John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury
4 of 24 portraits of John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury
© National Portrait Gallery, London
John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury
by Lock & Whitfield
woodburytype, 1877 or before
4 3/4 in. x 3 3/4 in. (120 mm x 96 mm) image size
Acquired from George Parker
Photographs Collection
NPG x133385
Sitterback to top
- John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury (1834-1913), Banker, scientist, writer and politician; MP for Maidstone and London University. Sitter in 24 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Lock & Whitfield (active 1856-1894), Photographers. Artist or producer associated with 627 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This photograph was published in 1877 in Men of Mark, a part-work featuring portraits of eminent public figures. The inclusion of Lubbock in the volume attests to his celebrity and status within Victorian society. The accompanying biography lists in equal measure, his substantial achievements in science, politics and commerce. By the mid -1870s he had become a household name, the introduction of bank holidays being so popular they were popularly known as 'St Lubbock's Days'.
Events of 1877back to top
Current affairs
Trial of social activists Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh following their publication of a book by the American birth-control campaigner Charles Knowlton, which suggested that working class families should be able to practice birth control. Although found guilty, the case was thrown out on a technical fault.Art and science
The Grosevenor Gallery opens, founded by Sir Coutts Lindsay, as a rival to the Royal Academy. It exhibited work by artists such as Edward Burne-Jones and Walter Crane, outside of the British mainstream, and became famous as the home of the Aesthetic movement.The first Lawn Tennis Championship is held at Wimbledon with around 20 male competitors, witnessed by a few hundred spectators. Spencer Gore the first singles champion, wins 12 guineas.
International
The American inventor Thomas Edison invents the tin foil phonograph, combining the technologies of the telegraph and telephone. Experimenting with a stylus on a tinfoil cylinder, he recorded and played back the short message 'Mary had a little lamb'.Comments back to top
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