Person    | Male  Born 14/1/1644  Died 27/9/1714

Thomas Britton

Categories: Music / songs

Held weekly concerts over his coal merchant's shop in Jerusalem Passage, from 1678. Important composers such as Pepusch and, it is also rumoured, Handel, paid visits to his musical evenings.

Popularly known as "the musical small-coal man". The weekly concert series continued for 36 years and he was befriended by members of the aristocracy, who came to the music room in the converted loft over his coal house to hear some of the great performers of the day. He was also a book collector and his contributions to British intellectual life were noted by such literary luminaries as Jonathan Swift and Horace Walpole.

Poet Matthew Prior, wrote the following after Britton’s death:
Tho’ doom’d to Small Coal, yet, to Arts ally’d,
Rich without Wealth and Famous without Pride,
Musick’s Best Patron, Judge of Books and Men,
Belov’d and Honour’d by Apollo’s Train;
In Greccae or Rome, sure never did appear
So Bright a Genius, in so dark a Sphere;
More of the Man had artfully been Sav’d,
Had Kneller painted and had Vertue Grav’d.

Born Northamptonshire. Died, according to legend, from shock generated by a practical joke: one of his (supposed) friends, a magistrate, employed a ventriloquist to assume the voice of God, commanding him to his knees. He died a few days later.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Thomas Britton

Commemorated ati

Thomas Britton

Historic Site Here stood the house of Thomas Britton, 1644 - 1714, the music...

Read More

Other Subjects

The Who

The Who

Rock band.  Members: Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.

Group, Music / songs, Seriously Famous

3 memorials
John Templeton

John Templeton

Opera singer. Born near Kilmarnock, Scotland. Started singing as a boy and came to London to study to become a professional tenor. Sang the first English productions of 'Don Giovanni' and 'The Magi...

Person, Music / songs, Scotland

1 memorial
Rueben (Sleepy) White

Rueben (Sleepy) White

Discogs have a page for this artiste but it gives no personal information. There we found this cover for an album on which he worked.

Person, Music / songs

1 memorial
PRS for Music

PRS for Music

Previously known as the Performing Rights Society. They have also erected plaques to Squeeze, Jethro Tull and Blur.

Group, Music / songs

9 memorials
Gorillaz

Gorillaz

Virtual rock band. Created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. The 'group' consists of four animated members called: 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs. Their music is provided primarily by...

Group, Music / songs

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Henry Van Dyke

Henry Van Dyke

American poet.

Person, Poetry, USA

1 memorial
Richard H. Boys

Richard H. Boys

Worked at the Stock Exchange and died in WW1.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Lieut. M. Andrew
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Joseph Lefever

Joseph Lefever

Joseph William Lefever was born on 3 July 1896 in Haggerston, the third of the seven children of Joseph William Lefever (1862-1936) and Jessie Winifred Lefever née Rood (1864-1930).  He was baptise...

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Arthur Bullock
War dead, WW1
1 memorial