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WORTHIES OF LEEDS.
'VIR BONUS EST COMMUNE BONtJM."
'VIRTUS POST EUNERA vtvit."
' V1V1MUS IN POSTERIS."
! DUM YIVIMUS, VTVAMUS."
THE
IOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS;
OR,
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF THE
ORTHIES OF LEEDS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD,
Jfrcm % $jfo*man Cmqnxsi ta % ^nztnt tmt;
tfPILED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, AND ARRANGED IX CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER :
WITH AX
INTRODUCTION ON THE STUDY OF BIOGRAPHY,
AXD COPIOUS INDEXES.
REV. E. V. TAYLOR, B.A.,
CURATE OF ST. BARNABAS', HOLBECK ;
•>f King's College, London ; and formerly an Assistant Master in the Leeds Grammar School, <tc.
" The worth of a State in the long run is the worth of the individuals
composing it."— J. S. Mill.
"An honest man's the noblest work of God."— Pope.
LONDON:
MPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., STATIONERS' HALL COURT.
LEEDS: JOHN HAMER, 7, BRIGGATE.
MDCCCLXV
' DEO, PATRLE, AMICIS.
[JEtitmti at Stationers* $all]
"DA
<x_
THESE
''BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE WORTHIES OF
LEEDS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD/'
ARE, BY PERMISSION, MOST RESPECTFULLY
gcbitateu to
EDWARD BAINES, Esq., M.P. ;
GEORGE SORROW BEECEOFT, Esq., M.P. ;
The Rev. CANON ATLAY, D.D.. Vicab;
The Rev. WILLIAM GEORGE HENDERSON, D.C.L.,
HEAD-1IASTZR OF TUE GKAMMAH SCHOOL;
JOHN BLOSSET MAULE, Esq., Recorder:
JOHN DAPtNTON LUCCOCK, Esq., Mayor ;
OBADIAH NUSSEY, Esq., ex-Mayor;
JOSEPH OGDIN MAJRCH, Esq., late ex-Mayor ;
BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT,
THE COMPILER.
ENGLISH LOCAL
'non progredi, est begredi."
PREFACE.
A LOXG preface is generally a waste both of time and
paper, being scarcely ever read, especially by the young,
for whom these Biographical Sketches are chiefly intended.
Therefore, to plunge in medias res, it may be stated that
the greater part of these Sketches, especially the earlier
ones, were written out some years ago, during the time
the compiler was an Assistant-Master at the Leeds Gram-
mar School; certainly not with the intention of being
printed, but solely for his own information and amuse-
ment. Having been absent from Leeds, more or less, for
about seven or eight years, and having noticed during
that time, in the local journals, obituary notices of some
of the most eminent men of his native town; and on his
return, about two years ago (in June, 1863), having also
observed the great progress and improvement that had
taken place, and was taking place, in Leeds and neighbour-
hood, not only as regards the population, the places of
business, the streets, and public buildings, but also as
regards the moral, social, and religious condition of the
people, he offered his Sketches of local Worthies, as they
then were, or rather portions of them, to Mr. John Hamer,
printer and publisher, who had succeeded Mr. Heaton, for
insertion in the Leeds Herald (a Monthly Journal and
Railway Time Table), which were at once accepted. After
eight or nine contributions had appeared, the compiler
found, on making a more extensive search, that his
materials increased much faster than they were wanted,
and that it would take a very long time to exhaust them
at the rate of two or three pages a month. He therefore
expressed a wish to have them, when re-written and
enlarged, re-published in a separate form, and at as low a
price as possible. Prospectuses were issued, and in a very-
short period upwards of 300 copies were subscribed for.
8 I'REFACE.
The number of copies now bespoke, as may be seen from
the subscription list, amount to upwards of 650 ; and
many more names might have been obtained, if it had
been thought absolutely necessary. Doubtless such a
work has been frequently contemplated from Thoresby's
time to our own. Several, somewhat similar, have been
published in other parts of the country; therefore why
should not Leeds, which has been styled the Metropolis
of the West-Riding of Yorkshire, have also a book of its
Worthies?
The author is exceedingly obliged to all the subscribers,
but especially to the earlier ones, who not only gave
in their names for two or more copies, but also allowed
him to retain them (notwithstanding a little opposition),
thereby evincing their confidence in him. He only hopes
that they may be satisfied with the book as a whole. Of
course, as a first attempt, it will have many shortcomings.
Many things, doubtless, will have been inserted that ought
not to have been inserted; and many more things omitted
that ought not to have been omitted; but the size and
small price of the book, with many urgent engagements,
must be an excuse to a certain extent. It is the first of
its kind, at all events, in this neighbourhood, and it is to
be hoped that it will not be the last. Why should not
each large town or city have a similar, if not a superior,
collection? And not merely "Biographical Sketches of
their Worthies," but also a Local (as well as a National)
Portrait Gallery? There is now a decided tendency in
that direction: may it grow and flourish!
The compiler's object in publishing this book has
certainly not been to make money, because the little
he will receive from it will not half or quarter repay
him for his trouble, &c. But the work has been a
labour of love; and if it afford only a tenth part of the
pleasure to the reader that it has to the compiler, it will
not have been written in vain. His thanks are due to
those who have forwarded contributions, and also to those
who have kindly revised these Biographical Sketches*
* Here it might be observed that by revising the Sketch is meant merely
looking it over and passing it, if free from error ; if facts have been wrongly
stated, correcting them : thus it is, as it were, a general voucher for the
PKEFACE. 9
But his best thanks are chiefly due to the Messrs.
Baines and to Mr. Kemplay, for their great kindness in
allowing him to examine those volumes of the Leeds
Mercury and the Leeds Intelligencer which are not in
the Leeds Library, without which these Sketches, especially
the later ones, woidd have been very meagre indeed.
Much valuable information has also been derived from the
biographical notices in the Gentleman's Magazine, &c.
It will be said, perhaps, that the merits of all, or most
of the Leeds Worthies, have previously been recorded by
contemporary writers. They have, at least to a certain
extent, by Thoresby, Whitaker, and by a few others, as in
the local newspapers, whose ponderous and costly folios
can only be consulted in great public repositories, or in
the libraries of the wealthy — mostly inaccessible, and
always inconvenient, to the general mass of readers, and
still more so to the majority of those who reside in the
neighbouring villages. And these notices are very fre-
quently in detached fragments, and rarely brought together
under one connected view.*
His principal aim, therefore, has been to collect and
arrange these scattered notices, and to gather together in
one volume these Biographical Sketches of the Worthies
of Leeds and neighbourhood. Disclaiming all pretensions
to authorship in the compilation of these Biographical
accuracy of the statements, without the revisers being at all responsible for
any eulogistic phrases the Sketches may contain. Several gentlemen have
desired their names to he omitted on that account ; many have been, others
"were received too late; hut with this explanation, it is to be hoped that they
will all be satisfied. It was the only way of insuring accuracy, and their
names being attached, takes the responsibility off the compiler's shoulders,
and makes the burden much easier to be borne when there are many, and
several of them well able to bear it. Many of the Sketches were examined,
and returned unaltered; many only slightly corrected, and several were not
returned at all, it being, perhaps, considered unnecessary. Thus the Sketches,
as they appear, are almost wholly as they were when written.
* It was intended to have had as a Frontispiece a fine Engraving of the
Leeds Town Hall, or a first-class wood Engraving of Thoresby's portrait ; but
the expense of printing such a vast amount of matter in the shape of Notes,
which must otherwise have been omitted, has been so great, that the small
profits leave no room, unfortunately, for either the one or the other. — There
must almost of necessity, in a work of this character, be occasionally some
slight repetition, either in the text or notes, which cannot altogether be
avoided ; neither is it, perhaps, at all times desirable that it should be,
seeing that with a little repetition much new information is always recorded.
1 PREFACE.
Sketches, he is still disposed to think they will not be
found deficient in interest, or wanting in variety.
This work professes no more than to introduce to the
reader a slight acquaintance (for further information
references are given to larger works, in connection) with
the several Worthies that have been born in, or connected
with, this large and important town and neighbourhood.
As it comprises characters in every profession, of all par-
ties, and several religious denominations, the author has
not undertaken to decide upon the professional merits of
those whose Lives he has endeavoured to depict, but has
faithfully detailed the judgments which have obtained
public credit. As to matters of opinion, whether political
or religious, his rule has been to make each speak for
himself in his own words, or by his own actions. He
enters into no engagement to withhold his own sentiments
occasionally; but he does not judge, much less condemn,
the judgment of others.
Should a second edition of this work be desired in
two or three years' time, the compiler would then endea-
vour to make it much more worthy of the public support
than it is at present. Contributions, corrections, &c,
might be sent to the publisher, Mr. John Hamer, at the
Mercury office, Leeds; or to the Rev.
EICHAED VICKEEMAN TAYLOE.
CtReen-Mount Terrace,
Holbeck, Leeds, April, 1865.
11
CONTENTS; or, CHRONOLOGICAL LIST.
PAGE
4
7
13
Dedication
Preface
List of Subscribers . . . .
Some of the principal Books written
or published by Leeds men . . IS
Works referred to in this volume 25
list of Leeds Vicars, Head Masters
of the Gram. School, Ministers of
St. John's Church, Majors, &c. . . 2S
Introduction.
On the Study of Biography . . . . 33
x.v. The Norman Barons.
1109. Ralph Paganel 47
1136. "William Paganel . . . . 53
1152. Richard de Courey . . . . 56
1186. Paul in us de Leedes . . . . 53
1195. Robert Fitz Harding . . . . 59
1199. Robert de Gaunt . . . . 60
1230. Maurice de Gaunt . . . . 01
The Worthies of Leeds, dc.
1394. Sir Hugh Calverley . . . . 65
1412. Rev. Robert Passelew . . . . 69
1413. Sir "SVilliam Gascoigne . . 70
1469. Rev. Thomas Clarel . . . . 72
1472. Rev. "William Evre, B.D. .. 73
1499. Right Rev. John Frazer . . 74
1566. Henry, Lord Darnley . . 74
1587. Christopher Saxt on .. ..76
1614. Rev. Robert Cooke, B. D. . . 77
1630. Right Hon. Sir John Saville . . 78
1632. Rev. Alexander Cooke, B.D. 80
1632. Edward Fairfax 81
1643. Sir Ralph, Lord Hopton . . 83
1644. William Gascoigne . . . . 86
1648. Rev. Henry Burton, B D. . . 87
1651. Rev. Peter Saxton, M. A. .. 88
1654. Sir Ferdinand Leigh, Bart. 90
1656. John Harrison, Esq 91
1660. Rev. William Styles, M.A. 97
1661. Rev. Robert Todd, A.M. .. 98
1663. Rev. Henry Robinson, B.D. 100
1669. Rev. Elkanah Wales, A.M. .. 102
1670. Adam Baynes, Esq., M.P. 103
1671. Gen. Sir Thomas, Lord Fairfax 103
1676. Gervas Xevile, Esq. . . 107
1678. Rt. Rev. J. Margerison, D.D. 100
1680. John Hopkinson, Esq. . . 109
1683. Rev. Marmaduke Cooke, D.D. Ill
1684. Sir George Rawden, Bart. . . 112
1689. Right Rev. John Lake, D.D. .. 113
1689. Mr. William Lodge . . . . 116
1702. Rev. John Milner, B.D. ..117
1705. Sir William Lowther, M.P. 119
1707. Rev. Dr. Joseph Hill . . . . 120
1712. First Duke of Leeds, K.G. 123
1716. Rev. John Killingbeck, B.D. .. 123
1710. Robert Kitchingman, Es'i. 128
1725. Ralph Thoresbv, Esq., F.R.S. 128
1728. Rev. Joseph Boyse .. .. 135
1729. William I ongreve .. .. L36
1785. Mr. Thomas Bridges .. 143
1788. Rev. Henry Robinson, M.A. .. 144
Died
A.I>. PAGE
1739. Lady Elizabeth Hastings .. 146
1740. William Milner, Esq 150
1742. Rev. Richard Bentley, D.D. 152
174.".. Rev. Joseph Cookson, M.A. .. 15S
1749. Sir Walter Calverley, Bart. 160
(1745 .General Guest .. .. .. 163
1755. Rev. Thomas Magney, D.D. 164
1757. David Hartley, M.A., M.D. .. 164
1761. Sir Henry Ibbetson, Bart. . . 163
1765. Sir Thomas Denison, Knight . . 169
1768. Rev. Richard Baron .. 170
1772. George (Fox\ Lord Bingley .. 173
1772. Robert Stansfleld, Esq. .. 174
1777. Rev. Francis Fawkes, M.A. .. 174
1778. First Earl of Mexborough . . 1,7
1778. Charles Ingram, Visct. Irwin 178
1782. William Denison, Esq. .. 180
1782. Jeremiah Dixon, Esq., F.R.S. 181
1784. Rev. Thomas Adam, B.A. 183
1786. Rev. Samuel Kirshaw, D.D. .. 183
1788. Benjamin Wilson, Esq., F.R.S. 185
1788. Rev. Sir Wm. Lowther, Bart. . . 186
1791. John Berkenhout, Esq., M.D. 187
1792. John Smeaton, Esq., F.R.S. .. 191
1792. Right Rev. C. Wilson, D.D. 200
1794. Lieutenant C. H. Nevile .. 203
1794. Rev. Guy Fairfax .. .. 203
1795. First Lord Harewood . . . . 204
1797. Rev. Joseph Milner, M.A. 205
1 798. Thomas Maude, Esq 20S
1799. Lieutenants Nevile . . . . 209
1S00. Rev. Newcome Cappe . . . . 210
1801. Mr. Thomas Wright . . 213
1801. Lieutenant Samuel Predham . . 217
1804. Rev. J. Priestley, LL.D., F.R.S. 217
1805. Mr. Gervas Storr . . . . 227
1806. Joseph Denison, Esq. . . 223
1808. Rev. William Wood, F.L.S. .. 232
1809. Captains Walker and Beckett 237
1810. Robert Davison, Esq., M.D. .. 237
1810. Rev. Wm. Sheepshanks, M.A. 239
1811. Rev. Miles Atkinson, B.A. .. 242
1811. Sir William M. Milner, Bart. 242
1813. Rev. Joseph Jowett, LL.D. .. 247
1814. Mr. Samuel Birchall .. 253
1814. James Lucas, Esq. .. .. 253
1814. Rev. James Scott, D.D. .. 254
1815. Rev. Peter Haddon, M.A. .. 259
1815. Rev. John Hey, D.D. .. 260
1815. Mr. John Ryley 262
1816. Rev. Joseph WMteley, M.A. 263
1817. Joshua Walker. Esq., M.D. .. 264
1817. Mr. Herbert Knowles .. 266
1819. William Hey, Esq., F.R.S. .. 267
1819. Mr. Matthew Talbot .. 274
1820. First Earl of Harewood .. 275
1820. VeryRev.I.Milner,D.D., F.R.S. 277
1821. James Lane) Fox, Esq., M.P. 283
1-21. /.'• i\ Thomas Mnrrjan, LL.D. 283
1821. Rev. T.D.AVhitaker, LL.D., (fee. 286
1825. Sir James Graham, Bart., M.P. 294
1825. W "alter U. Fawkes, Esq., M.P. 296
1S20. Mr. Matthew Murray .. 298
12
Died
A.n.
1826.
1826.
1S26.
1S26.
1826.
1827.
1828.
1828.
1828.
1829.
1830.
1830.
1830.
1830.
1831.
1831.
1831.
1831.
1831.
1831.
1832.
1S32.
1832.
1833.
1833.
1833.
1833.
1834.
1834.
1835.
is;;.j.
1836.
1837.
1837.
1837.
1837.
1837.
1837.
1838.
1839.
1839.
1839.
1S40.
1840.
1841.
1841.
1841.
1841.
1842.
1843.
1843.
1843.
1843.
1844.
1844.
1844.
1844.
1845.
1845.
1845.
1846.
1846.
1846.
1847.
1847.
1847.
1847.
1847.
1848.
1848.
1848.
CONTENTS.
PACK
"William Barnes Rhodes, Esq. 302
C. J. Brandling, Esq., M.P. 302
Sir John Beckett, First Baronet 304
Mr. John Luccock . . . . 305
.Sir Thomas Vavasour, Bart. .. 305
Mr. Charles Cope . . . . 306
Colonel Thomas Lloyd . . . . 307
Sir John Trevelyan, Bart. .. 307
John Atkinson, Esq., F.L.S. .. 311
Mr. Samuel Hick . . . . 313
Second Earl of Mexborough . . 319
Edward S. George, Esq , F.L.S. 320
Rev. George Walker, M. A. .. 321
Rev. Samuel Clapham, M.A. 324
Mr. John Blenkinsop . . . . 327
Rev. James Fawcett, B.D. 328
Roger Holt Leigh, Esq. . . 333
Lieutenant-General Cockell 335
Rev. Joseph Swain, B. D. . . 336
Benjamin Hird, Esq., M.D. 336
Edward Markland, Esq. . . 337
D. Sykes, Esq.. M.A., M.P. 337
Charles Frederick Edgar, Esq. 342
Charles T. Thackrah, Esq. 344
Rev. Edward Parsons . . . . 348
Thomas Tennant, Esq. . . 349
Rev. Thomas Jervis . . . . 350
Rev. William Vint . . . . 352
Colonel Sir Michael M'Creagh 353
M. T. Sadler, Esq., M.P., F.R.S. 354
Richard Hey, Esq., LL.D. .. 363
J. Marshall, jun., Esq., M.P. 364
Rev. William M. Heald, M.A. 366
Charles Milner, Esq. . . 367
Rev. Richard Fawcett, M.A. .. 368
John Entwisle, Esq., M.P. 370
J. Hey, Esq.. F.L.S., F.G.S. .. 371
Rev. Thomas Sisson, M.A. 372
Sixth Duke of Leeds, K.G. . . 373
Lieut.-Gen. Sir J. Elley, K.C.B. 375
Alderman George Scholey . . 376
William Robinson, Esq. . . 387
Benjamin Gott, Esq 377
George Bridges, Esq., M.P. 380
Charles Carr, Esq., M.D. .. 382
T. S. B. Reade, Esq. . . 383
Mr. William Dawson . . . . 384
Second Earl of Harewood . . 390
John N. Rhodes, Esq 395
Mr. John Nicholson . . 396
Adam Hunter, Esq., M.D. .. 400
Rev. John Beck Holmes . . 401
George W. Wood, Esq., M.P. 401
William Hey, Esq., J.P. .. 403
Earl of Lonsdale, KG. ..403
Sir John Lowther, Bart., M.P. 406
James Musgrave, Esq 408
James Bischoff, Esq. . . 409
John Marshall, Esq., M.P. .. 411
James Williamson, Esq., M.D. 415
Thomas Benson Pease, Esq. . . 416
Mr. Jonathan Shackleton . . 416
Griffith Wright, Esq 417
Christopher Beckett, Esq. . . 418
Right Hon. Sir J. Beckett, M.P. 422
Richard F. Wilson, Esq., M.P. 424
Rev. Thomas Dykes, LL.B. ..424
Rev. John Ely . . . . 426
Joseph Taylor, Esq 430
Rev.R.W. Hamilton, LL.D.,&c. 431
Edward Baines, Esq., M.P. .. 435
Died
A.D.
1848.
1848.
1848.
1848.
1S49.
1849.
1849.
1850.
1S50.
1851.
1851.
1851.
1851.
1853.
1853.
1854.
1854.
1854.
1855.
1855.
1855.
1855.
1855.
1855.
1856.
1856.
1856.
1856.
1857.
1857.
1857.
l-.'-i.
1858.
1859.
1859.
1S59.
1859.
1859.
1860.
1860.
1860.
I860.
1860.
1860.
I860;
1860.
1861.
1861.
1861.
1861.
1861.
1861.
1861.
1863.
1863.
1863.
1863.
1863.
1863.
1864.
1864.
1864.
1864.
1864.
1864.
1864.
1864.
1865.
Rear- Admiral Markland . .
Mrs. Matthewman
Mr. Thomas Gray
George Lane Fox, Esq. , M. P. . .
John Hepworth Hill, Esq.
Gen. SirR. T. Wilson, M.P. ..
R. W. D. Thorp, Esq., M.I).
William Smith, Esq., J.P. ..
Rev. Thomas Ftirbank, M.A.
Wade Browne, Esq., M.A.
William Busfeild, Esq., M.P.
Rev. John Fawcett, M.A.
William West, Esq., F.R.S.
N. C. Scatcherd, Esq.. F.S.A.
Mr. Henry Schroeder
James Montgomery, Esq.
Rev. Joseph Holmes, D.D.
Joseph Robert Atkinson, Esq.
Joshua Bower, Esq.
Sir William Molesvjorth, M.P.
Mr. Joseph Rhodes
John Atkinson, Esq.
Rev. R. Sheepshanks, F.R.S.
John Hardy, Esq., M.P.
William Williams Brown, Esq.
James Broic-n, Esq.
Thomas Nicholson, Esq.
John Wilkinson, Esq
Third Earl of Harewood . .
Robert Hall, Esq., M.A., M.P.
Mr. Thomas Plint
David Cooper, Esq.
Mr. William Hirst
Henry Hall, Esq
F. R. Atkinson, Esq
Sir George Goodman, M. P.
Rigid Hon. Lord Macaulay . .
Rev. F. T. Cookson, M.A.
Lord Londesborongh, F.R.S. ..
Right Hon. M. T. Baines, M.P,
Thomas W. Tottie, Esq.
Mr. Joseph Gott
John Arthur Ikin, Esq.
Third Earl of Mexborough . .
Rev. Thomas Scales
Ralph Markland, Esq.
Sir Peter Fairbairn
Thomas F. Ellis, Esq., M.A.
J. G. Uppleby, Esq
Thomas Edward Plint, Esq. . .
James Holdforth, Esq.
Richard Oastler, Esq.
Mr. James Nichols
William Beckett, Esq., M.P. ..
Frederick Hobson, Esq.
Win. M. Maude, Esq
William Willans, Esq., J.P. . .
William Gott, Esq
John Sheepshanks, Esq. ..
R. G. Hardwick, Esq., M.D. ..
Alaric A. Watts, Esq.
Charles G. Maclea, Esq.
Mrs. Wood (Vocalist)
John Hope Shaw, Esq.
James E. Fawcett, Esq.
Mr. Henry Smith
John Fowler. Esq.
Admiral Meynell
Conclusion
Addenda et Corrigenda
R.N.
13
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Adams, Robert
Addyman, Councillor
Akroyd, Edward, J. P.
Aldam, William, J. P. (2 copies)
Alderson, Joseph
Allman, Thomas
Ambler, Thomas
Anderton, George, J. P.
Andrew, John
Anonymous (5 copies)
Appleton, Henry
Appleyard, Rev. William
Armfield, Rev. George
Armitage, S. L.
Armistead Wilson (2 copies)
Arthington, William
Asquith, John William
Atkinson, Edward
Atkinson, H. Miles
Atkinson, John H.
Atkinson, John William (2 copies)
Atkinson, Mrs.
Atkinson, Rev. Dr., Camb.
Atlay, Rev. Dr. (2 copies)
Backhouse, E.
Baines, Edward, M.P. (2 copies).
Baines, Frederick (2 copies)
Baines, T. B. (2 copies)
Baker, Robert (4 copies)
Barker, John H. (2 copies)
Barr, Robert
Barret, Joseph M. (2 copies)
Barry, Rev. Alfred, B.D.
Barthram, James
Bates, Edmund
Bateson, Joseph, J. P.
Baxter, Joseph
Baxter, William
Baynes, Edward Eoberfc
Beanland, W.
Bearpark, George E.
Bedford, F. W.,D.C.L.
Beecroft, George S., M.P. (4 copies)
Bell, John, B.A.
Bell, William
Bennett, George W.
Bent, Pct> i
Benton, Mark
Bickerdike, Rev. John
Bilbrough, J. B.
Birchall, J. D. (4 copies)
Bischoff, James (3 copies)
Bishop, Edward, M.D.
Blackburn, John
Blackburn, Vernon
Blake, Barnett
Blakelock, Rev. Canon
Blomefield, Rev. John
Bloome, Matthew (2 copies)
Booker, Rev. C. F.
Booth, Thomas
Boothman, Edward
Botterill, Alderman (6 copies)
Bower, Joshua
Bower, William
Bowers, Rev. T. S.
Boyne, William, F.S.A.
Bradley, John
Braim, John H.
Braithwaite, John
Bramley, Rev. H. R.
Brewer, Rev. Dr.
Briggs, Riley
Briggs, Thomas
Brook, Christopher B.
Brown, James, M.P. (2 copies)
Brown, Samuel James (2 copies)
Browne, Rev. Canon
Browne, John C.
Bruce, William
Buckton, Frederick
Buckton, Joshua (2coj>ies)
Bulmer, George
Burniston, James
Burton, John (2 copies)
Burton, Joseph
Burton, R. S.
Butler, John O.
Butler, Thomas
Bywater, J. R.
Calverley, John (2 copies)
( larias, Ben
Carr, George S.
Cartledge, Charles
14
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Cass, Rev. W. A.
Cassells, Rev. A.
Cazenove, Rev. J. G.
Chad wick, C, M.D. (2 copies)
Chadwick, Rev. J. W.
Chambers, Rev. O. L.
Charnock, George
Chiesman, W. G.
Child, Lieutenant-Colonel
Childers, J.W., J. P.
Clapham, Samuel
Clark, Rev. James
Clay, George
Clayton, "William
Cockerham, John
Collier, Rev. C. H. (2 copies)
Collins, Benjamin
Cooke, John
Cooke, William
Cookson, Francis
Cookson, Mrs. F. T. (2 copies)
Cookson, Rev. Edward
Cooper, John (4 copies)
Cooper, Samuel Thomas
Cotton, Stephen
Coxon, Henry
Craig, R. & G.
Craven, Councillor (2 copies)
Crawford, Alexander
Crawford, William (2 copies)
Crosland, Rev. John
Cross, John
Crossley, Sir F., Bart., M.P.
Cruse, A. F.
Cuthhert, John
Daglish, W. M.
Darwin, Francis, J. P.
Dawson, Edwin
Dawson, John
Dawson, John (Kirkstall)
Dawson, Thomas
Day, Samuel
Denny, Henry
Derham, T. S.
Dibb, Thomas T. (2 copies)
Dickinson, J. N.
Dinsdale, J.
Dixon, John, J. P.
Dobson, John
Dobson, Thomas, M.D.
Donaldson, Thomas
Douglas, H.
Doyle, James* Alfred
Dunderdale, John
Dykes, Rev. J. B., Mus.Doc.
Eagland, Thomas
Eastwood, J.
Ellershaw, John (2 copies)
Ellershaw, R. J. (2 copies)
Elmer, Thomas
Entwisle, J. S. (2 copies)
Fatrbairn, Andrew (6 copies)
Farsley Mechanics' Institute
Fawcett, J. K.
Fawcett, Rev. J. M.
Fenteman, Thomas (4 copies)
Fitton, E. G.
Forrest, Charles, sen.
Forster, W. E, M.P. (2 copies)
Foster, Allen
Foster, Charles
Foster, Edwin, M.D.
Fourness, M. A.
Fox, George S. Lane, J. P.
Fox, James, C.E.
Francis, Colonel
Franks, Mrs. Elizabeth
Garlic k, Joseph P. (2 copies)
Garside, Alderman
Gascoigne, F. C. T., J. P.
Gaunt, Councillor
George, Alderman (2 copies)
Gibbs, William
Gilbanks, Rev. G. F.
Gisburn, John H.
Gladstone, Rev. D. T.
Glover, Samuel
Goodman, John (2 copies)
Graveley, John
Grayson, George
Green, F.
Green, Councillor (2 copies)
Greene, Rev. W. C.
Greenwell, Rev. N. (2 copies)
Griffiths, David
Grosvenor, Charles (2 copies)
Hailstone, Edward, F.S.A.
Hainsworth, James
Hall, William
Earner, Henry (2 copies)
Hamilton, R. W. (2 copies)
Hammond, Rev. Joseph
Handcock, George
Hanson, William
Hardwick, John
Hardy, Charles, J.P.
Hardy, Gathorne, M.P. (2 copies)
Harvey, Thomas
Hayward, George
Heald, Rev. Canon
Heaton, J. D., M.D. (2 copies)
Heaton, Thomas C.
Henderson, Rev. Dr. (4 copies)
Henville, Rev. E.
Hepper, J. H.
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
15
Hey, Rev. Canon
Hey, Rev. John
Hey, Samuel
Hey, William (2 copies)
Hiley, Rev. R. W.
Hill, George
Hill, John "William (2 copies)
Hill, Miss J. F.
Hindle, W. B.
Hirst, William Henry
Hobbiss, John James
Hobson, Edward
Hobson, Joseph
Hobson, Joseph (Roundhay)
Hobson, Leonard
Hobson, Richard, M.D.
Hodgson, J. P.
Holbeck Mechanics' Institute
Holdforth, "Walter (6 copies)
Hole, James
Hollway, T. S.
Holmes, John
Holmes, Rev. F. G.
Holroyd, John
Holroyd, Thomas
Holroyd, T. T.
Holt, Benjamin
Holt, John
Holt, Joseph
Holt, Rev. E. K.
H., T.
Horsfall, Abraham
Horsfield, J. N.
Horton, Richard George
Houghton, Rt. Hon. Lord (2 copies)
Hudson, Robert John (2 copies)
Huggon, William
Hunslet Mechanics' Institute
Hunt, John
Hyam & Co.
Hyde, William
I kin, J. Ingham
Ulingworth, William
Inchbold, Henry
Ingham, Samuel
Ingledew, C. J. D.
Ingram, H. C. Meynell (2 copies)
Irwin, Edward (2 copies)
Jackson, Frederick
Jefferson, Peter
Jepson, Edward George
Jowett, Janus
Joy, Rev. Samuel
Joy, Walker (2 copies)
Kate, John, jun.
11, Alderman (2 copies)
Keiidull, Dr., J. P.
Kendell, John
Kerr, Samuel H., Ph.D. (3 copies)
Kershaw, Rev. H.
Kettlewell, W. C.
Kinsman, Rev. A. G.
Kirk, John
Kirkby, Frederick
Kitson, Alderman (2 copies)
Knight, J. C.
Lampen, Henry
Lawson, John
Lawson, Samuel, jun.
Laycock, Thomas
Leach, Robert
Leadman, Miss E. W.
Leatham, E. A., M.P. (2 copies)
Leatham, William H. (2 copies)
Leather, J. Towlerton
Leather, John W., C.E.
Lee, Charles
Leeds Church Institute
Leeds Mechanics' Institution
Leighton, Christopher
Linsley, Councillor
Lloyd, Mrs. George
Lobley, Rev. John.
Loe, James S.
Longfield, Joseph
Luccock, J. D., Mayor
Lumb, Charles P.
Lupton, Darnton (2 copies)
Lupton, Rev. J. H.
Lyon, Richard
Ma kins, Mrs. Charles (2 copies)
Mallorie, T. P. (2 copies)
Mann, David
Manning, John
March, Alderman (6 copies)
March, George (4 copies)
Margerison, John L.
Markham, Lieut. -Colonel, J. P.
Marshall, Arthur
Marshall, Henry Cowper, J. P.
Marshall, James Garth, J. P.
Marshall, Reginald Dykes, J. P.
Marshall, Thomas H., J.P.
Marshall, William
Martin, Samuel D. (2 copies)
Maule, John Blosset (2 copies)
Mayliall, John
McCheane, Rev. J. H.
Merritt, Samuel
Mexborough, The Earl of (2 copies)
Middleton, John William
Middleton, Rev. C. II.
Milner, sir W. M., Bart. (2 copies)
Moorhouse, E. H.
Morley, George (4 copies)
16
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Musgrave, Archdeacon, D.D.
Nelson, George
Nelson, Henry-
Nelson, J. H.
Newlove, Rev. Richard
Nichols, Councillor (2 copies)
Nichols, William (2 copies)
Nicholson, Thomas
North, William
Nunneley, Thomas
Nussey, O., ex-Mayor (G copies)
Nussey, Richard
Nussey, Thomas (2 copies)
O'Callaghan, P., LL.D. (2 copies)
Oxley, Alderman
Parker, Edwin
Parkes, Charles (2 copies)
Parkinson, William
Parsons, E.
Payne, Richard E. (4 copies)
Pease, Thomas (3 copies)
Peckover, Daniel (2 copies)
Penny, John
Pepper, Wm. & Thos. (2 copies)
Pickard, Daniel
Pollard, John
Pool, John
Pool, Luke
Price, William Nicholson
Prockter, John B.
Pullan, Richard
Pudsey Mechanics' Institution
Ramsden, J. W.
Ramsden, Sir J. W., Bart., M.P.
Raper, W. C.
Reinhardt, J. C.
Reynolds, Richard
Rhodes, John (5 copies)
Rhodes, William, J. P.
Richardson, Thomas
Rider, James
Ridsdale, Joseph H.
Ripley, David
Ripley, John
Roberts, Samuel
Robinson, Major John
Robinson, Rev. G. C.
Roodhouse, Charles
Roundell, Rev. D. R.
Rowell, Rev. F. T.
Royce, John
Rushforth, William
Ryder, Charles
Sadler, Michael Thos. (3 copies)
Sadler, M. T., jun., M.D. (3 copies)
Salt, Titus (2 copies)
Sampson, Henry
Sangster, J. W.
Savile, Hon. and Rev. P. Y.
Scatcherd, Samuel (2 copies)
Scattergood, Thomas
Scholes, George
Scholey, John
Scotson, George
Seaton, James
Senior, Rev. Joseph, LL.D.
Settle, Joseph
Sewell, Edward
Shackleton, John
Sharp, Rev. T. W.
Sharp, S. H.
Sharpe, Nathaniel
Sheepshanks, Rev. Thomas
Sheldon, Councillor
Shepherd, John
Shipperdson, Rev. E. H.
Simpson, Algernon
Simpson, Dr., J. P.
Simpson, Robert TV.
Sisson, Rev. J. L., D.D.
Smith, Frederick
Smith, George
Smith, Henry Stooks
Smith, John
Smith, John, J.P. (2 copies)
Smith, John M. (2 copies)
Smith, John Wales
Smith, Rev. John G.
Smith, Rev. S., D.D.
Smith, Samuel
Smith, William, jun.
Smith, William, Son, & Co.
Snell, John (2 copies)
Spark, Frederick R.
Spark, William, Mus.Doc.
Spray, James, M.A.
Stansfeld, Hamer, J.P.
Stansfeld, Thomas W.
Stead, Samuel
Stratten, Rev. John R.
Stubbins, Henry
Stuhlmann, A. F. C.
Sumner, Rev. N. H.
Sunter, John Thomas
Swainson, John
Swan, Thomas E.
Tatham, George
Tattersall, Edward
Taylor, Charles
Taylor, C. H.
Taylor, George (2 copies)
Taylor, Henry
Taylor, John
Taylor, Samuel
ALPHABETICAL LIST OP SUBSCRIBERS.
17
Teale, T. P., F.R.S. (6 copies)
Tempest, Charles
Tennant, Joseph Mason
Tennant, Thomas
Tetley, Joshua
Thackeray, Joseph
Thackrah, John
Thorne, James
Thornton, F. L.
Thorold, Eev. William
Thorp, Ven. Archdeacon (2 copies)
Thorp, Disney L., II. D. (2 copies)
Thurston, S. C.
Titley, Alderman
Torre, Eev. W. F. W.
Townsley, J. H.
Trevelyan, SirW. C, Bart.
Turner, Eev. Alfred
Tutin, Eev. William
Upton, Thomas Eveeakd
Urquhart, Eev. John
Vance, John, M.P.
Wadsworth, Thomas, & Co.
Wailes, William
Wainman, Benjamin (2 copies)
Warburton, W. H.
Ward, Eev. J. P.
Ward, Thomas G.
Wardell, James (2 copies)
Wardle, Charles W. (2 copies)
Wardman, Henry
Ware, Eev. W. W.
Waterhouse, W.
Watson, George
Watson, William
West, William
Wheler, Eev. Charles, J.P.
W heater, William
Whewell, Eev. Professor, D.D.
Whitaker, Eev. E. N.
Whitaker, T. H., J.P.
White, William
Whitham, Joseph & Son (2 copies)
Whitham, Joshua
Wilcock, William
Wilkinson, John
Wilkinson, Joseph
Willans, J. Edward
Willey, Eev. Joseph H.
Williamson, Alfred
Wilson, B., jun.
Wilson, George
Wilson, John, J.P.
Wilson, Eichard
Wilson, T.
Winter, William
Wood & Jackson
Wood, Eev. F. J.
