Edward Alexander Wyon (1842; London – 1872;

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

) was a London architect and poet, descended from the Wyon family of engravers. His only known building is St John the Evangelist Church in

Hollington, Hastings Hollington is a council estate and wards of the United Kingdom, local government ward in the northwest of Hastings, in the Hastings district, in the county of East Sussex, England. The area lies next to Baldslow, Ashdown, North and Conquest, an ...

in East Sussex. His posthumous publication, ''A Memorial Volume of Poems'' (1874), continues to be reprinted in the 21st century. He died in Hastings prior to his thirtieth birthday.

Biography

Ancestry

His father was Edward William Wyon (1811–1885), a sculptor born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, Surrey,Census 1861: RG/9/102/138; p.37. who belonged to the Wyon family of engravers and medallists. Edward Alexander's grandfather was Thomas Wyon the elder (1792–1817), and his uncles were Thomas Wyon the younger, and Benjamin Wyon (1802–1858). Edward Alexander's mother was Elizabeth Smyth, (born

St James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...

1820; died

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

1890).GRO index: death; Elizabeth Wyon; age 70; Barnet; Sept 1890; vol.3a; p.131. His parents were married in 1841, at Marylebone, London.GRO index: Marriage Edward William Wyon; Marylebone; Dec 1841; vol.1; p.170.

Edward Alexander and his siblings

Edward Alexander Wyon was his parents' eldest son, born in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

or St Pancras in the last quarter of 1842.GRO index: birth; Edward Alexander Wyon; Dec 1842; Bloomsbury; Vol.1; p.54. In 1851 he was eight years old and a scholar, living at 36 Stanhope Street, St Pancras, with his father, mother, sister Florence Elizabeth Riddel (born St Pancras 1850),GRO index: birth; Florence Elizabeth Riddel Wyon; St Pancras; Kime 1850; vol.1; p.334. his brother Charles William John (1845–1856)GRO index: births; Charles William John Wyon; St Giles; Mar 1845; vol.1; p.60. GRO index: death; Charles William John Wyon; Marylebone; Sept 1856; vol.1a; p.310. and general servant Mary Anderson.Census 1851: HO/107/1493; p.7. In 1861 he, his parents, his sisters Florence and Jessie Mary Ann (born St Pancras 1855)GRO index: birth; Jessie Mary Ann Wyon; St Pancras; June 1855; vol.1b; p.104. and a servant Susannah Tayler were at 221

Euston Road Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to Kings Cross, London, King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston ...

, St Pancras. At age eighteen he was already calling himself an architect. In 1871 he was living with his mother at 70 Mornington Road, St Pancras, his two sisters and general servant Eliza Green;Census 1871: RG10/202; p.32. his father lived next door. He died in

in the first quarter of 1872, aged 29 years.GRO index:Death; Edward Alexander Wyon; Hastings; Mar 1872; Vol.2b; p.28. He never married.

After his death

Edward Alexander Wyon is credited with the authorship of the posthumous book, ''A Memorial Volume of Poems'' (1874). His sister Florence married in 1879 at Marylebone, to Reverend Charles James Goody (born 1835).GRO index: Marriage; Florence Elizabeth Riddel Wyon; Mar 1879; Marylebone; vol.1a; 718. Their son, Charles Edward Goody (born 1881) and Edward Alexander's nephew, was an Oxford undergraduate in 1901.Census 1901: RG13/1233/45; p.23.GRO index: birth; Charles Edward Goody; Barnet; Dec 1881; vol.3a; p.206. His sister Jessie Mary Ann Wyon never married; she died about the same time as her mother in 1890 in Barnet, aged 35 years.GRO index: death; Jessie Mary Ann Wyon age 35; Barnet; Sept 1890; vol.3a; p.130.

Professional life and works

He practised from an office in Duke Street, London.Adelphi (KD/L). His only known work is St John the Evangelist Church, Hollington, constructed between 1865 and 1868 by engineer

John Howell & Son John Howell & Son, known as John Howell, was the leading building and engineering company in Hastings, Sussex in the 1860s. Its founder, John Howell Senior (ca.1825−1893) engineered churches and other public buildings in the area to the design ...

It is built with

Bath Stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

dressings; it has one

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

on the south side and a south-east tower. There was a finial on the slimmer, round tower; removed in the 20th century. It was consecrated by

Ashurst Gilbert Ashurst Turner Gilbert (14 May 1786 – 21 February 1870) was an England, English churchman and academic, Principal (academia), Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1822 and bishop of Chichester. Life The son of Thomas Gilbert of Ratclif ...

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...

, in April 1868. This church is not listed.

References

Bibliography

* Forrer, Leonard, ''The Wyons'' (1917) * Wyon, Edward Alexander, ''A Memorial Volume of Poems by the Late Edward Alexander Wyon (1874)'' (2008, Kessinger Publishing) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyon, Edward Alexander 1842 births 1872 deaths 19th-century English poets 19th-century English architects Artists from London English male poets 19th-century English male writers Architects from London