John Fuller

John Fuller (20 February 1757 – 11 April 1834), better known as "Mad Jack" Fuller (although he himself preferred to be called "Honest John" Fuller), was Squire of the hamlet of Brightling, in Sussex, and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1780 and 1812. He was a builder of follies, philanthropist, patron of the arts and sciences, and slave owner and a supporter of slavery. He purchased and commissioned many paintings from J. M. W. Turner. He was sponsor and mentor to Michael Faraday. Early life Fuller was born on 20 February 1757 in North Stoneham, Hampshire. He was christened in the village of Waldron, near Heathfield in Sussex, in the south of England. His parents were the Reverend Henry Fuller (15 January 1713 – 23 July 1761) and his wife Frances, née Fuller (1725 – 14 February 1778). He lost his father in 1761, when he was four. At the age of ten, in 1767, he began his education at Eton College, a famous public school in Berkshire. On 7 May 1777, Jack Fuller's uncle Rose Fuller, MP died, leaving Jack his Sussex estates and Jamaican plantations. Jack Fuller thus took possession of the Rose Hill estate (now Brightling Park) at Brightling, Sussex at the age of 20.