Remarkable Lives, Letters and Photographs
By
Philippa Burrell
Preface
In 1994, I gave a large number of my mother's (Louie Burrell) paintings and
drawings, my own papers, published and unpublished books and plays and the
Burrell national collection, of 2000 letters and 1000 photographs to the Brynmor Jones Library,
This collection of letters and photographs has since been accepted by the Royal Historical Manuscripts Commission and is available on the Web.
And it is from this collection that the giant picture book "Remarkable Lives, Letters & Photographs" (my father's travels, people whose portraits were painted by my mother and people whom I met in the course of my work) has been compiled and a commentary added.
Margetts and Luker families
In 1858, a gentleman wrote to Mr Margetts on notepaper headed with an engraving of the New Forest, with the Rufus stone marking the site of the oak tree which the arrow struck and glancing, killed King William II.
Dear Sir, I have followed your suggestion and applied to the gentleman who confirmed your assertion respecting Chaucer, enabling me to get the publisher's mistake rectified in the new issue. I will send you a prospectus of my forthcoming work which contains a fine but neglected poem by Christopher Smart. If you have not met with it before I think it will interest you. If poor Smart could write like that when he was insane what might he have done in his lucid moments had he not impaired the poisons of drink. Pray present Madame de Chatelaine's and my best regards.
And he adds, we are staying until the end of October in this cottage in this fine old forest that was new before Chaucer's time.
Mr Charles Lindsell, the artist, also wrote to Mr Margett about a miniature of his mother and tells him about the dispute he is having with Mr Burrell, the cruel injustice he is suffering and he has appealed to Sir Charles.
And Mr G Lance, of Regents Park , wrote to tell him that he lost no time in going to see his daughter's pictures, "Lobsters" and "Fruit" which, he was sorry to say were badly hung in the British Gallery, that she must not be cast down as some of the greatest men this country has produced have gone through this grievous ordeal, their work crowned with success eventually.
Tom King Margetts was a painter, a carver, a
designer of stained glass, a collector of old furniture and an authority on
prints. Every window of his house on the
Rare prints hung against these backgounds and
exquisite articles of furniture and bric-a-brac were crowded into the rooms
which, after his death, when the family declined - and
His elder child was disappointing. Epileptic from birth, he forced him (for
his own good of course) into work which he hated and in course of time the boy
rebelled and took refuge in his own way from a dominating parent. He went mad.
Later, when his father died and his mother came to live in
Whenever he could elude this man, his favourite pastime was to slip out of
the house with a piece of silver or porcelain, even a print or picture (his
sister's house was now filled with the contents of the
Scattering treasures in this way, so happily avenging himself, he managed to
get rid of much that his father had spent his whole life hoarding. One of these
presentations was traced to the
Elizabeth Margetts writing after the death of Frank, her mad but endearing son, in an asylum
Perhaps it was partly the hopeless disposition of his son which made Tom Margetts turn so vehemently towards his daughter,
Still-life painting was then the fashion and together, father and daughter
would travel up to
His faith and his efforts were soon justified. Her pictures were well hung
at the British Gallery (which became the
She was 18 when she met another young painter who, like herself, had risen rapidly to the notice of the critics and the public and was being delightfully battered by their praises and extravagant predictions.
William Luker came from a family of small country
squires in
The Musical Aunts
When her father realised what was happening, he was frantic. He entreated her to consider what she was doing, he implored her to recover from her foolishness, reminding her of the high calling of the artist and of her duty to dedicate her life to her talent - beside which marriage and child-bearing were commonplace and contemptible. But his passionate appeals were of no avail. She married her dear William and never painted again.
She had twelve children (of whom six survived), a large house and servants to manage and an adoring husband who took his own genius extremely seriously but was totally oblivious of hers. And hers was always the greater.
The Uncles
William & Ada" - William was born in Faringtonin 1828 and died in Kensington in 1905.
"
Willie
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