James Burton (property developer)
Lieutenant-Colonel James Burton (né James Haliburton; 29 July 1761 – 31 March 1837) was an English property developer. He was the most successful property developer of Regency and of Georgian London, in which he built over 3000 properties in 250 acres. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says that Burton was "the most successful developer in late Georgian London, responsible for some of its most characteristic architecture".
James Burton
29 July 1761
31 March 1837
10 that survived infancy including:
- William Haliburton (1731–1785) (father)
- Mary Johnson (1735–1785) (mother)
Burton built most of Bloomsbury (including Bedford Square, Russell Square, Bloomsbury Square, Tavistock Square, and Cartwright Gardens), and St John's Wood, Regent Street, Regent Street St. James, Waterloo Place, St. James's, Swallow Street, Regent's Park (including its Inner Circle villas in addition to Chester Terrace, Cornwall Terrace, Clarence Terrace, and York Terrace). He also financed and built the projects of John Nash at Regent's Park (most of which were designed by his son Decimus Burton rather than by Nash) to the extent that the Commissioners of Woods described James, not Nash, as 'the architect of Regent's Park'. Burton also developed the town of St Leonards-on-Sea, which is now part of Hastings.
Burton was a member of London high society during the Georgian era and during the Regency era. He was an early member of the Athenaeum Club, London, whose Clubhouse his company built to a design by his son Decimus Burton, who was the club's "prime member". Burton was a friend of Princess Victoria (the future Queen Victoria), and of the Duchess of Kent. He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers, and Sheriff of Kent. Burton's children included the Egyptologist James Burton; the physician Henry Burton; and the architect Decimus Burton. He was the grandfather of Constance Mary Fearon, who was the founder of the Francis Bacon Society.
The Burtons' London mansion, The Holme of Regent's Park (which was built by Burton's company and designed by Decimus Burton), was described by 20th century architecture critic Ian Nairn as 'a definition of Western civilization in a single view'. Burton also built the Burtons' Tonbridge mansion Mabledon.
Education[edit]
James was educated at a day school in Covent Garden before he was privately tutored,[12] including in architecture. In July 1776 he was articled to a surveyor named James Dalton,[2] with whom he remained for six years,[12] until 1782, when he commenced with speculative construction projects,[1] in some of which Dalton was his partner.[2]
Gunpowder manufacturer[edit]
James Burton, from 1811,[2] invested in the manufacture of gunpowder at Powder Mills, Leigh that was managed by Burton and his eldest son, William Ford, who directed 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, were that established in 1811 in partnership with Sir Humphry Davy, who later sold his shares to the Burtons, who thereby became the sole owners of the Works.[2][47][48][49][44]
After the retirement of James Burton in 1824, 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 Mayor, of Hastings.
Development of St Leonards-on-Sea[edit]
In 1827, James Burton realised that the ancient Manor of Gensing, which was situated between Hastings and the Bulverhythe Marshes, 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 rival 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]
Family homes[edit]
During 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 Mabledon was to be built, but Burton also purchased stone from the recent demolition of the nearby mansion Penhurst Place.[51] Burton at Mabledon 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, which records his activities between 1783 and 1811, is at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery.[52] The Burtons lived at Mabledon from 1805 to 1817.[53]
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 in Regent's Park, and the first of those to be either 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 that had 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, that were at the east end of The Mall, where Decimus Burton constructed Nos. 10, and 12, and 14 Spring Gardens.[55][40] The Burton family also had offices at Old Broad-Street in the City of London,[44] and at Lincoln's Inn Fields (at which Septimus Burton was a solicitor at Lincoln's Inn[56][9] and trained William Warwick Burton.[57][58]