Reflexión en tanto a la formación

w ith Sir W alter Scott. This appears to have been a particular pre­ occupation w ith James Burton jn r and a Canadian uncle, Revd

Haliburton, who returned b riefly to Britain to pursue this connection. James Jnr later changed his surname to Haliburton - the original fam ily

e n trie s u p u n til a b o u t 1804 c o n c e n tra te p rin c ip a lly on business m a tte rs and h ow m uch m oney James was w o rth . S low ly, h ow ever, th e d ia ry becomes m ore o f a social re c o rd n o tin g such events as a t S eptim us's c h ris te n in g in S eptem ber 1794 ‘M rs B w o re p o w d e r' (u n d e rlin e d ) and in J u ly 1806 a b a ll was h e ld fo r h is d a u g h te r E liza a t Q u a rry H ill [B u rto n 's house in K ent]. A n e n try on 9 th M arch 1807 discusses a p a rty a t B edford Place (one o f the m any London houses occu pie d b y th e B urto n s) w here a m u sica l evening was h e ld w ith guests in c lu d in g s ig n o r B a rto lo z z i and s ig n o r F e rra ri (a n o p e ra s in g e r).

It w o u ld be m isle a d in g to assume i t was o n ly James's rise in social status and w ea lth th a t encouraged h im to tra in Decim us. There is also ro o m fo r a re -e v a lu a tio n o f h is ow n career e sp ecia lly as regards h is b u ild in g a c tiv itie s p re c l8 1 0 . His su b sta n tial c o n trib u tio n to the tow n p la n n in g and u rb a n developm ent o f London is discussed in the n e xt tw o chapters. B ut h is d ia ry also m e n tio n e d several c o u n try houses w h e re he appears to have been in v o lv e d in th e d e sig n a n d im p ro v e m e n t o f them . In 1791 he tra v e lle d to C irencester fo r a M r T yn d a le to make designs fo r a new m ansion. His d ia ry also notes th a t he m ade a lte ra tio n s to M o o r P ark, S u rre y 1794-7 and e n la rg e d Leiston O ld A bbey S u ffo lk and S treatham M anor House in 1795. In 1806 he w o rke d on S tonew all Park, C hid d le sto n e K ent and a d ia ry note o f 1 N ovem ber 1810 states ‘set o u t w ith M r R epton the site o f M r C h ild re n s ' house - T he M o u n t'. M o re o v e r, Jam es's h a n d lin g o f D ecim us's tra in in g m ay have been in flu e n c e d b y Soane's p ra ctice in h is o ffic e as the tw o m en knew each o th e r and m e t s o c ia lly in th e

1810s. 15 Soane fe lt d ra fts m a n s h ip was a n e s s e n tia l p a rt o f a rc h ite c tu ra l tra in in g an d p ra c tic e an d even sent h is less g ifte d p u p ils fo r special tu itio n . James B u rto n m ay have been fo llo w in g Soane’ s exam ple here b y e m p lo yin g George M addox (1760-1843) as D ecim us’ s tu to r. 16 M a d d o x was a c tin g as an a s s is ta n t in S P C o c k e re ll’ s o ffic e in S a vile Row in 1796 b u t m ade h is liv in g p rin c ip a lly th ro u g h th e tu itio n o f d ra fts m a n s h ip an d d ra w in g to a rch ite cts. I t is im possible to gauge i f Decim us showed precocious o r little ta le n t fo r d ra w in g . Few o f h is draw ings su rvive and m any are unsigned a n d /o r undated. A n d the num be r o f assistants o r d ra ftsm a n in D ecim us’s o ffic e is also unknow n. But the fa c t M addox was used b y James in D ecim us’ s tra in in g in d ic a te s James’ s re c o g n itio n o f th e im p o rta n c e o f d ra fts m a n s h ip in a rc h ite c tu ra l p ra c tic e . I t is p ro b a b ly th ro u g h C o cke re ll th a t M addox m e t James B u rto n and becam e tu to r to h is son D ecim us. M addox was re sp o n sib le fo r a n u m b e r o f shop fro n t designs in London in th e 1820s. He e x h ib ite d p rin c ip a lly a t the R oyal Academ y and the S ociety o f B ritis h A rtis ts w o rk in g in b o th o il and w a te rc o lo u r. His fam e as an a rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g m aster fa r exceeded h is design ta le nts and h is m ost fam ous p u p ils a lo n g sid e B u rto n in c lu d e d George G ilb e rt S cott w ho p ra ise d M addox’s a b ility as a d ra ftsm a n . T his fa c t was also re co gn ize d b y D ecim us as he p re s e n te d an a lb u m o f sketches o f c la s s ic a l co m p ositio n s b y M addox to th e R oyal In s titu te o f B ritis h A rc h ite c ts