Flaxman Charles John Spurrell

Who was Flaxman Charles John Spurrell?

Flaxman Charles John Spurrell, the archaeologist, geologist and photographer, was born in Mile End, Stepney, London, the eldest son of Dr. Flaxman Spurrell, M.D., F.R.C.S., and Ann Spurrell. Shortly after his birth, his father moved to Bexley, Kent; later, Flaxman lived at The Priory, Picardy Road, Belvedere, now home to the Priory Conservative Club. Spurrell Avenue in Bexley was named after Flaxman.

In the 1860s he began to examine flint implements in and around Crayford in Kent, and over the following decades published a large number of articles for the Kent Archaeological Society, the Essex Archaeological Society and Royal Archaeological Society, as well as other societies and groups. In 1895 he presented a number of pre-historic remains to the Natural History Museum, and later donated material to the Norwich Castle Museum.

He was a close friend of the egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie, whom he helped to record discoveries made in, for example, Naqada and Tell el-Amarna in Egypt.

Flaxman Spurrell was also interested in photography, and some of his photographs are currently held by English Heritage.