Ayton's Cumberland
Richard Ayton was an early 19th Century traveller, writer and humanitarian. He had concluded that there were many books already available that described either journeys between or visits to major towns that were situated within the United Kingdom. He saw there was nothing similar for the coastal strip of our country. To correct this he set off on an epic journey to completely to circumnavigate the coast line; and the result of this journey is described in several volumes that were entitled “A Voyage Round Great Britain.”
The writer was accompanied by William Daniell both as his travelling companion and the illustrator of the published volumes. It would appear that they took at least two years to complete their journey.
It has been stated that Richard Ayton left the project after visiting Whitehaven and the remainder of the text was written by William Daniell. There is certainly a change in style after Whitehaven. Ayton died before the volumes covering the complete journey were published
The completed volumes were published by Messrs Longman & Co. and William Daniell, of London, in 1817.