W< lod, Eev. J. Spicer (2 copies)
Wood, Eichard
Wood, Wm. Eayner, J.P. (2 copies)
Woodhead, John
Woodd, Basil T., M.P. (2 copies)
Woollam, Eev. William (2 copies)
Wouldhave, J. H.
Wouldhave, William (2 copies)
Wright, Murrell
Wright, Thomas, M.A., F.S.A.
Teadon, Edmund
Yewdall, George
Young, George
Subscribers, 508 ; Copies, 658.
18
LIST OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS
WRITTEN OR PUBLISHED BY LEEDS MEN.
Note. —Those AYorks marked with an asterisk (») refer to living authors ; and those marked
with a dagger (t) are not to be found in the Leeds Librarj-.
tADAM (Rev. Thomas), Complete Works, 3 vols., 8vo., London, 1822. — Exposi-
tion of the Four Gospels, with Memoir, by Westoby, 2 vols., Svo., 1837.
*Armistead ("Wilson), "Cloud of Witnesses" against slavery and oppres-
sion, 12mo., 1853. — Leeds Anti-Slavery Tracts, 12mo., 1853. — Select
Miscellanies, illustrative of the History, &c. , of the Society of Friends,
6 vols., 12mo., 1851. — Tribute for the Negro, a Vindication of the Moral,
Intellectual, and Religious Capabilities of the Coloured Races, 8vo., 1848.
Atkinson (John, F.L.S.), Compendium of the Ornithology of Great Bri-
tain, with Reference to the Anatomy and Physiology of Birds, 8vo., 1820.
Atkinson (Rev. Miles, B.A. ), Practical Sermons, with Life of the Author,
2 vols., 8vo., 1812. — National Jubilee, a Sermon, 8vo., Leeds, 1809.
BAINES (Edward, M.P.), History of the Wars of the French Revolution
from 1792 to 1815, comprehending the Civil History of Great Britain and
France, 3 vols., 4to., 1817.— History of Lancashire, 4 vols., 4to., 1836. —
Parson (W.), History and Directory of Yorkshire, 2 vols., 12mo., Leeds,
1823.— Life of, by his son, E. Baines, 8vo., 1851. *Edward, jun., M.P.,
Companion to the Lakes of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire,
post 8vo., 1830. — History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain,
8vo., 1835. — On the Moral Influence of Free Trade, and its effects on the
Prosperity of Nations, 8vo., 1835. — Social, Educational, and Religious
State of the Manufacturing Districts, 8vo., 1843.— Tracts on State and
Voluntary Education from 1846 to 1856, Svo. —Visit to the Vaudois of
Piedmont, 12mo., 1855.
t Barnard (Rev. Thomas, M.A.), Historical Character of the Lady Elizabeth
Hastings, &c, Leeds, 1742.
Baron (Rev. Richard), Pillars of Priestcraft and Orthodoxy Shaken, 4 vols.,
12mo., 1768. — fCordial for Low Spirits, 3 vols., 12mo., 1750.
* BARRY (Rev. Alfred), Introduction to the Study of the Old Testament, Svo.,
1856. — Notes on the Gospels, Leeds.
Bentlet (Rev. Dr. Richard), Works, edited by Rev. A. Dyce, 3 vols., 8vo.
1836.— Correspondence, edited bv Rev. C. Wordsworth, D.D., 2 vols.,
8vo., 1842.— Life of, by Rev. Dr. Monk, 4to, 1830.
Berkenhout (John, M.D.), Biographia Literaria, or Biographical History of
Literature, 4to., 1777.— Essay on the Bite of a Mad Dog, 8vo., 1783.—
f Letters on Education, to his son at Oxford, 2 vols., 12mo., 1791. —
Lucubrations on Ways and Means, addressed to Lord North, 8vo., 1780.
— Synopsis of the National History of Great Britain and Ireland, 2 vols.,
12mo., 1789.
BlRCHALL (Samuel), Descriptive List of the Provincial Copper Coins or
Tokens issued between 1786 and 1796, 12mo., Leeds, 1796.
BlSCHOFF (James), History of Van Dieman's Land, 8vo., 1832. — History of
the Woollen and Worsted Manufactures, and the Natural and Com-
mercial History of Sheep, 2 vols., 8vo., 1842, with Pamphlets on " The
Wool Question Considered," on " Marine Insurances," on " Foreign
Tariffs," &c.
BOOKS PUBLISHED BY LEEDS MEN. 19
BOLTON (J., of Halifax), Filices Britannicse, or a History of the British
Proper Ferns, 4to., Leeds, 1ST. D. — History of Funguses growing about
Halifax, 3 vols., 4to., Leeds, 1788.— Natural History of British Song-
Birds, 2 vols., 4to., 1794-6.
Bowman (W.), Reliquiae Antiqu?e Eboracenses, or Remains of Antiquity
relating to the County of York, 6 parts, 4to., 1851-55.
'"Boyne (William, F.S. A. ), Tokens issued in the Seventeenth Century, 8vo.,
1858. — Tokens issued in Yorkshire, with the Corporate Seals of the
County, 4to., privately printed, Headingley, 1858.
+BOTSE (Rev. Joseph), Complete "\Yorks, 2 vols., folio, 1728.
Bramley (Richard Ramsden), Roadmaker's Guide, 8vo. , Leeds, 1805.
British Association Reports, 8vo., Leeds, 1858.
+BCRLEND (Edward), Village Rhymes, &c.
^Burrow, (Reuben), Lady's and Gentleman's Diary. — Restitution of the
Geometrical Treatise of Apollonius Pergreus on Inclinations, 4to., 1779.
— The Theory of Gunnery, or the Doctrine of Projectiles in a Non-
resisting Medium, 4to. , 1779.
+Borton (Rev. Henry), see Kippis's Biographia Britannica.
Bctterworth (William), Three Years' Adventures of a Minor, 8vo., Leeds.
+Cappe (Rev. N. ), Three Fast-Day Sermons, published during the American
War. — A Sermon on the Thanksgiving Day, 1784. — A Selection of
Psalms for Social Worship. — Remarks in Vindication of Dr. Priestley, in
answer to the Monthly Reviewers. — Critical Remarks on many im-
portant Passages of Scripture, with Memoirs of his Life, by his wife,
2 vols., 8vo., 1802. — Discourses, chiefly on Devotional Subjects, with
Memoirs, 8vo., York, 1805. — Discourses, chiefly on Practical Subjects,
8vo., York, 1815.
tClapham (Rev. Samuel), Selected Family Sermons, 3 vols. — Sermons, 3 vols.
+Congreve (William), Memoirs of. — Poem to the memory of, by James
Thomson, edited by Cunningham, 1843 (Anderson, Chalmers). — Works,
3 vols., 8vo., Birmingham, Baskerville, 1761. — Works, with Life, 2 vols.,
small 8vo., 1774. — Dramatic Works, edited by Leigh Hunt, imperial 8vo.,
1840.
+COOKE (Rev. Alexander), see Whitaker's Tltoreshy.
+COOK.E (Rev. Robert), Censura Patrum, &c.
*Denison (Edmund Beckett, Q.C.), Rudimentary Treatise on Clock and
Watch-making, 12mo., 1850. — Lectures on Church-Building, 8vo., 1856.
* Denny (Henry), An Essay on the British Parasitic Insects, 8vo., 1842, &c.
■f Dixon (Rev. J. D. ), Sermons preached at St. Luke's Church, Leeds, 1851.
+DYKES (Rev. Thomas, LL.B.), Sermons, with Memoirs of his Life, 1849.
tEDGAR (Charles Frederick), Yorkshire Literary Annual, 1831. — Original
Poems, 2 vols., Leeds, 1831-32.
+Ellis (Thomas Flower), and Adolphus, Queen's Bench Reports, 12 vols., 8vo.,
from 1835. — Ditto, 18 vols., new series.
+Ely (Rev. Johu), Winter Lectures, 8vo., 1833. — An Appeal to the Religious
Community, 8vo., 1838.
Fairfax, Correspondence. — Memoirs of the Reign of Charles I. (1625—40),
edited by Johnson, 2 vols., 8vo., 1848. — Memorials of the Civil Wars,
edited by Bell, 2 vols., 8vo., 1849.
■f Fairfax (Edward), Translation of Tasso's Jervsalcm Delivered, first pub-
lished in 1600. — Ditto, 2 vols., post 8vo., 1817.— History of Edward the
Black Prince. — Treatise on Demonology, Eclogues, &c.
Fawcett (Rev. James, B.D. ), Sermon on the Propriety and Importance of
Public Worship, 8vo., 1790. — Sermons before the University of Cam-
bridge, 8vo., 1794.
t Fawcett (Rev. John), Sermons, 4 vols. — Exposition of St. John, 3 vols. —
Exposition of the Acts, 3 vob.
20 SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS
FAWKES (Francis) Original Poems and Translations, 1761. — Poetical "Works,
in Chalmers's English Poets, vol. xvi.
tFAWKES (Walter R.), Chronology of the History of Modern Europe, 4to.,
1810.— Two Political Pamphlets, &c.
*Fenteman's Historical Guide to Leeds, 1858.
Furbank (Rev. Thomas), Votive Offerings, a Help towards Stanningley
Church, 8vo. 5 1839.
tGRAY (Thos.), Observations on a General Iron Railway, 7s. 6d., Svo., 1820.
— Essays on Land-Steam Conveyance.
Haigh (Rev. D. H.), Essay on the Numismatic History of the Kingdom of
the East Angles, 8vo., Leeds, 1845.
Hall (Robert, M.P.), Visit to Mettray, 8vo., 1854. — Visits to Continental
Reformatories, 8vo., 1855.
HAMER (John, F.R.S.L.), The Smoker's Text-Book; printed in " Brilliant,"
the smallest movable type in the world, 1864.
t Hamilton (Rev. Dr. R. "W". ), Pastoral Appeals on Personal, Domestic, and
Social Prayer, 1834. — The Little Sanctuary (Domestic Prayers), 1838.
— The Institutions of Popular Education, 1844. — Sermons, second series,
1846. — The Revealed Doctrine of Rewards and Punishments, 1847. —
Horse et Vindicise Sabbaticae ; or, Familiar Disquisitions on the Revealed
Sabbath, 1848. — Posthumous Works of the Rev. John Ely, with Memoir,
1848. — Essay on Craniology, 8vo., Leeds, 1826. — Missions, their Autho-
rity, Scope, and Encouragement, 8vo., 1842. — Sermons, 8vo., 1833. —
Nugse Literarise, Prose and Verse, 8vo., 1841. — Life of, by the Rev. Dr.
Stowell, 8vo., 1850.
HARTLEY (David, M.D.), Observations on Man, his Frame, Duty, and
Expectations, 2 vols., 8vo., 1749; 3 vols., 8vo., 1791. — Theory of the
Mind, edited by Dr. Priestley, 8vo., 1775.
Hey (Rev. Dr. John), Discourses on the Malevolent Sentiments, 8vo., 1801.
— Lectures in Divinity, 3 vols. , 8vo., Cambridge, 1796 ; third edition, 1841.
— +Poem on Redemption, Sermons, &c.
Hey (Mrs.), Moral of Flowers, royal 8vo.,1833. — Recollections of the Lakes,
and other Poems, 12mo., 1841. — Spirit of the Woods, royal 8vo., 1837.
Liberty and Principles of Government, 8vo., 1776. — fEdington, 2 vols.
Hey (Win., F.R.S.), Observations on Surgery, and Treatise on the Blood,
8vo., 1779. — -(-Tracts and Essays on the Atonement, on the Divinity of
Christ, &c— +Life of, by Pearson, 8vo, 1822.
HEY (Wm., jun.), Practical Observations on Surgery, 8vo., 1814. — Treatise
on the Pueiperal Fever, 8vo. , Leeds, 1815.
+HICK (Samuel), Life of, by James Everett ; new edition, 1863.
tHXLL (Rev. Dr. Jos.) Edition of Schrevelius' Greek Lexicon. — The
Zealander's Choice.— Dissertation Concerning the Antiquity of Temples.
HiRD (Dr.), Tribute to the Memory of Dr. Fothergill, 4to., 1781.
*Hole (James), Essay on the History and Management of Literary, Scientific,
and Mechanics' Institutions, 8vo. , 1853. — Light, more Light : a Prize Essay.
Holmes (Rev. Dr. Jos. ), Duty of a Christian State to Support a Church, in
Five Serrnons, Svo., Leeds, 1834.
*H00K (Rev. Dr. W. F.), Church Dictionary, 12mo., 1842.— Ecclesiastical
Biography, 8 vols., 12mo., 1845. — Five Sermons before the University of
Oxford, 8vo., 1837.— Last Days of our Lord's Ministry, 8vo., 1832.— On
the Duty of English Churchmen and the Progress of the Church in
Leeds, 8vo., 1857.— On the Means of Rendering more Efficient the Edu-
cation of the People, 8vo., 1846.— Sermons Suggested by the Miracles,
2 vols., 12mo., Leeds, 1847. — Sermons on Various Subjects, Svo., 1841.
— The Three Reformations, Lutheran, Roman, Anglican, 8vo., t 1847. —
Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury.
WRITTEN OR PUBLISHED BY LEEDS MEN. 21
f Holmes (Rev. John B.), History of the Moravian Church.— Historical
Sketches of the Brethren's Missions.
Hopktnson (John), MS. Collection of Genealogies, &c.
Hunter (Adam, M.D.), Essay on Two Mineral Springs at Harrogate, and
the Springs of Thorp- Arch and Ilkley, 8vo., 1819.
Hutton (Rev. Jos.), Sermon on Acts x. 34-5, 8vo., Leeds, 1819.
Jackson (Rev. Miles), Sermons on the Truths of Revelation, and the
Character, Comfort, and Prospects of Christians, 2 vols., post 8vo. 1825.
Jekyis (Rev. Thos.), Address at the Burial of J. Dawson, Esq., 8vo., 181,}.
—The Christian Name, a Discourse, 8vo., Leeds, 1809.— A Fast-Day
Sermon preached at Mill Hill Chapel, Svo., 1810.— Sermon on the Death
of the Princess Charlotte, 8vo., 1817.— Sermon on the Death of the Rev.
T Disney, 8vo., 1817.— Sermon on the Death of the Rev. J. Simpson,
8vo., 1783.— The Virtuous Claims of Humanity, 8vo., 1809.— Sermons,
8vo., 1811; ditto, Leeds, 1810.
Kjllingbeck (Rev. John, D.D.), Eighteen Sermons on Practical Subjects,
8vo., 1717; second edition, 1730.
*Leatham (Edw. Aldam, M.P.), Charmione, a Tale of the Great Athenian
Revolution, 2 vols., post 8vo., 1858; cheap edition, Leeds, 1864.
*Leatham (Wra. Henry), Poems, 12mo., Wakefield, 1845.
* Leather (J. "W.), Letter on Professor Hof man's Chemical Examination of
the Waters of the Rivers Wharf e, Washbourne, and Skirfare, 8vo., 1854.
Leeds. —Acts of Parliament relating to, 1755-1822, with Corporation and
Soke Charters, 8vo., Leeds, 1822.— Acts of Parliament relating to
(Improvement Acts, &c), Leeds, 1851.— Charities of, in Reports on
Public Charities, vols. xv. and xvi.— Directory of (White's, &c), General
and Commercial, from 1817 to 1864, Leeds, 1864.— *Guide to, and its
"Vicinity (Fenteman's), 8vo., Leeds, 1858.— Histories of, vide Baines,
Parsons, Thoreshy, Wardell, and Whitaker. — Ordnance Survey of,
bound in 1 vol., folio.— *Plan of the Town and Environs, by Fowler, one
sheet on rollers, 1844. — *Martin and Fox's Map of the Country Ten Miles
round Leeds, sheet on rollers, Leeds, 1849. —White's Plan of, on sheet,
1857.— Masser's Plan of, 1864, &c. -Poll-Books of, 1832-57, 3 vols., 12mo.,
Leeds, 1832-57.— Registers of Parliamentary Electors, 1832-40, 2 vols.,
8vo., Leeds, 1832-10. — *Worthies (Taylor's) Biographical Sketches of,
crown 8vo., Leeds, 1865.— Intelligencer, from 1819, folio, Leeds, 1864.
— Library, Catalogues and Reports of, 1768-1864.— Mercwry, from 1802,
f )lio, Leeds, 1864.— Philosophical and Literary Society, Reports of, from
1822, 8vo., Leeds, 1864. - Zoological and Botanical Society, Rules of,
8vo., 1838.
Lixdsey (Rev. Theophilus), Apology on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick,
in Yorkshire, 8vo., 1774.— Sequel to his Apology, Svo., 1776.— Farewell
Address to the Parishioners of Catterick, 8vo., 1776. — Conversations on
the Divine Government, 8vo., 1802.— +Vinchcise Priestleianse, &c.
LlSTEB (Joseph, of Bradford), Autobiography, with Contemporary Account
of the Defence of Bradford and Capture of Leeds, Svo., 1842.
tLondesborough (Lord), Wanderings in Search of Health (in Greece and
Italy), 1849.
*Longley (C. T., Bp. of Ripon), Letter to the Parishioners of S. Saviour's,
Leeds, 8vo., 18.11.
Luccock (John), Nature and Properties of Wool, with Description of the
English Fleece, 12mo., Leeds, 1805. — Notes on Rio Janeiro, and the
Southern Parte of Brazil in 1808-18, 4to., 1820.
* MA JOB (Joshua), Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, 4to., 1852.
M m DE (Thomas), Verbeia, or Wharf edale, a Poem, -with Historical Remarks,
SToi l.. L782. Wensleydale, or Rural Contemplations, a Poem, 8vo.,
Ricl »nd, L816.
*tMAYH.\i.r. (.John;, Annals of Leeds and Yorkshire, 8vo., 1862.
22 SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS
MlLNER (Rev. Dr. Isaac), Sermons, 2 vols., 8vo., 1820.— Essay on Huma»
Liberty, post 8vo., 1824,— Life and Correspondence, of, by his Niece Svo
1842. ' '*
MlLNER (Re» j ohn)) gee wiiitaker's Thorcshy.
MlLNER (Rev. Joseph), Gibbon's Account of Christianity Considered, 8vo.,
1781. — fSome Remarkable Passages in the Life of William Howard. —
tEssays on the Influence of the Holy Spirit. — tTracts and Essays,
Theological and Historical. — "(-Practical Sermons, edited by Rev. James
Fawcett, of Leeds, 1841. — tComplete Works, by Dean Milner, 8 vols.,
1810. — History of the Church of Christ, with Additions by Dr. Isaac
Milner, 4 vols., 8vo., 1834. — Practical Sermons, with Account of his Life
and Character, by Dean Milner, 3 vols., 8vo., 1821. —Practical Sermons,
edited by Bickersteth, 8vo., 1830.
Montgomery (James), Poetical Works, collected by himself, Svo., 1850. —
Chimney-Sweeper's Friend and Climbing Boy's Album, 12mo., 1824. —
Lectures on Poetry and General Literature, 8vo., 1833. — Poet's Portfolio,
or Minor Poems, 12mo., 1835. — Prose, by a Poet, 2 vols., 12mo., 1824. —
Memoirs of his Life and Writings, by Holland and Everett, 7 vols., 8vo.,
1855.
fMoRGAN (Rev. Dr. Thomas), Collection of Hymns for Public Worship, &c,
tNALSON (Rev. Dr. John), An Impartial Collection of the Great Affairs of
State.— History of the Holy War, folio, 1686.
+NICHOLS (James), Calvinism and Arminianism Compared in their principles
and tendency. — +The Works of James Arminius, D.D., &c. — New
Editions of the Works of Fuller, Thomson, Young, Cassar, Virgil, &c, &c.
Nicholson (John), Airedale in Ancient Times, Elwood and Elvina, and
other Poems, post 8vo., 1825. — fThe Lyre of Ebor, and other Poems,
1827, &c.
Nicol (Robert), Poems, with Memoirs, 12mo., 1842.
Nunns (Rev. Thomas), Letter on the Condition of the Working Classes iu
Birmingham, 8vo., 1842. — Sermons, chiefly Practical, edited by the Rev.
Dr. Hook, 12mo., 1856.
*Osburn (William), Account of an Egyptian Mummy in the Museum of the
Leeds Philosophical Society, 8vo., Leeds, 1828. — Ancient Egypt, her
Testimony to the Truth of the Bible, 8vo., 1846. — Doctrinal Errors of the
Apostolical and Early Fathers, 8vo., 1835. — Israel in Egypt, or the Books
of Genesis and Exodus illustrated by existing Monuments, 12mo., 1854.
— Monumental History of Egypt, 2 vols., 8vo., 1854. — The Religions of
the World, 12mo., 1857.
Parson (W.), and White (W.), Annals, History, and Guide of Leeds and
York, vol. 1, 12mo., Leeds, 1830.
Parsons (Edward), Civil, Ecclesiastical, Literary, Commercial, and Mis-
cellaneous History of Leeds, Halifax, Hudderstield, &c, 2 vols., Svo.,.
Leeds, 1834.
•j-Plint (Thomas), Crime iu England: its Relation, Character, and Extent,
from 1801 to 1848, Leeds, 1851. — t Voluntaryism in England: or, the
Census of 1851.
Pollen (Rev. J. H), Narrative of Five Years at S. Saviour's, Leeds, 12mo.,
Oxford, 1851.
*Poole (Rev. G. A. ), Appropriate Characters of Church Architecture, 12mo. ,
Leeds, 1842. — Architectural Notices of Churches in Northamptonshire,
royal 8vo., 1849. — History of England, from the Invasion by the Romans
to the Accession of Queen Victoria, 2 vols., 12mo., 1844. — History of
Ecclesiastical Architecture in England, 8vo., 1848. — tThe Life and Times
of St. Cyprian. — Sermons on the Apostles' Creed. — Twelve Practical
Sermons on the Holy Communion, &c.
POOLE and Hugall (J. W. ), Historical and Descriptive Guide to York
Cathedral and its Antiquities, imp. 8vo., York, 1850.
WRITTEN OR PUBLISHED BY LEEDS MEN. 2o
PRIESTLEY (Rev. Dr. Joseph), Theological and Miscellaneous Works,
edited by Rutt, 25 vols., 8vo., 1826. — Experiments and Observations on
Different Kinds of Air, 3 vols., Svo., 1790. — Experiments and Observa-
tions relating to Natural Philosophy, 3 vols., 8vo., 1779. — Heads of Lec-
tures on Experimental Philosophy, 8vo., 1794. — History and Present
State of Electricity, 4to., 1769 ; third edition, 1775. — History of the Dis-
coveries relating to Vision, Light, and Colours, 4to., 1772. — Memoir of,
written by himself, and continued by his Son, 8vo., 1806. — Familiar
Epistles to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, Svo. , 1771.
tReade (T. S. B.), Christian Retirement. — "("Christian Experience, kc.
+RHODES (William B. ), Epigrams, in two books, 1803. — t Eccentric Tales, in
Verse (by Cornelius Crambo), 1808. — fBurlesque Tragic Opera, Bombastes
Furioso, 1822.
*Ro\vell (Rev. F. T. ), Leeds: a Poem on occasion of her Majesty's Visit,
8vo., Leeds, 1858.
TRyley (John), Leeds Correspondent; a Literary, Mathematical, and Philo-
sophical Miscellanv, 2 vols. , 1815. — History of Leeds, and the neighbouring
Villages, 1808.
Sadler (M. T.), First Letter to a Reformer in reply to Fawkes's Manual.
8vo., 1S17. — Ireland, its Evils and their Remedies, 8vo., 1828. — Law of
Popidation, 2 vols., 8vo., 1830. — Refutation of the Edinburgh Review on
his Law of Population, 8vo., 1830. — Memoir of his Life and Writings,
8vo., 1842.
-(-Saxton (Christopher), Maps of England, Wales, and Scotland, 1579.
tScales (Rev. Thos. ). Principles of Dissent, 1830.
Scatcherd (Norrison, F.S.A.), History of Morley, &c, 8vo., Leeds, 1830.—
Dissertation on Ancient Bridges and Bridge Chapels, 8vo., 1828. — Memoirs
of Eugene Aram, &c.
Schroeder (Henry), Butterworth's Minor's Life. — Annals of Yorkshire, &c,
2 vols., 8vo., Leeds, 1855.
Scott (Rev. Dr. Jas. ), Fast-Day Sermon, preached at York February 21st,
1781, 4to., York, 1781. — Fast-Day Sermon, 4to., 1793. — Greatness no
Pledge of Happiness : a Sermon, 4to., 1809. — Sermons on Interesting
Subjects, 8vo., 1816. — fEssays, Letters, &c.
sheepshanks (Rev. J.), Visitation Sermon at Leeds, 8vo., Leeds, 1804.
Smeaton (John, F.R.S. ), Desci-iption of the Eddystone Lighthouse, folio,
1791. — Historical Report on Ramsgate Harbour, 8vo., 1791. — Reports and
Miscellaneous Papers, 4 vols., 4to., 1812.
* Smith (Henry Stooks), Alphabetical List of the Officers of the 4th Dragoon
Guards, 8vo., 1856; 11th Hussars, 8vo., 1850; Grenadier Guards, 8vo.,
1854.— 43rd Monmouthshire Light Infantry, 1851 ; 79th Cameron High-
landers, 8vo., 1852; 85th Foot, 8vo., 1851; Rifle Brigade, 8vo., 1851;
Yorkshire Hussars, 8vo., 1853. — Military Obituary for 1853-4-5-6, 8vo.,
1853-56. — Parliaments of England from Geo. I. to the Present Time, 3
vols., 12mo., 1844-50. — Parliamentary Representation of Yorkshire, 8vo.,
1854. — Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections, 12mo., 1841;
2nd edition, 12mo., 1842.
jTalbot (Matthew), Analysis of the Holy Bible, 4to., 1800; Xew Edition
by Dr. Eadie.
* Taylor (Rev. R. V.), Biographia Leodiensis; or, Biographical Sketches of
the Worthies of Leeds, &c, crown 8vo., 1865.
*TEALE (Rev. W. H.), Seven Sermons preached at the Consecration and Re-
opening of the Leeds Parish Church, edited by, post 8vo., 1842. — Lives
or English Laymen, 12mo., 1842. — Lives of English Divines, 12mo., 1844.
Thackrah (C. T.), Inquiry into the Nature and Properties of the Blood, in
Health and Disease, 8vo., 1819 ; fNew Edition by Dr. Wright, with
Memoir, 1833. — Introductory Discourse to the Leeds Philosophical and
Literary Society, 4to., Leeds, 1821.— Lectures on Digestion and Diet,
royal 8vo., 1824.— Effects of Arts, Trades, and Professions ..n Health and
Longevity, 1831.
24 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY LEEDS MEN.
ThOKESBY (Ralph, F.R.S.), Ducatus Leodiensis; or, Topography of Leeds,
large paper, folio, 1715. (The copy in the Leeds Library, presented by
Mr. Charles Barnard, has numerous MS. notes by Mr. Thos. Wilson, F.S. A.,
and Mr. Lucas.) — Vicaria Leodiensis; or, History of the Church of Leeds,
12mo., 1724. — Ducatus Leodiensis, edited, with Additions, by Dr.
Whitaker, folio, Leeds, 1816.— Diary, from 1677 to 1724, edited by the
Rev. J. Hunter, 2 vols., 8vo., 1830.— Letters of Eminent Men addressed
to, 2 vols., 8vo., 1832.
Thoep (Dr. R. W. D. ), Observations on the Prevention of Contagious Fever,
8vo., Leeds, 1802.
* Victoria (Queen), Visit of, to Leeds, September 7th, 1858, 8vo., Leeds, 1858.
T WALKER (Rev. Geo.), Select Specimens of English Poetry, and Select
Specimens of English Prose, from the Reign of Elizabeth to the Present
Time, with Introductions, 1827. — Elements of Arithmetic, 3rd edition,
Leeds, 1827. — A Copious Latin Grammar, translated from the German,
2 vols.
Walker (Joshua, M.D.), Essay on the Waters of Harrogate and Thorp-
Arch, 8vo., 1784.
* Wardell (James), Municipal History of Leeds, imp. 8vo., 1846. — Antiquities
of Leeds described and illustrated, 8vo., 1853.
Watts (Alaric A.), Poetical Sketches, 12mo., 1823. — Poetical Album and
Register of Modern Fugitive Poetry, 8vo., 1825. — Scenes of Life and
Shades of Character, 2 vols., post 8vo., 1831. — Literary Souvenir; or,
Cabinet of Poetry and Romance, edited by, from 1825 to 1837, 12 vols.,
12mo. and 8vo., 1837.— Lyrics of the Heart, 8vo., 1851.
*+WHEATER ( Wm. ), History of Sherburn and Cawood. In the Press.
Whitaker (Rev. Dr. T. D.), Fast-Day Sermon on Religion and Loyalty,
preached at Leeds, 4to., Leeds, 1794. — Sermon on the Fast-Day, February
25th, 1795, 8vo., Leeds, 1795. — Sermons for the Benefit of the Leeds
Infirmary, 8vo. , Leeds, 1796. — History of Whalley and Honour of
Clitheroe, in the counties of Lancaster and York, 2 vols., 4to., 1801 ; 3rd
edition, 1818. — History and Antiquities of the Deanery of Craven, 2nd
edition, 4to., 1812. — Thoresby's History of Leeds, with Additions, folio,
Leeds, 1816. — Loidis and Elmete; or, a History of the Lower Portions of
Airedale, Wharfedale, and the Vale of Calder, folio, Leeds, 1816. —
History of Richmondshire, in the North-Riding, 2 vols. , folio, 1823.
Whitelet (Rev. Joseph), Essay on Revelation, 4to., Leeds, 1787. — Essay
on the Holy Spirit, 4to., Leeds, 1787. — Necessity of a Redeemer, 8vo.,
1783. — Essays on the Rewards of Eternity, 4to., Leeds. — Norrisian Prize
Essay on Duty, 4to., Leeds, 1788. — Sermon preached at Harewood, Oct.,
1794, 4to., Leeds, 1794.
Wilson (Thomas, F.S. A.), Valuable Collection of Manuscripts on the
Leeds Charities ; Pedigrees of the West-Riding and Lancashire Gentry,
presented by his son, Mr. Jos. Wilson, to the Leeds Library.
Wood (Rev. Wm., F.L.S.), Sermons on Social Life, 12mo., 1775.— Two
Sermons on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Revolution, 8vo., Leeds,
1788. — tRev. N. Cappe's Funeral Sermon, with Memoir, Dec. 31, 1800. —
Memoirs of his Life and Writings, by Wellbeloved, 8vo., 1809.
Wool, Plain Reasons against the Exportation of, 8vo., Leeds, 1782.
Yorkshire, Churches of, 2 vols, in 1, royal 8vo. , Leeds, 1854.
,, Costumes of, by George Walker, Esq.
,, Election of 1826, Speeches of the Candidates at, 8vo., Leeds.
,, Election of 1826, Historical Account of, 8vo., Leeds, 1826.
„ Poll Books, West-Riding, August, 1837, 8vo., Leeds, 1838.
„ „ ,, Dec, 1848, by T. Plint, 8vo., Leeds, 1849.
Note. — The above list has been much curtailed for want of space. All the works by
the Eevs. Dr. Brewer, E. R. Conder, T. Davis, T. Hincks, S. Kettlewell, A. Martineau,
E. Monro, G. Thomas, &c. : and also by Messrs. R. Baker, Dr. Braithwaite, J. I. Ikin,
Dr. Mayne, T. Nunneley, S. E. Smith, Wm. Smith, jun., T. P. Teale; F.B.S., George
Wilson, <fec, have, for the same reason, been omitted.
25
ALPHABETICAL LIST
OF SOME OF THE
PRINCIPAL WORKS ON BIOGRAPHY, &c,
TO MOST OP WHICH REFERENCE HAS BEEN MADE IN THE ENSUING PAGES ;
AND WHICH, IT HAS BEEN THOUGHT, MIGHT BE OF ESSENTIAL SERVICE
TO THOSE WHO MAT INTEND COMPILING SIMILAR WORKS.
Admirals, British. — Campbell (Berkenhout), Southey.
Agricultural Biography. — Donaldson.
Aikin's General Biography, 4to., 10 vols., 1799-1815.
Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, 5 vols. — Seward.
Annual Biography and Obituary, 21 vols., 1817-1837.
Annual Register [Dodsley), 105 vols., 1758-1864.
Army Lists, 94 vols., 1770-1864.
Art- Journal, 25 vols., 1839-1804.
Athense Cantabrigienses. — Cooper.
Athense Oxonienses. — Wood.
Athenasum, 33 vols., 1832-1864.
Autobiographies. — T. Wright, &c, &c.
Beauties of England and Wales. — Brayley and Britton.
Bibliographer's Manual. — Lowndes.
Bibliographical Account of the Principal Works Relating to English
Topography, 3 vols. — Upcot.
Bibliotheca Britannica. — Watts.
Devoniensis. — Davidson.
Topographica Britannica, 4to. — Nichols.
Biograjdria Borealis ; or, Northern Worthies. — Coleridge.
Britannica, 7 vols., 1747-1768, folio. Second Edition by
A. Kippis, 5 vols., to F, 1778-1793, folio.
Britannica Literaria (Anglo-Saxon). — T. Wright.
Classica, 2 vols., 1750.
Dramatica, 2 vols., Baker; 4 vols., Reed.
Evangelica, 4 vols., Middleton, 1779.
Literaria. — Berkenhout, Coleridge.
Navalis, 5 vols. — Charnock. Biographia Scotica. — Stark.
Biographical Dictionary, 12 vols., 1760; 7 vols., 1842.
of Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland,
2 vols., 1816.
of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge, 4 vols, (in 7 parts, only letter A), 1842-1844.
Biographical History of England, 5 vols., 4to. — Granger, Noble.
of Philosophy. — Lewes.
Biographie Moderne, 3 vols. , Paris, 8vo.
— Universelle, 52 vols., Paris, 1811-1828.
Biography, Religious. — Ja m i< son .
Bonn's Guinea Catalogue.
British Biography, 10 vols., 1773-i778.— Maunder.
Catalogue. — S. Lmo. ,
Dramatists. — Dunham.
'26 LIST OF SOME OF THE
British Military Commanders.— Glc ig.
Painters. — Cunningham.
Physicians.
• Plutarch, 6 vols. — Wrangham.
Statesmen. — Macdiarmid, Forster.
■ ■ Topography.— Adams, Camden, Gorton, Gough.
Brougham's Philosophers of the Time of George III.
Burke's Commoners of England ; Extinct Peerage ; Heraldic Illustrations ;
Lauded Gentry ; Peerage and Baronetage.
Cambridge, History of University and Colleges of, 2 vols.— Dyer, &c.
Carlisle's Endowed Grammar Schools.
Carlyle's Lectures on Heroes.
Chalmers's Gen. Biographical Dictionary, 32 vols, 1812.
Chambers's Cyclopedia of English Literature, 2 vols. ; Eminent Scotsmen.
Chancellors, Lord.— Campbell.
Chief -Justices. — Campbell.
Christian Observer.
Christians, Eminent. — Frost.
Clerical Directory. — Crockford.
Coleridge's Illustrious Worthies of Yorkshire, 1835.
Cooper's Athene Cantabrigienses, 2 vols.
Cyclopaedia Bibliographica, 2 vols. — Darling.
English, Knight, 6 vols., 1858, Biography; 4 vols., 1855,
Geography; 4 vols., 1856, Natural History.
- National, 12 vols., 1851. — Knight.
Penny, 31 vols., 1858. Cyclopedia, Eees, 39 vols., 1819.
Devon Worthies. — Prince.
Dibdin's Library Companion, 1824, pp. 479-562.
Dictionary of Engravers (Biog. ), 2 vols., 4to. — Strutt.
• of Painters, 4to. — Pilkington.
and Engravers, (Biog.), 2 vols., 4to. — Bryan.
Divines of the Church of England. — Hughes.
Dramatic Biography — Thespian Dictionary.
Early Blossoms ; or, Biographical Notices of Individuals distinguished by
their Genius, &c, who died in their youth, 12mo.
Ecclesiastical Biography. — Cave, Dupin, Hook, Stephens, Wordsworth.
Edgar's Footprints of Famous Men ; Men who were in Earnest, &c.
Emerson's Representative Men.
Eminent British Lawyers. — Roscoe.
Englishmen. — Cunningham.
Scotsmen. — Cliambcrs.
Eminently Pious Women of the British Empire, 3 vols., 12mo.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Edin., 20 vols., 1810; 8th Edition, 1858.
Edinburgh, 18 vols., 1830 (Brewster).
Londinensis, 24 vols., 1829 (Wilkes).
Metropolitana, 29 vols., 1842 (Rose).
Modern, 11 vols., 1820 (Burrows).
Engraved British Portraits. — Bromley, Granger.
European Magazine, 1782-1820.
Fathers of the Church. — Butler.
