Brummell, Beau (George Bryan Brummell) (brŭm`əl), 1778–1840, English dandy and wit. Brummell was greatly admired for his fastidious appearance and confident manner. He was an intimate of the prince regent (later George IV), and as such influenced men of society to wear dark, simply cut clothes and elaborate neckwear. He is also credited with having set the fashion for trousers rather than breeches. Having quarreled with the prince, and deeply in debt from gambling, Brummell fled to France, where, ironically, he lived for 14 years in poverty and squalor. He died insane in a hospital at Caen.
(born June 7, 1778, London, Eng.—died March 30, 1840, Caen, France) English dandy. The son of Lord North's private secretary, he attended Oxford and became famous for his dress and wit as well as for his friendship with George, prince of Wales (later King George IV). The leader of English fashion of his time, he had by 1816 exhausted his inherited fortune on gambling and extravagance, and his sharp tongue had alienated his patron. He fled to Calais, France to avoid his creditors and struggled for 14 years before becoming British consul at Caen (1830–32). In 1835 his friends rescued him from debtor's prison, but he soon lost all interest in his personal appearance, and he spent his final years in a charitable asylum.
Bibliography
See biographies by H. Cole (1977).
Brummell, Beau
orig. George Bryan)
Beau Brummell, engraving by John Cooke after a portrait miniature, 1844.
(credit: Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.)
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