BRITTON, John, a topographical and antiquarian writer, was born at Kingston-St-Michael, near Chippenham, July 7, 1771. His birthplace, an old-world village of the dullest and sleepiest kind, had also the distinction of being the home of the antiquary John Aubrey. His parents were in humble circumstances, and he was left an orphan at an early age. He grew up with no better education than was to be had in the poor schools of his native Wiltshire village and neighbouring places, the last to which he was sent being at Chippenham. At the age of fourteen he became possessed of a small lot of books, and among them were Robinson Crusoe, the Pilgrim's Progress, and The Life of Peter, Czar of Muscovy. At sixteen he went to London, and through the influence of a relative was apprenticed to a wine merchant. Prevented by failing health from serving his full six years, he found himself adrift in the world, without money, without friends, and without education. In his hand-to-hand fight with poverty he was put to strange shifts, becoming cellarman at a tavern and clerk to a lawyer, reciting and singing at a small theatre, and compiling a collection of common songs. During his apprenticeship he had read much in a loose, aimless manner; and gradually by successive small ventures he found his way into the broad paths of literature. A Salisbury publisher having projected a work on Wiltshire, invited Britton to undertake its preparation. The proposal was accepted; and in conjunction with his friend Edward Wedlake Brayley, Britton set himself to the task. Such was the small beginning of the voluminous work entitled The Beq,uties of England and Wales. The Beauties of Wiltshire appeared in two volumes in 1801, a third volume being added in 1825. The authors proceeded with other counties, and ...