Alington believed that he had a responsibility to educate the workers on his Letchworth estate. He read them Shakespeare and transformed a pond on his farm into a scale model of the world. While they rowed him round the different countries in his constructed microcosm he gave introductory lectures on geography, followed by discussions and quizzes. Before taking them to London for the Great Exhibition of 1851, fearing they might get lost, Alington required them to build a large model of the streets of London, fashioned out of logs and covering the area between Hyde Park and King’s Cross. For a week he drilled his workers on the route from the railway station to the Exhibition and back again. Those learning the way from the station to the Crystal Palace wore a ribbon on their right legs; those responsible for mastering the return journey wore the ribbon on their left legs. The experiment was unsuccessful, and the trip was cancelled.
Alington was a generous man, and he held an open house six days a week. Tramps, gypsies and outcasts of all sorts were particularly welcome. Those on horseback could ride straight into his drawing room, where Alington would entertain them with ribald songs, accompanying himself on the grand piano. He enjoyed being carried around his garden in an open coffin, but was defiant at the end. In his last illness, he refused to take the proscribed medicine until his gardner had tried it for three days. Then Alington called for a tumbler of brandy, drank it and fell backwards, dead.Donaldson, W. (2004 [2002]) Brewer’s Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics, Phoenix/Orion, London, pp.11-12.
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