Alfred Felton (8 November 1831 – 8 January 1904) was an Australian entrepreneur, art collector and philanthropist.

Biography

Alfred Felton was born at

Maldon, Essex Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced i ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the fifth child of six sons and three daughters of William Felton, a

currier A currier is a specialist in the leather-processing trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade a ...

, and his wife Hannah.Poynter, John. 2003. ''Mr Felton's Bequests''. Melbourne: The Miegunyah Press. Felton travelled to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

on the ship ''California'' in 1853 intending to search for gold. In 1857, he was in business in

Collins Street, Melbourne Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in the first survey of Melbourne, the original 1837 Hoddle Grid, and soon became the most ...

, as a commission agent and dealer in merchandise, and in 1859 was an importer and general dealer. In 1861 he was in business in

Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically bisects Melbourne's city centre and is famous as the wor ...

as a wholesale druggist. In 1867 Felton went into partnership with Frederick Sheppard Grimwade and founded Felton Grimwade and Company, "wholesale druggists and manufacturing chemists". As the business grew over the years, the partners acquired interests in associated industries such as the Melbourne Glass Bottle Works, and fertiliser company Cuming Smith & Company. Felton also purchased two large estates, Murray Downs and Langi Kal Kal in partnership with merchant and pastoralist Charles Gordon Campbell, a founding partner in Cuming Smith & Company. Upon Felton's death, his share in the Estates were sold to Campbell. Felton's wants were few and he never married. He gave away considerable amounts to charity, and formed large collections of pictures and books which at times threatened to push him out of his rooms at the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne. He died there on 8 January 1904, and was buried at

St Kilda Cemetery St Kilda Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East, Victoria. History St Kilda Cemetery covers a large block bordered by Dandenong Road, Hotham Street, Alma Road and Alexandra Street. It is bounded by a historic wall and cont ...

.Death notice
'' The Argus'' 9 January 1904 page 9 In 2005, Melbourne Grammar Grimwade House opened "The Alfred Felton Hall" in honour of Felton.

Felton Bequest

Alfred Felton had no direct descendants. In his will, he established a philanthropic trust, known as the Felton Bequest.Felton Bequest Committee Report 2012
/ref> The Bequest has been established to support culture and the community, with half the funding benefiting Victorian charities (particularly those that support women and children) and the other half used to acquire and donate art works to the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

. After the payment of legacies and probate duties, the residue of the estate was £378,033, a huge sum, the equivalent of about A$35 million at 2000 values. The Gallery selected a number of works from Felton's personal collection for retention by it, and the remainder was sold at auction, the proceeds being added to the Bequest. Over its life, the Felton Bequest has contributed funds to many charitable purposes and projects in Victoria and has acquired numerous works of art which it has donated to the National Gallery of Victoria. The acquisition funds available to the Gallery, through the Bequest, exceed those of London's National and

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

galleries combined. Soon after the establishment of the Felton Bequest, the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

occurred in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

government that came to power there sold a part of the collections of such museums as the Hermitage,

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

, part of which was acquired by the Felton Bequest for the National Gallery of Victoria. The Felton Bequest has also been used to buy many masterpieces of

Australian art Australian art is a broad spectrum of art created in or about Australia, or by Australians overseas, spanning from Prehistory of Australia, prehistoric times to the present day. The art forms include, but are not limited to, Indigenous Australi ...

. Since the bequest was created, more than 15,000 art works have been acquired through the Felton Bequest, the current total value of which has been estimated at more than A$2 billion. These works are the core of today's National Gallery of Victoria collection, and have made the Gallery's collections celebrated around the world.

References

*J. R. Poynter,
Felton, Alfred (1831 - 1904)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 4,

Melbourne University Press Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. The press is currently a member of the Association of University Presses. History MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text ...

, 1972, p. 162. Retrieved on 18 October 2008 *

External links

Felton SocietyAnother Felton's biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felton, Alfred 1831 births 1904 deaths Australian philanthropists Businesspeople from Melbourne Philanthropists from Melbourne English emigrants to colonial Australia Australian art patrons 19th-century Australian businesspeople Burials at St Kilda Cemetery People from the Colony of Victoria