Females, Distinguished. — Burke.
Foss's Judges of England, 8 vols.
Fuller's Worthies (Nuttall), 3 vols., 1840.
Gallery of Portraits.
General Biography. — Aikin, Chalmers, Gorton, Maunder, Platts, Rich,
Rose, Watkins, &c.
Gentleman's Magazine, 1731-1833; New Series, 1834-1865.
Gilfillan's Gallery of Portraits.
Gough's English Topography ; Sepulchral Monuments, 3 vols. , folio.
Hook's Archbishops of Canterbury.
PRINCIPAL WORKS ON BIOGRAPHY. 27
Houbrakcn's Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, with their
Lives, folio. — Dr. Birch.
Illustrated London News. Illustrated Times.
Illustrious Personages. —Lodge.
Individual Biographies. — Cole rid f/e, &c, &c.
Johnson's Lives of the Poets.— Chalmers, Cunningham.
Judges of England. —Foss.
Land we Live in. — Howitt.
Literary and Scientific Men. — Dunham.
r- Gazette.
Lives of British Physicians, 1830; Anglican Divines.— Walton,
Eminent Persons.
the Poets. — Johnson.
Local Histories. Local Newspapers.
Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography.
Maunder's British Biography ; Biographical Treasury.
Medical Biography. — Hutchinson.
Memorials and Characters. — Wilford,
Memoirs of Great Britain, 6 vols. — Beatson.
and Ireland, 3 vols., ito.—Dalrymple.
Men of the Time. — Walford.
Musicians, Dictionary of, 2 vols. , 12mo.
National Portrait Gallery. — Jordan.
Naval Biographical Dictionary. — 0' Byrne. Navy Lists.
New Monthly Magazine.
New Spirit of the Age. — Home.
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes ; Illustrations.
Nonconformists' Memorials. — Calamy.
Notes and Queries.
Old England's Worthies.
Oxford, History and Antiquities of Colleges and Halls at, 4to. — Gutch, &c.
Painters, Anecdotes of. — Edwards.
Parliamentary Companion.- — Dod, &c.
Portraits, or Sketches of the Public Character of some of
the most distinguished Speakers of the House of Commons.
Peerages. — Burke, Collins, Dcbrett, Lodge, kc.
Poets, English. — Bell, Campbell, &c.
Priestley's Biographical Chart, folio.
Public Characters, 8 vols., 1798-1806.
Puritans, Book of. — Neal.
Queens of England. — Strickland.
Rose's Biographical Dictionary.
Royal and Noble Authors. — Walpole.
Scottish Worthies.— Tytler.
Seats in England, &c. — Neale.
Smiles's Industrial Biography ; Lives of the Engineers ; Self -Help.
Speakers of the House of Commons. — Manning.
Thomson's Annals of Philosophy ; History of the Royal Society.
United Service Journal.
Wakefield Worthies. — Lupton.
Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy.
Watkins's Biographical Dictionary.
Wonderful Characters. — Wilson,
Wood's Athenas Oxonienses. — Bliss.
Yorkshire Castles and Abbeys. — Grainger.
History of, Allen, 6 vols., 18*28.— Hailstone, Wainuright.
Monasticon Eboracense, folio. — Burton.
South. — Hunter.
- Topographical Dictionary. —Langdale.
Zoologists. — Macgillicray, Swa mum
28
LIST OF VICARS, MAYORS, RECORDERS, &c,
OF THE BOROUGH OF LEEDS.
VICARS OF LEEDS.
1220.
Hugo
Johannes Thornton
1242.
Alarms de Shirburn
1556.
Christopher Bradley
1250.
Johannes de Feversham
1559.
Alexander Fascet, or Fawcett
1281.
Galfridus de Sponden
1590.
Robert Cooke, B.D.
1316.
Gdbertus Gaudibus
1614-15. Alexander Cooke, B.D.
1320.
Alanus de Berwick
1632.
Henric. Robinson, B.D.
William Brunby
1646.
Peter Saxton, M.A.
1392.
William Mirfield
1652.
William Styles, M.A.
1394.
Johannes Snagtall
1661.
Johannes Lake, D.D. (Bp. o
1408.
Robert Passelew
Chichester)
Robert Newton
1663.
Marmaduke Cooke, D.D.
1418.
William Saxton
1677.
Johannes Milner, B.D.
1424.
Johannes Herbert
1690.
Johannes Killingbeck, B.D.
Jacobus Bagidey
1715.
Josephus Cookson, M.A.
1430.
Thomas Clarel
1746.
Samuel Kh-skaw, D.D.
1470.
William Evre, B.D.
1786.
Peter Haddon, M.A
1482.
Johannes Frazer (Bp. of Ross)
1815.
Richard Fawcett, M.A.
1499.
Martinus Collins
1837.
Walter Farquhar Hook, D.D.
1500.
Robert Wrangwash, B.A.
Oxon. (Dean of Chichester)
1508.
William Evre
1859.
James Atlay, D.D., Camb.
Johannes Thomson
(Canon of Ripon)
HEAD-MASTERS OF THE LEEDS FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL,
Since the Second Endowment by Harrison, in 1624.
1624.
1630.
1651.
1662.
1690.
1694.
1698.
1706.
1712.
1626. John Clayton, Esq.
1661. Francis Whyte, Esq.
1692. Jasper Blythman, Esq.
1707. Richard Thornton, Esq.
1710. John Walker, Esq.
1729. Richard Wilson, Esq.
1762. Richard Wilson, jun., Esq.
Samuel Pullen, D.D.
(after-
1750.
wards Abp. of Tuam
1755.
Joshua Pullen, D.D.
(his
1764.
brother)
1778.
John Garnet, M.A.
1790.
Michael Gilberts, M.A.
1815.
Edward Clarke, M.A.
1818.
Miles Farrer, M.A.
1830.
Thomas Dwyer, B.D.
1854.
Thomas Dixon, M.A.
1862.
Thomas Barnard, M.A.
RECORDERS
OF 1
Richard Sedgwicke, M.A.
John Moore, M.A.
Samuel Brooke, M.A.
Thomas Goodinge, LL.D.
Joseph Whiteley, M.A.
George Page Richards, M.A.
George Walker, M.A.
Joseph Holmes, D.D.
Alfred Barry, B.D., Camb.
William George Henderson,
D.C.L., Oxon.
LEEDS.
1776. Samuel Buck, Esq.
1806. John Hardy, Esq., M. P.
1833. Charles Milner, Esq.
1837. Robert Baynes Armstrong, Esq.
(late Recorder of Manchester)
1839. Thomas Flower Ellis, Esq.
1861. John Blosset Maule. Esq.
MAYORS, ETC., OF LEEDS.
29
MINISTERS OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, LEEDS
1634.
1662.
1677.
1683.
1696.
1709,
1626.
1627.
1628.
1629.
1630.
1631.
1632.
1633.
1634.
1635.
1636.
1637.
1638.
1639.
1640.
1641.
1661.
1662.
1663.
1664.
1665.
1666.
1667.
1668.
1669.
1670.
1671.
Robert Todd, A.M.
John Milner, B.D.
John Kaye, M.A.
Henry Robinson, M.A.
Bright Dixon, M.A.
Henry Lodge, M.A.
1717. Samuel Brooke, LL.D.
1731. John Murgatroyd, M.A.
1768. Richard Fawcett, M.A.
1783. "William Sheepshanks, M.A.
1810. Francis Thomas Cookson, M.A.
1860. Edward Monro, M. A., Oxon.
MAYORS OF LEEDS,
Under the First Charter of Charles I, 1626.
Sir John Savile
John Harrison
Samuel Casson
Robert Benson
Richard Sykes
Thomas Metcalf
Joseph Hillary
Benjamin "Wade
Francis Jackson
John Harrison, 2nd
Samuel Casson, 2nd
Richard Sykes, 2nd
Thomas Metcalf, 2nd
John Hodgshon
Joseph Hillary, 2nd
Francis Jackson, 2nd
John Hodgshon, 2nd
1642. Ralph Croft
1643. John Dawson
1644. Francis Allanson
1645. John Thoresby
* * *
1649. Robert Brooke
1650. James Moxon
1651. William Marshall
1652. Richard Milner
1653. JohnThwaits
1654. Martin Isles
1655. Henry Roundhill
1 1 i.'ii ;. Marmaduke Hicke
1657. Francis Allanson, 2nd
1658. William Fen ton
1659. William Fenton, 2nd
1660. Paul Thoresby
Under the Second Charter, 13 Charles II, 1661.
Thomas Danby
Edward Atkinson
John Dawson, 2nd
Benjamin Wade, 2nd
Henry Skelton
Daniel Foxcroft
Marmaduke Hicke, 2nd
Edward Atkinson, 2nd
Christopher Watkinson.
Godfrey Lawson
Richard Armitage
Thomas Dixon
1672. William Hutchinson
1673. William Busfield
1674. Samuel Sykes
1675. Martin Headley
1676. Anthony Wade
1077. John Killingbeck
1678. "William Pickering
1679. Joseph Bawmer
1680. Henry Skelton, 2nd
1681. Marmaduke Hicke, 3rd
1682. Thomas Potter
1683. William Rooke
Under the Third Charter of James II, 1684.
1684. Gervase Nevile
1685. Joshua Ibbetson
1686. William Sawer
The former Charter
1689. William Massey
1690. Michael Idle
L691. John Preston
If,'. r_>. William Calverley
1693. Thomas Dixon, 2nd
L694 Marmaduke Hicke, 4th
L695. Henry Iveson
L696. John Dodgson
L697. William Milner
L698. Caleb Askwith
1699. John Rontree
1687. Henry Stanhope
1688. Thomas Kitchingman
Restored, by William and Mary, 1689.
1700. Thomas Lasonby
1701. John" Gibson
1702. James Kitchingman
1703. Samuel Hey
1704. Edmund Darker
1705. Thomas Kitchingman, 2nd
1706. Jeremiah Barstow
1707. Rowland Mitchell
1708. Rowland Mitchell, 2nd
1709. Henry Iveson, 2nd
1710. John Dodgson, 2nd
30
MAYORS
DF LE]
1711.
John Atkinson
1769.
1712.
William Cookson
1770.
1713.
William Rooke
1771.
1714.
Solomon Pollard
1772.
1715.
Croft Preston
1773.
1716.
Edward Ibbetson
1774.
1717.
Thomas Pease
1775.
1718.
Benjamin Wade
1776.
1719.
Scudamore Lazenby
1777.
1720.
Thomas Brearey
1778.
1721.
Robert Denison
1779.
1722.
James Kitchingman, 2nd
1780.
1723.
Edmund Barker
1781.
1724.
Jeremiah Barstow, 2ud
1782.
1725.
William Cookson, 2nd
1783.
1726.
Thomas Sawer
1784.
1727.
Solomon Pollard, 2nd
1785.
172S.
Edward Iveson
1786.
1729.
John Blayds
1730.
George Dover
1787.
1731.
Edward Kenion
1788.
1732.
John Douglas
1789.
1733.
William Fenton
1790.
1734.
Henry Scott
1791.
1735.
Thomas Micklethwait
1792.
1736.
John Brook
1793.
1737.
Robert Denison, 2nd
1794.
1738.
William Cookson, 3rd
1795.
1739.
Henry Atkinson
1740.
Thomas Sawer, 2nd
1790.
1741.
John Snowden
1797.
1742.
John Watts
1798.
1743.
Robert Smithson
1799.
1744.
Richard Horncastle
1800.
1745.
Timothy Smith
1801.
1746.
Edward Kenion, 2nd
1802.
1747.
William Fenton, 2nd
1803.
1748.
Henry Scott, 2nd
1804.
1749.
Edward Gray
1805.
1750.
John Firth
1800.
1751.
Henry Hall
1807.
1752.
Thomas Micklethwait, 2nd
1808.
1753.
Sir Henry Ibbetson, Bart.
1809.
1754.
(William Denison) John Brook,
1810.
2nd
1811.
1755.
(William Denison) Robert Deni-
1812.
son, 3rd
1813.
1756.
Thomas Denison
1814.
1757.
(William Denison) WalterWade
1815.
1758.
William Denison
1816.
1759.
Edmund Lodge
1817.
1760.
Thomas Medhurst
1818.
1761.
John Blayds
1819.
1762.
William Wilson
1820.
1763.
Samuel Harper
1821.
1764.
Samuel Davenport
1822.
1765.
Joshua Dixon
1823.
1766.
James Kenion
1824.
1767.
Luke Sechwell
1825.
1768.
Edward Gray, 2nd
1826.
. William Hutchinson
. William Dawson
, Edmund Lodge, 2nd
. John Calverley
Thomas Medhurst, 2nd
John Blayds, 2nd
John Beckett
John Wormald
Joseph Fountaine
Gamaliel Lloyd
John Micklethwait
Thomas Rea Cole
William Smithson
Arthur Ikin.
William Cookson
Jeremiah Dixon
John Calverley
John Markland (afterwards
Entwisle)
William Hey, F.R.S.
Edward Sanderson
Edward Markland
John Plowes
Wade Browne
Richard Ramsden Bramley
Alexander Turner
John Blayds, 3rd
Whittel Sheepshanks (after-
wards York)
Henry Hall
John Beckett, 2nd
John Calverley, 2nd
Benjamin Gott
John Brooke
WUliam Cookson, 2nd
William Hey, F.R.S., 2nd
Thomas Ikin
AYade Browne, 2nd
John Wilson
R. R. Bramley. 2nd
Edward Markland, 2nd
Thomas Tennant
Richard Pullan
Alexander Turner, 2nd
Charles Brown
Henry Hall, 2nd
William Greenwood
John Brooke, 2nd
Whittel York, 2nd
William Prest
John Hill
George Banks
Christopher Beckett
AYilliam Hey, jun.
Lepton Dobson
Benjamin Sadler
Thomas Tennant, 2nd
Charles Brown, 2nd
Henry Hall, 3rd
Thomas Beckett
BOROUGH TREASURERS, ETC., OP LEEDS.
31
1827. Thomas Blayds
1828. Ralph Markland
1829. Christopher Beckett, 2nd
1830. R. W. Disney Thorp, M.D.
1831. William Hey, 2nd
1832. Thomas Tennant, 3rd
1833. Benjamin Sadler, 2nd
1834. Griffith Wright
Mayors since Municipal Corporations Act, 1835.
1835.
Griffith Wright, 2nd
1850.
Joseph Bateson
1836.
George Goodman
1851.
George Goodman, 3rd
1837.
James Williamson, M.D.
1852.
Sir George Goodman, 4th
1838.
Thomas William Tottie
1853.
John Hope Shaw, 2nd
1839.
James Holdforth
1854.
John Wilson
1840.
William Smith
1855.
Joseph Richardson
1841.
William Smith, 2nd
1856.
Thomas Willington George
1842.
William Pawson
1857.
John Botterill
1843.
Henry Cowper Marshall
1858.
Peter Fairbaim
1844.
Hamer Stansfeld
1859.
Sir Peter Fairbaim
1845.
Damton Lupton
1860.
William Kelsall
1846.
John Darnton Luccock
1861.
James Eitson
1847.
Charles Gascoigne Maclea, ami
1862.
James Eitson, 2nd
George Goodman, 2nd
1863.
Joseph Ogdin March
1848.
Francis Carbutt
1864.
Obadiah Nussey
1849.
John Hope Shaw
1865.
John Darnton Luccock, 2nd
CORO
NEES.
1680.
Samuel Brogden
1790.
John Atkinson
1718.
Thomas Simpson
1824.
Robert Barr
1727.
Edward Brogden
1835.
John Lofthouse
17m
Morgan Lowry
1836.
John Blackburn, Esq.
1755.
James Newport
TOWN CLEEKS.
1626.
Francis Bellhouse
1753.
Thomas Atkinson
1661.
George Bannister
1765.
Thomas Barstow, jun.
1662.
Samuel Brogden
1792.
Lucas Nicholson
1684.
Castilion Morris
1812.
James Nicholson
John Jackson
1836.
Edwin Eddison
1702.
Henry Adam
1843.
John Arthur Ikin
1725.
John Lazenby
1860.
John Edward Smith, Esq.
BOROUGH T
EEASUEERS.
1676.
Samuel Sykes
1718.
George Dover
1684.
William Sawer
1730.
John Wilkinson
1685.
Henry Stanhope
1736.
Henry Hall
Christopher Pawson
1751.
Samuel Howgate
1687.
Henry Stanhope
1761.
John Micklethwait
Joshua Ibbetson
1 7S5.
Edward Sanderson
1688.
Thomas Hardwicke
1795.
Edward Markland
1689.
John Dodgson
1811.
Christopher Beckett
1096.
William Cottam
Mr. Gawthorp
1701.
Joshua Pickersgill
1836.
John Smith
1705.
William Cookson, jun.
1855.
William Whitehead
1706.
Jeremiah Dixon
1858.
W. E. Hepper, Esq.
1709.
John Douglas
CLERES OF THE PEACE.
1831. James Richardson
1862. J.W. Hamilton Richardson, Esq.
CLERK TO THE MAGISTEATES.
1836. Robert Barr, Esq.
32
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, ETC., FOR LEEDS.
BOROUGH SURVEYORS.
1846. Charles Tinley, C.E.
1859. Edward Filliter, C.E.
PRESENT JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
J. R. W. Atkinson, Esq.
Joseph Bateson, Esq.
Sir Thomas Beckett, Bart.
Thomas Benyon, Esq.
John Botterill, Esq.
Richard Bramley, Esq.
John Burton, Esq.
Francis Carbutt, Esq.
Charles Chadwick, Esq., M.D.
Henry Chorley, Esq.
Joseph Cliff, Esq.
John Cooper, Esq.
John Crofts, Esq.
John Ellershaw, jun., Esq.
"William Firth, Esq.
Thomas Willington George, Esq.
Edward Grace, Esq.
S. B. Hargreave, Esq.
Richard Harrison, Esq.
John Heaton, Esq.
Robert Hudson, Esq.
Edward Irwin, Esq.
William Kelsall, Esq.
James Kitson, Esq.
John Darnton Luccock, Esq. (Mayor)
Darnton Lupton, Esq.
Joseph Ogdin March, Esq.
Henry Cowper Marshall, Esq.
John Marshall, Esq.
Edmund Maude, Esq.
Obadiah Nussey, Esq.
Hamer Stansfeld, Esq.
Thomas Pridgin Teale, _
Joseph Mason Tennant, Esq'.
Thomas Tennant, Esq.
John Wilson, Esq.
Esq., F.R.S.
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE BOROUGH OF LEEDS.
1644.
-Adam Baynes, Esq., of Knostrop, near Leeds
1832, Dec— John Marshall, jun., Esq. (Whig) ....
Thomas Babington Macaulay, Esq. (Whig)
Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq. (Tory) .
1834, Feb.— Edward Baines, Esq. (Whig, vice Macaulay, India)
Sir John Beckett, Bart. (Tory) ....
1835, Jan.— Right Hon. Sir John Beckett, Bart. (Tory)
Edward Baines, Esq. (Whig) ....
William Brougham, Esq. ( Wliig) .
1837, July— Edward Baines, Esq. (Whig). *...'.
Sir William Molesworth, Bart. (Radical)
Sir John Beckett, Bart. (Tory) .
1841, July— William Beckett, Esq. (Tory) ....
William Aldam, jun., Esq. (Whig)
Joseph Hume, Esq. (Whig) ....
Lord Jocelyn (Tory)
1847, July — William Beckett, Esq. (Conservative)
James Garth Marshall, Esq. (Liberal)
Joseph Sturge, Esc/. (Liberal) ....
1852, July — Sir George Goodman, Knt. (Liberal) .
Right Hon. M. T. Baines, Esq. (Liberal) .
Robert Hall, Esq. (Conservative) ....
Thomas Sidney, Esq. (Conservative)
1857,March-Right Hon. M. T. Baines, Esq. (Liberal)
Robert Hall, Esq. (Conservative)
John Remington Mills, Esq. (Liberal) .
1857, June— George Skirrow Beecroft, Esq. (Conservative,
Robert Hall, Esq., deceased) ....
John Remington Mills, Esq. (Liberal)
(6,204 registered, 4,134 voted)
1859, April — Edward Baines, jun., Esq. (Liberal)
George S. Beecroft, Esq. (Conservative) .
William Edward Forster, Esq. (Liberal)
vice.
2,012
1,984
1,596
1,951
1,917
1,941
1,803
1,665
2,028
1,880
1,759
2,076
2,043
2,033
1,926
2,529
2,172
1,978
2,344
2,311
1,132
1,089
2,329
2,237
2,143
2,070
2,064
2,343
2,302
2,280
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WORTHIES OF LEEDS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.
INTRODUCTION;
OX THE STUDY OF BIOGRAPHY, ETC.*
Biography is a species of history which records the lives and
characters of rernai'kable persons. This is at once the most
entertaining and instructive kind of history. History itself is
chiefly made up of biographies; a biography, therefore, may be
said to be " history in miniature." It is a repository of the
actions and fortunes of great men, which admits of all the
painting and passion of romance; but with this capital differ-
ence, that our passions are more keenly interested, because the
characters and incidents are not only agreeable to nature, but
strictly true. Xo books are so fit to be put into the hands of
young people. According to Archbishop Whately, " Biography
is allowed on all hands to be one of the most attractive and
profitable kinds of reading."
Biographia, or the history of particular men's lives, is in
dignity inferior to history and annals, yet in pleasure and
instruction it equals, or even excels, both of them. It is not
only commended by ancient practice to celebrate the memory of
great and worthy men, as the best thanks which posterity can
pay them, but also the examples of virtue are of more vigour,
when they are thus contracted into individuals. As the sun-
beams, united in a burning-glass to a point, have greater force
than when they are darted from a plain superficies, so the
virtues and actions of one man, drawn together into a single
story, strike upon our minds a stronger and more lively impres-
* Compiled from various sources.
C
34 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
sion than the scattered relations of many men and many
actions; and by the same means that they give us pleasure,
they afford us profit too. For when the understanding is
intent and fixed on a single thing, it carries closer to the
mark; every part of the object sinks into it, and the soul
receives it unmixed and whole. There is nothing of the
tyrant in example, but it gently glides into us, is easy and
pleasant in its passage, and, in one word, reduces into practice
our speculative notions; therefore, the more powerful examples
are, they are the more useful also, and by being more known
they are more powerful (Dryden). Alexander Pope says: —
" The proper study of mankind is man;" and from the author
of Sartor Resartus we learn that "the great minister, Von
Goethe, has penetratingly remarked that ' man is properly the
only object that interests man;' thus I too have noted that our
whole conversation is little or nothing else but biography
or auto-biography; ever humano-anecdotical. Biography is by
nature the most universally profitable, universally pleasant, of
all things; especially biography of distinguished individuals."
And in his Lectures on Heroes he states that " universal history,
the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is
at bottom the history of the great men who have worked here.
They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the modellers,
patterns, and in a wide sense creators, of whatsoever the
general mass of men contrived to do or to attain; all things
that we see standing accomplished in the world are properly
the outer material result, the practical realization and embodi-
ment of thoughts that dwelt in the great men sent into
the world: the soul of the whole world's history, it may justly
be considered, were the history of these. Too clearly it is
a topic we shall do no sufficient justice to in this place ! One
comfort is, that great men, taken up in any way, are profitable
company. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great
man, without gaining something by him. He is the living
light-fountain, which it is good and pleasant to be near, —
the light which enlightens, which has enlightened the darkness
of the world; and this not as a kindled lamp only, but rather
as a natural luminary shining by the gift of Heaven; a flowing
light-fountain of native, original insight, of manhood and
heroic nobleness ; in whose radiance all souls feel that it is well
with them. On any terms whatsoever, you will not grudge to
wander in such neighbourhood for a while. The histoiy of the
world is indeed the biography of great men. And what is
notable, in no time whatever can they entirely eradicate out of
INTRODUCTION. 35
living men's hearts a certain altogether peculiar reverence for
great men, genuine admiration, loyalty, adoration, however dim
and perverted it may be. Hero-worship endures for ever while
man endures. In all times and places, the hero has been wor-
shipped. It will ever be so. We all love great men; love,
venerate, and bow down submissive before great men : nay, can
we honestly bow down to anything else? Ah! does not every
true man feel that he is himself made higher by doing reverence
to what is really ab"ove him! No nobler or more blessed
feeling dwells in man's heart."
" These men are Fortune's jewels, moulded bright;
Brought forth with their own fire and light." — CoWLET.
The subjects of biography are the lives either of public or
private persons; for many useful observations in the conduct of
human life may be made from just accounts of those who have
been eminent and beneficial to the world in either station.
Nay, the lives of vicious persons are not without their use, as
warnings to others, by observing the fatal consequences which
sooner or later generally follow such practices. But for those
who exposed their lives, or otherwise employed their time and
labour for the service of their fellow-creatures, it seems but
a just debt that their memories should be perpetuated after
them, and posterity acquainted with their benefactors. The
expectation of this was no small incentive to virtue in the
ancient pagan world. And perhaps every one, upon due
reflection, will be convinced how natural this passion is to
mankind in general. And it was for this reason, probably,
that Virgil places not only his heroes, but also the inventors of
useful ai'ts and sciences, and other persons of distinguished
merit, in the Elysian Fields, where he thus describes them : —
" Here patriots live, who, for their country's good,
In fighting-fields were prodigal of blood ;
Priests of unblemished lives here make abode,
And poets worthy their inspiring God ;
And searching wits of more mechanic parts,
"Who grac'd their age with new-invented arts ;
Those who to worth their bounty did extend,
And those who knew that bounty to commend :
The heads of these with holy fillets bound,
And all their temples were with garlands crown' d. "
Mmid vi. 660-65.
It is a proverb no less truthful than common, that "example
is better than precept." The latter is compulsive, the former
attractive. There can be no question as to which is more
powerful, the statue-like principle or its living impersonation;
and here is the advantaye of biography. A few only can be
3G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
benefited by the actual converse and example of the great
and good; but this may be in part embalmed. In fact, not
only does " the evil that men do live after them, but the good
is oft interred with their bones:" their actions, also, while
remembered, are all instinct with influences of some sort or
another. In the pages that do honour to their memory, mo-
tives may often be revealed, and actions viewed in all their
consequences; in imagination we hold converse with the dead
or absent, mark the tenour of their way, and breathe the spirit
of the time; now stimulated to exertion, and now, it may
be, restrained from wanton injury and wrong. Human sym-
pathies are strong; indeed, there are no mightier agencies in
the world than those affections which unite man to man.
They have both nurtured and destroyed communities; and
individuals tendiug towards each other, or a common centre,
they have lured together to ruin or success. Biography has
corresponding power for good or ill; the portrait has its magic
charm, if the friendly grasp boasts its electric fire. Biography
of every description is thus included among the departments
subsidiary to history. Indeed, it has been proved by some late
brilliant examples — in the case of Macaulay's England, for
instance — that the historian who rightly understands his busi-
ness can glean nearly as much material suitable for his purpose,
from the lives of private persons as from those of princes,
statesmen, or generals. This branch of literature opens with
auto-biographies, which, when well executed, constitute its
most valuable and interesting portion. We have but little to
set by the side of the charming " memoires" in innumerable
volumes, which form so piquant a portion of the literature
of France. In biography, exclusive of auto-biography, we may
distinguish — 1. General compilations; 2. National compila-
tions; 3. Class biographies; and 4. Personal biographies. Of
the first kind, it is to our reproach that until the last few years
we have had no specimen deserving of mention. Chalmers
was the first to bring out a Biographical Dictionary of any pre-
tension, but even in this the omissions are numerous and
important. In our own day, two enterprising publishers have
done, and are doing, much to supply the deficiency — Mr.
Knight, by the Biographical portion of the English Cyclo-
paedia, and Mr. Mackenzie, by his Imperial Dictionary of
Biography, now in course of publication at Glasgow. Of the
second kind, we have the Biograpltia Britannica, a work of
great research, though with many and serious omissions. The
original edition embraced the entire alphabet; but its defects
INTRODUCTION. 37
were so glaring as to determine Dr. Kippis and others to
undertake a re-issue of the work upon an enlarged scale; the
new edition, however, was never carried further than the
commencement of the letter F. Fuller's Worthies of England
is a work of the same description. Of class biographies, the
chief examples are Walton's Lives of Anglican Divines; Wood's
A thence Oxonienses, which is a collection of short Memoirs of
all the writers and bishops educated at Oxford from 1500 to
1695: Johnson's Lives of the Poets; Hartley Coleridge's Bio-
graphia Borealis, or Lives of Northern Worthies; Lord Camp-
bell's Lives of the Chancellors ; and Dr. Hook's Lives of the
Archbishops of Canterbury. <kc. Among personal biographies,
Boswell's Life of Johnson holds confessedly the first place.
It must be owned that we English have not done that part
of our hero-worship particularly well, which consists in writing
really good lives of our heroes. Shakespeare's life was never
written at all ; and many of the others fall far beneath their
subjects. Lord Bacon says : " The writing of lives is not
frecpient;" but whatever reason there might have been in
former days, to complain of the want of due respect to the
memory of distinguished persons, it can hardly be said of our
times, that an indifference prevails in regard to departed
merit.
There is a crowing; desire to know more of men who have
made a place in the world's memory. We, who are of
humanity, are gratified at seeing our nature in its highest
phases and most glorious aspects. We feel as though we were
bound to the individual by his greatness. Biography has been
called the "Romance of History." It is more than that: it is
its vital truth— its inner life. We gather into one chronicle
the records of peoples and ages. We note all the thoughts,
mark down all the acts, read the whole progress of the mass.
Then we feel that something- is wanting;. In that crowd there
must be some point to rest upon. Among the thousands there
i< surely some man who does more towards the age than
his fellows. We desire to know him. He can tell us not only
what was done, but why it was done. He can show us the
springs of the machine, of which we see but the outside.
We yearn to know the secrets of the heart, that through other
agencies moves the world. Most great deeds seem to be dene
by the rrmltitude, yet we have a consciousness it is not so.
We feel that there is some "foremost man of all his time," thai
in him other men centre to a focus, as the rays of light do in a
burning-glass. He concentrates the faint hopes of others into
38 BIOGRAPIIIA LEODIEXSIS.
a burning desire. He gathers together the confused thoughts
of the many, and gives theni an articulate expression. He
hinds up the impulsive tendencies of thousands, till they be-
come strong enoxigh for effort. Such men are Representative
men, and something moi-e.
" The wise and active conquer difficulties
By daring to attempt them ; sloth and folly
Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and hazard,
And make the impossibility they fear." — Howe.
In the lives of public persons, their public characters are
principally but not solely to be regarded. The world is inquisi-
tive to know the conduct of princes and other great men,
as well in private as public. And both, as has been said, may
be of service, considering the influence of their examples. But
to be over-inquisitive in searching into the weaknesses and
infirmities of the greatest or best of men, is, to say no more of
it, but a needless curiosity.
There is no sort of reading more profitable than that of the
lives and characters of wise and good men. To find that great
lengths have been actually gone in learning and virtue, that
high degrees of perfection have been actually attained by men
like ourselves, entangled among the infirmities, the temptations,
the opposition from wicked men, and the other various evils of
life, — how does this show us to ourselves as utterly inexcusable,
if we do not endeavour to emulate the heights we know have
been reached by others of our fellow-creatures ! Biography, in
short, brings us into the most intimate acquaintance with
the real characters of the illustrious dead; shows us what they
have been, and, consequently, what we ourselves may be; —
" What man has done, man may do;" — sets before us the whole
character of a person who has made himself conspicuous either
by his virtues or his vices ; shows us how he came first to take
a right or wrong turn; how he afterwards proceeded greater
and greater lengths; the prospects which invited him to aspire
to higher degrees of glory, or the delusions which misled him
from his virtue and his peace; the circumstances which raised
him to true greatness, or the rocks on which he split and sunk
to infamy. And how can we more effectually, or in a more
entertaining manner, learn the important lesson — what we
ought to pursue, and what we ought to avoid? Such lives as
those found in this volume teach young men that if they will
only attend to their business and keep out of scrapes, that
they are rising men, and have all the prizes of the nation
before them; teach them that nothing great or good can be
INTRODUCTION. 39
accomplished without labour; "that a cat in gloves catches no
mice;" and that the performances of the human heart, at
which we look with praise or wonder, are instances of the
resistless force of human energy. It is by this that the quarry
becomes a pyramid, and that distant countries are united by
canals. If a man was to compare the effect of a single stroke
of a pick-axe, or of one impression of the spade, with the
general design and last result, he would be overwhelmed by the
sense of their disproportion; yet those petty operations,
incessantly continued, in time surmount the greatest diffi-
culties, and mountains are levelled, and oceans bounded, by the
slender force of human beings. Industry, if no more than
habit, is at least an excellent one. If you ask us, kind reader,
which is the real hereditary sin of human nature, do you
imagine we should answer pride, or luxury, or ambition, or
egotism? No; we should say, Indolence. Who conquers in-
dolence, will conquer all the rest. Indeed, all good principles
must stagnate without mental activity. Generally speaking,
the life of all truly great men has been a life of intense and
incessant labour. They have commonly passed the first half of
life in the gross darkness of indigent humility, — overlooked,
mistaken, contemned by weaker men, — thinking while others
slept, reading while others rioted, feeling something within
them, that told them they should not always be kept down
among the dregs of the world; and then, when their time was
come, and some little accident has given them their first
occasion, they have burst out into the light and glory of public
life, rich with the spoils of time, and mighty in all the labours
and struggles of the mind.
oa 1
" The heights, by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upwards in the night."— LONGFELLOW.
Handel was forty-eight before he gave the world assurance
of a man; Dryden came up to London, from the provinces,
dressed in drugget, somewhat above thirty, and did not even
then know that he could write a line of poetry; Milton amis
upwards of fifty when he began his great work; Cowper knew
not his own might till he was far beyond his thirtieth year, and
his Task was not written till near his fiftieth year; Sir Walter
Scott was also upwards of thirty before he published his
M'mstrdsy, and all hi oess was yet to come.
" Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings;
hall not stand before mean men." — Prov. .xxii. 29,
4Q BIOGRAPHIA LEOD1ENSIS.
Emerson, in his Representative Men, says : " It is natural to 1
believe in great men. If the companions of our childhood
should turn out to be heroes, and their condition regal, it would
not surprise us. All mythology opens Avith demi-gods, and the cir-
cumstance is high and poetic ; that is, their genius is paramount.
Nature seems to exist for the excellent. The world is upheld
by the veracity of great men : they make the earth wholesome.
They who lived with them found life glad and nutritious. Life
is sweet and tolerable only in our belief in such society ; and
actually, or ideally, we manage to live with superiors, — we call
our children and our lauds by their names. Their names are
wrought into the verbs of language, their works and effigies are
in our houses, and every circumstauce of the day recalls an
anecdote of them. The search after the great is the dream
of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood.
" The knowledge, that in the city is a man who invented the
railroad, &c, raises the credit of all the citizens. How easily
we adopt their labours ! Every ship that sails to America got
its chart from Columbus. Every novel is a debtor to Homer.
Every carpenter who shaves with a fore-plane borrows the
genius of a forgotten inventor. Life is girt all round with a zodiac
of sciences, the contributions of men who have perished to add
their point of light to our sky. Engineer, broker, jurist, physician ,
moralist, theologian, and every man, inasmuch as he has any
science, is a definer and map-maker of the latitudes and longi-
tudes of our condition. These road-makers on every hand
enrich us. We must extend the area of life, and multiply our
relations. "We are as much gainers by finding a new property
in the old earth, as by accpiiring a new planet.
" To ascend one step, we are better served through our sym-
pathy. Activity is contagious. Looking where others look, and
conversing with the same things, we catch the chaiin which
lined them. Napoleon said, ' You must not fight too often
with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.'
Talk much with any man of vigorous mind, and we accpiire
very fast the habit of looking at things in the same light,
and, on each occurrence, we anticipate his thought. All mental
and moral force is a positive good. It goes out from you,
whether you will or not, and profits me whom you never thought
of. I cannot even hear of personal vigour of any kind, great
power of performance, without fresh resolution. We are emu-
lous of all that man can do. Cecil's saying of Sir Walter
Raleigh, 'I know that he can toil terribly,' is an electric touch.
So are Clarendon's portraits, — of Hampden; 'who was of an
INTRODUCTION. i 1
industry and vigilance not to be tired out or wearied by the
most laborious, and of parts not to be imposed on by the most
subtle and sharp, and of a personal courage equal to his best
parts,' — of Falkland ; ' who was so severe an adorer of truth,
that he could as easily have given himself leave to steal as to
dissemble.' We cannot read Plutarch, without a tingling of
the blood; and I accept the saying of the Chinese Mencius:
'A sage is the instructor of a hundred ages. When the man-
ners of Loo are heard of, the stupid become intelligent, and the
wavering, determined.' This is the moral of biography ; yet
it is hard for departed men to touch the cpiick like our own
companions, whose names may not last as long. W hat is he
whom I never think of? whilst in every solitude are those who
succour our genius, and stimulate us in wonderful manners.
