[Illustration: Image of and signature of _Charles Barry_]
THE
LIFE AND WORKS
OF
SIR CHARLES BARRY, R.A., F.R.S.,
_&c. &c._
BY REV. ALFRED BARRY, D.D.,
PRINCIPAL OF CHELTENHAM COLLEGE.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1867.
_The right of Translation is reserved_
LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
AND CHARING CROSS.
PREFACE.
The objects which I have had in view in the following pages, and the
spirit in which I have endeavoured to pursue them, are referred to in
the opening paragraphs of the first chapter. It remains to say a few
words on the nature of the materials at my command, and the authorities
on which my statements of fact and opinion are based.
For all narrative purposes, I have found an abundance of excellent and
trustworthy materials. My father’s architectural life is written in
outline in his own professional journals, and, in its more important
periods, has left its memorials in public and official documents of
unquestionable authority. Some of these I have quoted in the Appendix;
in other cases I have given summaries of their contents, and references
to the original documents. In all cases I may venture to profess, that I
have taken the greatest pains to ascertain clearly the facts which I
have here recorded. When I could not consult official documents, I have
depended only on personal recollection and the testimony of
eye-witnesses. Of any errors, which may still have crept in, I shall
thankfully receive correction.
I could indeed have wished to present to my readers more original
letters and extracts from Journals. These form the most valuable part of
many biographies; for, independently of any intrinsic excellence of
their own, they are full of interest, as bearing the marked impress of
personal character, and enabling the subject of the biography to speak
for himself. But here my materials fail me. My father was no great
letter-writer. His pen was indeed constantly busy in valuable
professional notes and official reports, clear in style and
comprehensive in scope, of which specimens are given in the Appendix.
But I find few characteristic letters, embodying his personal opinions
and feelings; and he does not appear to have preserved, except in a few
cases, the numerous letters from eminent persons, which he must have
received. I have had therefore to rely on personal recollection to
supply the deficiency, and to endeavour in the last chapter to describe
his private life and character, as it appeared to those who knew him and
loved him best. Nor are his Journals altogether fit for reproduction.
They are indeed invaluable as authorities. During his foreign tours they
were copious and detailed, and almost the whole of Chapter II. is drawn
from them. But they were mostly notes for practical use, and, before
they could be published, they would need alterations and developments,
which he alone had the right to give them. During his professional life
they contained simply brief memoranda of every day’s work. I could not
therefore quote them with advantage, but I have found them of the
greatest value in ascertaining facts and fixing dates, which otherwise
might have escaped me.
For all professional information and opinion,--for all, in fact, which
may give any value to the work,--I have been able to refer to my
brothers, in regard to the later part of my father’s career, with every
fact of which they were intimately acquainted. For the earlier portion I
have depended mainly on J. L. Wolfe, Esq., who was to my father the true
friend of a lifetime, almost the only person who knew well his opinions
and principles, and to whose aid and criticism he was materially
indebted. He has given me notes and information, which I have found
invaluable, especially in regard of the story of the New Palace at
Westminster, which must be the central feature of the biography. For all
the letterpress, however, I hold myself responsible. The choice of the
illustrations is due to my eldest brother. We have to acknowledge with
thanks the permission given us to use in some cases illustrations which
have already appeared. Believing that an architectural record must speak
mainly to the eye, we should gladly have given further illustrations;
instead of some which are here found, we should have wished to represent
more of the unexecuted designs, had authentic drawings been at hand; but
we conceive that those actually given, especially the large
illustrations of the Westminster Improvements, will be of great
interest, both to the profession and to the public.
With these materials at command, and with these authorities to refer to,
I have tried to tell my story, without tincturing the record with undue
partiality, or introducing into it those merely private details, either
of fact or of feeling, which appear to me to be utterly out of place in
a published narrative.
I trust also, that, in speaking of controversies, and in dwelling on
some parts of my father’s life, on which I cannot but feel strongly, I
shall be thought to have observed due moderation of expression, and due
respect for the reputation of others. In some cases I have simply stated
facts, and left it to others to draw inferences and make comments upon
them. It will not, I hope, be supposed that reticence in such cases
implies any want of strong conviction or strong feeling on my own part.
In fact, as the work has proceeded, I have felt more and more that such
reticence is forced upon a son, when he is writing his father’s life,
and I do not think that it need necessarily interfere with the
impression which the record ought to create.
The story itself may perhaps be mainly one of professional interest. But
this is a time in which Art is beginning to be recognised as an
important subject to the public; and the record of a career not
unimportant in regard of artistic progress, of the erection of one of
the largest and most important buildings of modern times, and of designs
and opinions bearing upon most public improvements now actually in
contemplation, may therefore commend itself to general notice.
I have only to say in conclusion, that the inevitable difficulties in
the task of preparation, the duty of wading through long official
documents, and the necessity of seeking in many quarters information
(which, even now, has occasionally arrived too late for use),[1] have
delayed the publication of this Memoir to a period far later than that
originally contemplated. I am far, however, from regretting this
enforced delay. Whatever interest there may be in the record of works
and opinions here given, it is not of a temporary character; and it is
clear, from many indications, that even the time, which has already
elapsed, has served to bring out public opinion more clearly, and has
tended to the formation of a true estimate of Sir Charles Barry’s
architectural genius, and of the position which his works must hold in
the progress of English Art.
A. B.
_Cheltenham, April, 1867._
ADDENDUM.
Since this work was printed, the risk alluded to in page 195, as likely
to arise from the employment of the late Mr. A. W. Pugin on the New
Palace at Westminster, has been unexpectedly realized fifteen years
after his death by some extraordinary claims put forward by his son.
These claims, referring as they do to a question raised and settled in
the life-time of those concerned, have not appeared to me to require any
notice in these pages. I have therefore left the whole passage in pp.
194-198 precisely as it was originally written, without the alteration
of a single word. It contains the exact account of the connexion which
existed between Mr. A. W. Pugin and my father, and which, I repeat, so
far as Sir Charles Barry’s knowledge and feeling were concerned, was
never broken by any dispute or estrangement, from the day when Mr. Pugin
(then a young man of 23) was first employed on the drawings of the New
Palace, until the day of his death in 1852.
A. B.
_October 22nd, 1867._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
1817.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION.
Object of the work--Birth of Charles Barry--His childhood,
schooldays, and apprenticeship--His early efforts and amusements--His
self-education and its effects on his character--His determination to
travel--His matrimonial engagement Page 1