Elhanan Bicknell

Elhanan Bicknell (21 December 1788 – 27 November 1861) was a successful London businessman and shipowner. He used his wealth as a patron of the arts, becoming one of the leading collectors of contemporary British art. Early life Elhanan Bicknell was born 21 December 1788, in Blackman Street, London, the son of William Bicknell, serge manufacturer, and Elizabeth Bicknell, née Randall, of Sevenoaks, Kent. His father had attended John Wesley's school at Kingswood, Bristol, and entertained Wesley in Blackman Street when he came to preach at Snow's Fields in Southwark. Another minister who was a family friend was Elhanan Winchester, author of Universal Restoration; after whom the son was named. William Bicknell bought the copyright of this work in the year of his son Elhanan's birth, and on finding that he had made money on the deal, gave it back to the author in 1789. Elhanan Bicknell was educated by his father, who, having established a school at Ponder's End in 1789, when Elhanan was an infant, removed it to Tooting Common in 1804; and there among Elhanan's schoolfellows, was Thomas Wilde, afterwards Lord Chancellor Truro.