Under this head, too, falls that homage, very piu*e, as I think,
which all ranks pay to the hero of the day, from Coriolanus and
Gracchus clown to Pitt, Lafayette, Wellington, Webster, Lamar-
tine, and Garibaldi, etc. We are as elastic as the gas of gun-
powder, and a sentence in a book, or a word dropped in
conversation, sets free our fancy, and instantly oiu- heads are
bathed with galaxies, and our feet tread the floor of the pit.
These great men correct the delirium of the animal spirits,
make us considerate, and engage us to new aims and powers.
The veneration of mankind selects these for the highest place.
Witness the multitude of statues, pictures, and memorials which
recall their genius in every city, village, house, and ship : —
' Ever their phantoms rise before us,
Our loftier brothers, but one in blood ;
At bed and table they lord it o'er us,
With looks of beauty, and words of good.'
Every child of the Saxon race is educated to wish to be first.
It is our system ; and a man comes to measure his greatness by
the regrets, envies, and hatreds of his competitors. But in
these new fields there is room; here are no self-esteems, no ex-
clusions.
" We admire great men of all classes, those who stand for facts
and for thoughts. We love to associate with heroic persons,
since our receptivity is unlimited ; and, with the great, our
thoughts and manners easily become great. We are all wise in
capacity, though so few in energy. There needs but one wise
man in a company, and all are wise, so rapid is the contagion.
Great men are thus a collyrium to clear our eyes from egotism,
and enable us to see other people and their works. Again, it is
very easy to be as wise and good as your companions. \\ e
12 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
learn of our contemporaries what they know, without effort,
and almost through the pores of the skin. We catch it by
sympathy, or, as a wife arrives at the intellectual and moral
elevations of her husband. But we stop where they stop.
Very hardly can we take another step. The great, or such as
take hold of nature, and transcend fashions, by their fidelity to
universal ideas, are saviours from these federal errors, and defend
us from our contemporaries ; they are the exceptions which we
want, where all grows alike. Thus we feed on genius, and
refresh ourselves from too much conversation with our mates,
and exult in the depth of nature in that direction in which he
leads us. What indemnification is one great man for popula-
tions of pigmies ! Every mother wishes one son a genius,
though all the rest should be mediocre. But a new danger
appears in the excess of influence of the great man. His at-
tractions warp us from our place. We have become under-
lings and intellectual suicides. Ah ! yonder in the horizon is
our help ; other great men, new qualities, counterweights and
checks on each other. We cloy of the honey of each peculiar
greatness."
Dr. Smiles, in his Self-Help, informs us that " The chief
use of biography consists in the noble models of character in
which it abounds. Our great forefathers still live among us in
the records of their lives, as well as in the acts they have done,
and which live also ; still sit by us at table, and hold us by the
hand; furnishing examples for our benefit, which we may still
study, admire, and imitate. Indeed, whoever has left behind
him the record of a noble life, has bequeathed to posterity an
enduring source of good, for it lives as a model for others, to
form themselves by, iu all time to come ; still breathing fresh
life into uS, helping us to reproduce his life anew, and to illus-
trate his character in other forms. Hence a book containing
the life of a true man is full of precious seed. To use Milton's
words, 'it is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed
and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.' Such a book
never ceases to exercise an elevating influence, and a power for
good. It may not have the power of the living life of a man;
but it is a record of gi-eatness, which we cannot help admiring;
and unconsciously imitating, while we admire. No young man
can rise from the perusal of such lives, without feeling his mind
and heart made better, and his best resolves invigorated. Such
biographies increase a man's self-reliance, by demonstrating what
men can be, and what they can do; fortifying our hopes and
elevating our aims in life.
INTRODUCTION. 43
" Thus it is impossible to say where a good example may not
reach, or where it will end, if indeed it have an end. Hence
the advantage, in literature as in life, of keeping the best society,
reading the best books, and wisely admiring and imitating the
best things we find in them. ' In literature,' said Lord Dudley,
' I am fond of confining myself to the best company, which
consists chiefly of my old acquaintance, with whom I am desir-
ous of becoming more intimate ; and I suspect that nine times
out of ten it is more profitable, if not more agreeable, to read
an old book over again, than to read a new one for the first
time.' Sometimes a book containing a noble exemplar of life,
taken up at random, merely with the object of reading it as a
pastime, has been known to call forth energies whose existence
had not before been suspected.
" Example is one of the most potent of instructors, though it
teaches without a tongue. Contact with the good never fails to
impart good, and we carry away with us some of the blessing,
as travellers' garments retain the odour of the flowers and
shrubs through which they have passed."
According to Dr. Hamilton, " There are few influences on
society more wholesome than the fame of its Worthies."
And the author of Self '-Advancement says: "Of all the
studies that can be presented to human contemplation, that of
the human character is the most interesting and the most useful.
We love to trace in others the spring of actions, by which our
own interests may be indirectly affected, or to see them wind
their way through the same labyrinths of life, which it may be
our lot to tread. We are glad to find difficulties vanquished,
and virtuous principles meet with their due reward, because,
independently of that benevolent instinct which teaches us
to rejoice in the success of moral truth and rectitude, our self-
love, flattering us with possessing some degree of the same
excellence, impels us to hope that some degree of the same good
which has befallen another, may at a future period befall our-
selves, or those dear to us. Nor is there anything in this feeling
that can he reprehended. From viewing with pleasure the
advancement of others, we learn to emulate the virtues or the
talents by which it may have been attained. For young
pei'sons in particular, it is desirable that this should be the c
and it is chiefly for them that the following pages have been
compiled; to quicken their ingenuous sympathy in the trials and
difficulties, with which it has been the fate of many to contend;
to rouse them to more lively admiration of the energy that
could conquer the most discouraging obstacles; and to teach
44 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
them that there is no laudable object of ambition, but what may-
be hoped for, by steadily fixing the mind, and directing the con-
duct for its attainment."
We must ourselves be and do, and not rest satisfied merely
with reading and meditating over what other men have written
and done. According to Lord Chesterfield, we should "aim at
perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattain-
able. However, they who aim at it and persevere will come
much nearer to it, than those whose laziness and despondency
make them give it up as unattainable."
" ]STo species of writing," says the author of the Rambler,
" seems more worthy of cultivation than biography, since none
can be more delightful, or more useful ; none can more certainly
enchain the heart by irresistible interest, or more widely diffuse
instruction to every diversity of condition."
" Study the lives, and study the thoughts of good men," says
Dean Stanley. " They are the salt not only of the world, but
of the church. In them we see, close at hand, what on the
public stage of history we see through every kind of distorted
medium and deceptive refraction. In them we can trace the
history, if not of ' the Catholic Church,' at least of ' the Com-
munion of Saints.' Such biographies are the common, perhaps
the only common, literature alike of rich and poor. Hearts,
to whom even the Bible speaks in vain, have by such works
been roused to a sense of duty and holiness. However cold the
response of mankind has been to other portions of history, this
has always commanded a reverential, even an excessive atten-
tion."
In no other publication of a character purely literary ai*e
instruction and entertainment so intimately blended as in the
" Biographies of Worthy Men :" hence arises the general demand
for works of this class, as well as the extensive and lasting
popularity, which they have always enjoyed. Materials for the
supply of this demand were never so abundant, or accessible, as
they have been in our own times ; and yet scarcely in any other
country in Christendom, have the wants of the public in this
particular been, hitherto, less liberally provided for than in
England.
The following sketches give brief, but we trust not unsatis-
factory records of the lives of our Worthies. Brief as they
are, they cannot be read without advantage ; for, as it has been
well observed, "We feel ourselves grow stronger, and we become
more hopeful respecting what we can do and endure, when we
follow the course of men who, though laden with all our in-
INTRODUCTION". 45
firmities, and some even with greater, have, nevertheless, con-
quered circumstances; overcome what appeared insurmountable
obstacles; and, by dint of strong-hearted toil and courage, have
fought their way to usefulness and honour." Such men were
Smeaton and the Milners, etc., whose examples may be held out
as beacons of hope to all industrious and enterprising men, who,
as was their case, may enter into life obscure and unknown, but
who, by imitating their industry, energy, perseverance, sobriety,
and honesty, may leave behind them names for their children to
revere, and for posterity to honour.
" Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
" Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
Some forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, may take heart again.
' : Let as, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour, and to wait."— LONGFELLOW.
The following selection comprises such persons as were either
born in Leeds or neighbourhood, or connected with it in some
other way— persons who, by their enterprise, genius, learning,
bravery, piety, benevolence, scientific or other pursuits, ren-
dered themselves more than ordinarily attractive among their
contemporaries, and objects of attention for the consideration of
posterity — to instruct by their wisdom, and encourage by their
example. It may be remarked for the further guidance of the
reader, as well as by way of explanation, — that several names are
necessarily omitted in this selection, of persons Avho stood more or
less connected with the events of the times in which they lived ; —
that a few persons have been introduced in humble circum-
stances — in russet costume — who, though their fame was far
from being trumpet-tongued, exercised, nevertheless, a certain
modicum of influence on society, and, if not permitted to stand
by the side of the more gorgeous flowers that adorn the gardens
of the great, may be allowed, like the daisy of the field, the
wild hedge-rose, the cowslip, the primrose, and the forget-me-
not, to have a glance bestowed upon them, while gemming the
humbler walks of lift'; — that while the list presents, at one view,
the biographical wealth of the town and neighbourhood, it is
still to be characterized as comprising a selection only — sufficient,
though by no means perfect; and to be valued chiefly for the
sake of reference, and as memorial sketches; as the notices could
AG BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
not, with propriety, be extended to too great length, and they
fail to produce the effect, in an isolated form, which they are
calculated to accomplish according to the present arrangement.
It is always pleasant to become accpiainted with the history
of men who have distinguished themselves, whether by the
performance of noble and heroic acts; the discovery or the
promulgation of important inventions, or the advocacy of great
principles in any branch of human knowledge; and that plea-
sure is generally increased, in proportion to the association
of the reader with the subject of the history under considera-
tion. Hence local biographies possess a special interest in a
local point of view, and they have a deeper influence within
than without the pale of what we may denominate their
own domain. The Worthies in this book include men whose
life-history has had an interest extending far beyond the limits
of the town of Leeds and its neighbourhood.
The men who have elevated themselves to distinction by
their eminent attainments in literature and science, and who
have proceeded from this district, have been exceedingly nume-
rous; and it will soon appear that scarcely any region of the
British empire has produced such a number of distinguished
characters, the honour of their country and their age. It will,
of course, be impossible for us to give more than very abbre-
viated Sketches of their history. From the most approved
authorities, we shall, however, present all those particulars
which it may be the most important for our readers to know.
This volume contains, in chronological order, Biographical
Sketches of the principal persons who have lived in and around
Leeds, from the date of the most remote authentic histories
down to the present time. The particulars have been selected
and condensed from every source of information within the
reach of the compiler, and, through the kindness of friends,
several curious and interesting particulars are now published
for the first time. Great care has been taken to avoid giving a
party or political bias to the work, and to add to its value by
making each sketch as impartial as possible.
In conclusion, the following lines, " Know Others," by the
Rev. Francis Fawkes, M.A. (a sketch of whom will be found in
a subsequent part of this volume), seem to be especially appro-
priate at the present time : —
" Know thou thyself," was always said of old,
A maxim not quite absolute, I hold :
It had been better far, you must allow,
And more our interest, " other men to know."
BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
THE NORMAN BARONS;
Lords of the Manor of Leeds, &c.
" "Wealth, and the high estate of pride,
With what untimely speed they glide :
How soon depart !"
-1109.
RALPH PAYNEL [or Paganel].
All the historians of Leeds have ever been of opinion that
prior to the Norman conquest it was a town of considerable
national importance. In the Anglo-Saxon history of Britain, both
political and ecclesiastical, but more especially the latter, many
of the great movements recorded there will be found to have
occurred either in the immediate neighbourhood of Leeds, or at
least in the territories of that peculiar and independent kingdom
of Elmete, of which Leeds is supposed to have been the primi-
tive capital. The Roman has erected his altars and constructed
his camps on all sides of the town ; and the Saxon, when con-
vei'ted from paganism, sent his first northern missionary,
Paulinus, to preach in our streets ; whilst his kings built their
royal residences in the pleasant valleys, and roamed over the
thickly-wooded hill, or galloped across the wide expanse of moor
in pursuit of their favourite pastime — the chase.*
But whatever may have been the celebrity of Leeds anterior
to the Norman conquest, it certainly did not retain a tithe of
* For a long account of Leeds under the Romans and Anglo-Saxons, see
Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis; Whitaker's Loidis <md Elmete; and Parsons'
History of f^eds, &c.
The following places, so familiar to the people of Leeds, are mostly
derived from the language of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. Leeds is supposed
by Thoresby to be derived from the British Cair Loid Cult, a town in the wood ;
by the ventral do I'.eilu (who was born in <><J4), from the fust Saxon possessor
named Loidi; others suppose it to be derived from our German ancestors, as
there is a town called Lecdes on the river Dender, in East Flanders, near
which is the village of Holbeck. Briggate, the Bridge-gate; Kirkgate, the
48 EIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
its importance after., that event. '"'■ With the advent of the Nor-
mans, Saxon institutions were ignored, and Saxon municipalities
despised, except in cases where the Saxon thane had selected a
spot pre-eminently suitable for the erection of the fortress of the
Norman knight. Such, however, appears not to have been the
case with Leeds ; and to that cause we may doubtless refer its
immediate retrogression under the early Norman kings.
It was in the latter half of the year 10G9, that William the
Conqueror made his second, and successful, invasion of North-
umbria. His army advanced into Yorkshire along the old
Roman road, which led them through Doncaster and Pontefract.
At the latter place the invaders were detained for three weeks,
on account of the swollen waters of the river Aire, and their
own ignorance as to the exact position of the fords. William
accompanied his army ; and, being annoyed at the delay, he des-
patched a knight, who carefully sounded the river, both above
and below the town, in order to discover a place where the army
might pass. At length, with great difficulty, he discovered a
ford at the town now called Ferry-Bridge, and crossed over the
river at the head of sixty bold men-at-arms. They were imme-
diately charged by the Saxons, but stoutly held their ground
against the assault, and the next day the army crossed without
further difficulty or delay. The name of the knight, Lisois des
Moutiers, fortunately has been preserved ; and, as we shall
Church-gate; Swineg&te, so called from leading to a beck or stream where
those animals were washed. .Boar-lane had probably a similar derivation.
Allerton, Alder, a tree, and ton, town.
Armlet, Arm or Orm, a proper name, and ley, field.
Beeston, Bede, a proper name, and ton, town.
Bramlet, Bram or bramble, a wild shrub, and ley, field.
Bcrlet, Bur, a tree, and ley, field.
Farnlet, Fern, a wild plant, and ley, field.
Farslet, Furze, a wild plant, and ley, field.
Gledhow, Gled, hawk, and how, hill.
Gipton, Gip, a proper name, and ton, town.
Headinglet, Heath, moor, ing, meadow, and ley, field.
Holbeck, Hoi, a low place, and beck, stream.
Hunslet, Hounde, hound, and leet, a meeting.
Kirkstall, Kirk, church, and stall, place.
Knowsthorpe, Knowl, the brow of a hill, and thorpe, village.
Meanwood, Mense, in common, and wood.
Osmundthorpe, Osmund, a proper name, and thorpe, village.
PoTTERNEWTON, New-town, near the pottery.
B.ODLET, Rood, a cross, and ley, field.
Stanxinglet, Stan, stone, ing, meadow, and ley, field.
Weetwood, Wcet, wet or marshy, and n-ood.
Wortlet, Wort, a wild plant, and ley, field.
At a place in Armley, formerly called Giants-hill, was an extensive earth-
work, described by Thoresby as being thrown up and used by the Danes as a
RALPH PAGANEL. 49
afterwards show, from it we discover, among the invaders, the
presence of the first Norman baron of Leeds. Along with that
Norman army came llbert de Laci, and to him was confided the
task of subduing the western portions of the rebellious kingdom;
and well did he, and the mail-chid adventurers whom he led,
achieve the task. The first to enter upon the wild districts of
the West-Riding of Yorkshire, there to dispute at the sword's
point with broken and scattered but indomitable Northum-
brians, llbert was the fortunate soldier who hurled to the dust
all their ho] »es of the restoration of their nationality ; and the
vast tract of country, stretching from Ponfcefract, which was to
be the seat of his barony, to Blackburn in Lancashire, was his
personal share of the district he had subdued. His subordinate
companions received proportionately ample shares of the lands
their valour had won ; some of them shared with him, as
tenant-in-chief, while others received, as separate and distinct
grants, the remaining lands of the dispossessed Saxon. Leeds,
then an important town, was a portion of Ilbert's newly-acquired
domain, but, although its absolute lord, he did not long retain it
in his own hands. llbert de Laci was, in Normandy, a baron
of no mean importance ; being the owner of Bois 1' Eveque,
near Darnetal. He does not, however, appear to have been at
the head of the house of Laci, but a younger brother; the elder
being Walter de Laci, now called Lassi, on the road from Aulnai
to Vire. Walter received a grant from the Conqueror of more
than one hundred and twenty manors, in the districts first sub-
fort, or place of security, whence they might issue at leisure to lay waste and
plunder the surrounding country. It must have been a very strong and
advantageous post, the northern side thereof being defended by a higli and
precipitous hill, at the foot of which ran the river Aire. Like the other
ramps of this people, it was of circular form, measuring twenty perches in
circumference; the ramparts being about eighteen or twenty feet high.
Whether, before the establishment of the Roman power in the island, any
city, or centre of population, was to lie found in the neighbourhood, depends
on the question whether the C'air Loid C'oit, which occurs in the list of
British cities given by Nennius, was Leeds. Thoresby, observing a region
called Loidis to be spoken of by Bede in connection with Elmet wood, argues
in favour of this hypothesis; and his opinion lias been seconded and enlarged
upon by Mr. James, in an ingenious Paper read at the meeting of the
Archasological Association at Leeds in October, 1863, and printed in their
Journal of March 31st, 1804. As regards the name of Leeds, it is probably
of Saxon origin. Dr. Whitaker (Lcndis mul Elmete) considers it as "merely
the genitive case of the name bome by Loidi, the first Saxon possessor.
Others (as in Gibson's Camden) derive it from the Saxon Lead, "people,"
implying it to have been a. populous place in Saxon times. This view receives
Borne slight confirmation from the fact of other places of the name being
found in Germanic countries. In Domesdny Book Leeds is spelt Ledes; ami
in Eastern Flanders, near Alost, is a town called Lede. See also the index to
ble'a Codex Diplomaticus (1848).
D
50 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
jugated — those in the "West of England. This fact may be
considered strong evidence that the superior chieftains of the
conquest received their large rewards, according to the order of
priority established by their feudal rank ; and therefore, when
two are found bearing the same name, the first to whom lands
are apportioned, may be considered of the highest primogenital
or feudal importance. Among his companions in arms was a
Norman named Ralph Paynel, or Paganel, to whom he subin-
feudated the manors of Leeds and Headingley, and others in the
immediate neighboui'hood ; and in whose hands, or those of his
descendants, the several manors continued, for more than two
centuries.
This Ralph Paynel, the first Norman lord who exercised
jurisdiction over Leeds, was one of the leaders of the Norman
army, who brought his little contingent to swell the ranks of
that band, whose fortunes were to be won or lost at Hastings ;
and one of the most favoured was he, of the many favoured
adventurers who won that terrible battle. His paternal chateau
stood either upon the summit of a hill in the departement de la
Manche, whose sloping sides bore the picturesque little town of
Haie Paisnel, with its beautiful and fascinating aspect, and
whose base was washed by the waters of the river Thar ; or it
was the renowned fortress of Moutiers-Hubert, celebrated in
Anglo-Norman history for the subsequent actions of one of his
descendants. Moutiers-Hubert has certainly ever been the
cradle of the family of Paynel ; and if we recollect that the
knight who first forded the Aire was called Lisois des Moutiers,
by his name we shall recognize in him a feudal tenant of a
Paynel of the House of Moutiers-Hubert. Sprang from an old
Scandinavian stock, Ralph's Norman ancestors appear to have
retained the Viking's contempt for Christianity, until at length
that contempt gained for them the generic appellation of " Pa-
ganus," or the Pagan, which afterwards became softened or
corrupted into Paganellus, and eventually changed into Paynel
or Paganel. Ralph, the hero of the conquest, certainly pos-
sessed all the characteristic bravery of his ancestors, although
there are the most conclusive proofs that their pagan contempt
for the worship of Christ, had, in him, changed into the devotion
of a true Christian; without, as they supposed, operating inimi-
cally to the development of that fierce courage which marks the
unrestrained warrior. Rut brave and warlike as the bravest of
his redoubtable ancestors, must have been Ralph Paynel ; for
not only do we find him possessed in fee of Leeds, Headingley,
and the other adjacent manors, but also of vast domains in
RALPH PAGAN'EL. 51
several parts of the country, which must have been his reward
for other and former conquests.
In Yorkshire, the principal part of his personal estates lay
along the hanks of the Ouse, and the Aire at its junction with
the parent stream : and as those districts lay in the route of the
Normans during their first invasion, they were probably by
anticipation of eventual success, given to him as the reward of
his services during that campaign. The success thus anticipated
followed, and with it the disposal of the lands formerly belong-
ing to a noble Northumbrian named Marlesweyn, who, along
with Edgar Atheling, Cospatric, and other celebrated chieftains,
had been most prominent in their opposition to the Normans.
Drax, Armine, Camblesforth, and Barlow manors, formerly be-
longing to Marlesweyn, were given to him in ccqrite, as well as
considerable estates in the city and neighbourhood of York.
Leeds and Headingley, as we have seen, were at the same time
possessed by him under Ilbert de Laci ; and the service due for
them was reckoned at one knight's fee and a half. Adel,
Arthington, Burdonhead, and Eccup, devolved upon him in
right of his wife Matilda, the daughter and co-heiress, if not
sole heiress, of Richard de Surdeval, baron of Surdeval, in
Normandy, a town near his paternal residence. This Richard,
one of the first baud of Norman adventurers, had obtained
large grants of land in the neighbourhood of Leeds, which fell
to Ralph Paynel on his marriage with Matilda, and for long
afterwards were the possessions of the lord of the manor of Leeds.
Leeds, however, was never the chief seat of the Paynels.
From the earliest period of their possession Drax was undoubt-
edly then- home, and there they immediately built a strong
castle, which was doubtless constructed by Ralph about the
same time as was Pontefract castle by Ilbert de Laci. The
castle of Leeds, about which so very little is known, was pro-
bably built simultaneously with the other two;'" but one thing
is certain, that it never was the important feudal fortress they
were ; being rather a strongly-fortified manor-house, similar in
its nature and construction to the one erected by Ilbert de Laci
at Rothwell. Ralph Paynel founded the priory of the Holy
Trinity in York, and gave to it the churches of Leeds and Add
* It is most probable that the castle of Leeds (in which it is said that
Richard II. was confined, prior to his removal to Pontefract castle)
was erected about the year 1081, by the De Lacies, of Pontefract. It
occupied the site at present surrounded by Mill Hill, Bishopgate, and the
south-western part of Boar Lane. It was in all probability surrounded by a
■ I 1 1 < I ::n i r, naive park, as we may gather from the names Park Row,
Square, Park Place, and Park Lane. In excavating for the foundations
52 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
in 1089. In a charter beginning in a remarkably grandilo-
quent strain, lie states that — "I, Ralph, surnaniecl Paynel,
inflamed by the fire of divine love, desiring to treasure up ill
heaven what I can after this life receive a hundredfold, having
at the city of York, of the fief of the king of the English, a
certain church constructed in the honour of the Holy Trinity,
formerly adorned with canons, and rents of farms, and ecclesias-
tical ornaments, but now by sins which cry for vengeance almost
reduced to nothing, in the desire of re-establishing it in the
service of God, which has been abandoned, I have delivered it
to the blessed Martin of Marmoutier, and to his monks, to be in
their possession for ever, for the soul of my lord King Williain,
and of his wife Matilda, and for the redemption and good estate
of the realm of his son William, who has also willingly autho-
rized this gift, with the assent of my wife Matilda, and of my
sons William, Jordan, Elias, and Alexander ; in order that the
abbot of Marmoutier may have free faculty of ordaining the
establishment of the said church, and the distribution of its
endowments, and the introduction of monks serving God in the
aforesaid church hereafter ; so that we may deserve to have, in
time to come, a share of the blessed resurrection, through their
assiduous prayers." He then proceeds to enumerate the list of
benefactions he made to the said church — a list which speaks
highly as to his religious enthusiasm, and in which we find that
in his vill of Drax he gives one fishery, and the tithe of the
rest of the fisheries ; and also the church of Leeds and what-
soever belongs to it, and the tithe of the demesne, and half a
carucate of land which Reginald had held, in increase of the
glebe which belonged to the church.
Ralph's gift of the church of Adel is positive evidence of
the existence of a Saxon church anterior to Domesday ; although
that record neither mentions a church nor a priest, and from its
silence it has been supposed that, at the time of the conquest,
there was no church existing there. The donation could not
refer to the present structure, which is known to have been
built by the monks of Holy Trinity in the lifetime of William
Paynel, who succeeded to his father's estates in 1108 or 1109,
and enjoyed them until about 1136.
of the warehouses on the south side of West Bar, in 1836, the workmen dis-
covered the remains of the castle moat. It appeared to have had a semi-
circular form, and to have terminated in the mill goit, extending considerably
on each side of the Scarborough Hotel, on which site the castle is supposed
to have stood. A tower also stood near Lydgate, in Woodhouse Lane, called
Tower Hill, which was probably connected with the castle; but not a vestige
of either fabric remains.
WILLIAM PAGAN'EL. 53
Prior to May, 1108, Henry I., at York, and in the presence
of the same Ralph Paynel, confirmed the gift of the church
of " Leddes " and the other donations; and that confirmation
was ratified by Archbishop Thomas, the second of that name,
who was consecrated on Sunday, June 27, 1109, and died
February 16, 1114.
Ralph Paynel was the second vicecomes, or sheriff of York,
having succeeded, in the reign of William Rufus, Hugh Fitz
Baudric, or Baudry, who had been made governor of the city of
York in 1068, when that city was the furthest northerly
position to which the Normans had then penetrated. He is
supposed to have died about the year 1108 or 1109, and was
probably interred in the church of the priory of Holy Trinity,
which he had so liberally endowed. — For other information, see
the Histonj of the Priori/ of Holy Trinity, and Thierry's His-
tory of tlie Norman Conquest, <fcc.
—1136.
WILLIAM PAYXEL [or Pagaxel].
Ralph was succeeded by his son, William Paynel ; whilst of
his other sons, Alexander, the youngest, appears to be the only
one who established another branch of this house, having settled
at Manby, a hamlet of Broughton, where one of his descen-
dants, Ralph Paynel, lived in 1310. Jordan, his second son,
married Gertrude, the daughter of Robert Fozzard, who was the
widow of Robert de Mainil, and died childless. Elias, the
third son, from a knight became a monk, entering the priory of
the Holy Trinity, and in due time becoming prior of that cor-
poration, which office he continued to fill down to the year 11-43.
His father had been a benefactor to Selby abbey, and when, in
the year above-named, the abbey became vacant, Elias Paynel
was chosen abbot. He ruled the monastery until 1153, when
he was deposed by Archbishop Murdac, who desired to fill that
dignified situation with a creature of his own, and accordingly
Gennanus, the prior of Tynemouth, was instituted in the stead
of the deposed Elias Paynel.
On the death of Ralph, when the manors of Leeds, Head-
ingley, &C., as well as the other domains he had held of the
king m ca/ptie, descended to his son, William Paynel, one of his
first acts was to confirm the gifts of the churches and lands
given to the priory of the Holy Trinity in York, by Ins father.
Thurstan, Archbishop of York, in a charter granted circa 1120,
ratifies William's confirmation in the following words: —
"We grant, and by the present charter confirm, whatsoever
54 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Ralph Paynel, and William and Jordan, his sons, and their
vassals, and other benefactors, have given to the monastery of
the Trinity of York, as well in tithes as in other possessions ;
and by name the church of Leeds, with all things belonging to
it. "We also prohibit, lest any one, either a hermit or any one
else, should presume to construct a chapel, or any sort of ora-
tory, within the territory of the church of the same parish,
without the permission or spontaneous free-will of the prior and
chapter of the aforesaid monastery ; nor may any one receive
the parishioners of the same church or their benefactors."
This prohibition appears to bear some obscure reference to
the chapel of Holbeck. That village is not mentioned in
Domesday, and there is the most conclusive proof that at the
time of the gift of the advowson of Leeds to the priory of the
Holy Trinity, parts, if not the whole, of the present township
were included in the lands then conveyed. Robert de Gaunt,
who was lord of the manor of Leeds for the period between
the years 1152 and 1199, gave to the priory the chapel of
Holbeck, which had probably been erected by the monks upon
their lands there, and which were then inclusive of the manor
of Leeds. On the 18th of February, 1418, we find that one
William Haryngton, chevalier, obtains a licence from the king,
on condition of paying him six pounds thirteen shillings and
fourpence, to endow a chapel, or chantry, within the parish of
Leeds, the chaplain of which was to be provided for out of the
rents of his lands or tenements in Holbeck in the same parish,
and Kirkeby-upon-Quarf, which lands were not held of the king
in capite. This grant is made by virtue of the king's licence to
give in mortmain; and as the estates of religious houses were
generally held in mortmain, it is probable that the king's con-
cession to Haryngton bore upon the priory's estates in Holbeck,
and that Haryngton's chantry was added to the chapel previ-
ously erected by the priory.'"" The priest was to pray for the
good estate of the king so long as he lived, for his soul when he
departed this life, and also for the souls of all his ancestors and
successors, as well as for the soul of Robert Nevile, of Hornby,
and for the souls of all the faithful defunct.
Between the years 1109 and 1114, by the admonition and
advice of Thurstan, Archbishop of York, William Paynel
founded the priory of Drax, for black canons of the order of St.
Augustine, which he endowed with thirty bushels of unground
* Haryngton was a brave soldier who fought at Agincourt. It is probable
that liis gift refers to the chapel of Farnley.
WILLIAM PAGAXEL. 5-5
corn from his mill in Hunslet, and the church of Bingley, which
was confirmed by Archbishop Roger. Peter Dautrey {de alia
Eipa), one of his feudal tenants, paid £1 per annum to the
convent, which his father had given to them out of his mill in
Hunslet. William Paynel had also given to the canons half a
carucate of land in Beeston, together with the tithe of all his
mills in Leeds ; and for that half carucate of land, John, son
of Peter Dautrey, gave the homage and service of Richard de
la Haye, who was probably one of his Saxon vassals living upon
Rothwell Haigh.
William Paynel married Alicia, second daughter of William
de Mesehines, who, by his marriage with Cecilia, only daughter
of Robert de Rumeli, became possessed of the extensive fief
composing the honour of Skipton. In right of his wife, William
Paynel was presumptive lord of the manor of one part of that
fief, the ancient barony of Harewood ; but, as he did not sur-
vive his father-in-law, that honour was never possessed by him.
The male succession to the honour of Skipton had been cut off
by the death of his two sons, — the younger of whom was
drowned in attempting to leap over the " Strid." Followed by
a forester, the lad had taken a hound to hunt in Wharfedale,
and when crossing that fearful spot, where the concentrated
waters of the Wharfe tear through the narrow orifice between
the rocks, the brute, appalled by the roaring of the waters,
hung back, and the leash by which he was secured broke his
master's bound, and hurled him into the foaming torrent. The
miserable vassal beheld the death of his young lord by an
agency which scoffed at all human efforts; and when he returned
to the castle, to indirectly impart his mournful tidings, by ask-
ing the mother, who doted upon her only son, the question
'■What is good for a bootless bene?'' his blanched cheek told to
her cpiick eye the extent of her loss, and the sadly pathetic
answer immediately arose to her lips — ''Endless sorrow!"
Her sorrow, humanly speaking, was endless, but it was the
sorrow of a Christian ; and when the bereaved mother overcame
the poignancy of her first distraction, she vow^ed that "many
poor men's sons should be her heirs;" and, in accordance with
her vow, founded the priory of Bolton.
The only fruit of William's union was a daughter, named
Alice, who was first the wife of Richard de Courcy, a younger
brother of Robert de Courcy, baron of Courcy, in Normandy;
:11k 1 ,, after his death, which occurred ante 1152, of Robert de
Gaunt. William Paynel did not long survive the accession of
King Stephen, as Richard de Couvcy was in possession of his
5G BIOGBAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
barony, in right of his wife, prior to the year 1138. One of
William's last acts appears to have occurred in Normandy, in
October, 1136. The Anjevins invaded Normandy with a large
army ; and, after assaulting the tower of Montreuil unsuccess-
fully, they laid siege to the castle of Moutiers-Hubert, then
commanded by a Paynel, and eventually carried it by storm,
making prisoners the commandant and thirty men-at-arms,
for whose ransom they received a large sum. The chronicle
does not mention the Christian name of the knight, but he
is supposed to have been William Paynel, who is said to have
exasperated the Anjevins by the many outrages he had com-
mitted upon them during that same year. He died in England
about the year 1137, and was probably buried in the priory of
Drax. And thus the last baron of Leeds, of the race
"Des Moutiers-Hubert Paienels,"
as Wace, in his "Roman de Rou et des dues de Norrnamdw"
styles them, slept in the hallowed ground of an English priory
founded, built, and endowed by himself. — See History of the
Holy Trinity ; Bonn's Ordericus Vital is; Burton's Monasticon
Eboracense ; and Whitaker's History of Craven, &c.
—1152.
KICHAKD DE COUECY.
After the death of William Paynel, Leeds and the other
estates belonging to him descended to Richard cle Courcy, the
husband of Alice Paynel, his daughter and heiress. During the
time that Richard held the barony of his wife, Avicia Rumille,
William Paynel's widow contracted a second marriage with
Robert de Courcy, a kinsman of her son-in-law. Robert was a
descendant of the junior branch of the Courcy family, lords of
the honour of Stoke, in Somersetshire, which has obtained
from its possessors the affix of Courcy; and of Newenliam
Courtenay, in Oxfordshire, held by Richard de Courcy, grand-
father of Richard and Robert, at the time of Domesday
Survey. The issue of this marriage, which had been brought
about through the previous alliance of her daughter, Alice
Paynel, was a son, William de Courcy, the heir to his mother's
barony of Harewood. The union between Richard and Alice
was of very short duration; for it is certain that prior to
the decease of Eustace, the eldest son of King Stephen, August
Kith, 11-52, Alice, his widow, was the wife of a second
husband, Robert de Gaunt, brother of Gdbert de Gaunt, Earl
of Lincoln. But the period in which Richard possessed the
RICHARD DE COUBCY. 51
Paynel estates was one of great historical importance; inas-
much as it was the precise period when Stephen and Matilda
were struggling for the crown of England. Robert, Earl of
Gloucester, the natural son of Henry I., was zealous for the
succession of Matilda, his half-sister, the rightful heir to the
throne; but the barons declared they would not be governed by
a woman, and Matilda's chance of obtaining her rights conse-
cpiently became very remote. Robert, however, determined not
to desert her, and as Stephen's conduct did not much tend
to ensure the continued respect and co-operation of the nobility,
except so far as was favourable to the indulgence of their feel-
ings of ambition, avarice, or licentiousness, the earl seized, in
Matilda's name, some of the strongest castles in the south of
England, amongst which was that of Leeds, in Kent. This
occurred in 1138, the third year of his usurpation; and as
Stephen's adherents were not yet prepared to separate them-
selves from the regime under which scenes of the most un-
bounded rapine and cruel violence could be perpetrated, anarchy
favoured their schemes of self-aggrandisement, and enabled
them to gain at once both additional power and wealth. Tbe
earl's attempt to reduce the kingdom to order, by the defeat of
the usurper and his wretched partisans, therefore proved abor-
tive; all the castles that had been seized were snatched from
him, that of Leeds being besieged and captured by Gilbert de
Clare. These events, as we have stated, occurred in the year
1138, and as there has been considerable misunderstanding
respecting Stephen's capture of the castle of Leeds, in York-
shire, in 1139, the desire to obviate that misunderstanding has
constrained us to give the details of both transactions, as well
as the events which intervened.
