The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton David Bruce Marquette University
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Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects "Ordinary Talents and Extraordinary Perseverance": The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton David Bruce Marquette University Recommended Citation Bruce, David, ""Ordinary Talents and Extraordinary Perseverance": The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton" (2009). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 11. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/11 “ORDINARY TALENTS AND EXTRAORDINARY PERSEVERANCE”: THE LIFE OF SIR THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON by David S. Bruce, B.A., M.A. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin December 2009 ABSTRACT “ORDINARY TALENTS AND EXTRAORDINARY PERSEVERANCE”: THE LIFE OF SIR THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON David S. Bruce, B.A., M.A. Marquette University, 2009 Born into a gentry family with roots in the Society of Friends, the evangelical social conscience of Thomas Fowell Buxton (1786-1845) was developed as he operated a brewery in Spitalfields, perhaps London’s poorest parish. He was instrumental in raising funds for poor relief and establishing soup and bread kitchens there during the winter of 1816-1817. His interest and research on penal discipline brought him national prominence and led to a parliamentary seat which he held for nearly two decades. Buxton’s association with noted activist William Wilberforce (1759-1833) led to his own involvement in the anti-slavery movement, a cause he fiercely championed, resulting in Britain’s abolition of slavery throughout the Empire in 1834. After leaving Parliament in 1837, Buxton focused on revitalizing Africa through a program to end international slavery and encourage African self- sufficiency. This resulted in the disastrous 1841 Niger expedition that effectively ended Buxton’s public career and paved the way to British imperialism in Africa. Buxton was a man of many interests, and aside from his work for penal reform, poor relief, and abolition, he also supported Catholic emancipation and ending the Hindu suttee. Few nineteenth-century social reformers have had as much of an impact or have cast as long a shadow as Buxton. At the time of his death, many saw him as the epitome of Christian activism. Yet, today Buxton remains largely ignored and forgotten. The intent of this study is to examine the life of one of Great Britain’s most prominent social activists. Using his Memoirs, personal papers, and the papers and books of his friends, associates, and contemporaries, I have sought to paint a portrait of an individual driven by religious motives and idealism to improve his world. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS David S. Bruce, B.A., M.A. Reaching this stage has not been easy, and as a result there are a number of individuals who deserve recognition now that I have finished. I would like to thank God, through whom all things are possible. I would like to thank my parents, Marvis and Bobbye Bruce, as well as my siblings, Brian, Michelle, Synthia, and Jeffrey, for their continued love, support, and assistance as I worked on this project. I would also like to thank Julie Tatlock for her love, her friendship, and her unfailing faith in me. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee: my director, Dr. Carla Hay, clearly the most patient person on Earth and without whom I would have quit long ago; Dr. Phillip Naylor, who provided more support than he probably realizes; and Dr. Timothy McMahon, whose encouragement was truly appreciated. Thank you also to the Marquette History Department faculty, the Graduate School and the administration. I must also thank Dr. Laura Gellott, the chair of the history department at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside, for everything she’s done for me, but especially her confidence that I would finish. Finally, as far as friends go, there are too many for me to name here. With that in mind, I simply want to say thank you all and God bless. I would never have made it this far without your love, support, and occasional (but necessary) prodding to get me to act. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………i INTRODUCTION: “A NOBLE, SIMPLE, TRUE MAN:” A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION TO THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON…………1 CHAPTER 1: “PRINCIPLES EARLY PLANTED”……………………………………………………26 CHAPTER 2: SPITALFIELDS…………………………………………………………………………………………81 CHAPTER 3: “AN INNER LIGHT”……………………………………………………………………………102 CHAPTER 4: BUXTON AND PENAL REFORM…………………………………………………………129 CHAPTER 5: BUXTON IN PARLIAMENT, 1819-1822……………………………………153 CHAPTER 6: TAKING COMMAND, 1822-1829……………………………………………………199 CHAPTER 7: ABOLITION AND ITS AFTERMATH, 1830-1838…………………248 CHAPTER 8: “A HOLY CAUSE:” THE NIGER EXPEDITION OF 1841…304 CHAPTER 9: THE ELEPHANT IN WINTER……………………………………………………………354 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………365 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………369 1 “A Noble, Simple, True Man:” A Historiographical Introduction to Thomas Fowell Buxton At the time of his death in February 1845, Thomas Fowell Buxton was one of the most famous Englishmen on earth. Heralded as a hero, Buxton was praised by royalty and commoner alike. Such was the power of his memory and the nature of his works, that Buxton’s celebrated status remained secure until the end of the First World War. Within a decade, however, this would change, and the name previously so well-known in the western world literally vanished overnight from the public consciousness. Today, few are aware of Buxton or his contributions. Those who recognize his name see him as emancipator and liberator of the enslaved throughout the British Empire, at the expense of his other philanthropic works and goals. For fourteen years, Buxton and his small staff of family, friends, and fellow abolitionists, waged a public war with slave-holders and those tolerant of slavery. Yet during that same period he also directed his energies and efforts towards other causes that he believed would make England a shining example of Christian morality and social equality. Traditionally, it has been easy for historians to compare Buxton to such noted reformers and Christian thinkers as William Wilberforce (1759-1833), Thomas 2 Clarkson (1760-1846), and Zachary Macaulay (1768-1838), for they also worked diligently for years to end the legal slave trade and later enslavement itself.1 By the time Buxton arrived on the public stage, the slave trade had been abolished, but the institution remained. In many ways, he was the successor to many social reformers who preceded him. In terms of penal reform, he continued Sir Samuel Romilly’s (1757-1818) efforts to limit the use of capital punishment. With Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832), he helped lead the fight to reassess judicial punishment in Great Britain.2 In the matter of slavery, he was the intellectual heir to seventeenth-century 1 William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, and Zachary Macaulay were all prominent reformers who believed that Christian salvation necessitated direct action, generally in the form of social improvement. For more on Wilberforce, see John Wolffe, “Wilberforce, William (1759–1833),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004); online ed., ed. Lawrence Goldman, May 2009, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29386 (accessed June 23, 2009). For more on Clarkson, see Hugh Brogan, “Clarkson, Thomas (1760– 1846),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004); online ed., ed. Lawrence Goldman, May 2009, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/5545 (accessed June 23, 2009). For more on Macaulay, see J. R. Oldfield, “Macaulay, Zachary (1768–1838),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004); online ed., ed. Lawrence Goldman, May 2009, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17350 (accessed June 23, 2009). 2 Sirs Samuel Romilly and James Mackintosh focused their parliamentary careers on abolishing capital punishment in Great Britain. For additional information on Romilly, see R. A. Melikan, “Romilly, Sir Samuel (1757–1818),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004); online ed., ed. Lawrence Goldman, January 2008, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/24050 (accessed June 23, 2009). For more on Mackintosh, see Christopher J. Finlay, “Mackintosh, Sir James, of Kyllachy (1765–1832),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004); online ed., ed. Lawrence Goldman, October 2005, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17620 (accessed June 23, 2009). 3 abolitionist/author Aphra Behn (c.1640-1689), arguing that slavery was not only a physical state, but one that ensnared the mind and soul.3 He was also the theological heir to Wilberforce in arguing that abolition had to be accompanied by religious development and the promulgation of the Christian Gospel among former slaves. He pushed for Catholic emancipation,4 promoted elimination of the Hindu suttee, and was at the forefront of a disastrous expedition in Africa that nonetheless paved the way for Victorian missionary work and British imperialism in Africa later in the century. In characterizing Buxton as merely an abolitionist, biographers and historians have done him and his legacy a grave disservice. Thomas Fowell Buxton was an eminent and