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Joseph Strutt (engraver and antiquary)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Strutt was an English
engraver, artist, antiquary and writer.
, Essex
, the youngest son of Thomas Strutt by his wife Elizabeth (daughter of John Ingold, miller, of Woodham Walter
, near Maldon, Essex) - the mill belonged to his father, a wealthy miller. When Joseph was little more than a year old, his father died, leaving his mother to bring up Joseph and his elder brother John - the latter born a year or two earlier, and going on to become a physician in Westminster
, London. John was educated at King Edward's school
, Chelmsford (where there is a house
named after him), and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to the engraver, William Wynne Ryland
.
in London, and was awarded one of the first silver medals to be presented by the Academy; the following year he took one of the first gold medals. In 1771 he became a student in the reading-room of the British Museum
, whence he drew the materials for most of his antiquarian works. His first book, "The Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of England", appeared in 1773. For it he drew and engraved from ancient manuscripts representations of kings, costumes, armour, seals, and other objects of interest, this being the first work of its kind published in England.
He spent the greater part of his life in similar labours, his art in service to his antiquarian and literary researches. Between 1774 and 1776 he published the three volumes of his "Manners, Customs, Arms, Habits etc. of the People of England", and in 1777–8 the two volumes of his "Chronicle of England", both large quarto
works, profusely illustrated, and involving a vast amount of research. Of the former a French edition appeared in 1789. The latter Strutt originally intended to extend to six volumes, but he failed to obtain adequate support. At this period he resided partly in London, partly at Chelmsford, but made frequent trips away for the purposes of antiquarian study.
On 16 August 1774 he married Anne Blower (daughter of Barwell Blower, dyer, of Bocking, Essex), and took a house in Duke Street, Portland Place
. On her death in September 1778 he wrote an elegiac poem to her memory, published anonymously in 1779; for the next seven years he then devoted his attention to painting, and exhibited nine pictures, mostly classical subjects, in the Royal Academy. From this period date several of his best engravings, executed in the "chalk" or dotted style which had been introduced from the Continent by his master, Ryland.
After 1785 Strutt resumed his antiquarian and literary researches, and brought out his ‘"Biographical Dictionary of Engravers" (2 vols. 1785–6).
, where he lived in seclusion, carrying on his work as an engraver, and devoting his spare time to the establishment of a Sunday and evening school. At Bramfield he executed several engravings of exceptional merit, including thirteen after designs by Thomas Stothard
included in John Bradford
's edition of the "Pilgrim's Progress" (London, 8vo, 1792) . He also gathered the materials for more than one posthumously published work of fiction, besides writing a satirical romance relating to the French revolution, which exists in manuscript.
In 1795, having paid his debts and his health having improved, Strutt returned to London and resumed his researches. Almost immediately he brought out his ‘Dresses and Habits of the English People’ (2 vols. 1796–1799), probably the most valuable of his works. This was followed by his well-known ‘Sports and Pastimes of the People of England’ (1801), which has been frequently reprinted.
After this Strutt (now in his fifty-second year) commenced a romance, entitled "Queenhoo Hall", after an ancient manor-house at Tewin, near Bramfield. It was intended to illustrate the manners, customs, and habits of the people of England in the fifteenth century. Strutt did not live to finish it. After his death the incomplete manuscript was placed by the publisher John Murray I
in the hands of Walter Scott
, who added a final chapter, bringing the narrative to a somewhat premature and inartistic conclusion. It was published in 1808 in four small volumes. Scott admits in the general preface to the later editions of "Waverley" that his association with Strutt's romance largely suggested to him the publication of his own work.
Strutt died on 16 October 1802 at his house in Charles Street, Hatton Garden
, and was buried in St. Andrew's
churchyard, Holborn
.
Strutt's portrait in crayon by Ozias Humphrey
, R.A., is preserved in the National Portrait Gallery.
, aged 58, on 12 Nov. 1833 leaving a widow and a large family.
Strutt's younger son, William Thomas Strutt (1777–1850), was born on 7 March 1777. He held a position in the bank of England, but won a reputation as a miniature painter. He died at Writtle
, Essex, on 22 Feb. 1850, aged 73, leaving several sons, one being William Strutt of Wadhurst, Sussex, who, with his son, Mr. Alfred W. Strutt, carries on the artistic profession in this family to the third and fourth generations.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
engraver, artist, antiquary and writer.