Stephen's successes in the south were followed by others
of ecpial or greater importance in the north. David of Scot-
land, in defence of his niece Matilda's claim, Lad placed himself
at the head of a formidable army with which he entered
England, and penetrated into Yorkshire, committing on his
route the most barbarous devastations. Many of the powerful
Norman barons were averse to the line of policy adopted by
Stephen. They could not countenance Matilda's pretensions,
and yet were too honourable or indifferent to oppose her ; but
they could not tolerate the Scottish invasion, which they looked
upon with mingled feelings of indignation, and despised military
renown. William, Earl of Albemarle, and Gilbert de Laci,
two of the most potent of the northern barons, with many
others, promptly summoned their vassals to aid in repelling the
BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
invaders. Richard de Courcy, as the feudal tenant of Gilbert
de Laci, was appointed to command one part of the English
army, probably the contingent furnished by the estates of the
De Laci, and including the men of Leeds. The invasion termi-
nated in the decisive battle of the Standard, fought near North-
allerton on the 22nd August, 1138, when, after a most des-
perate action, the Scots were defeated with immense loss; and,
singularly enough, the only knight who was slain on the English
side was a brother of Gilbert de Laci, the supreme lord of the
manor of Leeds.
Previous to the battle of the Standard, Matilda's cause was
represented by a small body of chieftains of no great feudal
power. After that event, however, political opinions changed
rapidly, and Matilda, instead of finding her claims ignored, had
the satisfaction of seeing the most potent of her once turbulent
nobility gather around her standard openly to espouse her
cause. One of the name of Paynel is mentioned among her
partisans, and it appears most probable that he was one of the
Paynels who sprung from Leeds. At the latter part of the
year 1139, Stephen marched north to check another invasion of
the Scotch, and on his journey he besieged and took Leeds
castle. This event is recorded as happening after Christmas
Daij, in 1139. When Stephen had repulsed the Scotch he
returned south to chastise the rebellious barons who still offered
armed opposition, and he then found that Ludlow castle
was held against him by a knight of the name of Paganus, or
Paynel, probably the person already referred to, but which, after
a somewhat protracted defence, surrendered, and Stephen's
cause was again triumphant.
During the whole of his reign the strife continued with
varying success ; at one period his power was in the ascendant,
at another we find him a prisoner in the hands of his enemies.
In 1154 he was again compelled to take the field, when he
besieged and took many castles, amongst which, and almost the
last, was that built by the Paynels at Drax. But before that
event occurred Richard de Courcy was dead, and his widow had
married another husband. — For further information, see History
of the Holy Trinity, &c.
-1186.
PAULINUS DE LEEDES,
According to Fuller, in his Worthies of England, was born in
Yorkshire, "where there be three towns of that name in one
wapentake." It is uncertain in which of these he was boro, and
ROBERT FITZ HABDING. 59
the matter is of no great concernment. One so free from
Simony, and far from buying a bishopric, that, when a bishopric
•was bought him, he refused to accept it; for, when Henry II.
chose him Bishop of Carlisle, and promised to increase the
revenues of that church with three hundred marks annual
rent, besides the grant of two church livings and two manors
near to Carlisle, on the condition that this Paulinus would
accept the place, all this would not work him to embrace so
wealthy an offer — (Godwin, in his Catalogue of Bishops, out of
R. Hovedeu). "The reasons of his refusal are rendered by no
author, but must be presumed very weighty to overpoise such
rich proffers; on which account let none envy his name a room
in this my catalogue." He flourished about the year of our Lord
11S0. See Roger de Hoveden's Annals of English History, &c.
-1195.
BOBEBT FITZ HABDING.
The influence of King Henry II. was the undoubted cause
of the marriage of Fitz Harding and Avicia, the heiress of the
barony of Leeds. The Fitz Hardings sprang from. Robert Fitz
Harding, a wealthy merchant and mayor of Bristol, to whom
the Empress Matilda is said to have granted the confiscated
lordship of Berkeley, as a reward for the assistance he gave to
her cause, both with money and influence. Bobert, the father,
was consequently in great favour both with Matilda and the earl
her brother ; indeed it is said that Henry II. was at school in
Bristol with his sons. The Fitz Hardings were Danes of royal
descent, as appears by an inscription over the gate-house of the
abbey of St. Augustine, in Bristol, now the cathedral, which
they founded. Although the union of Avicia and Bobert took
place, during her lifetime he had no benefit of her inheritance,
which continued with her father, Bobert de Gaunt, as tenant
by the courtesy of England, and who survived his daughter.
Robert Fitz Harding appears to have died ante 6th Richard I.,
1195, so that the manor was held by Robert de Gaunt until his
death, as that happened before the majority of Robert Fitz
Harding's son, who was born sometime previous to 1191, as
appears from the following entry on the pipe roll of Yorkshire
for that year : — " Robert, son of Robert Fitz Harding, renders
account of 60 marks (,£10) for having the inheritance of Alice
Pay n el, who had been first the wife of Bobert de Gaunt, whose
daughter and heir he had to wife, and he will hold the aforesaid
inheritance of his wife to the use of the boys whom she had
borne to him." The name of Robert's eldest son was Maurice,
GO BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
who adopted the surname of his grandfather de Gaunt, or some-
times of his great grandfather Paynel. He was a minor at his
father's death, and was placed under the wardship of William
de St. Marise Ecclesia, subsequently Bishop of London. — See
History of the Priory of the Holy Trinity ; Foss' Lives of the
Judges; Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, <kc.
-1199.
EOBEET DE GAUNT
Was the second husband of Alice Paynel, whom he married
ante 1152. He had sprung from a Norman family equally
illustrious with that of Paynel, and was brother of Gilbert de
Gaunt, Earl of Lincoln. It was while he was lord of the manor
of Leeds that Drax castle was captured.
William de Newburgh, the most explicit of the chroniclei's
who x*ecord the fact, states : " But King Stephen, coming into
the province of York, found a certain Philip de Colville, who it
was supposed had burnt his fortress at Drax, or had dehvered
it up to be burnt, in rebellion, relying on the strength of the
same fortress and on the mighty prowess of his comrades, and
on a copious supply of food and arms ; nevertheless, the king,
having assembled an army from the nearest provinces, laid siege
to the fortress, though almost inaccessible from the intervening-
rivers, forests, and marshes, and having bravely stormed it, in a
short time won it." Philip de Colville was the mesne-tenant
of this Robert, and the treason committed by the vassal was
avenged upon the lord by the ftn-feiture of the demesnes of
Drax and Leeds ; and, in point of fact, the whole barony of
William Paynel had reverted to the Crown by reason of this
rebellion. Prior to 1182, Alice Paynel was deceased, leaving
issue by her second husband, Robert, an only daughter, Avicia,
whose wardship and marriage, when of age, were obtained by
Robert, son of Robert Fitz Harding, and next brother of
Maurice de Berkeley, ancestor of the illustrious family of that
name. The females of the house of Paynel were unfortunate in
being left widows. Robert de Courcy, the husband of Avicia
Rumille, was killed at the battle of Coleshill, in 1157, and she
was again a widow, living upon her estates in 1168. Alice
Paynel died ante 1182, and after her decease, Robert de Gaunt
contracted a second marriage with Gunnora, one of the sisters
and co-heiresses of Ralph d' Aubigne', by whom he had issue
four sons, Stephen, Gilbert, Geoftry, and Reginald.
In the 2nd of Richard I., 1190, we have these entries on
the pipe roll for Yorkshire : " On the part of John le Mareshal,
MAURICE DE GAUNT. 61
sheriff of the county, who rendered account of £7 19s. Od., for
the issues of Leeds, the land of Robert de Gaunt, whilst it had
been in the king's hands; and of £6 is. Gd. of the mortgages
and lands of the Jews."
In the 9th Richard I., 1197, under the heading of "The
debts of Aaron, the Jew of Lincoln," is this entry: "Robert
de Gaunt owed £26 upon Irnham and Leeds; but because Irn-
ham and Leeds are not of the inheritance of him, Robert, or of
his heir, it was adjudged by the barons that no distraint ought
to be made upon Irnham or Leeds for the aforesaid debt; but
the aforesaid debt ought to be exacted from the heir of the
aforesaid Robert."' What a change must have taken place
since then ! Two manors, and one of them Leeds — now the
wealthy and world-famed capital of the West-Riding of York-
shire — pawned to a Jew for the paltry sum of £26! — See His-
tory of the Priory of Holy Trinity, and the monkish historians
of the period.
1184-1230.
MAURICE DE GAUNT [or Paynel].
The date of the birth of this, the most illustrious of the
barons of Leeds, may be brought within veiy narrow limits by
the following evidences : —
"John I., 1199, convention between the Bishop of London
and Thomas le Poitevin (lord of the manor of Headingley),
concerning the boundary of the wood of Leeds and Headingley,
respecting which there has been a suit ; viz. : — that it remain in
that state in which it now is, until the legitimate age of Maurice,
son of Robert, who is in the custody of the aforesaid bishop,
whose fief the mil of Leeds is. Therefore neither the bishop
or his own men, nor the aforesaid Thomas or his men, may
take anything in that boundary until the aforesaid tenn." This
proves that he was not of age in 1199, but in 1205 he insti-
tuted a suit to dispossess the prior of Holy Trinity of his rights
and emoluments proceeding from the church of Leeds ; but
judgment was given against him, and the prior remained in
possession according to the terms of the vaiious charters given
by the Paynels, his ancestors. In 1205 he had certainly at-
tained his majority, and Ave may infer that he had commenced
the above suit as soon as he was legally capable of doing so,
consequently he would have been born not later than 1184, and
not earlier than 1178, but most probably in the former year.
In the 13th John, 1212, upon the occasion of the levy of the
scutage of two marks on each knight's fief, for the host of Scot-
02 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
land, Maurice is entered upon tlie pipe roll of Yorkshire as
holding twelve knights' fees and a half, the same number as had
been certified by Robert de Gaunt, in his charter, to be due
from the barony of Paynel, of which Leeds was now, since the
demolition of the castle of Drax, reckoned one of the chief seats.
In addition to the castle of Leeds, Maurice possessed as his
baronial residence, the splendid feudal castle of Beverston, in
Gloucestershire, which had descended to him from his father,
Robert Fitz Harding. The grim ruins of this old fortress raise
their moss-covered heads in all their venei-able majesty, while
of the castle of Leeds not one stone is to be found, except such
as are to be revealed to us by the pick and shovel of the con-
tractor's labourer.* In the loth John, Maurice had the king's
licence to marry Matilda, the only child of Henry D'Oilly,
baron of Hook-Norton, in Oxfordshire; in consideration for
which he was to serve the king whenever he pleased, with
twenty knights. Maurice followed King John in his expedition
to the Continent, in February, 1214, and in 1215 we find him
amongst the principal instigators of the contest between the
king and those discontented barons Avho wrung from that
wretched monarch the bulwark of England's constitution, the
Great Charter. Innocent III., in the 18th year of his pontifi-
cate, excommunicated the barons who opposed the king ; and
Maurice thereupon lost all his lands, which were distributed
amongst the royal followers, the greater part being given to
Philip de Albini. An entiy on the patent roll, January 2nd,
1216, states that "it is enjoined the good men of Leeds, that
they be obedient to Philip de Albini, as their lord, because the
king had committed to him the land which had belonged to
Maurice de Gaunt in Leeds, with the appurtenances, as long as
it shall please him." It was also enjoined the sheriff of York-
shire, that he cause Philip de Albini to have seizure of the
whole land in Ms bailiwick, which had belonged to the same
Maurice. On the accession of Henry III., he continued to
adhere to the cause of Prince Louis, and was among the English
barons who were defeated at Lincoln, on May 20th, 1217 ;
when he fell a captive into the bauds of Rannulph, Earl of
Chester, and as such was confined for about twelve months.
He obtained his liberty by ceding to the earl two of his capital
manors, those of Leeds and Bingley, in Yorkshire ; and although
peace was concluded between the king and the barons, bv a
* See Note, p. 51 ; and for a longer account of Leeds Castle, see Parsons'
History of Leeds, i. , 88, &c.
MAURICE DE GAUNT. G3
treaty drawn up on the 11th of September, — wherein it was
arranged that all prisoners who had paid a sum for their ransom,
were not to have that sum returned to them, but all that remained
unpaid was to be forgiven to the debtors — yet the manors of
Leeds and Bingley were lost to Maurice de Gaunt. He was the
first baron who acknowledged the men of Leeds as freemen and
citizens, and on the 10th November, 1208, took the first step
towards rendering this town a corporation, by granting "his
burgesses of Leeds " a charter, the terms of which reflect equal
honour upon the noble grantor, and the industrious men whom
that celebrated instrument was framed to benefit ; and although
his name and deed are alike forgotten, the splendid liberality of
the feudal chieftain is unquestionably one great cause of the
present prosperity of this town, which had then sprung into
commercial notoriety, as may be seen from the following : — 127-3,
" The jurors say that Thomas de Abberford, of Ottelay, Robert
Doune, of the same place, and Alexander Fuller, of Ledes,
make cloth not of a right breadth."'"
After being forgiven by the king, his loyalty was thence-
forward steadfast and active. In the 9th Henry III., he assisted
William, the Earl Marshal, in fortifying a castle in Wales ; and
in consequence of being so engaged, a suit against him, which
was to have been heard before the justices itinerant, was re-
moved before the judges at Westminster. Although he had
fortified his castle of Beverston, in Gloucestershire, without the
necessary royal licence, yet he gave such satisfactory explana-
tions to Henry, and submitted himself so unreservedly, that he
obtained the royal confirmation of his act. In August of the
same year, 1227, he was nominated one of the justices itinerant.
On the 30th April, 1230, he embarked with Henry on his expe-
dition into France, during which, on the following August, he
died. After the death of his first wife, Matilda, in the early
part of Henrys reign, he married Margaret, the widow of
Ralph de Sumeri, who survived him; but he left no issue by
either. Maurice was the last baron of the house of Paynel,
and after his capture and the forfeiture of his estates of Leeds
and Bingley, those estates again descended to the De Laci family,
through a sister of the Earl of Chester, who married into that
family, and increased their numerous titles by the addition of
that of Earl of Lincoln, she being countess of that city in her
own right. She married John de Laci, and, after his death,
* For a full translated copy of Maurice Paganel's charter, see Appendix II.
to Wardell's Municipal History of Leeds.
G4 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
William Marshall, Earl Marshal and of Pembroke. Her son
and successor, Edmund de Laci, married Alice, daughter of the
Marquis of Saluces, in Italy, and was deceased July 22nd,
1257; whereupon Alice, his widow, had for her dower the
manors of Rothwell, Leeds, Berwick-in-Elmet, Snaitk-with-the-
Soke, Slaidburn iu Bolland, Grindleton, and Bradford, in York-
shire. And thus the manor of Leeds reverted to its original
lords, the Lacies, and remained with them until the Laci fee
merged into the duchy of Lancaster, by the marriage of Alice,
the heiress of the Lacies, with Thomas Earl of Lancaster.
Thomas entered into the stormy politics of the day, and was
made a martyr to his cause, being beheaded at Pontefract, on
the 23rd of March, 1322. Four years afterwards, his lascivious
lady bestowed her hand upon one of her many paramours, Sir
Ebulo 1' Estrange, and for so doing without his consent, the
king confiscated all her lands in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and
Cheshire. — See History of the Priory of Holy Trinity in York;
Burton's Monasticon Eboracense; Bohn's Ordericus Vitalis,
* The preceding Sketches of the Norman Barons (with the exception of
Paulmus and the Notes), have been kindly supplied by my friend, Mr.
"William Wheater, land-surveyor, of Albion Street, Leeds ; also the ensuing
Sketches of Sir Hugh Calverley, Sir Ralph Hopton, and Sir Ferdinand Leigh.
For an account of some of the succeeding Lords of the Manor, see Parsons'
History of Leeds, i., 93, ic.
THE WORTHIES OF LEEDS,
ETC.
—1394.
SIR HUGH CALVERLEY
Appears to have been a younger .son of the house of Calverley of
Scott, lords of the manor of Calverley, near Leeds. Living in an
age when there were but two professions worthy of the son of a
knightly house, the church and the sword, he readily chose the
latter; and as the English were from the beginning of the
14th century constantly engaged in war, ample opportunities
of becoming an accomplished man-at-arms were afforded to the
young aspirant, who appears to have availed himself of them to
the utmost. The first time we hear of him is at a tournament,
recollected with pride and exultation by the Freuch, as an
engagement conferring upon them immense honour. It was
fought on a field near Ploermal — where there is now a monu-
ment erected to perpetuate the memory of the event — on
Sunday, March 27th, 1351, and is known as the "Combat of
Thirty," that being the number of combatants on each side.
The English were defeated ; a great many on each side were
killed, Sir Hugh being captured and carried into the castle of
Josselin. How long he remained there, and by what means he
gained his liberty, are unknown. He is not enumerated among
any of the chieftains in France until 13-09, when he is one of
the two governors of Melun-sur-Seine, then besieged by the
Duke of Normandy. The siege was raised, and Sir Hugh, with
the three queens he had under his protection , were safely rescued
by their friends. We next find mention of him at the battle of
Amay, fought on Sunday, 9th October, 1364. Charles of Blois
had assented to the partition of Bretagne, but his wife, whose
dowry the province was, would not sanction it; and through
her influence or obstinacy, her husband, with a body of troops
sent by the King of France, and led by the renowned Du
Guesclin, had taken the field to oppose the English army sent to
enforce the partition. The Earl of Montfort was the com-
E
66 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
mander-in-chief of the English, and as his subordinate, but still
in high command, was Sir Hugh Calverley. Froissart, the his-
torian, who records the battle, leaves us a fine but painful scene
enacted by the superior, and his brave but somewhat unruly
inferior, where strict military discipline is subverted by the
fierce spirit of a warrior who claims as the only place worthy of
him, that in the van of the first line of battle. The earl ordered
Sir Hugh to take the command of the rear-guard, an order
which aroused the indignation of the fiery soldier, who looked
upon a position where danger was not greatest, and blows
thickest, as an insult to his courage and knightly fame. Sir
Hugh at first absolutely refused to comply with such a dis-
honourable proposal, but through the solicitation of the earl,
who besought him to take a command which he alone was
fitted for, he afterwards accepted it with much reluctance. The
battle was gained by the English, but Sir Hugh did not partici-
pate in the glory then won, except by showing himself a skilful
commander, and one ready to meet any emergency the day of
battle might produce.
Sir Hugh was the commander of one of those peculiarly
organized bodies of mercenary troops known as " Free Compa-
nies." Vagabonds of every description were enrolled hi their
ranks; discipline, except on the field of battle, and in the mo-
ment of action, when it alone could ensure victory and conse-
quently plunder, was unrecognized. Composed of men of every
nation, whose only desire to conquer was to rob and devastate,
their dissolute life and recklessness of purpose made them as
much to be feared by their friends as the most inveterate enemy.
But in Sir Hugh they recognized a master-spirit who could lead
them to victory and awe them into discipline j and the hardy
ruffians who fought with him respected and feared him, for
" They love a captain to obey,
Boisterous as March, yet fresh as May ;
"With open hand and brow as free,
Lover of wine and minstrelsy;"
and such a captain was Sir Hugh Calverley.
When active employment could no longer be provided for
them in France, Sir Hugh, and many more leaders of "Free
Companies," went into Spain, where civil war was then breaking
out. Pedro the Cruel, of Spain, had quarrelled with his illegiti-
mate brother, Don Enrique, and though he had previously
entered into an alliance with Edward the Black Prince, that did
not prevent many of the English leaders of Companies taking
service under the standard of his brother. A grant of a con-
SIR HUGH CALVERLEY. 67
siderable suin of money, and a promise of more, caused Sir
Hugh to accept service against the ally of his prince. This ser-
vice was the more acceptable to the mercenary warriors because,
when success attended them, as it invariably did, plunder
followed in its train. In the two years 1365 and 1366 Sir
Hugh fought under Don Enrique, but in the spring of 1367 the
Black Prince entered Spain with an army to assist Pedro, whose
forces were beaten and himself dispossessed of his throne. Before
the prince started he recalled all those English captains who
were serving Don Enrique, and, true to his lord and his countiy,
if occasionally forgetful of his knightly vow of purity and moral
rectitude, Sir Hugh returned to the prince. In January, 1367,
Sir Hugh took the towns of Miranda and Puenta de la Regna :
and in February the prince and his whole army arrived at
Pampeluna. Sir Hugh had received from Don Enrique, as a
reward for his valour, the lordship of Carrion ; but the hardy
and often ruthless warrior preferred losing that to violating the
faith of a knight and a vassal by bearing arms against his natu-
ral chief. On Friday, the 2nd of April, the English army took
up a position at Kavaretta, in front of the enemy commanded
by the renowned Du Guesclin; and as on the eve of most of
their great battles, the English rested in a sleepless bivouac,
an-hungered, destitute, and forlorn, but indomitable iu spirit, and
burning to chastise the enemy who had brought upon them their
misery. On the morning of Saturday, between the towns of
Nagarra and Navaretta, a battle was fought ecpial in slaughter,
glory, and the exposition of military prowess, to any of those
wept for and gained by the descendants of those proud yeomen
who then taught the combined Spaniard and Frenchman with
what majestic dignity and inimitable bravery the English
soldiers could fight. All in that conquering army performed
prodigies of valour; but, if Froissart is to be believed, none
distinguished themselves more than the intrepid Sir Hugh
Calverley. "It was a grand day," says a sneering French his-
torian, in the moment of his bitter malevolence, "for the Prince
of Wales. It was twenty years since he had fought at Crecy,
and ten since he had won the battle of Poictiers. He gave
judgment on the plain of Burgos; and held gages and field of
battle there. For one day he could call all Spain his own." It
was indeed a proud day for England; for France throbbed with
fear at the mention of her fatal prowess in arms; and France's
choicest soldier was a second time a prisoner in the hands of the
English, from whom 100,000 confederates had that day received
a humiliating defeat. This victory dissipated all the hope of
G8 BIOGRArHIA LEODIEKSIS.
Eurique, and restored peace. War, however, again broke out
between the Black Prince and the King of France, in conse-
quence of a hearth tax, which was ordered by the former, and
resisted by the peasantry and the latter. At this time Sir Hugh
was on the borders of Arragon with a large body of the " Free
Companies" who had lately quitted Spain. He immediately
hastened to the prince, who at that time held his court at
Angouleme, and was received by him with the most lively satis-
faction, being appointed governor of Calais, a position which
only devolved upon those whom a prince, by no means devoid
of judgment and knowledge as to character and capacity, selected
from the most worthy of his chieftains. In 1373 he accom-
panied the Duke of Lancaster to Calais with an army destined
to invade Picardy, but the expedition proved a failure and was
abandoned. A truce followed, which was not lasting, war again
breaking out in 1377, when Sir Hugh was again sent to Calais
as its governor. Ardres, a neighbouring fortress, was then
under the command of a German in the English service, the
Leur de Gunny, who, it is supposed, treasonably surrendered his
post to the French. Sir Hugh immediately despatched him to
England to answer to the charge, while he himself gathered
together his troops and commenced a destructive raid upon the
surrounding district, as a measure of retaliation for the loss of
the fortress. With 500 men under his command he marched
towards Boulogne, which he seized, burning the ships in the
harbour, and one of the suburbs. Whilst the conflagration pro-
gressed, the fierce soldier caused his chaplain to celebrate mass
in the midst of the burning houses, as if to ask God's blessing
upon the savage deeds he had committed; and when the cere-
mony was concluded, and the violence of the conflagration
exhausted, he gave the town over to pillage, and then withdrew,
taking away large herds of cattle and many other valuables.
After his return to Calais he joined the Earl of Pembroke in an
incursion into Anjou, when he again reaped plunder and the
glory that worships bravery and ignores any higher moral quality
in a soldier, by driving the French from a bridge called the
Pont de le, and taking the rich Abbey of St. Maur. A few days
after Christinas, 1378, "deeming himself too much at ease," as
the chronicler tells us, he gathered his men together, and fell
suddenly upon the town of Etaples while the fair was being
held, and after murdering the merchants, robbing them of their
goods, and burning the town, he returned to Calais. But he
did not allow himself a long repose. He again took the field,
captured the Castle of Merk, and then, advancing towards St.
THE REV. ROBERT PASSELEW. G9
Audemer, lie seized vast quantities of cattle, and, without inter-
ruption, drove them into Calais, because, as a chronicler says,
" Deus erat cum eo, et omnia ejus opera dirigebat!"
To mention merely the many acts of daring and military
skill which distinguished this renowned warrior, would require
too large a space; but the reader who is curious to examine the
accounts of every-day life of the brave but lawless men — a large
class of themselves, and of which Sir Hugh formed one, and per-
haps a type — should consult the pages of the chronicler Froissart,
which are stored with vivid descriptions of knightly achieve-
ment, and the racy gossip of the camp and court.
Nor should we regard with too much severity the many
peccadilloes that this sketch presents. They were the faults of
the age, not of the individual; and to measure them by the
moral standard of the present day, and then blame him for its
shortcomings, or reprehend him for not reforming the vices of
his day and generation, is to treat him with great injustice.
Animal courage was esteemed the greatest virtue of that fierce
and warlike age, and that he possessed in an eminent degree.
After a life of toil, privation, and continuous fighting, he died
April 23rd, 139-1. — For other particulars, consult also Walsing-
ham's Historic/, Anglicana, &c.
-1412.
THE EEV". EOBEET PASSELEW,
Instituted Vicar of Leeds in the year 1408, was the first whose
name indicates him to have been a native of the parish. The
Pas.^elews (or Paslews) were an ancient family long settled in
Potternewton, near Leeds ; and this vicar is supposed by
Thoresby to have been son of "Robert Passelew del Ledes," so
styled in a charter of that period. Dr. Whitaker possessed the
original will of a William Passelew del Ledes, dated 23 Rich. II.,
or 1399, the first feoffee named in which is "Johannes Vicar.
Ecclesire del Leds," namely, John Snagtall, the preceding vicar;
and this William, in point of chronology and place, may have an
equal claim to be the father of his successor. It does not appear
whether Robert Passelew avoided the benefice by resignation or
death; but he did not hold it long, for there is only the interval
of ten years between 1408, the time of his institution, and 1418,
the date of the institution of his next successor but one, William
Saxton."
The Leeds parish church (St. Peter's), being mentioned in
* For short accounts of some of the preceding vicars, see Thoresby's
Vicaria Lcodiensis, &c.
70 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Domesday Book, proves it to have been in existence at a very-
early period. On taking down the old parish church of Leeds,
in 1838, a most interesting discovery was made of several sculp-
tured stone crosses of the Anglo-Saxon period. The largest
cross was thirteen feet in height; the others were less, and
broken into fragments. One of the crosses contained in Runic
characters the name of a king. The inscription was Cuni Onlaf,
that is, King Onlaf. Onlaf, the Dane, entered the Humber in
937, and subsequently became King of Northumbria, and a
Christian. His residence was jjrobably the "Villa Regia" at
Osmondthorpe ; and this cross was no doubt erected to his
memory in the cemetery of the Leeds parish church, about the
year 950. Ancient fragments were discovered of the Norman
church of Leeds; not the one mentioned in the Domesday
Survey, but the church renewed about the latter end of the 11th
or the commencement of the 12th century.* Behind the altar-
piece was a mural monument to the memory of a family named
Hardewycke, of the 16th century; and in taking up the floor
under the communion table, a tablet was found in excellent pre-
servation, containing a brass-plate inscribed to the memory of
Thomas Darrell (or Clarrell), Vicar of Leeds, who was a bene-
factor to the church, and died in 1469.t On taking up the floor
of the choir, a fine effigy was discovered in chain-mail, with plate
knee-caps, sword, and shield, beautifully carved in limestone;
the coat of arms or quartering^ of the shield denoting the knight
to have been of the family of Stainton or Steynton. The legs
had been broken off close under the knee. This effigy is cross-
legged, and cannot be later than Edward II. 's time, or about
the year 1300. In the succeeding reign, Elizabeth Stainton was
prioress of Kirkstall, and probably of the same family. The
advowsons of the church of Leeds and the chapel of Holbeck
were given in 1089, by Ralph Paganel, to the priory of the
Holy Trinity, at York. The original chapel of St. Mary the
Virgin, at Beeston, was most probably founded about the same
period. — For the pedigree and coat of arms of the Passelews, see
Thoresby's Ducatus Zeodiensis, p. 120.
1350-1413.
SIR WILLIAM GASCOIGNE,
An eminent judge in the reign of Henry IV, was descended of
a noble family, originally from Normandy, and born at Gaw-
thorp, near Harewood, about seven miles from Leeds, in the
* For a large view of the south prospect of old St. Peter's church at Leeds,
see Thoresby's Vicaria Leodiensis. f See p. 72 of this volume.
SIR WILLIAM GASCOIGNE. 71
year 1350.* Being designed for the law, lie became a student
either at Gray's Inn or the Inner Temple ; and growing eminent
in his profession, was made one of the king's Serjeants in 1398,
and the next year Judge of the Common Pleas, and in 1401
Chief-Justice of the King's Bench. How much he distinguished
himself in that office appears from the several abstracts of his
opinions, arguments, distinctions, and decisions, which occur in
our old books of law-reports. He was appointed commissioner
to treat with those who had joined the rebellion of the Earl of
Northumberland; but when Archbishop Scroop was taken in
arms, he refused, though repeatedly solicited by Henry IV., to
condemn him for treason, observing with undaunted firmness
that neither the king nor his subjects could legally adjudge a
bishop to death. He worthily asserted the dignity of his high
office when the Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V., deter-
mined to rescue one of his servants, who was arraigned before
the King's Bench, presumed to interrupt, and even to strike,
the chief-justice. On this Sir William, after some expostula-
tions upon the outrage, indignity, and unwarrantable interrup-
tion of the proceedings in that place, directly committed him to
the King's Bench prison, there to await his father's pleasure;
and the prince submitted to his punishment with a calmness no
less sudden and surprising than the offence had been which drew
it upon him. The king, being informed of the whole affair,
instead of being displeased with the chief -justice, returned
thanks to God, "that he had given him both a judge who knew
how to administer, and a son who could obey justice."t This
extraordinary event has been recorded, not only in the general
histories of the reigns of these two sovereigns, but celebrated
also by the poets, and particularly by Shakspeare, who has ren-
dered it immortal, in the second part of " Henry TV." The
venerable judge died soon after, on the 17th of Dec, 1413.J
His monument is in Harewood church : an altar-tomb, with re-
cumbent figures of himself and wife. The inscription on a brass
* He was of Norman extraction, and William was the great patronymic of
the family,' — probably out of compliment to the Conqueror, — there being
sixteen Williams lineally succeeding each other, seven before and eight after
the Chief -Justice.
+ " Happy am 1 that have a man so bold
That (lures do justice on my proper son :
And not less happy, having such a son
That would deliver up his greatness so
Into the hands of justice."
Shakspeare, Henry IV. ii. 5, ii.
% Mr. John Jones, in his History of Harewood (Leeds, 1859), proves from
his Latin wdl that he died in 1419.
72 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
filleting round the tomb, mentioned by Fuller in his Worthies
°f England, has disappeared; having been torn away, it is gene-
rally said, in the time of the civil wars.* From his general con-
duct, as related by historians, there is sufficient reason to place
Sir William Gascoigne in the rank of chief-justices of the first
merit, both for his integrity and abilities. Lord Campbell says :
" Never was the seat of judgment filled by a more upright or
independent magistrate." He was twice married, and left a
numerous family. The famous Earl of Strafford, who was
executed in the reign of Charles I., was one of his descen-
dants by his first wife.t — For a more lengthened account, see
the English Histories, the Biographia Britannica, and Chal-
mers's General Biographical Dictionary, &c. For a portrait,
&c.,of Sir William Gascoigne, see Gentleman's Magazine for
1781, vol. li., p. 516. For pedigree and coat of arms of the
Gascoignes, see Jones's History of Ilarewoocl, pp. 54 and 254;
Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 179; Whitaker's Loidis and
Elmete, pp. 238 and 251, &c.
—1469.
THE EEV. THOMAS CLAEEL,
Vicar of Leeds from 1430 to 14G9, is supposed to have been
descended from the ancient and knightly family of the Clarels,
of Clarel Hall, near Tickhill, in this county, of whom Leland
saith: "There were also buried divers of Clarelles in Tickhil
Priory." There is yet a place by Tickhill, called Clarelles Hall.
The Clarelles (or Clarrells) were indeed founders of that house;
and some portion of their munificent spirit descended upon this
incumbent, who was a great benefactor, according to the opinions
of these times, to his church, having founded and well-endowed
a chantry to the honour of St. Catherine, the virgin and martyr,
and adorned the chancel with paintings and other decorations.
During his incumbency another transaction took place highly
interesting to his successors, which was the donation of the site
of the late vicarage-house to the benefice, by William Scot, the
elder, of Potternewton. It has been conjectured that the vicar's
ancient residence was in some part of the original parsonage,
whose site was lately pointed by the old tithe-bam. Whether
* For a large engraving of the tomb of Lord Chief -Justice Gascoigne, and
Elizabeth his wife, daughter and co-heir of Sir William (or Alexander) Mow-
bray, of Kirkhngton, in this county, see Whitaker's Thorcsby, vol. ii., p. 170.
t Richard Gascoigne, Esq., of Hunslet, who married Beatrix, daughter and
co-heiress of Henry Ellis, Esq. (of Hunslet), and died in 1422, was brother to
the above Sir William. The Gascoignes of Parlington, &c, are also descended
from this family.
THE REV. WILLIAM EVRE, B.D. 73
the ancient manse was become ruinous, or was too much crowded
by the increase of buildings, or what motive stimulated this
benefactor to so well-judged an act of charity, cannot at this
distance of time be more than conjecture. Dr. Whitaker thinks
it is very credible that John Elcock, one of the witnesses in
the Latin charter of donation, then in the humble situation of a
chaplain, or stipendiary priest, was the individual John Alcock
who, through many successive preferments, became Bishop of
Ely, and is, or ought to be, gratefully remembered as the founder
of Jesus College, Cambridge. He was born at Beverley, and
was collated by Dr. Kempe, Bishop of London, to his first pre-
ferment, the rectory of St. Margaret, Fish Street, in 1461 — just
eight years after this time — a date which is perfectly consistent
with the supposition that he was now a young man in the out-
set of his ecclesiastical career, serving a stipendiary cure in his
native county. — For further particulars, see the latter part of
the Bev. Bobert Basselew, 1412, and Thoresby's Vicaria Leodi-
ensis, by Dr. Whitaker.
-1472.
THE BEV. WILLIAM EVRE, B.D.,
Collated to the vicarage of Leeds, Nov. 16th, 1460, and Bre-
centor of York at the time of his institution, the son of Sir
William Evre, Knight, a great family in the East-Biding, by
Maud, daughter of Henry, Lord Fitzhugh, and brother of Sir
Balph Evre, who was killed at the battle of Towton. This vicar
left a memorial behind him at Leeds, by founding the chantry
of St. Mary Magdalen, at the corner of Upper Briggate, turning
into Upperhead Bow, where a house still retains some of the
old upright timbers, and something of its original appearance,
though the chantry windows which remained in Thoresby's time
are gone. What share the vicarage of Leeds had of this vicar's
residence and attendance, or whether he were interred here or
at York, is not known. It is certain, however, that he held it
to his death, or about twelve years. — For the pedigree and arms
of the Evres, see Whitaker's Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis,
p. 19.*
* There was another William Evre, Vicar of Leeds, in the year 1508. He
was the son of Sir William (nephew of the above William Evre, B.D., Vicar
of Leeds), by Margaret, his former wife, daughter of Sir Eobert Constable,
Knt., and brother to Sir Ralph Evre, Knt., who by Murela, daughter of Sir
Hugh Hastings, Knt., had issue another Sir William, whom King Henry
VIII., by letters patent (afterwards deposited in Thoresby's Museum), ad-
vanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, for his faithful services when
warden of the East Marches towards Scotland, and captain of the town and
castle of Berwiek-upoii-Tweed, in the presence of Archbishop Cranmer, and
74 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
-1499.
THE EIGHT EEV. JOHN FKAZEK,
Vicar of Leeds, and Bishop of Ross in Scotland, who left Scot-
land with the Duke of Albany during the distracted reign of
James III., and meeting with an hospitable reception in
England, probably at York, did not accompany his patron into
France. By what particular interest he procured this benefice,
as a means of subsistence during his exile, does not appear ; but
he held it about seventeen years, and after the troubles of his
native country were composed by the prudence and vigour* of
James TV., returned to Scotland in 1499. Thoresby speaks of
this vicar with some hesitation, as he is styled in the archiepis-
copal registers merely " Johannes Dei gratia Rossensis Episco-
pus • " but the period of his retreat in England, coupled with the
precise time of his resigning the benefice of Leeds, which coin-
cides with the beginning of the reign of James, leaves no doubt
that Frazer was the man. — For some notices of this prelate, see
Holinshead, vol. ii., p. 705, and Middleton's Additions to Spottis-
woode, &c.
1545—1566.
