Author: Kitchiner, William Brown
Biography:
KITCHINER, William Brown (1804-61: ODNB)
Kitchiner's only published book is dedicated to his wife, "all that is good and amiable." The long-winded preface, dated from the fashionable address of Wilton Crescent, London, pays tribute to his father, "the late Dr. Kitchiner" and reveals that like his father, the author is also a composer. His father William Kitchiner (1778-1827), a wealthy collector, musician, and author of successful cookbooks, claimed to have attended Eton and to have earned a medical degree at Glasgow; neither claim was true. His only son was illegitimate but acknowledged, the consequence of a liaison with Elizabeth Gifford. He attended Charterhouse and matriculated at St. John's College, Cambridge, but left without a degree. Dr. Kitchiner died of a heart attack the day before executing his intention of changing his will to disinherit his son, so Brown did inherit. On 2 Sept. 1828 he married Georgiana Macdonnell (or Macdonel) Edgeworth (1808-79) at St. George's, Hanover Square; they had one surviving daughter, Julia Macdonnell Kitchiner, who was born on 5 Jun. 1831 and baptised at St. George's on Aug. 17. According to ODNB, Brown Kitchiner died impoverished at Ostend, Belgium, in 1861, but at the time of her death in 1879 his widow had reverted to the surname Edgeworth and was still resident at Wilton Crescent. ("Kitchiner, William," ODNB 8 Jun. 2021; ancestry.com 8 Jun. 2021; findmypast.com 8 Jun. 2021) HJ
Other Names:
- W. Brown Kitchiner