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Humphry Repton was one of the most important landscape architects of the 18th century. His father initially worked as a tax collector. When Repton was 10 years old, his father decided to set up a transport company in Norwich. The family moved from Bury St Edmunds to Norwich where Repton attended the local school. As his father had intended for him to take over the family business, he sent him to the Netherlands at the age of 12 to train his language skills. This should help him in his future business. The young Repton then lived in Rotterdam with a friendly and wealthy family. Here Repton probably made his first acquaintance with high society. He felt comfortable in these circles and began to take an interest in art, culture and above all luxury. After four years he returned to Norwich and found an apprenticeship with a textile merchant. The work enabled him to make several trips to Germany and the Netherlands, where he became familiar with and grew to love the garden art of the regions.
Repton married Mary Clarke at the age of 32. He received a starting capital from his father and started his own business as a textile trader. But Repton was not born to be a merchant and liked to spend more than he earned. After the death of his parents he received a moderate inheritance and sold his poorly running company. With the money he bought a small country estate. Repton tried rather unsuccessfully as a journalist, author and artist. He liked to live like a landed aristocrat, but actually he lacked the money for it. So he got more and more into financial difficulties. His neighbour at that time, the politician William Windham, finally got Repton a job as his private secretary when he was appointed Chief Secretary of Ireland. Repton often travelled with Windham and made a good impression on the high society. However, Windham's term of office was very short for health reasons, which also affected Repton's employment.
Repton had to move with his family to an even smaller house. He was now 36 years old and had a family of six to feed. One of his former school friends was the botanist James Edward Smith. He encouraged Repton to dedicate himself to botany and gardening. Repton, who in the meantime had spent several years in the country and had already been interested in gardens before, took this advice. Because after the great landscape architect Capability Brown died a few years ago, there was no successor. Repton combined his moderate knowledge of gardening with his drawing skills and became very successful. He made watercolours, using overlays to show his clients what he planned for the plots. In addition to his talent, his appearance and the contacts with the upper class that he had built up over the years also played a role.
Humphry Repton was one of the most important landscape architects of the 18th century. His father initially worked as a tax collector. When Repton was 10 years old, his father decided to set up a transport company in Norwich. The family moved from Bury St Edmunds to Norwich where Repton attended the local school. As his father had intended for him to take over the family business, he sent him to the Netherlands at the age of 12 to train his language skills. This should help him in his future business. The young Repton then lived in Rotterdam with a friendly and wealthy family. Here Repton probably made his first acquaintance with high society. He felt comfortable in these circles and began to take an interest in art, culture and above all luxury. After four years he returned to Norwich and found an apprenticeship with a textile merchant. The work enabled him to make several trips to Germany and the Netherlands, where he became familiar with and grew to love the garden art of the regions.
Repton married Mary Clarke at the age of 32. He received a starting capital from his father and started his own business as a textile trader. But Repton was not born to be a merchant and liked to spend more than he earned. After the death of his parents he received a moderate inheritance and sold his poorly running company. With the money he bought a small country estate. Repton tried rather unsuccessfully as a journalist, author and artist. He liked to live like a landed aristocrat, but actually he lacked the money for it. So he got more and more into financial difficulties. His neighbour at that time, the politician William Windham, finally got Repton a job as his private secretary when he was appointed Chief Secretary of Ireland. Repton often travelled with Windham and made a good impression on the high society. However, Windham's term of office was very short for health reasons, which also affected Repton's employment.
Repton had to move with his family to an even smaller house. He was now 36 years old and had a family of six to feed. One of his former school friends was the botanist James Edward Smith. He encouraged Repton to dedicate himself to botany and gardening. Repton, who in the meantime had spent several years in the country and had already been interested in gardens before, took this advice. Because after the great landscape architect Capability Brown died a few years ago, there was no successor. Repton combined his moderate knowledge of gardening with his drawing skills and became very successful. He made watercolours, using overlays to show his clients what he planned for the plots. In addition to his talent, his appearance and the contacts with the upper class that he had built up over the years also played a role.