HENEY, LOED DARNLEY,
Son of Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lennox, husband of Mary Queen
of Scots, and father of James the Sixth of Scotland and First of
England, was born at Temple Newsome, near Leeds, in the year
1545. After the dissolution of the Knights Templars in 1311,
Temple ISTewsome was granted by Edward III. to Sir John
D'Arcy, and his heirs male. In this line it descended to Thomas,
Lord D'Aix:y and Meinel, and on his attainder, in consequence
of the active part which he took in the Pilgrimage of Grace,
became forfeited to the Crown. It was again granted to
Matthew, Earl of Lennox, who resided here (with Lady Mar-
garet his wife), at the birth of his celebrated but unfor-
tunate son, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, whose heir-at-law
was King James I. In him the manor of Temple New-
some was once more united to the Crown, and by him, in the
profusion of his bounty, given to his kinsman, Esme Stuart,
Duke of Lennox and Richmond. He did not long remain in
possession of this fair domain, but sold it to Sir Ai*thur Ingram,
the son of a wealthy citizen of London, who purchased many
other spiritual and temporal lords. His son, Sir Ralph Evre, will ever live in
fame for his noble defence of Scarborough Castle, against the northern
rebels, full six weeks, without any other assistance than his own domestics, or
any other food for the last twenty days than bread and water.
HENRY, LORD DARNLEY. 75
other valuable estates in the county, which he destined for his
future residence. It appears that as soon as Sir Arthur Ingram
became possessor of Temple Newsonie, he pulled down the old
house, which was probably become ruinous, and began to build
a uniform and magnificent fabric of brick, the shell of which
remains nearly entire. The old house, however, was not com-
pletely demolished, for Thoresby asserts that the identical apart-
ment in which Lord Darnley was born remained in his time,
and was distinguished by the name of the king's chamber. It
is now forgotten, nor can a vestige of any portion of the building
earlier than Sir Arthur Ingram's work be discovered. — (For a
fine engraving of Temple Newsome, or, as it is now spelled,
Newsam, see Dr. Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. 139.) The
house covers a great extent of ground; its plan is that of a Roman
H, or rather of three sides of a large quadrangle, and the archi-
tecture is a fine specimen of the period in which it was built. The
roof is surrounded by a battlement, composed of capital letters
in stonework, forming the following inscription : " All glory
and praise be given to god the father, the son,
and Holy Ghost, on high; peace upon earth, good will
towards men; honour and true allegiance to our gra-
cious king, loving affections amongst his subjects, health
and plenty within this house." The external appearance of
the building, though not uniform, is very imposing; its deep
and embayed windows are distinctive of the age (i.e., of the
first Stuarts) in which it was constructed ; splendid convenience
and domestic comfort form the character of its internal arrange-
ments; and the whole fabric constitutes a truly noble residence.
The park around the house is extensive; it is shaded by vene-
rable and magnificent woods; the walk on the southern de-
clivity of the hill between gigantic trees is very fine, and
the situation truly beautiful. The collection of paintings at
Temple Newsome is very valuable. The series of family por-
traits from Sir Arthur Ingram (who died July 4th, 1655), to
the present generation, besides the intrinsic merit of several as
works of art, forms an excellent study of the English costume
for more than two centuries. But there are many works of a
higher order, from Guido to Reynolds, on which every visitant
of taste or science will dwell with delight, till he forgets the
ordinary measures of time assigned to such enjoyments. The
noble families of Lennox, Irwine, and Hertford have resided
here. — For other particulars respecting the brief but eventful
life of Lord Darnley, with which almost all schoolboys are
familiar, see the Histories of England and Scotland, and
76 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
especially the Lives of the Queens of Scotland, by Agnes Strick-
land (London, 185G), which contain several tine portraits of
Mary (Stuart) Queen of Scots, who was one of the most beau-
tiful women that ever lived, &c.
-1587.
CHRISTOPHER SAXTON,
A celebrated geographer in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was
probably one of the ancestors of the Rev. Peter Saxton, vicar
of Leeds, for Camden supposes him to have been a native of
Leeds parish, where he frequently resided amongst his relations;
though he is said to have lived chiefly at Topcliffe, Tingley,
or Woodkirk, near Ardsley. It is also related that he was
born at Bramley, near Leeds. Thoresby, in allusion to Cam-
den's Christopher Saxton (whom all must own to have been a
most distinguished person in his generation), says : " As long
as that celebrated author is owned ' the prince of our English
antiquaries,' and his Britannia the common sun whereat our
modern writers lighted their little torches, the fame of Saxton
will survive : for Camden speaks very highly of his works, and
styles him ' the most excellent chorogr cipher?" Saxton's maps
of England, the fruit of an actual survey which took up nine
years, were highly esteemed little more than a century ago,
having then not been surpassed, or scarcely equalled in exact-
ness. He died in October, and was buried at Leeds on the
31st, in the year 1587. The learned John Gregory, in his
description and use of maps and charts, makes use of Sax-
ton's as the very best for the illustrating of his examples, who
(saith that judicious author), as he drew topographical descrip-
tions of this kingdom by the shires and counties in a set
volume of tables, so a general chorographical map of the whole
kingdom, than which nothing can be more particularly and
exactly performed according to art or industry (Gregoiy's
Works, pp. 319, 322). Besides those which were commonly
sold, Thoresby had a very rare map of this his native county,
nearly a yard in length, with the plan of York in one corner,
and the prospect of Hull in another. The small ones were
engraved by William Hole, but the large one by Augustine
Ryther (1G42), who was also very probably of this town,
where the name was lately numerous, as that of Saxton was
formerly. There are some of Christopher Saxton's Geographical
Charts of all the counties of England and Wales, distinguished
by colours, in the Bodleian Library, which (so curiously painted
maps) are not exposed with the printed books, but preserved
THE BEV. ROBERT COOKE, B.D. 77
iii the archives, amongst the very choicest manuscripts. — See
Thoresby's Vicar ia Leodlensis, &c.
1550—1614.
THE EEV. EOBERT COOKE, B.D.,
Vicar of Leeds, son of William Cooke, was baptized in Beeston
chapel, July 23rd, 1550. In 1567 he was admitted of Braze-
nose College, Oxford, having probably received his school
education in Sir William Sheaffield's foundation, the original
Grammar School at Leeds ; and, according to Wood, the author
of Athence Oxonienses, he became "the most noted disputant of
his time." In July, 1572, he took his first degree of Bachelor
of Arts, and in December of the following year, he was unani-
mously elected Brobationer Fellow of that college. In January,
1576, he commenced Master of Arts, about which time, entering
into holy orders, and being noted for his learning, he was, in
1582, elected one of the Broctors of the University, in which
station he acquitted himself so admirably well, that his house
gained much credit thereby. In 1584, he commenced Bachelor
of Divinity, but in June, 1590, he resigned his fellowship and
retired into his native county, having been presented to the
vicarage of Leeds, into which he was instituted on the 18th of
December ; from which time is dated the revival of religious
knowledge and substantial piety in these parts. But he was a
singular blessing, not only to the neighbourhood where he was
born, but also to the nation, and even to the learned world in
general ; for, by a severe application to study, he became, as the
Oxford historian owns, a man learned in the church, and singu-
larly skilled in the disquisition of antiquity, especially for the
discerning of the proper works of the Fathers from the forged
and counterfeit. Mr. Robert Cooke, formerly called Gale, was
the second Brotestant vicar of Leeds (Alexander Fascet, or
Fawcett, being the first) ; and he appears to have united the
characters of a hard student and an active parish, priest. He
was not one of those who, from the multiplicity of their avoca-
tions, "have not time to be learned;" nor was he "lost to the
people while amongst them " in the solitude of his study, but
employed meditation and public duty alternately, to relieve each
other. This happy union was the great characteristic of the
reformers. It continued to distinguish many of the English
clergy in the reign of James I. But the secret is, that they
were not men of pleasure, — for no economy of time can include
in the same day long hours of study, great activity in business,
and the calls of company and amusement; wlrich last being now
78 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
considered, by some, as indisjiensable, one or other of the former
must give place. Another reason of the difference was, that
the more hopeful students in divinity did not begin their min-
istry so early as the present generation. In Thoresby's later
days, more than a century after the decease of Robert Cooke,
his memory was still venerated in the parish, — a proof that even
then his doctrine and example had not ceased to profit. The
third and fourth generations might be influenced by a carxse of
which they were unconscious. His remaining works, in print
and in MS., prove him to have been a powerful disputant and
an acute critic. His principal work was his Censura Patrum,
which passed through several editions, and the object of which
was highly useful and praiseworthy, namely, to detect the nume-
rous forgeries and unauthorized insertions made by Roman
Catholic editors or transcribers in the works of the Fathers —
a book that will render his name venerable, as long as learning
and reformed Christianity shall endure. But as the success of
the undertaking depended on a general collation of the printed
copies with the MSS., and of the later with the earlier MSS.,
the author's situation in a country town was peculiarly unfa-
vourable. Zeal, however, and industry will overcome all ordi-
nary difficulties; and perhaps the materials had been collected
during the later years of his residence in Oxford. A few years
after this time, Archbishop Abbott projected a noble undertak-
ing of the same kind, and upon a great scale; but, from a want
of that general co-operation which even the influence of an
English primate was unable to command, it fell to the ground.
This learned and excellent man, whose nativity, Thoresby says,
is the glory of the place, died January 1st, 1614, and was in-
terred in his own church. He w T as succeeded by his brother
Alexander. — For a longer and more particular account, see
Thoresby's Vicaria Leodiensis, and Dr. Whitaker's Thoresby's
Ducaius Leodiensis, &c.
3556—1630.
RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN SAVILLE, KNT.,
The first alderman, or mayor, of the borough of Leeds, which
was incorporated by Charles I., in 1626.* He married Kathe-
rine, daughter of Charles, Lord Willoughby, and became the
father of Sir Thomas, afterwards Baron Saville, and Earl of
* He did not, however, formally discharge the functions of his office,
which were performed for him by the celebrated John Harrison. John
Clayton, Esq., was the first recorder, and George Banister the first town-
clerk.
THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN SAVILLE. 79
Sussex, who died in 1 652. Sir John was High Sheriff of the
county of Lincoln, and, during the reigns of James I. and
Charles I., was several times Knight of the Shire for Yorkshire.
He was High Steward of the Honour of Pontefract, and Steward-
ship of Wakefield, of the Privy Council to Charles I., and
Comptroller of his Household; and by him was created Baron
Saville, of Pontefract ; whose crest and supporters," known by
the name of " hullarts," or owls, were, in honour of him,
adopted by the town of Leeds.* The fleece in the shield de-
notes the woollen manufactures, the very life of these parts
of England, supported by the Athenian birds, in memory of
the famous Sir John Saville (afterwards created Lord Saville,
as his son was Earl of Sussex), the first hon. alderman wdien
this populous town and parish were incorporated ; also a good
omen of so many learned authors as have been born or resided
here, of whom (with the divine permission) more hereafter;
indeed more suitable supporters could not have been desired.
Minerva, wdiose bird the owl is, as well as the Savilles' arms,
being not only the goddess of learning and wisdom, but the
inventor of spinning and weaving; and justly celebrated for
finding out the use both of oil and wool, without which this
place could not well subsist. He built Howley Hall, in Batley
pirish, near Leeds, called by Camden "a most elegant house."
(For an engraving of which see Thoresby.) After standing for
a century and a half, the pride and admiration of the neigh-
bourhood, it was, at the instigation of a faithless agent, blown
up with gunpowder by order of the Earl of Cardigan, in 1730.
There are two reputed facts connected with the place, how-
ever, which should not be omitted. The first is, that the cele-
brated Rubens visited Lord Saville in Howley Hall, and
painted for him a view of Pontefract; and the second is, that
Archbishop Usher here assumed the disguise of a Jesuit, in
order to try the controvei'sial talents of Robert Cooke, the
learned Vicar of Leeds. — For a long account of Howley Hall, see
Parsons' History of Leeds, i., 53, 347; Scatcherd's History of
Morley, p. 235, &c. For the charter of 'Charles I., and copies
of the Leeds arms, &c, see Warden's Mwnicipal History of
Leeds; and for a long account of the Saville family, see the
Peerages; Dr. Whitaker's Loidis <n,il A'tmete,^. 272; Appendix
to Greenwood's History of JJeivsbary, &c.
* For a copy of the Leeds arms, see the cover of this volume, &c.
80 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1564—1632.
THE EEV. ALEXANDER COOKE, B.D.,
Equally related to liis predecessor in principles and practice as
in blood, was born in the same bouse, at Beeston, and baptized
September 3i'd, 1564. His early education was in the old
Grammar School of Leeds. In Michaelmas term, 1581, he was
admitted a member of Brazenose (his brother's) College, in
Oxford, where he took his fii\st degree June 25, 1585. Here
he made such evident proficiency in his studies, that in 1587 he
was chosen to a Percy Fellowship of University College. In
the year following he proceeded to the degree of M.A., and
about the same time entering into holy orders, and applying
himself with great diligence to the study of the Holy Scriptures,
he became a frequent and celebrated preacher in the neighbour-
hood of Oxford, though it does not appear what was bis cure.
On the 26th of May, 1596, he took the degree of B.D. In
the declining health and age of his brother, he performed his
duty at the parish church of Leeds with general applause, and
upon his decease deservedly succeeded him, and imitated that
great exemplar in his studies, industry, and zeal against the
errors of the Romanists. Wood's account of him is, " that he
was admirably read in the contx*oversies between the Protestants
and Papists, versed in the Fathers and schoolmen, witty and in-
genious, but a great Calvinist." Whatever might be his ten-
dency to Puritanism, which at that time was synonymous
with Calvinism, in other respects he certainly copied their spirit
in the bad taste and quaintness of the titles which he pre-
fixed to his several works. Thoresby, having in his possession
most of his works, and having read them deliberately, says:
"That whoever doth the like, without prejudice and levity,
must own him to have been a person of great learning, reading,
and judgment; of prodigious industry in consulting so great a
number of authors ; and of great sagacity in making so accurate
observations upon them." Let not modern indolence or fasti-
diousness refuse its assent to such a testimony; for, in spite of
the rude and tasteless style of their titles, they were useful and
well-timed works. The critical vigilance of Protestant divines
has seldom been better exercised than in detecting those frauds,
by which the most dignified advocates of the Church of Piome
have, without a blush, obtruded upon the w r orld their own in-
sertions for the genuine language of the Fathers. This good and
useful man died June, J 632, and was interred in the chancel of
his parish church, near the remains of his brother, but without
EDWARD FAIRFAX. 81
any memorial. Alexander Cooke, not long after his decease,
received from a celebrated preacher the following tribute of
respect. After celebrating his abilities in learning, especially
divinity; his skill in controversies, particularly with the Papists;
and his correspondence with the most famous and learned
divines, he says that " He was a lover of goodness wherever he
saw it, and a man that always preferred the truth and substance
of religion before the form and ceremonies ; bold and resolute
in a good cause ; liberal to the needy, even above his ability ;
exemplary for his care of his flock in his life, and solicitude for
them at his death." Even the morose and cynical Anthony
"Wood allows to Alexander Cooke the character of " a good and
learned man ; a man abounding in charity, and exemplary in
his life and conversation." His affinities were very dignified,
his wife being sister to the celebrated Archbishop Bramhall, and
his daughter married to Dr. Samuel Pulleyne, Archbishop of
Tuarn. — For a fuller account, see Whitaker's Thoresby's Ducatus
Leodiensis, and Thoresby's Vicaria Leodiensis, &c.
-1632.
EDWAED FAIRFAX,
An ingenious poet, who flourished in the reigns of Elizabeth
and James L, was the second son of Sir Thomas Fairfax, of
Denton Park, Otley, near Leeds. In what year he was born is
not related. The family from which he sprang was of a very
military turn. His father had passed his youth in the wars
of Europe, and was with Charles, Duke of Bourbon, at the
sacking of Rome in 1527. It was in 1577, or 1579, when far
advanced in years, that he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
The poet's eldest brother, Thomas, who, in process of time,
became the first Lord Fairfax of Cameron, received the honour
of knighthood before Rouen, in Normandy, in 1591, for his
bravery in the army sent to the assistance of Henry IV.
of France; and he afterwards signalized himself on many occa-
sions in Germany against the house of Austria, A younger
brother of Edward Fairfax, Sir Charles, was a captain under
Sir Francis Vere at the battle of Newport, fought in 1600;
and in the famous three years' siege at Ostend, commanded all
the English in that town for some time before it surrendered.
While his brothers were thus honourably employed abroad,
Edward Faiifax devoted himself to a studious course of life.
That he had the advantage of a very liberal education cannot
be doubted, from his intellectual acquirements, and the distinc-
tion which he soon obtained in the literary world. Indeed, his
F
82 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
attainments were such, that he became qualified to have filled
any employment either in church or state. But an invincible
modesty, and the love of retirement, induced him to prefer
the shady groves and natural cascades of Denton, and the
forest of Knaresborough, to the employments and advantages
of a public station. Accordingly, having married, he fixed
himself at Fewstone, as a retired country gentleman. The care
and education of his children, for which he was so well
qualified, probably engaged some part of his attention \ and
it is said, that he was very serviceable, in the same way, to
his brother, Lord Fairfax; besides which, he assisted him in the
government of his family and the management of his affairs.
What his principles were, appears from the character which he
gives of himself in his book on demonology : " For myself,"
says he, " I am in religion neither a fantastic Puritan nor
a superstitious Papist; but so settled in conscience, that I have
the sure ground of God's Word to warrant all I believe, and
the commendable ordinances of our English church to approve
all I practise; in which course I live a faithful Christian and
an obedient subject, and so teach my family." In these prin-
ciples he persevered to the end- of his days, which took place in
1632. He died at his own house, called New Hall, Fewstone,
between Denton and Knaresborough, and was buried in the
same parish, where a marble stone, with an inscription, was
placed over his grave. But it is as a poet that he is principally
entitled to attention; and in this respect he is held in just
reputation, and deserves to have his name transmitted with
honour to posterity. His principal work was his translation of
Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered into English verse, first published
in 1600; and what adds to the merit of the work is, that
it was his first essay in poetry, and executed when he was very
young: on its appearance it was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth.
The book was highly commended by the best judges and wits
of the age in which it was written, and their judgment has
been sanctioned by the approbation of succeeding critics.
James I. valued it above all other English poetry, and Charles I.
used to divert himself with reading it, in the time of his con-
finement. All who mention Fairfax do him the justice to
allow that he was an accomplished genius. Dryden introduces
Spenser and Fairfax, almost on a level, as the leading authors of
their times; and Waller confessed that he owed the music of his
numbers to Fairfax's Godfrey of Boulogne. Of Fairfax, it has
been justly said that he had the powers of genius and fancy,
and broke through that servile custom of translation which
SIR RALPH HOPTOX. 83
prevailed in his time. His liberal elegance rendered his ver-
sions more agreeable than the dryness of Jonson, and the dull
fidelity of Sandys and May. The perspicuity and harmony of
his versification are extraordinary, considering the time in which
he -wrote; and in this respect he ranks nearly with Spenser.
Hume observes that " Fairfax has translated Tasso with an
elegance and ease, and at the same time with an exactness,
which, for that age, are surprising. Each line in the original
is faithfully rendered by a correspondent line in the transla-
tion." After being for a while superseded in the estimation of
the reading public, by the inferior translation of Hoole, it
has been more justly appreciated, and recent editions of the
work have been issued from the press. Fairfax also wrote the
History of Edward the Black Prince, and a number of
Eclogues. The MS. of the former perished in the fire, when
the bancpieting-house at "Whitehall was burnt. Of the Eclogues,
twelve in number, only the fourth has been printed; it ap-
peared in Mrs. Cooper's M uses' Library, published in 1737.
He also wrote a treatise on Demonology, in which he was,
it seems, a believer. Fairfax left several children, sons and
daughters. William, his eldest son, was a scholar, and of the
same temper with his father, but more cynical. He translated
Diogenes Laertius into English; and was also tutor of Thomas
Stanley, the celebrated author of the Lives of the Philosophers,
and the editor of jEschylus. — For a fuller account, see his Life,
prefixed to Charles Knight's edition of Tasso; Cunningham's
Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen ; and the Bio-
graphical Dictionaries of Rose, Knight, and Chalmers, &c.
For pedigree and coat of arms, &c, of the Fairfaxes, see
Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 65, and Whitaker's Loidis
and Elmete, p. 130, <fec.
1583—1843.
SIE EALPH HOPTOK
The Hoptons of Armley Hall, from whom Sir Ralph
descended as the heir to that estate, are a family of considerable
antiquity and reputation. As a knightly house they came into
England with the Conqueror, and from a very early period they
have been settled at Armley Hall and the village of Hopton,
near Mirfield, which takes its name from them. Although, per-
haps, Sir Ralph was the greatest and most illustrious represen-
tative of his house, yet he was by no means the only remarkable
man of a family ever prolific in soldiers of no ordinary ability
and reputation. He was baptized on the 21st of May, 1583,
84 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
and married, probably about the year 1612, to Mary, daughter
of Roger No well, Esq., by whom he had a son (baptized 23i*d
February, 1G14), afterwards Sir Ingram Hopton, Knt., who was
slain on the field of battle, and who earned a reputation worthy
of bis gallant father and the proud name he bore. Like the
others of his glorious ancestors, who shed their blood both
in England and France in support of their king, Sir Ralph was
a zealous Royalist, and when the civil war broke out he im-
mediately offered his services to Charles I. When the king
appointed the Marquis of Hertford his lieutenant-general of
all the western parts of the kingdom, giving him power to levy
such a body of horse and foot as he found necessary for his
Majesty's service, Sir Ralph was chosen one of the officers to
form the array. He received a commission as lieutenant-
general of horse, and raised, at his own expense, a small troop
of dragoons, with which he made a demonstration at Wells in
favour of the king, dispersing the Parliamentary rabble there
congregated. When the Earl of Bedford went into Glamorgan-
shire, Sir Ralph marched into Cornwall with a force consisting
of one hundred horse and fifty dragoons, for the purpose of
seizing the county, enlisting the sympathies, and gaining the
assistance of the Cornish gentiy for the king's cause. He
took Launceston, which had been abandoned by Sir George
Chudleigh, thence he went to Saltash, another of the Parhanien-
tary garrisons: and thus, in his person, the king became master
of Cornwall and the extreme south-west. The reputation of
the king's forces being absolute masters of the one county of
Cornwall, and the apprehension of what might result from the
fact, if made known to other counties, speedily caused the
Parliament to take measures to effect the defeat of the king's
troops and the suppression of all loyal sentiments. Ruthven
then commanded the Parliamentary troops in the south and
south-west, who immediately marched to attack Sir Ralph; and
then- two armies met on the east side of Braddock Down, near
Liskeard. Sir Ralph placed his troops in order of battle, and
then caused public prayers to be said at the head of every
squadron. The rebels observing this, sneeringly told then-
men that " they were at mass;" but when their devotions
were concluded, Sh' Ralph led on his handful of troops with
such impetuosity that their impious enemies were speedily con-
quered and dispersed, leaving in the hands of the victors 1,250
prisoners, most of their colours, all their cannon and an " iron
Saker," all their ammunition, and most of their arms. In
company with Lord Mohun, he led the first division of the
SIR RALPH HOPTON. 85
army at the battle of Stratton, Tuesday, May 16th, 1643,
where they gained a glorious victory. Sir Ralph's valour
contributed not a little towards gaining this success, and in the
moment of his pride Lord Clarendon pays him a high com-
pliment when he tells us that, after the battle of Stratton, Sir
Ralph " was greedily expected in his own county, where his
reputation was second to no man's." He also greatly dis-
tinguished himself at the battle of Lansdowne, July 5, 1643,
when he was shot through the arm with a musket-ball, but his
wound was not so serious as to prevent him from doing duty.
Surrounded by all his staff, he was riding next morning across
the field of battle to see that the wounded were properly cared
for and to gather together the stragglers, when an ammunition
waggon, containing eight barrels of powder, exploded, killing
and wounding many. Sir Ralph "having hardly so much life
as not to be numbered with the dead," was borne off the field
in a litter, and conveyed to his old quarters at Marsfield.
Being deprived by the accident of all physical power, but, for-
tunately, unhurt as to his mental faculties, Sir Ralph was long
prostrated by his wounds, but " the soldier's darling," as he is
affectionately called, survived, and was nominated as the
governor of Bristol. After a great deal of bickering on the
part of the king, who dared not openly to slight so valiant and
faithful a soldier, but who wished to give that post to his
nephew, Prince Rupert, the affair was compromised, Sir Ralph,
" who was now so well recovered that he was walking into the
air," being appointed lieutenant-governor under the prince.
Throughout the whole of his military career Sir Ralph ever
showed himself the brave soldier, the loyal gentleman, and the
skilful captain, whose capacity is not in the least degree
unworthy of comparison with that of the many great soldiers
Leeds and its neighboui-hood sent into the field during those
troublous times. As a reward for his long and faithful services,
but more especially for his achievement of the victory of
Stratton, Charles created him Baron Hopton of Stratton, in
memory of the happy event. He is said to have died on
the 10th September, 1643.*
* For pedigree and coat of arms of the Hoptons, see Thoresby's Ducatus
Lt "liensis, p. 187, and "Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, pp. 198, 272, and 338.
—Fuller, the celebrated author of the Worthies of England, going to Oxford
early in 1643, to join the king's party, became chaplain to Sir Ralph Hopton,
and employed his leisure in making collections relative to English history and
antiquity.
Another important member of this very considerable family was the
Rvjht Eev. John Hopton, D.D., Bishop of Norwich, who resided alternately
86 BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1612—1644.
WILLIAM GASCOIGNE,
An ingenious natural philosopher, was the son of Henry Gas-
coigne, Esq., of Thorpe-on-the-Hill, and Middleton, small vil-
lages in the parish of Kothwell, near Leeds. Henry, his
father, was descended from John Gascoigne, Esq., the fourth
son of Sir William Gascoigne, of Gawthorpe (the famous judge,
who fearlessly committed an English prince* to prison, for
offending the laws of his country). Little is known of William,
except the immortal inventions which resulted from the con-
tinued labours of his great mind. The time of his birth is
unknown to us, and the time of his death is a matter of dispute.
His early life appears to have been spent in deep study and
obscurity, at one of his father's houses, in the villages above-
named. Born some time about the year 1612, although it has
erroneously been stated that his birth occurred at a later period,
the first thirty years of his quiet life were spent in the study of
astronomy, in which science he attained to a degree of perfec-
tion equal to that of his great contemporaries and friends,
Horrox and Crabtree, the Lancashire savants. This illustrious
triumvirate compiled for their own present use, but undoubtedly
intended for future publication, a series of brilliant papers
which they entitled De re Astronomica, and which are now in
the possession of the Townleys, of Lancashire. Mr. Townley
in one of his letters tells us that, at the time of Gascoigne's
death, he had a treatise on Optics ready for the press, " but
though I have used my utmost endeavours to retrieve it, yet
have I in that point been totally unsuccessful." But William
Gascoigne's greatest work was the invention of the micrometer,
although that honour has been claimed by others, especially,
though long after his time, by M. Azout. Mr. Townley, how-
ever, settles that question in one of the papers now printed in
the Philosophical Transactions, and wherein he states, " You
may assure the curious that he (his brother) has, under Mr.
Gascoigne's own hand, wherewith to entitle him to the inven-
tion of the micrometer before all foreigners or English; it was
invented before 1641, for then he mentioned it as in being."
(For a description of which, see Gascoygne, in Knight's Bio-
at Blake Hall, near Mirfield, and at Arniley Hall, near Leeds. He was a
Dominican Friar, educated at Oxford, from whence, after his course of study
was completed, he travelled to Rome, and took the degree of D.D. at
Bologna. He was chaplain to Princess Mary ; soon after whose accession to
the Crown he was nominated to the see of Norwich, which he enjo3 r ed to his
death. — See Dr. Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, &c. * See p. 70 of this vol.
THE REV. HENRY BURTON, B.D. 87
graphical Cyclopaedia, &c.) At the time of his death he had, at
his father's residence, New Hall, Middleton, " a whole barn
full of instruments," consti-ucted by him, to cany out ideas
which, unfortunately, died with him. He lived in an unsettled
age, an age which saw the people in arms to oppose their king,
and the chivalrous spirit which Gascoigne inherited from such a
noble race of ancestry, could not remain indifferently idle when
bis sovereign's life was in danger. He espoused the cause of
the king, and in all probability was one of the volunteer
defenders of Pontefract Castle, during the first siege. Certain
it is that his loyalty cost him his life; but at what precise
period it is difficult to say. Hopkinson, a contemporary, and
of the same parish, says he was slain at Melton Mowbray;
whilst Aubrey and Townley tell us it was " at Marston, with
Rupert, 'gainst traitors contending," that he lost his life, July
2nd, 1644. They also tell us that he was slain at the age
of twenty-three, but that must be incorrect. Young as he was
at the time of his death, he, nevertheless, lived sufficiently long
to produce an instrument the invention of which would have at
once rendered his name illustrious, had not his untimely end,
and the melancholy circumstances which produced it, given
others an opportunity of claiming the honour and receiving the
measure of applause the invention so nobly deserved. — For
other particulars, see Thoresby's Correspondence ; Annual Regis-
ter (1761, vol. iv., p. 196); Philosophical Transactions; Gentle-
man's Magazine, &c.
1579-1648.
THE REV. HENRY BURTON, B.D.,
A puritan divine, was born at Birstal, near Leeds, about 1579,
and educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took
both his degrees in arts. He was afterwards incorporated
M.A. at Oxford, and there took the degree of B.D. He first
was tutor to the sons of Lord Carey, of Lepington (created, in
1625, Earl of Monmouth), and afterwards, probably by his
lordship's interest, clerk of the closet to Prince Henry; and,
after his death, to Prince Charles, whom he was appointed to
attend into Spain in 1623; but, for reasons unknown, was set
aside after part of his goods were shipped, and upon that
prince's accession to the Crown was removed from being his
clerk of the closet. Burton, highly disgusted at this treatment,
took eveiy opportunity of expressing his resentment, particu-
larly by railing against the bishops. In April, 1625, he
presented a letter to King Charles, remonstrating against Dr.
88 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
Neile and Dr. Laud, his Majesty's continual attendants, as
popishly affected; and for this he was forbidden the court.
Soon after, he was presented to the rectory of St. Matthew's, in
Friday Street, Loudon. In December, 1636, he was summoned
to appear before Dr. Duck, one of the commissioners for causes
ecclesiastical, who tendered to him the oaths ex-officio, to answer
to certain articles brought against him, for what he had ad-
vanced in two sermons, preached in his own church on the
preceding 5th of November. Burton, instead of answering,
appealed to the king; but a special high-commission court,
which was called soon after at Doctors' Commons, suspended
him, in his absence, from both his office and benefice; on which
he thought fit to abscond, but published his two sermons under
the title of For God and the King, together with an apology
justifying his appeal. For these seditious sermons he was
prosecuted, sentenced to the pillory, fined five thousand pounds,
and ordered to be imprisoned for life. In November, 1640, the
House of Commons, upon his wife's petition complaining of
the severity of his sentence, ordered that he should be brought
to the Parliament in safe custody. Burton, on his arrival
at London, presented a petition to the House, setting forth
his sufferings. In consequence of this, the House resolved that
the sentence against him was illegal, and ought to be reversed;
that he be freed from the fine, and from imprisonment, and
restored to his degrees in the university, orders in the ministry,
and to his ecclesiastical benefice in Friday Street. He was,
however, restored to his living of St. Matthew's, after which he
declared himself an Independent, and complied with the altera-
tions that ensued; but, according to Wood, when he saw to
what extravagant lengths the Parliament went, he grew more
moderate, and afterwards fell out with his fellow-sufferers,
Prynne and Bastwick, and with Mr. Edmund Calamy. He
wrote many pamphlets, chiefly controversial, severe and abusive,
which are now little read, though often inquired after. He
died January 7th, 1648. — For a list of his works, and other
particulars, see the Biographic/, Britannica ; Life by himself, 1643 ;
Wood's A thence Oxon.; the British Biography; and the Bio-
graphical Dictionaries of Chalmers, Rose, <kc.
1586—1651.
THE EEV. PETER SAXTON, M.A.,
Vicar of Leeds from 1646 to 1651— most probably a kinsman
of the preceding Christopher Saxton — was born at or near
Bramley, in the parish of Leeds, and educated at the Uni-
REV. PETER SAXTON, M.A. 89
versity of Cambridge, where lie took his M.A. He appears to
have received deacon's orders from Archbishop Hnttou, and
priest's orders from Archbishop Matthews; the last, April 18th,
1611; so that, as there is no entry of his baptism in the parish
register, his birth may be fixed, on probable grounds, about the
year 1586. He was not only a learned man, and a distinguished
Hebrew scholar, but also a devoted minister. After spending
some years in preaching the Gospel in America, whither he
went in 1640 — being at that time dissatisfied with the cere-
monies of the Church of England, and the troubles of the
realm ; and also being amongst the first of those who enlight-
ened the dark regions of that extensive continent — he returned
to England, when he had the offer of a valuable living in Kent,
which he declined, preferring to reside in his native county.
He was appointed vicar of Leeds in April, 1646; and im-
mediately on assuming the charge of the parish, he re-opened
the Old Church for divine worship, it having been closed during
the ravages of the pestilence. He appears to have been a man
really devout, but coarse and enthusiastic, and therefore well
suited to those times, in which bad taste was considered as a
mark of grace ; and elegance, or even correctness of style, would
have emptied a church. Such as he was, however, he found a
people prepared for his rude and homely style, by such occa-
sional preach ere as had been provided for the church of Leeds,
in the interval between the flight of Mr. Robinson, in January,
1642-3, and April, 1646, when he took possession of the
pulpit. During his ministry, a commission was granted for the
purpose of surveying and subdividing the great parishes in the
north of England, the original reports of which are now in the
arcliiepiscopal library at Lambeth. The object was to break
down all distinction between parish churches and chapels, to
make as many parishes as there were places of worship, and to
afford a competent maintenance in each for a resident preaching
minister. The latter part of the plan was certainly laudable
and useful. He continued to occupy this position of usefulness
till his death, which took place October 1st, 16-51. On the
decease of Peter Saxton, the vicarage of Leeds devolved at
least on a less uncouth and rugged man (William Styles): for
even in those days there were degrees of rudeness, and there
were approximations to civility and good order. — For additional
information, see Thoresby's Picaria Leodiemis; Cotton Mather's
History of Xev: England; Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete; and
Parsons' History of Leeds.
90 BIOGRA.PHIA LEODIENSIS.
1585—1654.
SIR FERDINAND LEIGH,
Knight, of Middleton, in the parish of Rothwell, near Leeds,
was the son and heir of Thomas Leigh and his wife Elizabeth
Stanley, one of the maids of honour to Queen Elizabeth, and a
member of the noble family of Stanley, Earls of Derby. Fer-
dinand appears to have been born about the year 1585, for
Jane, his younger sister, was baptized on the 8th August, 1587.
His father died, and was buried June 21st, 1594, when Fer-
dinand was but a child, and his mother married again to a
gentleman named Richard Houghton, of Lancashire; and thus
he, at an early age, was left in possession of the large estates of
Rothwell Haigh, Middleton, &c, which descended to him as
the rightful heir, and for many years did he enjoy the calm
seclusion and happy life of an opulent country gentleman. The
pleasures of a conjugal life must at an early period have had an
irresistible fascination for him, for by the time he was thirty
years of age he had been twice a widower. He is known to
have had four wives : the first being Margery, the daughter of
William Cartwright, Esq., who died childless; the second, Mary,
the daughter of Thomas Pilkington, Esq., the grandson of
Leonard Pilkington, Prebendary of Durham, who was the
younger brother of James Pilkington, the first Protestant
Bishop of Durham. Mary, his second wife, also died childless;
and he then married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Tyrwitt, of
Cameringham, in Lincolnshire, Esq., by whom he had two sons
who died young, and two daughters, Annie and Elizabeth. The
dates of his various marriages are not given; but Elizabeth, his
daughter, was baptized June 21st, 1618. His fourth wife,
Annie, daughter of Edwin Clough, Esq., of Thorpe Stapleton,
brought him a numerous progeny, the eldest of which was
John Leigh, his successor; the youngest, Dorothy, born about
1630. Sir Ferdinand was an enthusiastic royalist; and when
the king assembled the gentry of Yorkshire at York in 1642,
for the purpose of asking their assistance and advice in the
midst of his difficulties with his refractoiy people, Sir Fer-
dinand contributed the sum of £100 to the exchequer of his
royal master. He was a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to
the king, and for the zeal he displayed was appointed colonel of
a regiment of horse in the royal service, having his son John
serving under him as a captain. He was for many years
governor of the Isle of Man, under the Earl of Derby. He
died at Pontefract, January 19th, 1654, and was buried in the
JOHN HARKISON, ESQ. 91
ruined church there. Many details respecting his military life
may be found in Clarendon and the contemporary historians of
the civil wars, &c. — For the pedigree and the coat of arms of
the Leighs, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 221, and
Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, pp. 206, 260, &c.
