The Avarice and Ambition of William Benson’, the Georgian Group Journal, Vol
Anna Eavis, ‘The avarice and ambition of William Benson’, The Georgian Group Journal, Vol. XII, 2002, pp. 8–37 TEXT © THE AUTHORS 2002 THE AVARICE AND AMBITION OF WILLIAM BENSON ANNA EAVIS n his own lifetime William Benson’s moment of probably motivated by his desire to build a neo- Ifame came in January , as the subject of an Palladian parliament house. anonymous pamphlet: That Benson had any direct impact on the spread of neo-Palladian ideas other than his patronage of I do therefore with much contrition bewail my making Campbell through the Board of Works is, however, of contracts with deceitfulness of heart … my pride, unlikely. Howard Colvin’s comprehensive and my arrogance, my avarice and my ambition have been my downfall .. excoriating account of Benson’s surveyorship shows only too clearly that his pre-occupations were To us, however, he is also famous for building a financial and self-motivated, rather than aesthetic. precociously neo-Palladian house in , as well He did not publish on architecture, neo-Palladian or as infamous for his corrupt, incompetent and otherwise and, with the exception of Wilbury, consequently brief tenure as Surveyor-General of the appears to have left no significant buildings, either in King’s Works, which ended in his dismissal for a private or official capacity. This absence of a context deception of King and Government. Wilbury, whose for Wilbury makes the house even more startling; it elevation was claimed to be both Jonesian and appears to spring from nowhere and, as far as designed by Benson, and whose plan was based on Benson’s architectural output is concerned, to lead that of the Villa Poiana, is notable for apparently nowhere.
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