George Weare Braikenridge
Encyclopedia
George Weare Braikenridge (1775–1856) was an English
antiquarian
. He was born in Virginia
but lived for most of his life in Bristol
, where he created a large collection of Bristolian historical and topographical material known as the Braikenridge Collection. It contains over 1400 drawing
s and watercolours
of Bristol landscapes and buildings. These are held in Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
, with related collections of manuscripts and other items held by Bristol Central Library
and Bristol Record Office. The Braikenridge Collection has become the most important historical record of Bristol's appearance in the early 19th century, and makes Bristol one of the best documented English cities in this respect.
, Bristol, but was a tobacco planter and merchant living in Virginia
at the time of Braikenridge's birth in 1775, having married a Virginian woman.. After returning to Bristol they became partners as George Braikenridge and Son, a drysaltery
business. George Weare Braikenridge married Mary Bush in 1800. He subsequently became a merchant trading with the Caribbean
. Retiring in 1820, he devoted himself to antiquarianism.
In 1823 he purchased Broomwell House, Brislington, to which he added a gothic
library, and started to fill the house with collected items of stonework, woodcarving and stained glass
. Although Broomwell House no longer survives, some of those items, in particular the library's heraldic
ceiling, do as he later transferred them to a villa in Clevedon
, Somerset
which he purchased in 1839. He was also the largest donor in the building of Christ Church, Clevedon, which was consecrated that same year. It contains stained glass provided by Braikenridge, in its east window.
He died in 1856 at Broomwell House. His collections relating to Bristol were bequeathed
to the city on the death of the last of his children, William Jerdone Braikenridge (1817–1907). A smaller collection relating to Somerset
was bequeathed to the town of Taunton
. Other objects are in museums around the world. The most valuable items auctioned in a two-day sale at Christie's
in 1908 were a 12th century ciborium, which raised £6,000, now at The Morgan Library & Museum, and a 16th century mazer
bowl, which went for £2,300.
Braikenridge played an important role as a patron of the Bristol School
of artists. Only three other consistent patrons of the school have been identified, namely the industrialists John Gibbons, Daniel Wade Acraman and Charles Hare. He was also important in encouraging Francis Danby
's interest in landscape.
them, that is, to collect additional illustrations to be interleaved with the text. The items that Braikenridge collected for this purpose were eventually sufficient to fill 36 portfolios
. They included a wide variety of printed, engraved and written materials and assorted ephemera
. Braikenridge's copy of Barrett's book together with this interleaved collection is in the Bristol Central Library
.
He had a further collection of over 1400 drawings and watercolours of Bristol landscapes and buildings, which he also organised in line with the chapters of Barrett's book. He commissioned many of these drawings from local artists; over two thirds of them from Hugh O'Neill
, Thomas Leeson Scrase Rowbotham
and Joseph Manning. Others were mainly from Samuel Jackson
, James Johnson
, Edward Cashin, George William Delamotte, John Eden and Marcus Holmes, although around 40 artists are represented in total. This collection is in the Bristol Museum
.
In addition to the collection organised around Barrett's book, Braikenridge obtained more watercolours by Samuel Jackson, oil painting
s and watercolours by Francis Danby and drawings by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm
. The paintings by Danby were atmospheric rather than topographical.
Braikenridge had a similar but smaller collection for Somerset, created in the 1830s and based around his extra-illustration of John Collinson's History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset. For this the drawings were mainly commissioned from the local artist William Walter Wheatley. This collection is held by the Somerset County Museum
, Taunton.
Braikenridge was also a collector of fossil
s. Among his specimens were the head of an ichthyosaur
, which he retrieved in 1813 from a quarry in Keynsham
, Somerset, and an ammonite
fossil which he discovered at Dundry
, Somerset and which has been named after him: Normannites
braikenridgii. His collection was known to the geologist
William Daniel Conybeare
. As well as being a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
he was also a Fellow of the Geological Society
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
. He was born in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
but lived for most of his life in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, where he created a large collection of Bristolian historical and topographical material known as the Braikenridge Collection. It contains over 1400 drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s and watercolours
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
of Bristol landscapes and buildings. These are held in Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
The Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. It is run by the city council with no entrance fee. It holds designated museum status, granted by the national government to protect outstanding museums...
, with related collections of manuscripts and other items held by Bristol Central Library
Bristol Central Library
Bristol Central Library is a historic building on the south side of College Green, Bristol, England. It contains the main collections of Bristol's public library....
and Bristol Record Office. The Braikenridge Collection has become the most important historical record of Bristol's appearance in the early 19th century, and makes Bristol one of the best documented English cities in this respect.
Life
His father George Braikenridge (1738–1827) was from BrislingtonBrislington
Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath. The Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley...
, Bristol, but was a tobacco planter and merchant living in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
at the time of Braikenridge's birth in 1775, having married a Virginian woman.. After returning to Bristol they became partners as George Braikenridge and Son, a drysaltery
Drysalter
Drysalters were dealers in a range of chemical products, including glue, varnish, dye and colourings. They might supply salt or chemicals for preserving food and sometimes also sold pickles, dried meat or related items...
business. George Weare Braikenridge married Mary Bush in 1800. He subsequently became a merchant trading with the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. Retiring in 1820, he devoted himself to antiquarianism.
In 1823 he purchased Broomwell House, Brislington, to which he added a gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
library, and started to fill the house with collected items of stonework, woodcarving and stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
. Although Broomwell House no longer survives, some of those items, in particular the library's heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
ceiling, do as he later transferred them to a villa in Clevedon
Clevedon
Clevedon is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, England...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
which he purchased in 1839. He was also the largest donor in the building of Christ Church, Clevedon, which was consecrated that same year. It contains stained glass provided by Braikenridge, in its east window.
