Thomas Britton
Encyclopedia
Thomas Britton was an English
charcoal
merchant best known as a concert
promoter
.
, Northamptonshire
, Britton moved to London
at a young age and apprenticed himself to a small coal-man (a charcoal merchant) in Clerkenwell
. He learnt the trade and returned to his home village, but soon returned to London in search of better opportunities. Setting up a business to rival that of his former master, he turned a stable
off Aylesbury Street into his store and home.
In London, Britton became known for his singing voice. His business proved successful, and he spent much of his spare income on building up a library
. Through this activity, he became known to other book collectors, and was able to meet and discuss literature with various nobles.
Britton also studied chemistry
under the tutelage of his neighbour Theophilus Garencières. He constructed a moving laboratory
for Garencières, and a Welsh friend of the scientist paid Britton to construct a similar building for him. Garencières and Britton became friends, and also shared a love of esoteric ideas, Britton having an interest in Rosicrucianism.
In 1678, Britton fitted the loft of his Clerkenwell
house out as a tiny concert hall, fitting a harpsichord
and an organ
with only five stops. Despite the unglamorous venue, accessible only by an external staircase, the relative novelty of a series of concerts, coupled with the support of Roger L'Estrange
, who inaugurated the venue with a performance on the viol
, attracted a considerable audience.
Britton's knowledge of literature and the arts became well known, and his modest and honest nature and acceptance of his social position was often noted. These were qualities appreciated by contemporaries who considered themselves socially superior. His concerts became regarded as the premier venue for chamber music
in London, with an audience drawn from a wide social strata. At first, concerts were free, but Britton later requested an annual subscription of ten shillings, considered exceptionally low even at the time. By 1712, Ralph Thoresby
was able to note: "In our way home called at Mr. Britton's, the noted small-coal man, where we heard a noble concert of music, vocal and instrumental, the best in town, which for many years past he has had weekly for his own entertainment, and of the gentry, &c., gratis, to which most foreigners of distinction, for the fancy of it, occasionally resort."
Britton's social successes sparked some jealousy, and his concerts were alleged to be meeting places for religious dissenter
s, atheists, or forums for political intrigue. However, their accessibility and the popularity of Britton gradually put paid to these rumours.
The most highly regarded musicians in the nation came to play at Britton's house, including J. C. Pepusch, John Banister
, Philip Hart, Abel Whichelo and it is generally held even George Frideric Handel
, as did amateurs including John Hughes
, Henry Needler
and J. Woolaston. Matthew Dubourg
played in public for the first time at Britton's, while Obadiah Shuttleworth
is said to have learnt the organ specifically to be accepted as part of Britton's crowd. Britton himself played the viol de gamba and the recorder
, and began to compose short pieces. Samuel Pepys
regarded Britton as an expert on Tudor liturgical music. He amassed a large music collection and selection of musical instruments for the gatherings, and designed his own programmes.
In 1694, Britton auctioned a substantial part of his library. Despite his social successes and considerable income, he continued to work as a small coal-man all his life.
In September 1714, Justice Robe, a Middlesex
magistrate
, decided to play a practical joke
on the superstitious Britton. He employed a ventriloquist named Honeyman to project his voice and tell Britton that his end was near and that he should fall to his knees and repeat the Lord's Prayer
. The elderly Britton did so, and was so affected that he died within a couple of days.
Following his death, Britton's widow sold his collection of music, which was mostly purchased by Hans Sloane
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
merchant best known as a concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
promoter
Promotion (marketing)
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix . It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision....
.
Biography
Born in RushdenRushden
Rushden is a town and civil parish in the county of Northamptonshire, England.The parish of Rushden covers an area of some and is part of the district of East Northamptonshire. The population of Rushden was estimated at around 28,368, making it the fifth largest town in the county...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, Britton moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
at a young age and apprenticed himself to a small coal-man (a charcoal merchant) in Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...
. He learnt the trade and returned to his home village, but soon returned to London in search of better opportunities. Setting up a business to rival that of his former master, he turned a stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
off Aylesbury Street into his store and home.
In London, Britton became known for his singing voice. His business proved successful, and he spent much of his spare income on building up a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
. Through this activity, he became known to other book collectors, and was able to meet and discuss literature with various nobles.
