Richard Dykes Alexander (15 August 1788 – 1865) was a businessman and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

based in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Family life

He was the son of Dykes Alexander (1763–1849) and Hannah Brewster. His parents were

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

, and he followed his father into the banking business in Ipswich. In 1810, he married Ann Dillwyn, daughter of

William Dillwyn William Dillwyn (1743, Philadelphia – 28 September 1824) was a British American-born Quaker of Welsh descent, active in the abolitionist movement in colonial America and after 1774, Great Britain. He was one of the twelve committee members of th ...

and Sarah Dillwyn of

Higham Lodge Higham Lodge or Higham Hill Lodge was a building in Walthamstow built in the late 17th century. It was expanded by the William Dillwyn after he took over the building. Dillwyn married Susan Weston, who inherited nearby High Hill from her father Le ...

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

. He built Alexander House for his family on the junction of St. Matthews Street and Portman Road. In 2009, this building was refurbished for use as student flats. Ann Dillwyn's sister, Lydia Dillwyn, married John Sims, making their son, William Dillwyn Sims, a local industrialist, his nephew.

Business career

Richard went into his father's banking business at the age of 15, becoming a partner when he reached the

age of majority The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when a person ceases to be considered a minor (law), minor, and assumes legal control over their person, actions, and decisions, thus te ...

, i.e., 21. He retired around 1830 for health reasons and devoted himself to religious and worthy causes. Nevertheless, he retained some business appointments until his death: he was chairman of the

Ipswich Dock The Ipswich Docks, Ipswich wet dock, and the wet dock are a series of docks in the Port of Ipswich located at a bend of the River Orwell, which has been used for trade since at least the 8th Century. A wet dock was constructed in 1842, which was ...

Commission and the Ipswich branch of the Suffolk Alliance Fire Office. He was also a director of the Ipswich Water Works Company.

Other activities

He played a major role in the local Quaker community and in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

. He was a friend of

Thomas Clarkson Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known ...

, who lived in nearby

Playford, Suffolk Playford is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in Suffolk, England, on the outskirts of Ipswich. It has about 215 residents in 90 households. The name comes from the Old English '' plega'' meaning play, sport; used of a pla ...

. They shared

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

sympathies and were both committee members of the

Peace Society The Peace Society, International Peace Society or London Peace Society, originally known as the Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace, was a British pacifist organisation that was active from 1816 until the 1930s. History Fo ...

. In 1849, he was the founder of the Ipswich Ragged School, based in Waterworks Street. He attended the first meeting of the

Ipswich and Suffolk Freehold Land Society Ipswich and Suffolk Freehold Land Society (FLS) was founded in 1849 as part of the "forty-shilling freeholders movement" which developed across England. Its aim was to enable "the ordinary man" to obtain sufficient property to meet the requirements ...

, at which he took on the role of President for the organisation. When he provided land for development in the 1850s, he ensured that some streets should be named after several abolitionists. These included Dillwyn Street, which could refer to his father-in-law, William, or the anti-slavery MP,

Lewis Weston Dillwyn Lewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS (21 August 1778 – 31 August 1855) was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Whig Member of Parliament (MP). Biography He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn and Sarah Dillw ...

, his brother-in-law.

Photography

He became a noted pioneer of photography and was supported in this by William Cobb who acted as his assistant and ran a photography business across the road from him in London Road. Three years after Alexander's death, Cobb sold his business to

William Vick William Vick (1833, Ebley – 15 April 1911, Merton) was an English photographer active in Ipswich, Suffolk from 1868 until the 1890s. William was baptised in King's Stanley, Gloucestershire on 25 August 1833. He was the son of a millwright ...

. Despite complaining that his health had been seriously damaged by the exposure to chemicals he subsequently ran a family photography business in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

. His nephew

John Dillwyn Llewelyn John Dillwyn Llewelyn (12 January 1810 – 24 August 1882) was a Wales, Welsh botanist and History of photography, pioneer photographer. Early life He was born in the parish of Llangyfelach, Swansea, Wales, the eldest son of Lewis Weston Dil ...

and niece

Mary Dillwyn Mary Dillwyn (1816 – December 1906) is considered to be the earliest female photographer in Wales, who took photographs of flowers, birds, animals, family and friends in the 1840s and 1850s. She provided a raw insight to the domestic lives o ...

shared his interest in photography.

Gallery

Richard Dykes Alexander - Maria Candler - Google Art Project.jpg, Maria Candler, Essex abolitionist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Richard Dykes 1788 births 1865 deaths 19th-century English photographers English bankers English Quakers Photographers from Suffolk 19th-century British businesspeople