery.[52] The Burtons lived at Mabledon from 1805 to 1817.[53]

Burton was Master of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers in 1801 to 1802.[2] In 1804, in response to the cessation of amicable relations with the French Republic, Burton raised a 1600 strong company of volunteers, the Loyal British Artificers,[30] at his own expense, which was recruited from the large body of artificers that were in his employ,[30][2] and of which he became Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant.[30][12] In the eventuality of invasion by the French, the rallying-point of Burton's Loyal British Artificers was to be the Tottenham Court Road.[30] He attended the funeral of Horatio Nelson in 1806.[12]

Subsequently, from 1818, Burton resided at The Holme, Regent's Park, which has been described as 'one of the most desirable private homes in London',[28] which was designed as the Burton family mansion by James's son Decimus, and built by his own company.[2] The Holme was the second villa to be built in Regent's Park, and the first of those to be designed or constructed by the Burton family.[54] The hallmark of the Burton design is the large semi-circular bay that divided the principal elevation, and which extended for two storeys.[54] The original villa also had a conservatory of polygonal form, which used wrought iron glazing bars, then only recently patented, instead of the then customary wooden bars.[54] The first villa to be constructed in the park was St. John's Lodge by John Raffield.[54]

The Burton family had residences and offices at 10, 12, and 14 Spring Gardens, St. James's Park, at the east end of The Mall, where Decimus Burton constructed No. 10, 12, and 14 Spring Gardens as both his townhouse and his own office.[55][40] They also had offices at Old Broad-Street, City of London,[44] and Lincoln's Inn Fields, where Septimus Burton was a solicitor at Lincoln’s Inn,[56][9] where he trained William Warwick Burton,[57] who was a resident.[58]

During 1820, Burton, his wife, and his children dined frequently with George Bellas Greenough.[59] Greenhough and Decimus finalized their designs during numerous meetings at the opera.[59]

James Burton was an early member of the Athenaeum Club, London, as was his son, Decimus Burton,[60] who has been described as the 'prime member of the Athenaeum' by architectural scholar Guy Williams[61] who there 'mixed with many of the greatest in the land, meeting the most creative as well as those with enormous hereditary wealth'.[62]

James and Decimus Burton were 'on excellent terms' with Princess Victoria,[62] and with the Duchess of Kent.[62] The Princess and the Duchess, with several courtiers, had laid the foundation stone of a Decimus Burton School in Tunbridge Wells,[62] and, five weeks later, in autumn 1834, they had stayed, by Decimus's invitation, at James Burton's private villa at St Leonards-on-Sea, for several months, until several weeks into 1835.[63]

Elizabeth Burton died at St Leonards-On-Sea on 14 January 1837.[64] James Burton died at St Leonards-On-Sea on 31 March 1837.[64] James is buried in a distinctive pyramidal tomb in the churchyard of St Leonards-on-Sea, the town that he had designed and created, where a monument to his memory was also erected.[2]

On 1 March 1783, at St. Clement Danes, Strand, London,[1] James Burton married Elizabeth Westley (12 December 1761 – 14 January 1837),[64][2] of Loughton, Essex,[1] daughter of John and Mary Westley.[5] They had six sons and six daughters,[6][5] ten of whom were alive at the time of their father's death on 31 March 1837.[2] Their first four children were all baptized at the church at which they had married, and entered in the church registers with the surname 'Haliburton':[1] however, James and Elizabeth changed their surname to 'Burton' between the birth of their fourth child and the birth of their fifth child.[1][5][7][3]

