Castle Drogo is a country house and mixed-revivalist castle near Drewsteignton, Devon, England. Constructed between 1911 and 1930, it was the last castle to be built in England. The client was Julius Drewe, the hugely successful founder of the Home and Colonial Stores. Drewe chose the site in the belief that it formed part of the lands of his supposed medieval ancestor, Drogo de Teigne. The architect he chose to realise his dream was Edwin Lutyens, then at the height of his career. Lutyens lamented Drewe's determination to have a castle but nevertheless produced one of his finest buildings. The architectural critic Christopher Hussey described the result: "The ultimate justification of Drogo is that it does not pretend to be a castle. It is a castle, as a castle is built, of granite, on a mountain, in the twentieth century".
Kingsbridge is a market town in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of Kingsbridge. Their combined population at the above census was 4,381. It is situated at the northern end of the Kingsbridge Estuary, a ria that extends to the sea six miles south of the town. It is the third largest settlement in the South Hams and is 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Torquay and 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Plymouth.
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet Buxton of Belfield and Runton was an English Member of Parliament, brewer, abolitionist and social reformer. He married Hannah Gurney, whose sister became Elizabeth Fry, and became a great friend of her father Joseph Gurney and the extended Gurney family.
Richard Rathbone was a member of the noted Rathbone family of Liverpool in England.
John Scoble was a Congregational minister, British abolitionist and political figure in Canada West.
Samuel Gurney was an English banker and philanthropist from the Gurney family of Norwich. He should not be confused with his second son, Samuel (1816–1882), also described as banker and philanthropist, and a Member of Parliament.
George William Alexander (1802–1890) was an English financier and philanthropist. He was the founding treasurer of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1839. The American statesman Frederick Douglass said that he "has spent more than an American fortune in promoting the anti-slavery cause ..."
George Bradburn was an American politician and Unitarian minister in Massachusetts known for his support for abolitionism and women's rights. He attended the 1840 conference on Anti-Slavery in London where he made a stand against the exclusion of female delegates. In 1843 he was with Frederick Douglass on a lecture tour in Indiana when they were attacked. Lydia Maria Child wrote with regard to his work on anti-slavery that he had " a high place among the tried and true."
George Head Head was a mayor, magistrate, banker and mine owner in Carlisle. The bank was started by his father, but was improved and rebuilt in his lifetime. He attended an important convention in 1840 on Anti-Slavery, where a painting records his involvement.
John Harfield Tredgold was an English chemist in the Cape Colony in Africa. He held a number of voluntary roles including Secretary of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. The suburb of Cape Town called Harfield drew its name from Tredgold's middle name.
Richard Tapper Cadbury was an English draper, abolitionist and philanthropist. He came to Birmingham in 1794 and started a linen draper's business in partnership with a fellow Quaker. His children included John Cadbury, who was given help to start a tea and coffee business that would develop into Cadbury's. Successive later members of the family became important in the manufacturing and charity sectors, chiefly from their wealth and innovations in chocolate.
Sir John Jeremie was a British judge and diplomat, Chief Justice of Saint Lucia and Governor of Sierra Leone. He was given an award in 1836 for advancing "negro freedom" after accusing the judges in Mauritius of bias. He understood that colour prejudice and slavery were different problems.
Mary Anne Rawson (1801–1887) was an abolitionist who also a campaigned with the Tract Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society, for Italian nationalism and against child labour. She was first involved with a Sheffield group, which successfully campaigned for people to boycott sugar from the West Indies, as it was produced by slave labour. She is pictured attending the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840.
William Dawes was a 19th century abolitionist who worked at Oberlin College.
Rev. John Keep was a trustee of Oberlin College from 1834 to 1870. Keep and William Dawes toured England in 1839 and 1840 gathering funds for Oberlin College in Ohio. They both attended the 1840 anti-slavery convention in London.
Loddiswell is a parish and village in the South Hams district of Devon, England. It lies on the west side of the River Avon or Aune and is three miles NNW from Kingsbridge. There is evidence of occupation going back to Roman times. The villages most famous son and benefactor was Richard Peek who retired here after being one of the Sheriffs of London. The name Loddiswell is a corruption of Saint Loda's well, named after one of the many saints that occurred all over the westcountry, especially in Cornwall.
George Stacey (1787–1857) was a leading English Quaker and abolitionist. He was active in trying to prevent a schism within the Quakers.
Walter Prideaux was a poet and lawyer. Prideaux rose to be clerk to Goldsmiths' Hall. He was involved in record setting balloon flight.
Julius Charles Hendicott Drewe was an English businessman, retailer and entrepreneur who founded Home and Colonial Stores, and who ordered the building of Castle Drogo in Devon.
Richard Allen (1803–1886) was a draper, a philanthropist and abolitionist in Dublin. Allen raised £20,000 to help the Irish famine by writing letters to America.