He died in 1856 at Broomwell House. His collections relating to Bristol were bequeathed
Bequest
A bequest is the act of giving property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal property, and "devise" of real property. In legal terminology, "bequeath" is a verb form meaning "to make a bequest."...
to the city on the death of the last of his children, William Jerdone Braikenridge (1817–1907). A smaller collection relating to Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
was bequeathed to the town of Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
. Other objects are in museums around the world. The most valuable items auctioned in a two-day sale at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
in 1908 were a 12th century ciborium, which raised £6,000, now at The Morgan Library & Museum, and a 16th century mazer
Mazer (drinking vessel)
In the Germanic tradition, a mazer is a special type of drinking vessel, properly made of maple wood, and so-called from the spotted or birdseye marking on the wood In the Germanic tradition, a mazer is a special type of drinking vessel, properly made of maple wood, and so-called from the spotted...
bowl, which went for £2,300.
Braikenridge played an important role as a patron of the Bristol School
Bristol School
The Bristol School is a term applied retrospectively to describe the informal association and works of a group of artists working in Bristol, England, in the early 19th century. It was mainly active in the 1820s, although the origins and influences of the school have been traced over the...
of artists. Only three other consistent patrons of the school have been identified, namely the industrialists John Gibbons, Daniel Wade Acraman and Charles Hare. He was also important in encouraging Francis Danby
Francis Danby
Francis Danby was an Irish painter of the Romantic era. His imaginative, dramatic landscapes were comparable to those of John Martin. Danby initially developed his imaginative style while he was the central figure in a group of artists who have come to be known as the Bristol School...
's interest in landscape.
Collections
The main focus of Braikenridge's activity was his copy of William Barrett's History and Antiquities of the City of Bristol. It was common then for possessors of such histories to extra-illustrate or "grangerize"James Granger
James Granger was an English clergyman, biographer, and print collector. He is now known as the author of the Biographical History of England from Egbert the Great to the Revolution .-Life:...
them, that is, to collect additional illustrations to be interleaved with the text. The items that Braikenridge collected for this purpose were eventually sufficient to fill 36 portfolios
Artist's portfolio
An artist's portfolio is an edited collection of artwork intended to showcase an artist's style or method of work. Many people can use portfolios. Freelancers, writers, photographers, models and graphic designers are just a few examples of people who use them...
. They included a wide variety of printed, engraved and written materials and assorted ephemera
Ephemera
Ephemera are transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, bookmarks, catalogues, greeting cards, letters,...
. Braikenridge's copy of Barrett's book together with this interleaved collection is in the Bristol Central Library
Bristol Central Library
Bristol Central Library is a historic building on the south side of College Green, Bristol, England. It contains the main collections of Bristol's public library....
.
He had a further collection of over 1400 drawings and watercolours of Bristol landscapes and buildings, which he also organised in line with the chapters of Barrett's book. He commissioned many of these drawings from local artists; over two thirds of them from Hugh O'Neill
Hugh O'Neill (artist)
-External links:* *...
, Thomas Leeson Scrase Rowbotham
Thomas Leeson Scrase Rowbotham
-External links:*...
and Joseph Manning. Others were mainly from Samuel Jackson
Samuel Jackson (artist)
-External links:*...
, James Johnson
James Johnson (artist)
-External links:* *...
, Edward Cashin, George William Delamotte, John Eden and Marcus Holmes, although around 40 artists are represented in total. This collection is in the Bristol Museum
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
The Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. It is run by the city council with no entrance fee. It holds designated museum status, granted by the national government to protect outstanding museums...
.
In addition to the collection organised around Barrett's book, Braikenridge obtained more watercolours by Samuel Jackson, oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
s and watercolours by Francis Danby and drawings by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm
Samuel Hieronymus Grimm
Samuel Hieronymus Grimm was an 18th century Swiss topographical artist who worked in oils , watercolours, and pen and ink media.-Life and work:...
. The paintings by Danby were atmospheric rather than topographical.
Braikenridge had a similar but smaller collection for Somerset, created in the 1830s and based around his extra-illustration of John Collinson's History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset. For this the drawings were mainly commissioned from the local artist William Walter Wheatley. This collection is held by the Somerset County Museum
Somerset County Museum
The Museum of Somerset is located in the 12th century great hall of Taunton Castle, in Taunton in the county of Somerset, England. The museum is run by Somerset County Council and includes objects initially collected by the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society who own the...
, Taunton.
Braikenridge was also a collector of fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s. Among his specimens were the head of an ichthyosaur
Ichthyosaur
Ichthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins...
, which he retrieved in 1813 from a quarry in Keynsham
Keynsham
Keynsham is a town and civil parish between Bristol and Bath in Somerset, south-west England. It has a population of 15,533.It was listed in the Domesday Book as Cainesham, which is believed to mean the home of Saint Keyne....
, Somerset, and an ammonite
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
fossil which he discovered at Dundry
Dundry
Dundry is a village and civil parish, situated on Dundry Hill in the northern part of the Mendip Hills, between Bristol and the Chew Valley Lake, in the English county of Somerset. The parish includes the hamlets of Maiden Head and East Dundry...
, Somerset and which has been named after him: Normannites
Normannites
Normannites is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil cephalopods, the ammonites. It lived during the Jurassic Period, which lasted from approximately 200 to 145 million years ago....
braikenridgii. His collection was known to the geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
William Daniel Conybeare
William Daniel Conybeare
William Daniel Conybeare FRS , dean of Llandaff, was an English geologist, palaeontologist and clergyman. He is probably best known for his ground-breaking work on marine reptile fossils in the 1820s, including important papers for the Geological Society of London on ichthyosaur anatomy and the...
. As well as being a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
he was also a Fellow of the Geological Society
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
.