Robert Besley

Robert Besley (1794–1876) was an English typographer, creator of the Clarendon typeface in 1845, and the Lord Mayor of London in 1869.

Career

Besley was born in Exeter on 14 October 1794 and began his business life in his father’s shop where, as an apprentice, he learned the skills of printing.

He married Eliza Courtney (born about 1897, died 20 September 1876) at St James Clerkenwell in 1821. Besley was taken into partnership by

Sans-Serif typeface and the first to design one in lower case with Seven Line Grotesque.^[2]^[3]

When Besley created Clarendon in October 1845 he had it registered under the recently passed Ornamental Designs Act of 1842.,^[4] but the typeface became so popular that its rights were soon broken by people creating knock-offs, though Clarendon is still known as the first Registered typeface.^[5]

Besley retired from the type-founding business in 1861

Sheriff of the City of London

in 1863 and the Lord Mayor of London in 1869.

Besley also served as Chairman of the Scarborough and Whitby Railway Company and Chairman of Griffin’s Wharf as well as Governor of the Queen’s Anne Bounty, set up to support the incomes of poorer church clergy.

He died at Victoria Road, Wimbledon Park on 18 December 1876, and was buried at Battersea cemetery.

A drinking fountain was erected in 1878 in memory of 'Robert Besley Esq. Alderman of this ward and Lord Mayor of London, 1869 - 70'. It was removed in 1934, but is memorialised by a Corporation of London Blue Plaque at 107 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1.

References

^ A History of the Old English Letter Foundries, Talbot Baines Reed, 1887
^ The First Sans Serif Graphic Design History, 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
^ Alexander Lawson's Anatomy of a Typeface on Google Books
^ Anthony Camp, On the City's Edge: a history of Fann Street, London (2016) 24-31; the design was not patented.
^ Article Archived 2008-08-23 at the Wayback Machine on Popperfont.com, Fontlove section, by David Ng. Citing a thesis essay from Mitja Miklavcic, 2006.^{[dead link]}
^ Anthony Camp, On the city's edge: a history of Fann Street, London (2016) 24-31.