1. William Ford[2][6] (11 January 1784 – 18 October 1856).[5] William Ford was named after his maternal granduncle, William Ford. He was prevented from attending university by a severe injury caused by a fall from his horse in 1806. He began farming with his father in 1807.[9] The office of the Burton family was in the City of London,[44][45] from which William Ford managed the Powder Mills, Leigh[53] - which were initially known as the Ramhurst Powder Mills,[46] and later as the Tunbridge Gunpowder Works – that he established in 1811 in partnership with his father, James Burton, and Sir Humphry Davy,[47][48][49][44][2] both of whom were early members of the Athenaeum Club, London. Subsequent to the retirement of James Burton in 1824,[46] William Ford became the sole owner of the mills until his death in 1856,[46][47] at which point the gunpowder business was transferred to his brother, Alfred Burton JP, the Mayor of Hastings. William Ford lived at St John's Wood, The Holme, and South Lodge, St. Leonards-on-Sea.[9] He never married but had two illegitimate sons:[65][5][9][57][2] Henry Marley Burton FRIBA (1821 - 1880) and William Warwick Burton[57] (d. 21 October 1861).[58][66] Henry Marley was baptized as Henry Marley on 12 Dec 1821: at his baptism, he was claimed to be the son of William Marley and Sally Marley, London neighbours of the Burtons.[57] Henry Marley had at least one son, Edgar Burton, also an architect,[67] whose daughter Adelaide was abortively married to Leopold Albu, of 4 Hamilton Place, Mayfair, the brother of Sir George Albu, between 19 August 1901 and 1915.[68] William Warwick Burton lived at Lincoln's Inn Fields,[58] where he was articled as a solicitor to his uncle, Septimus Burton (1794 - 1842)[57] of Lincoln’s Inn.[56][9] William Warwick Burton had three children, William Edgar Burton, Edmund Burton, and Jessy Burton,[69] each of whom were left property in the will of their uncle, Decimus, who never married and died without issue.[57]
2. Emma Elizabeth[6] (4 August 1785 – 13 December 1785). She died from smallpox.[5]
3. Eliza[2][6] (29 September 1786 – 6 February 1877).[5] She lived for a time at No. 36 Marina and later at No. 5 West Hill in St. Leonards-on-Sea. She did not marry.[2][12][9]
4. James[2][6] FGS (22 September 1788 – 22 February 1862).[5] Egyptologist.[10][70][9]
5. Emily[6] (10 August 1791 – 20 May 1792).[5][9]
6. Jane[2][6] (4 April 1792 – 11 December 1879).[5][56][9] She married Thomas Walker[71] (who changed his surname to Wood[56] in 1817)[71] of Tonbridge, at Tonbridge, in 1812.[71] She had one son George James (1813–1831) and three daughters, Emily (1815–1892), Helen (1816–1903) and Rose Anne (born 1818).[71][56] She and her daughters lived at North Lodge, St. Leonards-on-Sea.[56][12]
7. Septimus[2][6] (27 July 1794 – 25 November 1842).[5][56][9] Septimus was educated at Lincoln's Inn, where he was articled to J. W. Lyon in 1810, and, subsequently, established his legal practice.[56][6] He dealt with much of his father’s business.[6] He married Charlotte Lydia Elizabeth Middleton in 1824.[72] They had 1 son, Arthur (b.1830)[72] who married Lilian Margaret Robertson in 1860 and one son, Francis Arthur (1861–64). Septimus lived at Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. He died on 25 November 1842, and is buried at Chiswick.[72]
8. Octavia[2][6] (b. 20 May 1796 - d. after March 1837)[2][5] She married Edmund Hopkinson,[73][74] a banker, at Tonbridge, in 1813.[73] No issue.[9]
9. Henry[2][6] FRCP (27 February 1799 – 10 August 1849).[5] Physician who discovered the Burton line.[9] He married Mary Elizabeth Poulton (1800 - 1829) in 1826 at St. George's, Bloomsbury.[75]
10. Decimus[2][6] FRS FRSA RA FSA FRIBA (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881).[30][5] Architect.[12][9][76]
    

    Burton 's granddaughter, Constance Mary Fearon, was the founder of the Francis Bacon Society.
11. Alfred[2][6] (18 June 1802 – 24 April 1877)[5] JP. Mayor of Hastings, manager of the Burton estates.[6] He had architectural training,[6] and worked as Secretary to Decimus Burton[6] and to Thomas Wood (the husband of Jane Burton). In St. Leonards-on-Sea, Alfred Burton was Steward of the Races; President of the Mechanics Institute; Vice-President of the Infirmary; and Trustee of Hastings and Flimwell Turnpike. He was a member of the Queen’s Royal St. Leonards Archers.[9] He was a long-standing member of the Oriental Club, to which he donated numerous books and pictures,[77] and to which his brother Decimus and nephew Henry Marley Burton made architectural additions.[78] Alfred married Anna Delicia Adams in 1843.[79] They had one son, Alfred Henry (1845 – 1917)[79][80] of Hastings Lodge, JP, High Sheriff of Sussex in 1902, who married Ellen Amelia Dickson, and had four children, and one daughter Louisa Charlotte (1849–1873),[79] who did not marry.
12. Jessy[2][6] (12 April 1804 – after 24 April 1844)[30][5][56][9] She married John Peter Fearon (1804–1873),[81][56] a lawyer of Great George Street, Westminster, in 1833.[81][12] She lived in Regent's Park.[56] She had 3 daughters, Jessy Tyndale (1834–1910),[81] Constance Mary (1835–1915),[81] and Ethel Anna (1839–1901)[81] (who married Thomas Ayscough, and had issue) and one son, Francis[82] (1837–1914),[81] (who married Julia Mary Woodward, and had issue).[12] Jessy's middle daughter, Constance Mary Fearon, was the founder of the Francis Bacon Society and author (under the pseudonym Mrs Henry Pott) of numerous books advocating the theory that Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban was the author of the works attributed to William Shakespeare.[83]