Robert Besley (1794–1876) was an English typographer, creator of the Clarendon typeface in 1845, and the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

in 1869.

Career

Besley was born in Exeter on 14 October 1794 and began his business life in his father’s shop where, as an apprentice, he learned the skills of printing. He married Eliza Courtney (born about 1797, died 20 September 1876) at St James Clerkenwell in 1821. Besley was taken into partnership by William Thorowgood at the

Fann Street Foundry The Fann Street Foundry was a type foundry (a company that designs or distributes typefaces) located on Fann Street, City of London. Establishment In 1794, Robert Thorne (typographer), Robert Thorne (1754-1820) acquired the type foundry of the l ...

Fann Street Fann Street is a street in the City of London, England. It runs west–east, from its junction with Aldersgate Street and Goswell Road in the west, to the junction with Golden Lane, London, Golden Lane in the east. In its original form of Fan ...

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

in 1838, having been employed as a traveller there since 1826. He worked with Thorowgood until the latter's retirement in 1849. Thorowgood had been the first to use the term "

Grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

" to describe a

Sans-Serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif (), gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than ...

typeface and the first to design one in lower case with ''Seven Line Grotesque''. When Besley created Clarendon in October 1845 he had it registered under the recently passed Ornamental Designs Act 1842, but the typeface became so popular that its rights were soon broken by people creating knock-offs, though Clarendon is still known as the first registered typeface. He retired from the type-founding business in 1861.Anthony Camp, ''On the city's edge: a history of Fann Street, London'' (2016) 24-31. Besley was elected to the City of London's

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. City of London Corporation elections , Elections are held at least eve ...

in 1854 to represent the Ward of

Aldersgate Aldersgate is a Wards of the City of London, Ward of the City of London, England, named after one of the northern City gate, gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersga ...

where his business was based. In 1861 he was elected as Aldersgate's Alderman, a role he held until his death. Besley's Civic career progressed and he was elected as a

Sheriff of the City of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

in 1863 and Lord Mayor of London in 1869. Besley also served as Chairman of the Scarborough and Whitby Railway Company and Chairman of Griffin’s Wharf as well as Governor of the Queen’s Anne Bounty, set up to support the incomes of poorer church clergy. He died at Victoria Road, Wimbledon Park on 18 December 1876, and was buried at Battersea cemetery.
This drinking fountain
was erected in 1878 in memory of 'Robert Besley Esq. Alderman of this ward and Lord Mayor of London, 1869 - 70'. The fountain was removed in 1934, but is memorialised by
Corporation of London Blue Plaque
at 107 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1. Besley is also mentioned on th
Foundation Stone of the Guildhall Library and Museum
in Basinghall Street, London, EC2.

References

External links

Image of Besley as Lord Mayor of LondonA political cartoon of Besley
and fellow members of the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's fi ...

Biographical details and imagesThree political cartoons of Besley and an oil portrait of him
1794 births 1876 deaths Sheriffs of the City of London 19th-century lord mayors of London 19th-century English politicians English typographers and type designers {{Lord-Mayor-of-London-stub