ABSTRACT
One day in March 1841 a young man of twenty-nine named Newson Garrett brought his wife and four children by sea from London to Aldeburgh. The 200-ton Suffolk hoy had carried them a cold and comfortless journey, buffeted by the North Sea scour. Once under the high shingle bank of the River AIde, they had to steer a nine-miles’ course through brigs, wherries, driftwood and floating sea-wrack before Aldeburgh – a sudden hill, a square embattled church tower and three windmills – appeared on the skyline. Young Newson Garrett settled in Islington, and in the alien bustle of London made his way to his sister-in-law’s parents at the Beehive Inn, Crawford Street, Marylebone. He found a cheerful, prosperous house and in the landlord, John Dunnell, a man of substance. The Dunnell family made Newson Garrett welcome, both as a Suffolk man and as Richard’s younger brother.