1579-1656.
JOHN HAEEISON, ESQ.
"We shall give a more detailed account of this distinguished
man, as his name deserves to be held in everlasting remem-
brance for his extensive charities, and his moral ivorth. The
descent of Harrison was respectable ; his father, John Harri-
son, was a merchant in Leeds, and his mother, Grace, was the
daughter of William Kitchingman, Esq., and Mary, daughter
of the Rev. Mark Millbank, rector of Marsden. He had two
sisters, Grace and Edith, of whom we shall presently speak.
John Harrison (whose name never vibrates on a Leeds ear,
unassociated with the ideas of beneficence and charity), was
born in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a.d. 1579, in the house
then called Pawdmire House, in Leeds; and soon after his
birth he was taken to reside in the house of his uncle, John
Kitchingmau, Esq., of Chapel- Allerton. There Harrison was
retained for the period of ten years, and there he began to dis-
play the dawn of those virtues which subsequently rendered
him so illustrious. It seems that the spirit of generosity,
which afterwards directed every action of his life, began to
influence him in the earliest period of childhood. An instance
of his early benevolence is still preserved. In the seventh
year of his age, as he passed through the village of Chapel-
Allerton, he saw a poor boy without coat or shoes, and with
all the other indications of extreme poverty and want; Harri-
son looked at the boy, his compassion was immediately excited,
and in defiance of appearance, and perhaps of prudence, he
took off his own coat, and threw it over the shoulders of the
boy. No other incidents are preserved of his early years ;
although sufficient evidence remains that, like his divine
exemplar, as he grew in stature, he grew in favour both with
God and man. Exalted benevolence is almost always connected
with fervent piety, and Harrison was an exemplification of the
general rule. It appears that from a child he was remarkable
for his reverential attachment to divine things, and that he was
consequently preserved from all those vices and follies, which so
frequently bring young persons into guilt or contempt. Like
the celebrated Howard of aftertimes, the warmth of his be-
92 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
nevoleiice was sustained by the flame of pure and undefiled
religion.
In the twenty-fourth year of his age, Harrison entered the
matrimonial state. His lady was the daughter of Henry
Marton, Esq., merchant, of Leeds. Of the personal and
mental endowments of his lady no record remains. The parties
never had children. When Harrison attained to man's estate,
and by the possession of a plentiful fortune was enabled to
pursue, without restriction, the bent of his inclinations, he
soon demonstrated a philanthropy which has never been
equalled, and probably never will be, in the West-Riding of
Yorkshire. In the Lowerhead Row stood a large, and at that
period of time, no doubt, esteemed an excellent mansion,
Rockley Hall — so called as having been the property and
the residence of the ancient family of the same name. This
capital messuage, with a considerable estate in land, Harrison
bought of Mr. Falkingham. When he entered into the pos-
session of the hall, he devoted a part of it to the purposes
of humanity. The two largest and most convenient rooms he
set apart from his domestics and the rest of his family, and
occupied them as repositories of provisions and clothing for the
use of the poor. In fact, as will soon be seen, he devoted the
rents of the whole estate to pious uses, in combination with
the education and support of the children of his two sisters.
The wealth and importance of this great benefactor seem to
have increased; and when the first charter of incorporation
was given to the town of Leeds by Charles I., in 1621, Harri-
son was appointed mayor, as the deputy of Sir John Saville,
one of the great patrons of the town, who, for some unknown
reason, either was unable or unwilling to discharge the func-
tions of the office. Such was the esteem in which he was held
by the inhabitants, that twice after the institution of the
charter, he filled the office of mayor. No positive information
remains of the manner in which he discharged the functions of
his office, but it may be supposed from his general character
that he was distinguished in his public capacity by the strictest
impartiality and justice.
It was while he was the second time mayor, in 1634, that he
determined to build a new church in the town of Leeds. It
seems that the old chui'ch was frequently most inconveniently
crowded; and that about the commencement of the 17th cen-
tuiy, it had one of the greatest congregations and assemblies
of communicants in the north of England. Harrison, who
was equally distinguished by his attachment to Episcopacy and
JOHN HARRISON, ESQ. 93
royalty, determined to obviate this evil, and St. John's church
was the result of his resolution. It was begun in 1631, and
consecrated by Archbishop Neale, September 21, 1634; the
Rev. Robert Todd, A.M., being the first incumbent.
The truly illustrious and philanthropic John Harrison was
the great benefactor of the Leeds Free Grammar School, which
had been previously endowed by Sir William Sheaffield, priest,
in 1552, and by Sir William Armistead, &c. The original
school, being in a very inconvenient situation, was removed in
1624, "by the munificence of John Hai'rison, Esq., alderman of
Leeds," to a pleasant field of his own, between North Street and
St. John's church, which he enclosed with a substantial brick
wall, and in the midst of the quadrangle erected the late edi-
fice. An apartment, used as a library, was added by Godfrey
Lawson, Esq., in 1692, which comprised several ancient books,
including folio editions of some of the works of the Fathers,
and most of the ancient classics. The Rev. Samuel Pullen,
D.D., afterwards Archbishop of Tuam, was the first master of
this school. The Grammar School has recently been rebuilt
near Woodhouse Moor. This benevolent man also endowed
St. John's church with £80 per annum, besides £10- a year for
repairs, which endowment in 1773, when the Rev. Richard
Fawcett was minister of St. John's, amounted to upwards
of £200, and has since greatly increased in value. This bene-
ficent man, whose name will be venerated in the district as
long as gratitude and memoiy shall endure, also founded, in
1653, the hospital near St. John's church for poor widows,
which has also recently been rebuilt.
There can be little doubt that, about the same period, Harri-
son built that house in Briggate, the site of which was lately
occupied by the Leeds Mercury office, and of which Thoresby
said : " Over and against the east end of the Bar-lane, is a good
old-fashioned house, with a quadrangular court in the midst ; it
was built by Mr. John Harrison, and has one thing very
peculiar in it, viz., holes or passages cut in the doors or ceilings
for the free passage of cats : for which animals he seems to have
had as great an affection as another eminent benefactor had,
viz., Sir Richard Whittington." There can be little doubt that
this tradition was generally believed in Thoresby's time; and it
is very likely that Harrison, being left without children, might
be very eccentric in his habits; but the whole story is said to
have been a fabrication, by which the worthy author of the
Ducatus was imposed upon, and which he has with character-
istic credulity recorded. To the loyalty of this distinguished
94: BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
man the writer has already alluded, — that loyalty, in the despe-
rate struggle between the king and parliament, was fearlessly
and prominently displayed, and was the means of entailing
upon him considerable odium and suffering. Of this loyalty
the following remarkable instance is recorded. When Charles
I. had thrown himself into the hands of the Scots, and when
the perfidious men who had determined to betray him were
taking him as a prisoner through the town of Leeds, Mr.
Harrison went to the Red Hall, where the king was lodged,
and entreated permission from the guards to present his
Majesty with a tankard of excellent ale, which he brought in his
hand; the guards admitted him for the purpose, but when the
king raised the cover, he found the tankard filled with gold
pieces instead of ale, which he immediately concealed about his
person, and dismissed his loyal subject as though he had merely
drained the tankard of its beverage.
The window which lighted the room in which he was con-
fined, is that to the extreme right in the second story on
the north side of the house. A maid-servant of this house
entreated him to put on her clothes and make his escape,
assuring him that she would conduct him in the dark out of
the garden-door into a back alley, called Lands Lane, and
thence to a friend's house, whence he might escape to France.
The king, however, declined the woman's offer, but with many
thanks, and gave her for a token the Garter, saying, that if it
were never in his power, on sight of that token his son would
reward her. After the Restoration, the woman presented the
token to the king, and told him the story. The king inquired
whence she came 1 ? She said from Leeds, in Yorkshire.
Whether she had a husband 1 ? She replied, yes. What was his
calling? She said an under-bailiff. Then, said the king, he
shall be chief-bailiff in Yorkshire. The man afterwards
built Crosby House, in "Upperhead Row.
It was not, of course, to be expected that, in such times
as these, such loyalty could be displayed without being visited by
the successful party with their vengeance. Harrison was conse-
quently oppressed by the sequestrators, and he soon felt the
serious consequences of their confiscations in his estate. Of
Harrison's conduct at this period, a well-known writer says : —
" During this unhappy period, he remonstrated, he complained,
he defended himself with vigour against the prevailing iniquity
of the times, but in vain. Those who ate his own bread — the
minister of the church, and the master of the school which he
had endowed, appear to have forsaken him ; they swam with the
JOHN HARRISON, ESQ. 95
stream of the times, when gratitude, if not dangerous, would at
least have been unpopular. These men, however, he did not
fail to remind of then* obligations in a lofty and rather sarcastic
strain, which a sense of ill-requited bounty is too apt to
prompt." The extent of this ingratitude and the effect it had
upon Mr. Harrison's feelings, may be estimated by the follow-
ing extract of a letter to Mr. Todd, the incumbent of St.
John's : — " The time was when you called me patron, and
remembered me in your prayers, public and private; but now
patrons are out of date, and so may churches be tithe-barns.
To pray for any in public is popish and prelatic : the time was
when I suffered for you under the royal party more than you
will suffer for me under the parliament, but (oh! the times)
my suffering for you is made the apology to deter you from so
much as visiting me, being under the hatches : a poor conclusion
grounded on weak premises ; but the time was when all I could
do for you was too little, but now the least done for me is too
much." Dr. Whitaker, upon this melancholy part of Harri-
son's life, says : — " It must be remembered that Mr. Harrison
had laid out, according to his own statement, at least six thou-
sand pounds upon the new church, the school, and other build-
ings appropriated to public and charitable uses. His landed
estate was no more than one hundred and eighty-seven pounds
per annum, which was destined, after his decease, to be applied
in the same manner; but at that period his good works were
miscalled superstition, and himself, in the language of the pre-
vailing party, ' a merit-monger;' and on misinformation of
having sent two horses to the king, which had really been
taken from him by Sir William Saville, he was condemned to
suffer a sequestration of the poor pittance, which he had reserved
for the support of his old age." It would not be interesting
nor useful to the reader, to recite all the correspondence which
took place between Harrison and Judge Thorpe, upon the fine
which he was thus condemned to pay.
The last days of this great benefactor were not only beclouded
with external calamity, but were connected with much bodily
suffering. .Anguish of mind and loss of fortune were acrgra-
vated by sickness and weakness, and prior to his death he was
confined more than twenty months to his bed. His descendants
still have proofs that he endured his last illness with Christian
fortitude and resignation to the divine will. He died October
29th, 1652, aged seventy-seven years, and was interred in his
own orchard on the 8th of November following, which occupied
the site of the present Kirkgate Mai'ket; but having decreed in
96 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
his will that the property in Briggate should be sold, the
descendants of his two sisters caused him to be taken up and
to be interred in St. John's church, where there is an epitaph
as follows (said to have been composed by Dr. Lake, then Vicar
of Leeds, afterwards Bishop of Chichester): — "Here resteth
the body of Mr. John Harrison, the wonder of his own, and
pattern of succeeding ages ; eminent for prudence, piety, loyalty,
charity; who (beside other works of a pious munificeuce, and
many gi*eat instances of an excellent virtue) founded an hospital
for the relief of indigent persons of good conversation, and
formerly industrious. Built the Free (Grammar) School of this
town for the encouragement of learning; together with a
chapel, this church (which most may envy), for the exercise of
religion, and endowed it with £80 per annum. Also that he
might do good in all his capacities, he erected a stately cross
for convenience of the market; and having given these pledges
of a joyful resurrection, fell asleep October 29, anno Dom.
1656; oitatls sum 77."
It has been generally supposed that Harrison died in poverty.
That his estate was materially diminished by the sequestrations
is evident; but the assertion that he was in indigent circum-
stances at the time of his dissolution is positively contradicted
by the fact that sums of money have been periodically distri-
buted to his necessitous relatives to the present day.
In St. John's church, in the Tree Grammar School, in the
Charity School, in the Pious Use property, he has left noble
monuments to his memory.*
Fuller, in his Worthies of Yorkshire, says : " Let me forget
myself when I do not remember the worthy and charitable
master .... Harrison, inhabitant of the populous town
of Leeds, so famous for the cloth made therein. Methinks I
hear that great town accosting him in the language of the
children of the prophets to Elisha, ' Behold now, the place
where we dwell with thee is too strait for us' (2 Kings vi. 1).
The church could scarce hold half the inhabitants, till this
worthy gentleman provided them another, so that now the
men of Leeds may say with Isaac, ' Rehoboth, for now the
* It may be said of John Harrison, as it was said of the late muchdaniented
Prince Consort by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, "Gone though he be
from among us, he, like other worthies of mankind who have preceded him,
is not altogether gone; for, in the words of the poet, —
' the religious actions of the just
Smell sweet in death, and blossom in the dust.'
So he has left for all men, in all classes, many a useful lesson to be learned
from the record of his life and character. "
THE REV. WILLIAM STYLES, M.A. 97
Lord hath made room for us' {Gen. xxvi. 22). He accepted of
no assistance in the building of that fair fabric but what he
fully paid for, so that he may be owned the sole founder
thereof. But all his charity could not secure him from seques-
tration in our troublesome times. All I will add is this, as he
hath ' built a house for God,' may God (in Scripture phrase)
' build a house for him' (Exod. i. 21); I mean make him fruit-
ful and fortunate in his posterity."
The charitable disposition of Harrison was displayed by some
of his descendants. His nephew, the Rev. Henry Robinson,
M.A. (1736), desexwes to be particularly mentioned, as the
founder of Trinity church, &c.
The large, full-length portrait of alderman Harrison, in his
robes of onice, which formerly hung in St. John's church, and
afterwards in the adjoining school-room, is now in the Council-
room at the Town-hall." — For his portrait and pedigree, &c,
see Whitaker's Thoresby; and for further information, see
Parsons' History of Leeds, &c. Copies of Mr. Harrison's
will, letters, and ex-tempore prayer, are to be found in ■ the
Appendix to the second volume of Whitaker's Thoresby, &c.
The originals are preseiwed in the archives of St. John's
church, Leeds.
1596—1660.
THE REV. WILLIAM STYLES, M.A,
Vicar of Leeds, for whose admission an opening was made by
the voluntary cession of the legal incumbent, and who appears
to have been regularly appointed by the trustees, was born at
Doncaster, and educated in Trinity College, Cambridge. The
date of his ordination to the priesthood was September 24th,
16:20, so that as that order was frequently conferred, before the
Act of Uniformity, at the age of twenty-three, he may be sup-
posed to have been born about 1596 or 1597. His first px-efer-
ment was the vicarage of Ledsham, near Leeds, where he
improved the vicarage-house. Here, however, he did not long
continue, for on March 3x'd, 1624, he was px'esented by the
king to the vicarage of Pontefract, which, about the year 1642,
he exchanged for a still more public axxd important situation,
the vicarage of Hessel-cum-Hxill, in which he succeeded the
celebrated Mx\ Marvel, father of the patriot. While at Ponte-
fract he seems to have contracted somr dislike to the ceremonies,
and hu was prosecuted in the ecclesiastical court at York for
baptizing a child without the sigxx of the cross, but the prosecu-
* Harrison Street is, of course, called after this great philanthropist.
G
98 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
tion was withdrawn at the instance of Alexander Cooke. At
Hull, many years after, he was called to take the Engagement,
"which he steadily refused, on which Bradshaw wrote to Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Salmon, dejnity-governor of the town, to turn
him by force out of the church, and to secure his person. This
drew from his affectionate flock a petition and testimonial on
his behalf, stating " that he was a very orthodox and painful
preacher, of a most blameless conversation, and that by his
constant and unwearied pains in the Gospel, he had won many
souls to God, and that consequently their loss of him would be
exceedingly great; that he was besides a very old man, unfit to
travel, and had not a house in the whole world to put his head
in ; offering to be bound for his peaceable demeanour, and that
if he could not in conscience comply before the latter end
of March, he should then yield to the law." Bradshaw, savage
and brutal as he was, felt so much compunction on this occa-
sion, as to respite the poor old man till the winter was over;
but this was all: a man of his tried loyalty was' not to be
endured in a place of so much importance as Hull, and when
spring arrived he removed to London, where he preached nearly
a year in Ironmonger Lane; but the air of a crowded city not
agreeing with his health, he returned into his native county,
where he was appointed to the vicarage of Leeds, in which he
was highly honoured by the magistrates and the people for his
excellent practical preaching. Thoresby had seen many volumes
of sermons written, as he spoke them (a practice of those days),
by his devout hearers. I am sorry to relate that a person, who
in those evil days had the courage and honesty to pray for the
king in exile, did not live to see his restoration. It appears
from the parish register that this son of piety and peace was
interred in his own church, at Leeds, March 16th, 1659-60.
He had a son, Henry Styles, educated at the Grammar School
of Leeds, who went into Ireland with Archbishop Bramhall;
was admitted into Trinity College, Dublin, of which he became
Vice-Provost. He was afterwards LL.D. and judge of the
Admiralty Court in that city. — For further information, see
Whitaker's Loidis and JElmete; Walker's Sufferings of the
Clergy; Thoresby's Vicaria Leodiensis, &c.
1594—1661.
REV. ROBERT TODD, A.M.,
"Was a native of South Cave, near Hull, and was born in 1594.
He spent the early part of his life in Holderness, where his
character was deservedly esteemed. He was educated at Jesus
REV. ROBERT TODD, A.M. 99
College, Cambridge, and it appears that lie was ordained in
1621 by Dr. Matthew, Archbishop of York. Four years after
his ordination, he was presented to the vicarage of Ledshani;
upon the death of a Mr. Garbutt, he was called to be lecturer
at Leeds; and when St. John's church was built,'"' he was
the first incumbent. The consecration of this church, by
Archbishop Neile, which took place September 21st, 1634,
was attended with this memorable circumstance of church dis-
cipline, that the new minister, Mr. Robert Todd, A.M., was
suspended on the very day when he entered upon his function.
The truth was, that Archbishop Neile, a rigid exactor of con-
formity, appointed his own chaplain, the celebrated Dr. Cosin,
afterwards Bishop of Durham, to preach the consecration
sermon. In the afternoon Mr. Todd occupied the pulpit, and
delivered a discourse in so different a strain, that, though his
materials must have been previously prepared, the metropolitan
considered it as an answer to the morning exercise, and as an
affront to himself and the discipline of the church. "After
being restored to his function, Mr. Todd, who was really a
Nonconformist at heart, dragged his chain heavily and reluc-
tantly for a few years, when the prevalence of the Parliament
delivered him and his brethren at once from surplice, liturgy,
decency, and order. In this sunshine of Christian liberty, as
it was then accounted, they basked till after the Restoration,
when, on the trying Bartholomew's Day, Mr. Todd, to whom
the praise, at least, of consistency is due, quitted his church,
and died soon afterwards." He was succeeded, in 1662, by the
Rev. John Milner, B.D., afterwards vicar of Leeds. Mr.
Todd was one of the first and leading Nonconformists in the
parish of Leeds. His merits as an Established minister, both
in the situation of lecturer at the parish church and first
curate of St. John's had been very great. During the plaguet
he preached repeatedly and impressively on Hezekiah's boil, and
the peculiarly awful circumstances of the time gave weight to
all which he spoke. He was also eminently useful in private
by holding weekly conferences with his people, on some text of
Scripture, or case of conscience. He is described as having
been an excellent scholar, a solid, substantial, and agreeable
preacher, though his voice was remaikably loud. He appears,
from some expressions which escaped him in his last illness, to
* For a fine engraving of St. John's church, see Thoresby's Ducatus
. 171"'. |>. i'-s Wliitaker's Thoresby, vol. ii., &c.
t For a long account of the plague, &c, see Parsons' History of Leeds,
i., 09, &c.
100 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
have been broken-hearted by the Bartholomew Act, which he
scarcely survived a year. He died January 16th, 1661, aged
sixty-seven, and was interred in the chancel of the church
which had so long been the scene of his labours. The substance
of this short account, chiefly taken from Calamy, had been
communicated to that writer by Thoresby himself, in the
abundance of his candour, after he had conformed to the
Established Church. — For his pedigree and other particulars,
see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 29; Parsons' History of
Leeds, ii., 4, &c.
1598—1663.
THE EEV. HEKRY ROBINSON, B.D.,
Vicar of Leeds from 1632 to 1646, and son of Mr. Alexander
Robinson, merchant, of Leeds, by Grace, the sister of the cele-
brated Harrison, who founded St. John's church. This his
nephew was baptized at St Peter's, the parish church, July
27th, 1598, and, like his immediate predecessors, received his
elementary learning at the Grammar School of his native town.
He was next admitted of St. John's College, Cambridge, where
he took in course the two degrees in arts, and afterwards that of
Bachelor of Divinity. He next became chaplain to the cele-
brated Earl of Southampton, in whose service he continued till
the year 1632, when he was elected vicar of Leeds, at the age
of thirty-four, and therefore in the vigour of his constitution.
He received institution, July 4th, and immediately set about
his ministerial work with such zeal and diligence that, at a
period when seriousness was suspected, he acquired the name of
Puritan, though a strict conformist to the rules and ceremonies
of the church. Not only was his conversation blameless and
exemplary, but his preaching admirable. In addition to these
excellencies, he was in person a constant and conscientious
catechist of the young of his flock, for whose use he drew up a
work, entitled Catechetical Exercises, which were afterwards
printed, with additions, by his son-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Brigg,
at Cambridge. When the king, driven from Whitehall by the
tumults at Westminster, fixed his court at York, Mr. Robinson
waited on his old patron, the Earl of Southampton, who impor-
tuned him to preach before the king, which he unwillingly
undertook, though the text of the only sermon which he had
brought with him had a somewhat uncourtly sound in the
midst of preparations for war: "Follow peace with all men,
and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" {Heb.
xii. 14). This, however, he managed so dexterously as not
THE REV. HENRY ROBINSON, B.D. 101
only to avoid giving offence, but to procure a gracious acknow-
ledgment from the kin<r, who offered him the title and distinc-
tion of his chaplain, which he modestly declined. The time,
however, was now approaching, when Mr. Robinson had a
more decisive opportunity of proving that loyalty in politics
and seriousness in religion might exist together. On January
23rd, 1642-3, Leeds was stormed and taken by the Parliament
forces under Sir Thomas Fairfax, when the vicar, who would
not quit his flock till the last extremity, in crossing the Aire
below the church narrowly escaped with his life, and fled to
Methley Hall, where he was protected and concealed for some
time. Years of inquietude and distress now awaited him. As
the power of the Parliament gradually prevailed, he withdrew
to one remaining garrison of the kins; after another, but was at
length taken, and imprisoned in Middleham Castle, and thence
conveyed to Cawood, where the upper part of a tower fell upon
him, yet so providentially that, though surrounded by great
stones, and in the most imminent danger of being crushed to
death, one arm only was bi'oken. This calamity his faithful
wife did not fail to improve as a plea for his deliverance; the
exact time of which, however, is not recorded. He suffered
not only in the sequestration of his vicarage, but in his private
and personal estate; his losses wherein, by a moderate compu-
tation, amounted to above fifteen hundred pounds. But his
tranquillity was restored long before that of his imhappy
country, for in the year 1G49 he was presented to the quiet
rectory of Swillington, near Leeds; and such was the excellence
of his character, and the opinion of his inoffensive disposition
entertained by the prevailing party, that he was permitted
to enter upon and hold his benefice, without being harassed
by any of their engagements. In this retreat he spent the
remainder of his days; and when solicited to return to Leeds
after the Restoration, wisely declined the invitation, well know-
ing that vicarage to be ill-adapted to a mind and body broken
down by labours and sufferings. He used, however, his remain-
ing influence with his old parish ioners, by recommending to
ths station the Rev. John Lake; after which no more is heard
of him to his death, March 19th, 1GG3. He was interred in
the parish church of Swillington, Avhere his memory is pre-
served by a Latin insciiption. To the sepulchral memorial of
Mr. Robinson, the following character, as more generally intel-
ligible, is given by one of his successors (the excellent Mr.
Killingbeck) : — "He was a person generally esteemed and
admired for his extraordinary abilities and knowledge in all
102 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
sorts of useful learning; a judicious and well-studied divine; a
celebrated and most accomplished preacher. His natural tem-
per was peaceable, affable, and obliging; his conversation grave,
prudent, and every way suitable to his character and function;
his life regular, exemplary, and primitive; in short, he was
a shining light in his time, and a great blessing to this town,
where his memory is yet dear and precious." — For a more
lengthened account, see Thoresby's Vicaria Leodiensis ; "Walker's
Sufferings of the Clergy ; Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, &c.
1588-1669.
EEV. ELKANAH WALES, AM.,
Was born at Idle, near Leeds, in the year 1588; educated at
Trinity College, Cambx*idge, and without regard to his own
emolument, accepted the poor chapelry of Puclsey, which
appears to have been almost wholly unendowed. Here he con-
tinued in the midst of tempting offers and mortifying disap-
pointments. Though he was indefatigable in praying, preaching,
and expounding, his people, for the most part, continued igno-
rant and untractable. But though the prophet had little
honour in his own country, his services were courted by all the
country round, and multitudes travelled several miles to profit
by a minister whom his own people heard with indifference, or
scarcely heard at all. In those days there was a monthly
lecture at Leeds, where Mr. AVales frequently preached to
crowded auditories. He suffered by the common misfortune of
moderate men; — under the Commonwealth for favouring the
king, and under the king for favouring the Commonwealth.
At length, after a ministry of more than fifty years, the good
old man was compelled by the Five-mile Act, as it was called,
to leave the village where he had resided so long, and to with-
draw to Leeds. Here, with his friend Mr. Todd, he attended
the services of the church, and preached in private at different
hours. After having attained to more than eighty years, with-
out any infirmity of age, excepting deafness, he died at the
house of a Mr. Hickson, in Leeds, May 11th, 1669.
For sketches of the following Nonconformist divines of
Leeds and neighbourhood, viz. — Christopher Nesse, A.M., lec-
turer at the Leeds parish church; Thomas Hawkesworth,
A.M., curate of Hunslet; Robert Armitage, curate of Hol-
beck; Thomas Sharp, A.M., minister of Adel, &c, see Calamy's
Memorials; Whitaker's Thoresby, vol. ii. ; Parsons' History of
Leeds, ii., 5; Bicentenary Lectures (Leeds Series), &c.
GENERAL SIR THOMAS, LORD FAIRFAX. 103
1621—1670.
ADAM BAYNES, ESQ., M.P.,
The son of Eobert Baynes, Esq., of ELnowsthorpe, near Leeds,
was born December 22nd, 1620-1, and became the first " Par-
liament man for Leeds," during the Commonwealth. He had
been an officer in the Parliamentary army, under General
Lambert, and was returned as member for Leeds about 1644.
Captain Baynes was the only representative the borough had
till the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832. He married
Martha, daughter of Richard Dawson, Esq., who, after having
had sixteen children, died in July, 1713, aged eighty-eight years.
The eldest son, Robert Baynes, who died in 1697, married
Dorothy, daughter of Sir William Lowther. Dr. Whitaker
gives the following short account of Baynes's house : — The hall
contains perhaps the only dais, or raised step for the high
table, which is to be found in England. A few years since
it was hung round with portraits of the family. Captain Adam
Baynes, after the Restoration, from a lenity never exercised by
his own party, was permitted quietly to retire to this his
paternal estate, on which he died in December, 1670; after
having been compelled to refund the royal manor of Holdenby,
in Northamptonshire, which he had purchased of the Parlia-
ment for £29,000. The estate at Knostrop continued till very
recently with his descendants. — For his pedigree and coat of
arms, etc., see Thoresby's Bucatus Leodiensis, p. 101 ; and for
two or three of Baynes's letters, see Whitaker's Loidis and
Ehnete, p. 91; Parsons' History of Leeds, i., 103, &c.
1611-1671.
GENERAL SIR THOMAS, LORD FAIRFAX,
A distinguished commander and leading character in the civil
wars which distracted England in the 17th century. He was
born in 1611, at Denton Park, Otley, near Leeds, being son
and heir of Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax (to whose title and
estates he succeeded in 1647), and of Mary Sheffield, daughter
of the Earl of Mulgrave. A strong predilection for a military
life induced him to quit Cambridge, and, at an early age, to
volunteer with the Lord Vere, under whom he served a cam-
paign in the Netherlands with some reputation, and whose
daughter he married in 1037. "When the disputes between
Charles I. and the Parliament terminated in open rupture,
Fairfax wai'mly espoused the cause of the latter, and joined
his father in making active preparations for the approaching
104 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
contest. His first exploit was at Bradford, in Yorkshire, which
he obliged a body of Royalists to quit, and to retire to Leeds.
A few days after, he and Captain Hothani, with some horse and
dragoons, marching thither, the Royalists fled to York. And
the former having advanced to Tadcaster, resolved to keep the
pass at Wetherby, for securing the West-Riding of Yorkshire,
whence their chief supplies came. Being defeated there by
the Earl of Newcastle, they fled to Selby, then to Bradford,
and thence to Leeds, which he carried, January 23rd, 1642-3,
after a hot dispute, and found a good store of ammunition,
of which he stood in great want; soon afterwards Wakefield
and Doncaster yielded themselves to the Parliamentarians. In
the meantime, Lord Fairfax, being denied succour from Hull
and the East-Riding, was forced to forsake Selby, and retire to
Leeds, of which the Earl of Newcastle having intelligence, lay
with his ai'my on Clifford Moor to intercept him in his way to
Leeds. An engagement took place on Bramham Moor, in
which Sir Thomas was defeated; who also received a second
defeat upon Seacroft Moor, where some of his men were slain,
and many taken prisoners, and he himself made his retreat
with much difficulty to Leeds, about an hour after his father
was safely come thither. Leeds and Bradford being all the
garrisons the Parliament had in the north, Sir Thomas thought
it necessary to possess some other place, therefore he drove the
Royalists out of Wakefield, which they had seized again, and
took 1,400 prisoners, 80 officers, and great store of ammunition.
But, shortly after, the Earl of Newcastle coming to besiege
Bradford, and Sir Thomas and his father having the boldness,
with about 3,000 men, to go and attack his whole army,
which consisted of 10,000, on Adderton, or Adwalton Moor,*
near Leeds; they were entirely routed by the earl on the 30th
of June, 1643, with a considerable loss. Upon that, Halifax
and Beverley being abandoned by the Parliamentarians, and
Lord Fail-fax having neither a place of strength to defend him-
self in, nor a garrison in Yorkshire to retire to, withdrew the
same night to Leeds to secure that town. By his father's order,
Sir Thomas stayed in Bradford with 800 foot and 60 horse, but
being surrounded, he was obliged to force his way through; in
which desperate attempt, his lady and many others were
* For a lively description of the Battle of Adwalton Moor, see Scatcherd's
History of Morley, p. 280 ; Rushworth's Historical Collections, v., 279, &c.
Numerous relics, such as cannon-balls, grape-shot, bullets, and bridle-chains,
have been fo\md on the scene of this desperate engagement.
-
GENERAL SIR THOMAS, LORD FAIRFAX. 105
taken prisoners.* At his coming to Leeds he found things in
great distraction: the council of war having resolved to quit
the town and retreat to Hull, which was sixty miles off, with
many of the king's garrison in the way; but he got safely
to Selby, and afterwards, with considerable difficulty, and being
wounded, he arrived at Hull. (For other particulars, see May-
hall's Annals of Leeds; Parsons' History of Leeds; Grainge's
Battles of Yorkshire, &c.) At the battle of Marston Moor he
redeemed his credit, and the Earl of Essex resigning the com-
mand of the Parliamentary army, Fairfax was made general-in-
chief in his room. After the victory at Naseby, to the gaining
of which his courage and conduct mainly contributed, he
marched into the western counties, quelling all opposition as he
advanced. When the king fell into the power of the prevailing
party, considerable jealousy appeai-s to have been entertained
by Oliver Cromwell and his adhei'ents, of Fairfax, who seems
to have been far from wishing to push matters to the extremity
to which they afterwards went; and it is said that, in order to
prevent his interference with the execution of Charles, Harri-
son, at Cromwell's instigation, detained him, under pretext
of worship, at a distance from Whitehall, until the blow was
struck. ^Nevertheless, he still adhered to the party with which
he had hitherto acted, and continued in employment, though
more than suspected of disaffection, till, being ordered to march
against the revolted Scottish Presbyterians, he positively de-
clined the command, and retired for a while from public life.
Dr. Whitaker says : "To him we are indebted not only for the
basis of Thoresby's museum, but for the voluminous collection
of Dodsworth, transcribed under his patronage, and bequeathed
by him to the University of Oxford. Prince Rupert lodged
at Denton, in the old house, then the property of Ferdinando,
Lord Fairfax, on his way to the battle of Marston Moor;
being pleased Avith a picture he saw there, he forbade any
spoil to be committed upon the house." Though Fairfax was
* Fairfax found that resistance would be unavailing, and would only lead to
a useless expenditure of blood. At tlie head of his determined followers, he
broke through the lines of the Royalists, and effected his escape through
Leeds to Hull; but his lady, who, with a courage and fortitude above her
sex, had been his companion through all the perils of the campaign, fell into
the hands of their enemies. Newcastle, with the true dignity of a nobleman
and the generosity of a Briton, not only liberated the intrepid lady on the
spot, hut sent her under an escort, and in his coach, to a place of safety that
she might rejoin her noble husband. —For a long and interesting Sketch of
Lady Fairfax, see Anderson's Memorable Women of the Puritan Times,
vol. i., &c.
106 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
one of the principal heroes of the Commonwealth, and long a
determined enemy to the Stuarts, he became a friend to the
Restoration, after which he remained a peaceful and loyalsub-
ject. The names of the king's self-constituted judges being
called over, a voice from among the spectators called out, when
the crier came to the name of Fairfax, " He has more wit than
to be here;" and when the king was said to be accused " in the
name of the people of England,'' the same voice exclaimed,
" Not a tenth part of them." The soldiers were ordered to fire
at the spot from whence the voice had proceeded ; but on
its being discovered that Lady Fairfax was the person who had
spoken the words, they, in consideration of her sex and rank,
did not fire. This heroic lady had been an ardent politician,
and had fanned her husband's zeal against the royal cause; but
now, seeing that the struggle was to end in the sacrifice of the
king, and the exaltation of the usurping Cromwell, botli she
and her husband were dismayed at the event, and bitterly
repented the part they had taken.'" He was afterwards instru-
mental in the restoration of King Charles II., in 1660; being
one of the deputies sent by Parliament to Charles, then at the
Hague, in Holland, to invite him over to England; and, as
might be expected, was most graciously received by the dis-
solute prince. After the Restoration he retired to his house at
Nun-Appleton, near Tadcaster, where he spent the remainder
of his life, bearing the pains of the gout and stone with a
courage and patience equal to that which he had shown in the
wars. He wrote an account of his actions in the northern
war, from its breaking out in 1642 to 164-1, the truthfulness of
which cannot be disputed. He was of a grave, saturnine
disposition, of scrupulous honesty, singleness of mind, and the
greatest personal courage ; indefatigable and diligent ; but
without the genius of his far-seeing contemporary, Cromwell.
He could execute the greatest undertakings, but was not
equally great in forming regular plans of operations. He died
of fever, after a short illness, at Nun-Appleton, November 12th,
1671, and was buried at Bilbrough, where a monument remains
to his memory, bearing the following inscription : —
* " Having been bred in Holland," says Lord Clarendon, in his History of
the Rebellion (v., 254), "she had not that reverence for the Church of Eng-
land which she ought to have had, and so had unhappily concurred in her
husband's entering into rebellion, never imagining what misery it would
bring upon the kingdom, and now abhorred the work in hand as much as any
body could, and did all she could to hinder her husband from acting any part
in it."
GERVAS NEVILE, ESQ. 107
" HERE LTE THE BODIES OF THE
RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS, LORD FAIRFAX,*
OF DENTON, BARON CAMEBONE;
WHO DIED NOVEMBER 12TH, 1671, IN THE
SIXTIETH TEAR OF HIS AGE;
AND OF
ANN", HIS WIFE,
DAUGHTER AND CO-HEIR OF HORATIO, LORD TERE, BARON OF TILBURY.
THET HAD ISSUE,
MART, DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM, AND ELIZABETH."
"THE MEMORY OF THE JUST IS BLESSED."
