Life of John Claudius Loudon his wife
Early life London
Country Residences Ferm
ornee Russia Loss of
fortune Hothouses France and Italy Gardeners
Magazine Marriage Birmingham Scotland Arboretum Suburban
Gardener Cemeteries Last illness Death Anecdotes Elegy
Country Residences, 1806
In 1806 Mr. London published his Treatise on forming,
improving, and managing Country Residences, and on the Choice of
Situations appropriate to every Class of Purchasers. With an
Appendix containing an Enquiry into the Utility and Merits of Mr.
Repton's Mode of showing Effects by Slides and Sketches, and
Strictures on his Opinions and Practice in Landscape- Gardening.
illustrated by Descriptions of Scenery and Buildings, by References
to Country Seats and Passages of Country in most Parts of Great
Britain, and by 32 Engravings.
This work was much more voluminous than any of the preceding
ones, and it was ornamented by some elegant copperplate engravings
of landscape scenery, drawn by himself, which, in 1807, were
republished, with short descriptions, as a separate work.
During the greater part of the year 1806 Mr. Loudon was actively
engaged in landscape gardening; and towards the close of that year,
when returning from Tremadoc, in Carnarvonshire, the seat of W. A.
Madocks, Esq., he caught a violent cold by traveling on the outside
of a coach all night in the rain, and neglecting to change his
clothes when he reached the end of his journey. The cold brought on
a rheumatic fever, which settled finally in his left knee, and,
from improper medical treatment, terminated in a stiff joint; a
circumstance which was a source of great annoyance to him, not only
at the time when it occurred, but during the whole of the remainder
of his life. This will not appear surprising, when it is considered
that he was at that period in the prime of his days, and not only
remarkably healthy and vigorous in constitution, but equally active
and independent in mind. While suffering from the effects of the
complaint in his knee, he took lodgings at a farm-house at Pinner,
near Harrow; and, while there, the activity of his mind made him
anxiously enquire into the state of English farming. He also amused
himself by painting several landscapes, some of which were
exhibited at the Royal Academy, and by learning German, paying his
expenses, as he had done before when he learned French, by selling
for publication a pamphlet which he had translated by way of
exercise. In this case, the translation being of a popular work, it
was sold to Mr. Cadell for £15. He also took lessons in Greek
and Hebrew. The following extract from his Journal in 1806 will
give some idea of his feelings at this period - " Alas! how have I
neglected the important task of improving myself! How much I have
seen, what new ideas have developed themselves, and what different
views of life I have acquired since I came to London three years
ago! I am now twenty-three years of age, and perhaps one third of
my life has passed away, and yet what have I done to benefit my
fellow men?'
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