Childhood
Strutt was born at Springfield Mill in ChelmsfordChelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, the youngest son of Thomas Strutt by his wife Elizabeth (daughter of John Ingold, miller, of Woodham Walter
Woodham Walter
Woodham Walter is a village about three miles west of Maldon in the English county of Essex. The village is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district.-History:...
, near Maldon, Essex) - the mill belonged to his father, a wealthy miller. When Joseph was little more than a year old, his father died, leaving his mother to bring up Joseph and his elder brother John - the latter born a year or two earlier, and going on to become a physician in Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, London. John was educated at King Edward's school
King Edward VI Grammar School (Chelmsford)
King Edward VI Grammar School, or KEGS, is a British grammar school located in the town of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It takes pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 — from Year 7 to 11 the pupils are exclusively male, although it becomes mixed in the sixth form .The present headteacher is Thomas...
, Chelmsford (where there is a house
House system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
named after him), and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to the engraver, William Wynne Ryland
William Wynne Ryland
William Wynne Ryland was an English engraver.-Life and work:Ryland was born in London, the eldest of seven sons of Edward Ryland , an engraver and copper-plate printer. He studied engraving under Ravenet in London, and, in Paris, drawing under François Boucher and engraving under Jacques-Philippe...
.
Early career
In 1770, he became a student at the Royal AcademyRoyal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in London, and was awarded one of the first silver medals to be presented by the Academy; the following year he took one of the first gold medals. In 1771 he became a student in the reading-room of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, whence he drew the materials for most of his antiquarian works. His first book, "The Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of England", appeared in 1773. For it he drew and engraved from ancient manuscripts representations of kings, costumes, armour, seals, and other objects of interest, this being the first work of its kind published in England.
He spent the greater part of his life in similar labours, his art in service to his antiquarian and literary researches. Between 1774 and 1776 he published the three volumes of his "Manners, Customs, Arms, Habits etc. of the People of England", and in 1777–8 the two volumes of his "Chronicle of England", both large quarto
Quarto
Quarto could refer to:* Quarto, a size or format of a book in which four leaves of a book are created from a standard size sheet of paper* For specific information about quarto texts of William Shakespeare's works, see:...
works, profusely illustrated, and involving a vast amount of research. Of the former a French edition appeared in 1789. The latter Strutt originally intended to extend to six volumes, but he failed to obtain adequate support. At this period he resided partly in London, partly at Chelmsford, but made frequent trips away for the purposes of antiquarian study.
On 16 August 1774 he married Anne Blower (daughter of Barwell Blower, dyer, of Bocking, Essex), and took a house in Duke Street, Portland Place
Portland Place
Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London, England.-History and topography:The street was laid out by the brothers Robert and James Adam for the Duke of Portland in the late 18th century and originally ran north from the gardens of a detached mansion called Foley House...
. On her death in September 1778 he wrote an elegiac poem to her memory, published anonymously in 1779; for the next seven years he then devoted his attention to painting, and exhibited nine pictures, mostly classical subjects, in the Royal Academy. From this period date several of his best engravings, executed in the "chalk" or dotted style which had been introduced from the Continent by his master, Ryland.
After 1785 Strutt resumed his antiquarian and literary researches, and brought out his ‘"Biographical Dictionary of Engravers" (2 vols. 1785–6).
Late career
In 1790, his health having failed, and having fallen into debt through the dishonesty of a relative, Strutt took up residence at Bacon's Farm, Bramfield, HertfordshireHertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, where he lived in seclusion, carrying on his work as an engraver, and devoting his spare time to the establishment of a Sunday and evening school. At Bramfield he executed several engravings of exceptional merit, including thirteen after designs by Thomas Stothard
Thomas Stothard
Thomas Stothard was an English painter, illustrator and engraver.-Life and work:Stothard was born in London, the son of a well-to-do innkeeper in Long Acre, London. A delicate child, he was sent at the age of five to a relative in Yorkshire, and attended school at Acomb, and afterwards at...
included in John Bradford
John Bradford (dissenting minister)
John Bradford , was an English dissenting minister.Bradford, was born at Hereford in 1750, the son of a clothier, educated at Hereford grammar school, and at Wadham College, Oxford, where he took the degree of B.A. On leaving college he accepted a curacy at Frilsham in Berkshire, where he married...
