collectors adhurst

C H Adhurst

Mr. C. H. Adhurst of Edmonton is a name provided by Walter Thornbury in his 'The Life of J. M. W. Turner RA' 'Founded on letters and papers furnished by his friends and fellow academicians'. The first edition was published in 1862. Later editions were published 1877 & 1897. There are five places called Edmonton but only two are possible for 1862; Edmonton, Middlesex, (London), England and Edmonton, Metcalfe, Kentucky, USA.

Adhurst appears in the first edition; volume 1 page 19 and again on page 75 both times in footnotes. He is said to have provided information from a manuscript book, 'Early Recollections of Mr. E. Bell, Engraver'. Thornbury wrote that this information was, 'kindly communicated to me...'; it is not clear whether Thornbury actually saw the manuscript. However, Thornbury wrote on page 75, 'I find from his (Bell's) MS notes' which suggests that Thornbury did see the manuscript.

Adhurst is said to be the source of of a claim by Edward Bell to have witnessed the painting of Turner's 'first attempt in oil', 'Sunset on the Thames near the Red_House, Battersea' (Thornbury page 75).

Note that the information is said to come from a manuscript book by Edward Bell bearing the title 'Early Recollections of Mr. E. Bell, Engraver'. This is from the footnote on page 19. It is generally assumed that this is Edward Bell.
It is not claimed that C. H. Adhurst was in possession of this book, merely that he communicated its contents to Thornbury. However, C. H. Adhurst must have had access to the book to be able to communicate its contents. From the archives at the Royal Academy, filed under the papers of James Hughes Anderdon (reference code AND), it is found that Edward Bell (engraver) died in 1849; at least, his sale was held on June 29th 1849. Anecdotally he must have been around the same age as JMW Turner, that is, born in the mid 1770's. ASCO record 19437 shows that the sale was conducted by Bremridge at Shefford, Bedfordshire which is in the registration district of Biggleswade. Bremridge may be Lovell and Bremridge (Law Times Vol 7, 1846)
The British Museum gives Anderdon's dates as 1790-1879. He was therefore 59 when he purchased Edward Bell's papers and catalogues from the 1849 sale.
The question arises as to whether the manuscript book 'Early Recollections of Mr. E. Bell, Engraver' was included in this sale and whether it was, at this time, purchased by C. H. Adhurst.According to ASCO the catalogue is in Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Thornbury does not give any indication of 'when' this knowledge was communicated. A work of this size and extent could have been ten to fifteen years in the making which could indicate that Thornbury acquired his information as early as 1847. However, the more likely scenario is that the work was commenced in 1852, just after Turner's death which would suggest a 'communication' date between 1852 and 1862. C. H. Adhurst must have been living in 1852 and must have resided in Edmonton (albeit that we do not know which Edmonton) at some time during the period 1852 to 1862.

Assuming Adhurst was 90 at the oldest when he supplied information to Thornbury, at the earliest, in 1852 then Adhurst's earliest date of birth would be 1762. Assuming that Adhurst was at least 20 when he supplied information to Thornbury, at the latest in 1862, and that he lived to no more than 90 then Adhurst's date of death would be no later than 1952. We must therefore conduct searches for Adhurst

Date of birth range: 1762 to1842
Date of death range 1852 to 1952
Date of residence in Edmonton allowing 10 years either side of the relevant dates: 1842 to 1872

Search Date of Birth

Search FreeReg for the full range.
No records

Search FreeBMD from start of records 1837 to 1842
No records

Search All Adhurst Records 1762 to 1952

Search FreeReg for the full range.
1 record, 2 week old baby died 1833 in Cheshire

Search FreeBMD to 1952
No Records

FreeReg is not a complete record set and neither search includes overseas registrations but the results suggest that no Adhurst died in the relevant period.

Search of Directories including Edmonton

Boyles 1851 - no Edmonton, no Adhurst
Boyles 1857 - no Edmonton, no Adhurst
Boyles 1860 - no Edmonton, no road names coincident with abc 1871, no Adhurst
Boyles 1863 - no Edmonton, no Adhurst

abc Court Directory 1871
Edmonton, Middlesex is on page 321 but there is no Adhurst there.

Edmonton

There are five places called 'Edmonton'. The most likely Edmonton in Thornbury's footnote is Edmonton, Middlesex but having found no Adhursts living there in the 1850's and 1860's the only other viable Edmonton is the one in Metcalfe, Kentucky, USA.

Edmonton, Middlesex, (London), England
Now in London Borough of Enfield (north London) with two postcode areas N9 & N18

Edmonton, Queensland, Australia
According to Wikipedia this Edmonton began around 1883 was named around 1911. This cannot be the Edmonton in Thornbury's footnote.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
According to Wikipedia this Edmonton was named, as Fort Edmonton, in 1821. It was a fur trading settlement. The first settlement outside the fort was in the 1870's. This cannot be the Edmonton in Thornbury's footnote.

Edmonton, Western Cape, South Africa
No substantive history for this Edmonton has been found. General histories for this region show a state of unrest. An unlikely location for Mr. C. H. Adhurst

Edmonton, Metcalfe, Kentucky, USA.
There is a Wikipedia entry for this Edmonton which shows that the town was named in 1830 whent a post office waqs opened. A reference to a street name "Adhurst Road" was wrong; a complete list of street names for this Edmonton shows no such road.