Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/235

 Brandon accompanied by plans of each drawn to a uniform scale and a short letterpress description. It was first published in parts between March 1846 and December 1847. The work is a faithful record of antiquities which few can visit for themselves. Their 'Analysis of Gothic Architecture' (London, 1847), which the authors say aims at being a practical rather than an historical work on English church architecture, consists of a collection of upwards of 700 examples of doors, windows, and other details of existing ecclesiastical architecture industriously compiled from actual measurements taken from little known parish churches throughout the country, with illustrative remarks on the various classes of items. The last of the series, and probably the most useful to the profession, is their 'Open Timber Roofs of the Middle Ages' (London, 1849), a collection of perspective and geometric and detail drawings of thirty-five of the best roofs found in different parish churches in eleven different English counties, with an introduction containing some useful hints and information as to the timber roofing of the middle ages. The drawings given show at a glance the form and principle of construction of each roof, and the letterpress proves how fully the authors appreciated the spirit of the mediæval builders. The work 'serves the one useful and necessary purpose of showing practically and constructively what the builders of the middle ages really did with the materials they had at hand, and how all those materials, whatever they were, were made to harmonise' (Builder, xxxv. 1051). Of Brandon's original professional labours the best known are the large church in Gordon Square, London, executed in conjunction with Mr. Ritchie for the members of the catholic apostolic church; the small church of St. Peter's in Great Windmill Street, close to the Haymarket; and a third in Knightsbridge, unfortunately not favourably situated for architectural display. In these he faithfully endeavoured to carry out the mediæval spirit and mode of work, and no doubt in the first case he has to a great extent succeeded. But he failed to become a successful architect. His temperament was over-sensitive, and he latterly fell into extreme mental dejection; on 8 Oct. 1877 he committed suicide by shooting himself in his chambers, 17 Clement's Inn. His wife and one child predeceased him.

(1802-1847), architect and joint author with his brother, John Raphael Brandon, prosecuted his profession with zeal and ability, and had before his early death at the age of twenty-five attained what promised to become a considerable practice, particularly in church architecture, for which his studies along with his brother and the fame of their joint publications so well fitted him. The brothers were most intimately associated in their professional studies and labours, and their names cannot be separated.

 BRANDON, RICHARD (d. 1649), executioner of Charles I, was the son of Gregory Brandon, common hangman of London in the early part of the seventeenth century, and the successor of Derrick. Anstis tells the story that Sir William Segar, Garter king of arms, ignorant of the elder Brandon's occupation, was led by Ralph Brooke, York herald, to grant him a coat of arms in December 1616 (Register of the Garter, ii. 399). Both father and son were notorious characters in London, the former being commonly called 'Gregory,' and the latter 'Young Gregory,' on account of the elder Brandon's long tenure of office. From an early age 'Young Gregory' is said to have prepared himself for his calling by decapitating cats and dogs. He succeeded his father shortly before 1640 (Old Newes Newly Revived, 1640). In 1641 he was a prisoner in Newgate on a charge of bigamy, from which he seems to have cleared himself (The Organ's Eccho, 1641). He was the executioner of Strafford (12 May 1641) and of Laud (10 Jan. 1644-5) (cf. Canterbury's Will, 1641). Brandon asserted, after judgment had been passed on Charles I (27 Jan. 1648-9), that he would not carry out the sentence. On 30 Jan., however, he was 'fetched out of bed by a troop of horse,' and decapitated the king. He 'received 30 pounds for his pains, all paid in half-crowns, within an hour after the blow was given,' and obtained an orange 'stuck full of cloves' and a handkerchief out of the king's pocket; he ultimately sold the orange for 10s. in Rosemary Lane, where he lived. He executed the Earl of Holland, the Duke of Hamilton, and Lord Capel in the following March, with the same axe as he had used on the king, suffered much from remorse, died on 20 June 1649, and was buried the next day in Whitechapel churchyard. On 15 Oct. 1660 William Hulett, or Hewlett, was condemned to death for having been Charles's executioner; but three witnesses asserted positively that Brandon was the guilty person, and their statement is corroborated by three tracts, published at the time of Brandon's death—'The Last Will and Testament of Richard Brandon, Esquire, headsman and hangman to the Pretended Parliament,' 1649;