Britton also studied chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
under the tutelage of his neighbour Theophilus Garencières. He constructed a moving laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
for Garencières, and a Welsh friend of the scientist paid Britton to construct a similar building for him. Garencières and Britton became friends, and also shared a love of esoteric ideas, Britton having an interest in Rosicrucianism.
In 1678, Britton fitted the loft of his Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...
house out as a tiny concert hall, fitting a harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and an organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
with only five stops. Despite the unglamorous venue, accessible only by an external staircase, the relative novelty of a series of concerts, coupled with the support of Roger L'Estrange
Roger L'Estrange
Sir Roger L'Estrange was an English pamphleteer and author, and staunch defender of royalist claims. L'Estrange was involved in political controversy throughout his life...
, who inaugurated the venue with a performance on the viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
, attracted a considerable audience.
Britton's knowledge of literature and the arts became well known, and his modest and honest nature and acceptance of his social position was often noted. These were qualities appreciated by contemporaries who considered themselves socially superior. His concerts became regarded as the premier venue for chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
in London, with an audience drawn from a wide social strata. At first, concerts were free, but Britton later requested an annual subscription of ten shillings, considered exceptionally low even at the time. By 1712, Ralph Thoresby
Ralph Thoresby
Ralph Thoresby , born in Leeds and is widely credited with being the first historian of that city. He was besides a merchant, non-conformist, fellow of the Royal Society, diarist, author, common-councilman in the Corporation of Leeds, and museum keeper.-Upbringing:Ralph Thoresby was the son of John...
was able to note: "In our way home called at Mr. Britton's, the noted small-coal man, where we heard a noble concert of music, vocal and instrumental, the best in town, which for many years past he has had weekly for his own entertainment, and of the gentry, &c., gratis, to which most foreigners of distinction, for the fancy of it, occasionally resort."
Britton's social successes sparked some jealousy, and his concerts were alleged to be meeting places for religious dissenter
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
s, atheists, or forums for political intrigue. However, their accessibility and the popularity of Britton gradually put paid to these rumours.
The most highly regarded musicians in the nation came to play at Britton's house, including J. C. Pepusch, John Banister
John Banister (composer)
John Banister was an English musical composer and violinist.-Early life:Banister was the son of one of the waits of the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and that profession he at first followed...
, Philip Hart, Abel Whichelo and it is generally held even George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
, as did amateurs including John Hughes
John Hughes (poet)
John Hughes was an English poet also noted for his editing of and commentary on the works of Edmund Spenser. Writing at the very end of 17th Century and at the beginning of the 18th, he also translated French drama and poetry, including Molière. Hughes was a favorite of the nobility and...
, Henry Needler
Henry Needler
Henry Needler was a British musician and prolific music transcriber. He joined the Academy of Ancient Music in 1728 , and transcribed a number of works of what was then termed "ancient" music from the 16th and 17th centuries that was no longer contemporary...
and J. Woolaston. Matthew Dubourg
Matthew Dubourg
Matthew Dubourg was an Irish violinist, conductor, and composer. Dubourg also enjoys the distinction of having led the orchestra at the premiere of Georg Friedrich Handel's great oratorio Messiah...
played in public for the first time at Britton's, while Obadiah Shuttleworth
Obadiah Shuttleworth
Obadiah Shuttleworth , English composer, violinist and organist, was the son of Thomas Shuttleworth of Spitalfields in London. Thomas was a professional music copyist and harpsichord player.The exact date of Obadiah's birth is uncertain....
is said to have learnt the organ specifically to be accepted as part of Britton's crowd. Britton himself played the viol de gamba and the recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, and began to compose short pieces. Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
regarded Britton as an expert on Tudor liturgical music. He amassed a large music collection and selection of musical instruments for the gatherings, and designed his own programmes.
In 1694, Britton auctioned a substantial part of his library. Despite his social successes and considerable income, he continued to work as a small coal-man all his life.
In September 1714, Justice Robe, a Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
, decided to play a practical joke
Practical joke
A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...
on the superstitious Britton. He employed a ventriloquist named Honeyman to project his voice and tell Britton that his end was near and that he should fall to his knees and repeat the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
. The elderly Britton did so, and was so affected that he died within a couple of days.
Following his death, Britton's widow sold his collection of music, which was mostly purchased by Hans Sloane
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, PRS was an Ulster-Scot physician and collector, notable for bequeathing his collection to the British nation which became the foundation of the British Museum...
.