Paternal Family Tree: Buxton of Belfield in Dorset
On 1st April 1786 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet was born to Thomas Fowell Buxton [aged 29] at Hedingham Castle [Map].
On 3rd December 1793 [his father] Thomas Fowell Buxton [aged 37] died.
In 1807 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 20] graduated from Trinity College, Dublin.
On 13th May 1807 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 21] and Hannah Gurney Lady Buxton [aged 24] were married. They had eight children of whom four died of whooping cough over a five-week period around April 1820.
On 25th February 1808 [his daughter] Priscilla Buxton was born to Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 21] and [his wife] Hannah Gurney Lady Buxton [aged 25].
In 1811 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 24] was made a partner in the business, renamed Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co, and later its sole owner.
On 16th September 1812 [his son] Edward North Buxton 2nd Baronet was born to Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 26] and [his wife] Hannah Gurney Lady Buxton [aged 29]. He married 12th April 1836 his first cousin Catherine Gurney Lady Buxton and had issue.
In 1818 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 31] was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
On 29th August 1822 [his son] Thomas Fowell Buxton was born to Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 36] and [his wife] Hannah Gurney Lady Buxton [aged 39]. He married 4th February 1845 his first cousin Rachel Jane Gurney and had issue.
In May 1823 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 37] introduced in the House of Commons a resolution condemning the state of slavery as "repugnant to the principles of the British constitution and of the Christian religion", and called for its gradual abolition "throughout the British colonies".
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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On 16th June 1824 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 38] attended a meeting at the Old Slaughter's Coffee House, St Martin's Lane, London, that created the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals which became the RSPCA when Queen Victoria gave royal assent in 1840. He was appointed Chairman the same year.
Around 1833 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 46] presented a petition to the House of Commons with 187,000 female signatures supporting the abolition of slavery. The first two signatories were [his daughter] Priscilla Buxton [aged 24] and Amelia Opie.
On 12th April 1836 [his son] Edward North Buxton 2nd Baronet [aged 23] and [his daughter-in-law] Catherine Gurney Lady Buxton [aged 22] were married. They were first cousins.
On 30th July 1840 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 54] was created 1st Baronet Buxton of Belfield in Dorset. [his wife] Hannah Gurney Lady Buxton [aged 57] by marriage Lady Buxton of Belfield in Dorset.
On 4th February 1845 [his son] Thomas Fowell Buxton [aged 22] and [his daughter-in-law] Rachel Jane Gurney [aged 21] were married. They were first cousins.
On 19th February 1845 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet [aged 58] died. He was buried at St Martin's Church, Overstrand [Map]. His son Edward [aged 32] succeeded 2nd Baronet Buxton of Belfield in Dorset. Catherine Gurney Lady Buxton [aged 31] by marriage Lady Buxton of Belfield in Dorset.
On 20th March 1872 [his former wife] Hannah Gurney Lady Buxton [aged 89] died.