headed by Gasparoni. He also conducted a minute examination into the state of the Roman gaols.
On his return to England, Buxton eagerly threw himself into his previous plans. A baronetcy was conferred upon him 30 July 1840. For a brief period all went well with the Niger expedition, but at length there remained no doubt of its failure; and of the three hundred and one persons who composed the expedition, forty-one perished from the African fever. Sir Fowell Buxton was almost prostrated by this failure of his plans, and his health rapidly gave way.
In January 1843 the African Civilisation Society was dissolved. At its closing meeting Sir Fowell Buxton defended himself from the charge of imprudence. The ill-fated Niger expedition ultimately proved to be far from fruitless. It gave a new impulse to the African mind, and induced the emigration from Sierra Leone, which opened the way into Yoruba and Dahomey, and placed even Central Africa within the reach of British influences. The communication established between the river Niger and England opened up an important trade in cotton and other articles.
Sir Fowell Buxton now devoted himself to the cultivation of his estates. He established model farms and extensive plantations at Runton and Trimingham, near Cromer, and executed various plans of land improvement. An essay upon the management of these estates gained the gold medal of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1845.
In the spring of 1843 Sir Fowell, whose health was failing, was recommended to try the Bath waters. He died 19 Feb. 1845, and was buried in the ruined chancel of Overstrand church, near his family seat of Northrepps Hall, Norfolk. His benevolence, his complete devotion to whatever was practical, his humility, his affection for children, and his love of animals were well known. He was eminently a religious man. Although attached to the church of England, Sir Fowell Buxton never allowed sectarian differences to interfere with his friendships and labours. The education of the poor and their social improvement were the especial objects of his endeavours. The prince consort headed a move-ment for a public tribute to the memory of Sir Fowell Buxton, and it took the form of a statue by Thrupp, which is erected near the monument to Wilberforce, in the north transept of Westminster Abbey. Lady Buxton, by whom he had three sons and two daughters, died 20 March 1872.
[Memoirs of Sir T. F. Buxton, Bart., edited by his son, Charles Buxton, M.P., 1872; Times, February 1845; Annual Register, 1845; the African Slave Trade, 1839; An Inquiry whether Crime and Misery are produced or prevented by our present system of Prison Discipline, 1818; Read's Sir T. F. Buxton and the Niger Expedition, 1840; The Remedy, being a Sequel to the African Slave Trade, 1840; Binney's Sir T. F. Buxton, a Study for Young Men, 1845.]
BYAM, HENRY, D.D. (1580–1669), royalist divine, was born 31 Aug. 1580, at Luckham, Somerset, the eldest of four sons of Lawrence Byam, presented to the rectory of Luckham 19 June 1575, and married 26 May 1578 to Anne or Agnes, daughter of Henry Ewens or Yewings of Capton in the parish of Stogumber. Henry matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford, 10 June 1597, and was elected student of Christ Church 21 Dec. 1599. He graduated B.A. 30 June 1602, M.A. 9 June 1605, B.D. 9 July 1612, D.D. 31 Jan. 1643. Wood praises him as ‘one of the greatest ornaments of the university,’ and ‘the most acute and eminent preacher of his age.’ He succeeded his father (whose will was proved in the middle of July 1614) in the rectory of Luckham with Selworthy. On 17 March 1632 he was made prebendary of Exeter. His D.D. was given him by command of the king, just after he had escaped from the custody of Blake, Byam's family being the first to take up arms for the king in those parts. His living was sequestered in 1656. He accompanied Charles II to Scilly when he fled from England, and was chaplain in the isle of Jersey until the garrison surrendered. Henceforth he lived in obscurity till the restoration, when he was made prebendary of Wells, in addition to his prebend at Exeter. He died 16 June 1669 at Luckham, and was buried 29 June in the chancel of his church. Byam's wife and daughter were drowned in attempting to escape to Wales by sea during the troubles. He had five sons, four of whom were captains in the royalist army. He published: 1. ‘A Returne from Argier: a sermon preached at Minhead, 16 March 1627–8 at the readmission of a lapsed Christian to our church,’ 1628, 4to. Posthumously appeared 2. ‘XIII Sermons: most of them preached before his majesty King Charles II in his exile,’ &c., 1675, 8vo (edited, ‘with the testimony given of him at his funeral,’ by Hamnet Ward, M.D.; two of the sermons are in Latin, being a visitation sermon at Exeter, and a sermon for his B.D. degree). A bust of Byam has been placed in the Shire Hall at Taunton.
John, second son of Lawrence Byam, was born about 1583, matriculated at Exeter College 12 Oct. 1599, and graduated B.A. 30 June 1603, M.A. 25 May 1606. He