's edition of the "Pilgrim's Progress" (London, 8vo, 1792) . He also gathered the materials for more than one posthumously published work of fiction, besides writing a satirical romance relating to the French revolution, which exists in manuscript.
In 1795, having paid his debts and his health having improved, Strutt returned to London and resumed his researches. Almost immediately he brought out his ‘Dresses and Habits of the English People’ (2 vols. 1796–1799), probably the most valuable of his works. This was followed by his well-known ‘Sports and Pastimes of the People of England’ (1801), which has been frequently reprinted.
After this Strutt (now in his fifty-second year) commenced a romance, entitled "Queenhoo Hall", after an ancient manor-house at Tewin, near Bramfield. It was intended to illustrate the manners, customs, and habits of the people of England in the fifteenth century. Strutt did not live to finish it. After his death the incomplete manuscript was placed by the publisher John Murray I
John Murray (publisher)
John Murray is an English publisher, renowned for the authors it has published in its history, including Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Byron, Charles Lyell, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Herman Melville, and Charles Darwin...
in the hands of Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, who added a final chapter, bringing the narrative to a somewhat premature and inartistic conclusion. It was published in 1808 in four small volumes. Scott admits in the general preface to the later editions of "Waverley" that his association with Strutt's romance largely suggested to him the publication of his own work.
Strutt died on 16 October 1802 at his house in Charles Street, Hatton Garden
Hatton Garden
Hatton Garden is a street and area near Holborn in London, England. It is most famous for being London’s jewellery quarter and centre of the UK diamond trade, but the area is also now home to a diverse range of media and creative businesses....
, and was buried in St. Andrew's
St Andrew, Holborn
St Andrew, Holborn is a Church of England church on the northwestern edge of the City of London, on Holborn within the Ward of Farringdon Without.-Roman and medieval:Roman pottery was found on the site during 2001/02 excavations in the crypt...
churchyard, Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
.
Strutt's portrait in crayon by Ozias Humphrey
Ozias Humphrey
Ozias Humphry was a leading English painter of portrait miniatures, later oils and pastels, of the 18th century. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1791, and in 1792 he was appointed Portrait Painter in Crayons to the King Ozias Humphry (or Humphrey) (8 September 1742 – 9 March 1810)...
, R.A., is preserved in the National Portrait Gallery.
Family
Strutt left two sons. The elder, Joseph Strutt jnr. (1775–1833), was born on 28 May 1775. He was educated at Christ's Hospital and afterwards trained in Nichols's printing office, but eventually became librarian to the Duke of Northumberland. Besides editing some of his father's posthumous works, he wrote two "Commentaries" on the Holy Scriptures, which ran to several editions. He also contributed a brief sketch of his father's life to Nichols's "Literary Anecdotes" (1812, v. 665–86). He died at IsleworthIsleworth
Isleworth is a small town of Saxon origin sited within the London Borough of Hounslow in west London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of settlement, alongside the Thames, is known as...
, aged 58, on 12 Nov. 1833 leaving a widow and a large family.
Strutt's younger son, William Thomas Strutt (1777–1850), was born on 7 March 1777. He held a position in the bank of England, but won a reputation as a miniature painter. He died at Writtle
Writtle
The village of Writtle lies a mile west of Chelmsford, Essex, England, it has a traditional village green, complete with duck pond and a Norman church; and was once described as: 'one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravishing variety of ancient cottages'...
, Essex, on 22 Feb. 1850, aged 73, leaving several sons, one being William Strutt of Wadhurst, Sussex, who, with his son, Mr. Alfred W. Strutt, carries on the artistic profession in this family to the third and fourth generations.
Legacy
Although the amount of Strutt's work as an engraver is small, apart from that appearing in his books, it is of exceptional merit and is still highly esteemed. In the study of those branches of archæology which he followed he was a pioneer, and all later work on the same lines has been built on the foundations he laid. Besides the works mentioned, two incomplete poems by him, entitled "The Test of Guilt" and "The Bumpkin's Disaster", were published in one volume in 1808.External links
- Portraits of Joseph Strutt (National Portrait Gallery, London)
- Works by Joseph Strutt (National Portrait Gallery, London)