Charles Buxton was an English brewer, philanthropist, writer and member of Parliament.
Background
Buxton was born in Cobham, Surrey, the third son of Sir Thomas Buxton, 1st Baronet, a notable brewer, Member of Parliament and social reformer, and followed in his father"s footsteps, becoming a partner in the brewery of Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, & Company in Brick Lane, Spitalfields, London, and then an Member of Parliament.
Career
He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Newport, Isle of Wight (1857–1859), Maidstone (1859–1865) and East Surrey (1865–1871). Around 1850, he commissioned construction of a small detached, but ornate house, Foxholm (Grade II-listed architecturally) on Redhill Road, then in Wisley but now in Cobham, for the Chaplain to Queen Victoria. In 1860 he had his own house built on the neighbouring estate in what is today between a golf course and the Site of Special Scientific Interest which is Ockham and Wisley Commons, Foxwarren Place (Grade II*-listed architecturally).
The building is stark Neo-Gothic: polychrome brickwork, red with blue diapering, and terracotta dressings, renewed plain-tiled roofs with crow-stepped gables.
Following his father"s death, Buxton commissioned architect Samuel Sanders Teulon to design the Buxton Memorial Fountain to commemorate his father"s role, with others, in the abolition of slavery. The fountain was initially erected in Parliament Square but was later moved to its current position in Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster.
lieutenant carries the dedication:
Erected in 1865 by Charles Buxton Member of Parliament in commemoration of the emancipation of slaves 1834 and in memory of his father, Sir T Fowell Buxton, and those associated with him: Wilberforce, Clarkson, Macaulay, Brougham, Doctor Lushington and others
Membership
17th United Kingdom Parliament. 18th United Kingdom Parliament. 19th United Kingdom Parliament.
20th United Kingdom Parliament.