Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lysons, Daniel (1762-1834)

by Gordon Goodwin ‎

LYSONS, DANIEL (1762–1834), topographer, born on 28 April 1762, was the eldest son of Samuel Lysons, rector of Rodmarton and Cherrington, Gloucestershire, by Mary, daughter of Samuel Peach of Chalford in the same county (Burke, Landed Gentry, 4th edit. p. 921). From Bath grammar school he proceeded to Oxford, matriculating from St. Mary Hall on 26 March 1779 (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1715–1886, iii. 887). He graduated B.A. in 1782, M.A. in 1785. Taking orders, he became in 1784 curate of Mortlake, and about 1790 curate of Putney, Surrey. During his residence there he commenced his survey of the environs of London. In this design he was encouraged by Horace Walpole, earl of Orford, who appointed him his chaplain, and to whom he dedicated the work. On the death of his uncle, Daniel Lysons, M.D. (1727–1800) [q. v.], he inherited Hempstead Court and the family estates in Gloucestershire. In 1804 he succeeded to the family living of Rodmarton, which he handed over to his son Samuel in 1833. Lysons died at Hempstead Court on 3 Jan. 1834, and was buried at Rodmarton. He married, first, at Bath, on 12 May 1801, Sarah, eldest daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Thomas Carteret Hardy, of the York fusiliers, and by her, who died in 1808, had Daniel (1804–1814), Samuel (1806–1877) [q. v.], and two daughters. He married, secondly, on 2 July 1813, Josepha Catherine Susanna, daughter of John Gilbert Cooper of Thurgarton Priory, Nottinghamshire, and had a son, Daniel (b. 1816), now general, G.C.B., and constable of the Tower, and a daughter. Lysons was F.S.A. (1790), F.R.S. (1797), and F.L.S. A portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A., was in 1868 in the possession of the Rev. Samuel Lysons.

Lysons's principal work is entitled ‘The Environs of London, being an Historical Account of the Towns, Villages, and Hamlets within twelve miles of that Capital,’ 4 vols. 4to, London, 1792–6. In 1800 he issued in a separate volume ‘An Historical Account of those Parishes in the County of Middlesex which are not described in the Environs of London,’ 4to, London. A second edition of the ‘Environs’ was published by Lysons in 1811, and in the same year he printed a ‘Supplement to the First Edition,’ consisting of very important additions and corrections. Many of the illustrations accompanying the book were drawn and etched by the author. The whole forms a work of permanent value; the arrangement is clear and the style interesting; while the copious extracts from the parochial registers, though occasionally inaccurate, are useful to the biographer and genealogist. Lysons also furnished the letterpress for ‘Views of Hampton Court Palace,’ fol. (London, 1800), and for ‘Twenty-nine [twenty-seven] Views illustrative of D. Lysons's “Environs of London,” drawn and engraved by W. Ellis,’ 4to, London, 1814.

In conjunction with his brother Samuel (1763–1819) [q. v.], Lysons next undertook the compilation of a ‘Magna Britannia, being a concise Topographical Account of the several Counties of Great Britain. With copious Illustrations,’ vols. i–vi. 4to, London. The first volume was published in 1806, containing Bedfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, and it was continued in the alphabetical order of the counties, with material additions to the plan during its progress, as far as Devonshire, which appeared in 1822. After the death of his brother Lysons had not sufficient strength to carry on the work to its conclusion. Many of the illustrations were drawn by the authors. Some ‘Further Additions and Corrections to Magna Britannia’ were published in 1815, 4to, London. The original correspondence, miscellaneous collections, sketches, and drawings relating to ‘Magna Britannia’ are in the British Museum Additional MSS. 9408–71. The brothers are stated to have supplied the letterpress description for ‘Britannia Depicta: a Series of Views of the most interesting and picturesque Objects in Great Britain, engraved from Drawings by Messrs. Hearne, Farington, Smith, Turner, Alexander,’ &c., 6 pts. oblong 4to, London, 1806–18.

Lysons also published:

1. ‘Select Psalms … To which are added a few Hymns for Festivals,’ &c. [anon.], 12mo, London, 1799.
2. ‘A Sketch of the Life and Character of the late Charles Brandon Trye, Esq., F.R.S.,’ 4to, Gloucester, 1812; another edit. 32mo, Oxford, 1848.
3. ‘History of the Origin and Progress of the Meeting of the Three Choirs of Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford, and of the Charity connected with it. To which is prefixed a View of the Condition of the Parochial Clergy of this Kingdom,’ &c., 8vo, Gloucester, 1812; another edit., ‘continued down to the present time by J. Arnott,’ 4to, London (1865).
4. ‘Fifteen Sermons taken from the Discourses of Jeremy Taylor. To which are added three Sermons preached upon public occasions by Daniel Lysons,’ 8vo, Gloucester, 1818.
5. ‘A View of the Revenues of the Parochial Clergy of this Kingdom, from the earliest times,’ 8vo, Gloucester, 1824.

In the British Museum are eight volumes of newspaper cuttings, mostly collected by Lysons, with title-pages printed at Strawberry Hill, and arranged as follows:

1. ‘Collectanea; or a Collection of Advertisements and Paragraphs from the Newspapers, relating to various Subjects,’ 2 vols. fol., 1660–1825.
2. ‘Another Collection, relating to Giants, Dwarfs, Balloons,’ &c. With portraits and plates, manuscript notes and index, 5 vols. fol., 1661–1840.
3. ‘Cuttings from Newspapers of 1726–56, relating chiefly to the Life and Orations of John Henley,’ fol.

His portrait by Dance has been engraved by Daniell.

[Gent. Mag. 1834, i. 558–9; Nichols's Lit. Anecd. vols. i. ii. iii. ix.; Nichols's Illustr. of Lit. vol. vi.; Walpole's Letters (Cunningham), vol. ix.; Gloucestershire Notes and Queries, ii. 535; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists, 1878, p. 279; Evans's Cat. of Engraved Portraits, ii. 255.]

G. G.