The little leisure which the bustling period in which he lived
allowed him, he dedicated to the encouragement and cultivation
of letters, especially as regarded the study of antiquities ; and
he left behind him a few poetical and miscellaneous pieces, among
the latter of which is an interesting sketch of his own public
Life, printed in one 12mo. volume, 1699. One branch of this
family has for some generations resided in America, where they
have considerable property in Maryland, and at Fairfax, in Vir-
ginia. Their motto is, " Fare-Fac;" in English, " Speak: do."
■ — For further information, see the English histories; Claren-
don's History of the Rebellion; the Fairfax Correspondence,
with Portraits; Coleridge's Worthies of Yorkshire; Fairfax's
Memorials of the Civil War, by Bell, 1849 ; Biographical Dic-
tionaries of Aikiu, Chalmers, Knight, Eose, &c.
1591—1676.
GEEVAS NEVTLE, ESQ.,
A native of Holbeck, near Leeds, who was quarter-master-
general to the Marquis of Newcastle, in the rebellion of 1645,
died February 15th, 1676, aged eighty-five years, and was
interred in St. John's church, Leeds. He left several small
* Lines by Milton to the General Lord Fairfax : —
" Fairfax, whose name in arms through Europe rings,
Filling each mouth with envy or with praise,
And all her jealous monarchs with amaze,
And rumours loud that daunt remotest kings.
Thy firm unshaken virtue ever brings
Victory home, though new rebellions raise
Their hydra-heads, and the false north displays
Her broken league to imp then- serpent wings.
Oh ! yet a nobler task awaits thy hand
(For what can war but endless war still need?)
Till truth and right from violence be freed,
And public faith cleared from the shameful hand
Of public fraud. In vain doth valour l>hed,
"While avarice and rapine share the land."
The above poem was not, for obvious reasons, found in the editions pub-
lished during the reign of Charles II.
108 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEKSIS.
charities for the poor at Holheck and Armley, to be charged
annually on the King's Mills, in Mill Hill. Holbeck was formerly
the seat of the ancient and highly respectable family of the
Neviles, of whom some account should be given, because of the
prominent part they have acted both in the county of York
and the vicinity of Leeds. Descended from Waltheof, Earl of
Northumberland, prior to the Conquest, the Neviles have been
connected by marriage with some of the most ancient and
respectable families in Yorkshire. Sir John de Nevile was
twice high-sheriff of the county in the reign of Henry VII.
Another Sir John Nevile sustained the same dignified office in
the reign of Henry VIII. Sir Robert Nevile was elevated to
the same dignity in the thirty-second year of the same reign,
and a third Sir John Nevile, in the third year of the reign of
Elizabeth. The above Gervas (or Gervause) Nevile, of Beeston
(or Holbeck), from being quarter-master-general to the Duke of
Newcastle, in 1643, was consequently a distinguished partaker
in the principal transactions of the civil war in Yorkshire.
His son, Gervase Nevile, Esq., was the first mayor of the
borough of Leeds, under the charter of King James II., dated
January 1st, 1684. William Nevile, of Holbeck, was also high-
sheriff for the county in 1710. Cavendish Nevile, the brother
of William, was the last of the male line of this family. The
name, however, was revived in the person of John Pate Lister,
afterwards Nevile, the son of the female representative of the
Neviles. In his favour, restrictions were introduced into the
act passed in 1790 for the effectual supply of the town of Leeds
with water. Two of his sons, officers in the 3rd regiment of
guards, died in the same year, 1799, of their wounds received
in the campaign in Holland; another of his sons, a lieutenant
in the 2nd regiment of foot, was killed on board Lord
Howe's ship in the celebrated naval engagement of June 1st,
1794; his eighth son, a lieutenant in the navy, was slain at
Martinique, 1804; and his fourth son, a lieutenant in the
guards, died at Badsworth, in 1802. Thus five sons died in the
service of their sovereign, during the most dangerous and
devastating war which ever was waged upon the surface of the
rjlobe — an instance of patriotic devotion to the cause of their
country in one family, certainly not to be paralleled in this dis-
trict, and seldom equalled in the histoiy of the empire. — For
the pedigree and coat of arms of the Neviles, of Holbeck, see
Thoresby's Ducatns Leodiensis, p. 184; Whitaker's Loidis and
Elmete, p. 338, &e.
ESQ. 109
-1678.
THE EIGHT EEV. JAMES MAEGEEISON, D.D.,
Archbishop of Armagh (sometimes also called Margetson), was
the founder of the Grammar School at Drighlingtou, near
Leeds. This benevolent and distinguished ecclesiastic was a
native of that village, and when he was exalted to one of the
highest and most honourable stations in the church, he remem-
bered the necessities of the place which gave him birth, and
determined to rear among its population a noble monument of
his Christian philanthropy. In 166G he built a school at
Drighlingtou, but he did not endow it during his lifetime. By
his will, dated May 31st, 1678, in wdiich year he died, he gave
all his lands, tenements, and hereditaments in Drighlingtou and
New Hall, near Leeds, to his son Robert and the heirs of
his body, with remainders to others, to pay from the produce of
these lands sixty pounds for ever towards the maintenance of
the school. A subsecpient grant by William and Mary, con-
tained in letters patent dated January 11th, 1691, determined
that Sir John Tempest, Bart., and other persons therein named,
should be a body corporate, by the name of " The Governors of
the Free School of James Mai-gerison, late Lord Archbishop of
Armagh," with perpetual succession, and be able to receive the
said yearly sum of £60, and take a conveyance thereof for the
benefit of the school, &c. The right of nominating the head-
master was granted by the will of the founder to the master
and senior fellows of Peter House, in the University of
Cambridge. Since the erection of a chapel-of-ease at Drigh-
lin^ton, the head-master of the Free Grammar School has
usually officiated wdthin its walls, but the duties of the chapel
and the school are by no means essentially connected. — For
further particulars, see Carlisle's Endowed Grammar Schools;
W'hitaker's Loidis and Elmete; Parsons' History of Leeds, kc.
1610—1680.
JOHN HOPKINSON, ESQ.,
The founder of the celebrated collection of MSS., and the son
of George Hopkinson, gent., was born at Lofthouse, near
Leeds, in the year 1610. Lofthouse has acquired its principal
fame from having been the residence of the celebrated John
Hopkinson, the antiquary, whose learning and prudence
acquired the just respect of the stormy age in which he lived,
and whose labours have imposed upon every succeeding topo-
110 BIOGItAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
grapher a debt of gratitude and admiration.* This celebrated
man "was clerk of the peace for the county of York in the
reign of Charles I. He devoted all his leisure time to the
collection and transcription of all the curious papers relating to
the antiquities of the whole county of York, which fell into
his hands; besides compiling with incredible labour the pedi-
grees of the nobility and gentry. His compilations and manu-
scripts were lately in the possession of Miss Currer. Of John
Hopkinson, and his father George, two interesting papers have
been preserved, which we regret that our limits will not permit
us to present at length to our readers. They are two letters of
protection from the rival commanders in Yorkshire during the
civil wars, granted with the view of saving the family from the
hostile attempts which the straggling parties of the two armies
might be disposed to make upon the persons or the properties
of the Hopkinsons. The first letter is from the Marcpvis of
Newcastle, commanding the royal forces, "to desist from plun-
dering, molesting, pillaging, or any way injuring George
Hopkinson, his servants, or family." This letter is dated
October 1st, 1643. The second letter is from Lord Fairfax,
commanding the Parliamentarians " to take especial care that
George Hopkinson, of Lofthouse, gent., and John Hopkinson,
his son, be not plundered, pillaged, or any way injured in any
of their goods by those in the service of the Parliament." This
second letter is dated July 20th, 1614. It is pleasing to find
two contending parties thus doing homage to virtue and science,
and exemplifying some sense of humanity and some deference
to literary eminence amidst all the exasperation and horrors of
civil war. He died in 1680, aged seventy years. A monu-
ment, partly of marble and partly of freestone, with a Latin
inscription, fixed to the south wall of the chancel of Rothwell
church, near Leeds, preserves the memory of this industrious and
worthy man, to whom every topographer and historian of York-
shire is under such extensive and permanent obligations. t — ■
Copies of his Genealogies, &c, corrected and enlarged by Thomas
* The extent of his labours may be inferred from the following memo-
randum, made by one connected with the family, which states that " in.
1815, of the manuscript collections relating to the antiquities of the county
of York, forty volumes are preserved in the library of Miss Richardson
Currer, of North Bierley, and about the same number in the possession of
the late John Henry Smyth, Esq., of Heath, near "Wakefield." — See Lupton's
Wakefield Worthies, &c.
■f Mr. James, in the preface to his History and Topography of Bradford,
says "that Hopkinson's collections are still the great storehouse for the
Yorkshire topographer."
THE REV. MARMADUKE COOKE, D.D. Ill
Wilson, F.S.A., may now be seen in the Leeds Library, and for
a further account of him, see Whitaker's Thoresby; Nichols'
Literary Ittustirations ; Parsons' History of Leeds; Thoresby's
Diary, p. 110, &c. For his pedigree, <fcc., consult Whitaker's
Loidis and, Elmete, p. 202; the Appendix, p. 38, &c.
1623-1683.
THE EEV. MARMADUKE COOKE, D.D.,
Vicar of Leeds in the year 1663, was the son of Robert Cooke,
who was son of Hugh Cooke, of Campsall, by Alice, daughter
of John Middleton, of Norton, in the county of York ; which
Robert had six sons, and educated them all at the university.*
This Marmaduke, who was the eldest, was born at Doncaster,
and educated at Catherine Hall, Cambridge. When he was
Tripos he performed the public exercises with applause. He
was for some time in his younger years master of the Free
School at Doncaster, the place of his nativity, and then rector
of Kirk-Bramwith, and in that capacity licensed in April,
1662, to preach in the province of York. Li November, 1663,
he was instituted vicar of Leeds, where he had the character
of a good preacher (though he had not the most plausible
delivery), a peaceable and cpiiet man, and a holy mortified
Christian. The author of the New View of London acquaints
us, that he gave fifty pounds towards the rebuilding of St. Paul's
cathedral. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Atkin-
son, Esq., mayor of Leeds in 1661 and 1067. He was appointed
canon and prebendary of Riccall in the cathedral of St. Peter,
York, where he lies interred under a marble slab, with a
short Latin inscription. He died in December, 1683, aged
sixty years, having resigned the vicarage of Leeds in 1677. —
For further particulars, see Thoresby's Yicaria Leodiensis;
Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, <fec.
* Of the other sons of the said Knbert Cooke, Thomas was a Fellow of St.
John's, and Richard, the youngest, was Fellow of Jesus ; but the most noted
was William Cooke, LL.D., President of Jesus College, Cambridge, and
Chancellor of Ely, from whence he very kindly transmitted to Thoresby the
epitaph of the celebrated Dr. John Nalson, a noted historian and native of
this parish, who lies interred in that cathedral. (John Nalson, LL.D., who
died in 16S5, was the son of the Rev. John Nalson, M.A., minister of
Holbeck, who died in 16G1.) Dr. Marmaduke Cooke, vicar of Leeds, and
Dr. William Cooke, Chancellor of Ely, are conjoined in the same patent for
arms, " as persons of good reputation and loyalty, and of competent estates
to support the conditions of gentlemen;" but neither of them left male
issue : the former buried his five sons, and the latter never married. — See Dr.
"Whitaker's Thoresby, he.
s
112 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1604—1684.
SIR GEOEGE RAWDEN, BART.
It would seem that William the Conqueror, soon after the
compilation of Domesday Book, granted the estate of Rawden,
near Leeds (which is twice mentioned in that book), to Paulinus
(or Paulyn) de Rawden, as a reward for his services with
a bodv of archers which he commanded.* And here the
family continued for more than six hundred years. The most
renowned pei'son in this family, during its residence at Rawden,
was Sir George Rawden, a warrior and hero. He had a com-
mand in Ireland, and was absent at his own estate when the
horrible massacre of 1641 was perpetrated in that country. As
soon as he heard the tidings, he hastened through Scotland to
his post, and arrived at Lisburn, seven miles from Belfast, at
the very time when Sir Pheliru O'Neale, at the head of six
or seven thousand Papists, was about to break into the town,
and to murder the inhabitants. Sir George found only two
hundred men ready to resist the ferocious banditti, who had
desolated the country with fire and sword, and even this little
band had only forty-seven muskets among them ; but they were
animated with a determination to sell their lives as dearly
as possible, and even the women prepared to participate in the
dangers of the conflict. Sir George, who was well-known
among the native Irish, made his dispositions with such con-
summate skill, that the enemy soon became aware of his return,
and the cry, "Sir George Rawden has come from England!"
intimidated the assailants. Numbers, however, were on the
point of prevailing ; Sir George's horse was shot under him, and
the enemy were already raising a shout of triumph, when a
slight reinforcement and a small supply of powder arriving
from Belfast, the Papists were defeated: Sir George saved his
little garrison from massacre, and acquired the honour of
having performed one of the most glorious actions of the war.
Sir George, who had previously been created a baronet, after-
wards commanded a regiment for Charles I., and died in 1684,
in the eightieth year of his age. His great-grandson was
created Baron Rawden of Moira, in 1750, and Earl Moira in
1761. He married for his third wife, Lady Elizabeth Hastings,
Baroness Hastings in her own right, eldest daughter of Theo-
philus, ninth Earl of Huntingdon. Their son, Francis Rawdon
* This tradition is alluded to in their family arms, which contain three
arrow-heads; and their motto, in English, is: "We, too, have scattered
arrows. "
THE RIGHT REV. JOHN LAKE, D.D 113
Hastings, as the Earl of Moira, and one of the intimate friends
of George IV., when Prince of Wales, was for a long time one
of the most prominent characters in the empire. He was
created Marquess of Hastings, was governor-general of India,
and afterwards became governor of Malta, K.G., G.C.B., F.E.S.*
The hall at Eawdon, long the residence of this distinguished
family, is situated a little to the east of the church, and with
its extensive front and projecting gables, placed on a commanding
and elevated .situation, presents an extremely imposing appear-
ance from the new road between Yeadon and Kirkstall, and
still exhibits numerous indications of the dignity and importance
of its noble possessors. — For further particulars, see Thoresby's
Diary, p. 401 ; and for the pedigree and coat of arms of the
Eawdens, see the Peerages; Whitaker's Loiclis and Elmete,
p. 198, &c.
1624—1689.
THE EIGHT EEV. JOHX LAKE, D.D.,
Vicar of Leeds, was born at Halifax, and was baptized on the
5th of December, 1624. He was educated at the Grammar
School of his native town, and made so rapid a progress in his
studies that he was admitted to St. John's College, Cambridge,
in his thirteenth year. His tutor at St. John's was the learned
Mr. Cleveland; whose life he subsequently wrote, and whose
works, in conjunction with Dr. Drake, rector of Pontefract, he
edited and published in 1687. He took his degree of B.A. at
a very early age, and distinguished himself no less for loyalty
than learning. He was arrested, together with a considerable
party of ardent young royalists, by the Parliamentary Com-
missioners, for refusing to take the Covenant, and put into
strict confinement — not being suffered to stir without the gates,
or to take the slightest exercise or recreation. During the time
of his restraint, young Lake sedulously pursued his studies. At
last he escaped, and, repairing to Oxford, entered the king's
service as a volunteer. After some time, his love of learning
induced him to return to his academic studies. He refused to
take the Engagement w T itk no less firmness than he had rejected
the Covenant; yet he succeeded, in 16-47, in obtaining ordina-
tion from one of the deprived prelates, and entered publicly and
fearlessly on his interdicted vocation. He preached his first
* For a long sketch of Francis Rawdon Hastings, the first marquis, who
was a gallant soldier, an eloquent senator, and a popular statesman, see the
Peerages; the A nnual Register; Biography and Obituary for 1828, p. 142, &c.
He was succeeded in his title and estates by George Augustus Francis, the
second marquis.
H
114 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
sermon in Lis native town of Halifax, July 26th, 1617. Not
being suffered to remain there without taking the Engagement,
he removed to Oldham, whence, after a warm controversy, he
was ejected by the Puritan party, and effectually silenced for a
time. On the death of Mr. Styles, in 1660, he was presented
to the vicarage of Leeds, but met with so much opposition from
the Puritan party, who wished to introduce Mr. Bowles, of
York, that it was found necessary to call in a company of
soldiers to secure his induction, the church-doors having been
barred against him by a disorderly mob, composed of the friends
of his competitor, Mr. Bowles. As this took place before the
Restoration, Lake must have had some powerful and influential
friends on the other side, notwithstanding his well-known affec-
tion to the royal cause. On October 9th, 1680, he was installed
archdeacon of Cleveland, and in the following year he was
recommended, by the royal letter of Charles II., to have the
degree of D.D. conferred upon him by the University of Cam-
bridge, which was accordingly done. Lake preached his first
Synod sermon at York, with which the dean was so greatly
pleased that he sent a copy, without the author's knowledge, to
Dr. Sheldon, Bishop of London. That prelate sent for Lake,
and collated him to the rectory of St. Botolpk/s, Bishopsgate,
May 22nd, 1663, to give an example of uniformity to the city
at that juncture; for he was as strict himself in observing the
canons and rubrics, as he was afterwards careful that others
should observe them. He was made prebend of Holbourn,
June 11th, 1667, and formed a friendship with Sancroft, which
lasted as long as he lived. Lake next obtained the living
of Prestwich, in Lancashire, and the prebendary of Friday-
thorpe, in the cathedral of York, with other preferments, not
one of which was of his own seeking. His zeal for the restora-
tion of good order and discipline in the church, especially his
determination to abolish the irreverent custom into which the
people had fallen, of walking about the aisles of the cathedral,
and talking during the celebration of divine service, excited
great ill-will among the vulgar. This broke out with great
violence on his being installed archdeacon of Cleveland, when
the most painful scene in his life occurred. The rabble forced
themselves into the church in great numbers, wearing their
hats, and raised a tumultuous riot. Lake, ■whose courage was
indomitable, rose from his seat, and taking off the hats of those
who were within reach, admonished them on the sacrilegious
nature of their proceedings in the house of God, bidding them
either remain and join in the service, or leave the church.
THE RIGHT REV. JOHN LAKE, D.D. 115
Awed by the inipressiveness of his language they retired, hut
presently a fresh crowd collected and hurst open the south.
door, and defied him in the most brutal language, and endea-
voured to provoke him to strife. Lake, however, preserved his
temper, even when, without the church, they followed him
home, and but for the courageous promptitude of Captain
Honeywood, the deputy-governor, would have plundered and
pulled down his house. The following Shrove Tuesday a fresh
outbreak took place, in consecpience of Lake's determination to
stop the heathenish licence claimed on that day by the sturdy
apprentices and young men of York. It had been their custom
from very ancient times to ring one of the cathedral bells,
which they called the pancake bell. This practice obtained in
other places in Yorkshire; for in Dr. Lake's native town tbei-e
was a popular rhyme circulated as a proverb, and having refer-
ence to the inauguration of Shrovetide festivities : —
" "When pancake bell begins to ring,
All Halifax lads begin to sing."
But Lake was determined that in York cathedral no singing
should be tolerated, save to the glory of God. The dean and
chapter advised him to wink at the saturnalia, and not to stir
up the rabble by contesting a privilege which they had enjoyed
from time immemorial, of having the minster, from crypt to
tower, thi'own open for the pleasure of themselves and their
country cousins on Shrove Tuesday. Lake, however, coura-
geously endeavoured to prevent the desecration of the minster,
first by reproving the rabble, and then by taking steps for their
expulsion. They assailed him as before with brutal ferocity,
and would have torn him to pieces, if some of the more mode-
rate had not interposed and advised him to retire, unless he
wished to be slain on the spot. " I have faced death too often
in the field," he replied, " to shrink from the danger of mar-
tyrdom in the performance of my duty; but I should be sorry
if any of your lives were to be endangered through your cruel
and cowardly attack on me: but leave the ground at your
bidding I will not." He was with difficulty rescued by the
governor and his assistant force. Though Dr. Lake might have
retired to either of his livings, his high spirit would not cower
before the storm, and he continued, at the imminent peril of
his life, to reside in York, till he had convinced his ferocious
adversaries that they were not to convert the house of God
into a place of idle riot. His firmness and courage finally
conquered. In 1082 he was consecrated Bishop of Sodor
and Man; in 1GS4 he was translated to Bristol; and in tho
11 G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
following year to Chichester. He was one of the seven bishops
who were committed to the Tower of London in the reign of
James II., but positively refused to take the oaths of allegiance
to William III., and prepared for a deprivation, but was
removed by death in his sixty-sixth year. Bishop Lake died
August 30th, 1G89, and was buried in St. Botolph's church,
London, with the character of a steadfast adherer to the articles
and canons of the church; of the same firmness of mind
through all the changes of fortune — the same in the Tower and
at his trial, as at his palace in Chichester. — For additional
information, see Thoresby's Vicaria Leodiensis ; Whitaker's
Loidis and Elmete; Wright's and Crabtree's History of Hali-
fax ; Parsons' History of Leeds; Miss Strickland's Sketch in
the Churchman s Family Magazine for October, 1863, &c.
1649—1689.
ME. WILLIAM LODGE,
A spirited, tasteful, and distinguished engraver, was born at
Leeds, July 4th, 1649, and inherited an estate of £300 a year.
He was the son of Mr. William Lodge, of Leeds, merchant, by
Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. John Sykes, eldest son of Richard
Sykes, Esq., one of the first aldermen of Leeds." From school
he went to the University of Cambridge, where he resided some
time at Jesus College, from whence he was sent to Lincoln's
Inn, to study the law. But this employment not suiting his
genius, he chose to travel ; and attended Thomas, Lord
Bellasis (afterwards Viscount Falconberg), to Venice, where
that nobleman was sent as ambassador from the British Court.
In this city he met with Giacomo Barri's Viaggio Pittoresco, in
which is contained an account of the most estimable pictures in
Italy, and also of the famous cabinet of Canon Settala, at
Milan. He was so pleased with this work that he translated it
into English, and added the heads of the great painters, etched
by himself, and a map of Italy. It was printed in octavo, in
1679. On his return to England, he assisted Dr. Lister, of
York, in drawing rare shells and fossils, which the doctor
transmitted to the Royal Society, and which are inserted in
their Transactions, particularly the table of snails, &c. He
also drew for him thirty-four different sorts of spiders. There
was then at York a club of virtuosi, composed of Dr. Martin
Lister, John Lambert, Esq., Thomas Kirke, Esq., Mr. William
Lodge, and Mr. Francis Place. Between the two last congenial
* For pedigree and other particulars of the Sykes family, see Thoreshy's
Ducatus Leodiensis, pp. 3, 36, &c.
THE REV. JOHN MILNER, B.D. 117
artists there was a strict friendship. They used frequently to
make excursions together, for two or three months at a time, as
occasion served, in order to draw views of the country. It
happened once, as they were amusing themselves in this manner
in Wales, they were taken up as Jesuitical spies (it being at
the time of the discovery of the popish plot), and put into
prison, notwithstanding all their remonstrances, where they
were confined till the arrival of some of their friends from
Chester, who, confirming their innocence, had them released.
Mr. Lodge died at Leeds, and it was intended to bury his
corpse at Gisburn, near Craven, by the side of his mother;
but by the accident of the hearse breaking down at Harewood,
as it was passing through that place, and the coffin being much
damaged, he was interred there, August 27th, 1689.* Besides
the portraits above mentioned, there are several views by tliis
artist, etched in a slight, but spirited style, from his own
designs, which he made both abroad and at home. They bear
the marks of genius and a good taste. The following may
be mentioned: — A set of middling-sized plates, lengthways,
entitled, A Look of Divers Prospects, done after the life, by
William Lodge; a sheet-print, containing the Views of Leeds
and Wakefield; View of the City of York; Lambeth Rouse, from
the Thames; The Pont du Gard in Languedoc, signed with a
monogram, composed of a W and an L joined together; with
several other views of churches, castles, &c. — For additional
particulars, see Strutt's Biographical Dictionary of Engravers,
vol. ii. ; Langdale's Yorkshire ; Walpole's Catalogue of En-
gravers ; Jones's History of Harewood; Bryan's Dictionary
of Painters and Engravers, &c.
1627-1702.
THE EEV. JOHN MILNEB, B.D.,
Was instituted vicar of Leeds, August 2nd, 1677. This eminent
scholar was the second son of John Milner, of Skircoat, near
Halifax, was baptized February 10th, 1627, and educated in
the Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth at that place. At
fourteen years of age he was sent to Christ College, Cam-
bridge, where he took both the degrees in arts. He was first
settled as curate at Middleton, in Lancashire: no very agreeable
situation for a young man of loyal principles, where the interest
* On a plain tombstone in the north side of the choir of Harewood church
is the following inscription :— " Here lieth the ho.lv of Mr. William Lodge,
who departed this life in the fortieth year of his age, and was here interred,
August 27th, 1689."— See Jones's History of Harewood, p. 122, &c.
118 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of the republican family of the Asshetons, the lords and almost
sole proprietors of that town, was predominant. He seems to
have taken some active part in Sir George Booth's unsuccessful
attempt to restore the royal family, on which occasion he was
driven from Middleton, and found an asylum at Beeston, near
Leeds, which made an opening for his further advancement in
this parish. About the year 1662, he took the degree of B.D.,
and soon afterwards he was elected minister of St. John's, in
this town, upon the cession or expulsion of Mr. Todd, the first
minister, who refused to conform. Here he spent fourteen
years of application to the study of the more abstruse parts
of theology and of the Oriental languages, and in 1677 suc-
ceeded Dr. Marmaduke Cooke in the vicarage of Leeds. In
1681 he Avas installed prebendary of Bipon, and after an
incumbency of about twelve years, being dissatisfied with
the oaths imposed on the accession of King William, he
voluntarily quitted his preferments. Unlike many of his
brethren, however, he continued in communion with the Church
of England, and withdrew to St. John's College, Cambridge,
where he had the benefit of an excellent library and the society
of several old friends, some of whom had the same scruples,
and yet persevered in the same communion with himself. Here
he spent the last thirteen years of his life in piety and study,
beloved by the older members of the college, and reverenced
for the quiet sanctity of his manners by the younger. There,
he died February 16th, 1702, aged seventy-five, and was interred
in the college-chapel, where, it is said, thei'e is no memorial to
him. In the Hebrew and its kindred dialects he appears to
have been very learned, having cultivated these studies with
great diligence at an early period of life, and in the midst
of his ministerial engagements. To enumerate even the long
catalogue of Mr. Milner's works would require too much of
our space. The following character of Mr. Milner is extracted
from a letter received by Thoi'esby, from the celebrated Dr.
Gower, then master of St. John's College: — "The work you
are about (the Vicaria Leodiensis) will be a monument to your-
self, as well as to those for whose memories you intend it. Mr.
Milner, I am sure, deserves a place among the best, — great
learning and piety made him really a great man ; he was
eminent in both, and nothing but his humility and modesty
kept him from being more noted for being so. I had the happi-
ness of much of his conversation, but still desired more. He was
a blessing to the whole society, by the example he gave in
every good thing. He died beloved and much lamented here,
SIR WILLIAM LOWTHEK, 31. P.
119
and his memory is honourable and precious among us, and will
long continue so. Besides his printed works, he hath left many
useful and learned manuscripts behind him, which are in the
hands of his son." His only son, the Eev. Thomas Miluer,
M.A., vicar of Bexhill, in Sussex, by will dated September,
1722, bequeathed to the governors of the charity for the relief
of poor widows and children of clergymen, the sum of two
hundred pounds; to the Society for Promoting Christian Know-
ledge, fifty pounds; to the Society for Propagating the Gospel
in Foreign Parts, fifty pounds ; to the Master and Fellows of
St. Mary Magdalen's College, Cambridge, and their successors
for ever, the sum of one thousand pounds, wherewith an estate
was to be purchased within the space of three years, for the
founding of three scholarships, to be called by his name (now
worth about £70 a year), and given to such scholars as shall be
admitted pensioners, and shall come in there from the Free
Schools of Heversham, in Westmoreland, and of Halifax or
of Leeds, in Yorkshire ; they behaving themselves soberly;
studiously, and virtuously, and residing nine months in the
year; to be held by the said scholars after taking the degree of
Bachelor of Arts, till they take the degree of Master of Arts, or
are chosen Fellows, &c. — For further information, see Thoresby's
Vicaria Leodiensk; Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete ; Wright's
and Crabtree's History of Halifax: Chalmers' Biographical
Dictionary ; Parsons' History of Leeds, &c.
1639—1705.
SIE WILLIAM LOWTHEK, M.P.,
Justice of the peace, and deputy-lieutenant for the West-
Biding, was bora in Kirkgate, near the Leeds parish church, in
the year 1G39. He was elected M.P. for Pontefract in 1C75,
and was appointed high-sheriff of the county in 1681; and
died in December, 1705. He was the son of Sir William
Lowther, of Swillington, who died in 1G87, and Jane, daughter
of William Busfeild, merchant, of Leeds.* He married Cathe-
rine, daughter of Thomas Harrison, Esq., of Hertfordshire,
whose eldest son, William Lowther (also M.P. for Pontefract),
was created a baronet in 1715,t and died in March, 1729;
* Sir William was also a benefactor to the Leeds Grammar School. His
father was younger brother to Sir John Lowther, Bart.. M. P. for Westmore-
land, who was created a baronet in 1640, and died in 1075; and his younger
brother, Richard, was rector of Swillington for thirty-eight years, and died
in 1702.
t On the 20th of May, 1724, it was stated in the Corporation that Sir
William Lowther, Bart., one of his Majesty's justices of the peace for the
120 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
having married Amabella, daughter of Lord Maynard, to
whose eldest sou there is a mouument in Swillington church,
with the following inscription : — " To the memory of Sir
William Lowther, Bart., in whom learning, piety, and all the
virtues of a real Christian were united, who departed this life
the 22nd day of December, 1763, in the sixty-ninth year of his
age, and was buried, according to his own desire, in this
churchyard, at the east end of the chancel." — For pedigree and
other particulars, see Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. 260;
Burke's Peerage and Baronetage ; also the Rev. Sir William
Lowther, Bart, (in this vol.), who died in 1788.
1625-1707.
THE REV. DE. JOSEPH HILL,
A highly-distinguished minister and scholar, was born at
Bramley, near Leeds, in October, 1625; being the son of the
Rev. Joshua Hill, curate of Bramley. He gave early proofs of
his capacity by the progress he made in school-learning, but the
troubles which began at that time prevented his being sent to
college until he was eighteen years old, when he was admitted
to St. John's, at Cambridge, where, by his diligence, he soon
recovered the time that he had lost. In a few years he was
chosen Fellow of Magdalene College, and in 1659 was promoted
to the office of proctor (or magistrate) of the university, and
his conduct in that office proved him to be well worthy of the
honour. In the following year he declared his judgment to be
against conformity ; but that he might escape persecution on
this account, the collegians, out of kindness to him, cut his
name out of their books. He retired to London, and soon
afterwards went abroad, travelled through several foreign
countries, and then spent two or three years at the Leyden
university. In 1667, he was called to be pastor of the English
church at Middleburg, in Zealand, where he continued six
years; when a work which he published gave some offence to
the governor of that province, who obliged him to leave the
place. He then returned to England, when King Charles II.,
as a reward for writing the book, gave him a sinecure worth
about £80 a year, and offered that if he would comply with
the " Uniformity Act" he should receive a bishopric. But
being altogether dissatisfied with the terms of that enactment,
"West-Riding of the county, had several times by his warrant, and otherwise,
infringed upon the rights and liberties of the Corporation, and an action-at-
law was ordered to be commenced against him for so doing, at the public cost.
— See Wardell's Municipal History of Leeds.
121
even the offer of a mitre did not tempt him. He declined the
promotion, and shortly afterwards became minister of the Eng-
lish church at Rotterdam, in Holland, where he continued
until his death. Such was his devotion to study, that the
infirmities of age did not prevent his spending many hours
a day among his books, of which he had a very extensive
collection. A new edition of Schrevelius' Greek Lexicon was
edited by him. He died on the 5th of November, 1707, aged
eighty-three, leaving his valuable library to the Free Grammar
School at Leeds. — For his pedigree, &c. , see Thoresby'sZW. Leotl.,
p. 209 ; Wilson's Sketch of Bramley, &c.
1631—1712.
FIEST DUKE OF LEEDS, K.G.
Sir Thomas Osborne, Bart., only son of Sir Edward Osborne,
who was settled at Kiveton, in this county, was elected high-
sheriff of Yorkshire in 1G 62, and appointed Lord President of
the Council in 1689. He afterwards became Lord High Trea-
surer of England, and was elevated to the peerage in August,
1673, as Baron Osborne of Kiveton, and Viscount Latimer of
Danby; advanced to an earldom, in June, 1674, as Earl of
Danby, in this county; created Marquis of Carmarthen, in
April, 1689; and first Duke of Leeds, in May, 1694. His
grace was installed a Knight of the most illustrious order of
the Garter, and enrolled amongst the peers of Scotland (1675),
by the title of Viscount Dunblane. The duke married Lady
Bridget, daughter of Montague Bertie, Lord Willoughby, of
Eresby (afterwards Earl of Lindsay, Lord-Great-Chamberlain of
England), and at his demise, in 1712, was succeeded by his only
surviving son, Peregrine,* Baron Osborne of Kiveton, as the
* 2nd Duke of Leeds, Peregrine, had been summoned to the House of Peers,
in the lifetime of his father, as Baron Osborne of Kiveton ; married Bridget,
only daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Hyde, Bart., by whom he had two
sons and a daughter. His grace died in 1729, and was succeeded by his
second and only surviving son, —
(3rd), Peregrine Hyde, who had been previously summoned to parliament
as Lord Osborne. This nobleman attained the rank of admiral in the royal
navy. His grace married thrice : first, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert, Eaxl
of Oxford, by whom be had an only son, Thomas, his successor; secondly,
Anne, daughter of Charles, Duke of Somerset, by whom he had a son, who
died in infancy; and, thirdly, Juliana, daughter and co-heiress of Roger
Eele, Esq., by whom he had no child. He died in 1731, and was succeeded
by his only son, —
(4th), Thomas, K.G., who was bora in November, 1713, and who married,
in 1740, Mary, second daughter and co-heiress of Francis, Earl of Godolphin,
and dying in 1789, was succeeded by his only surviving son, —
(5th), Francis Godolphin, who had been summoned to parliament in the
lifetime of Ins father, as Baron Osborne. His grace married, in 1773, Amelia,
only daughter and heiress of Robert D'Arcy, Earl of Holderness, and
122 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
second Duke of Leeds. In giving to the Duke of Leeds a title
derived from a trading town, it must be confessed tkat there
was something appropriate. For his grace's family originated
from among the people. Its founder, Edward Osborne, in the
middle of the 16th century, was the apprentice of William
Hewett (or Hewit), an opulent tradesman, who lived upon
London Bridge, then occupied by a number of houses, and
presenting a continued street. The only daughter of Mr.
Hewett on one occasion fell from an open window into the
Thames, and would have been drowned but for the gallantry of
young Osborne, who plunged into the stream at the hazard of
his life, and succeeded in saving his young mistress from
destruction. He received the fair lady's hand as the reward of
his courage ; his father-in-law, who became Sir William Hewett
and Lord Mayor of London, richly endowed him with wealth ;
he was created a knight, and' elevated to the highest civic
honours in the reign of Elizabeth; and his son, Sir Edward
Osborne of Kiveton, was made a baronet by Charles I. Near
to Kiveton park is Harthill church, under which, in a spacious
vault, are arranged in splendid coffins the remains of many of
the ancestors of this noble family. Their motto, in English,
is: "Peace in War," and their country-seat is at Hornby
Castle, Yorkshire.— See Thoresby's Due. Lead., p. 2; Whitaker's
Loidis, p. 203 ; Peerages of Burke, Collins, Debrett, Lodge, &c.
Baroness Conyers at the demise of her father (the harony of Conyers was
conferred by writ, in October, 1509, on William Conyers, son and heir of Sir
John Conyers, by Margery, second daughter and co-heiress of Philip, Lord
D'Arcy), by which marriage he had issue two sons and a daughter (1. George
William Frederick, his successor; 2. Francis Godolphin, born in October,
1777 ; created in May, 1832, Baron Godolphin ; married in March, 1800, the
Hon. Elizabeth Charlotte Eden, daughter of William, first Lord Auckland,
and by her had issue George Godolphin, second baron, and present Duke of
Leeds). The Duke of Leeds being divorced from his duchess, by act of
parliament, in May, 1779, her grace married, subsequently, John Byron,
Esq., father of Lord Byron, the poet. His grace died in 1799.
(6th.) George William Frederick, K.G., born in July, 1775; succeeded to
the barony of Conyers upon the decease of his mother in 1784; married, in
1797, Charlotte, daughter of George, Marquis of Townsend, by whom he had
issue two sons and a daughter (1. Francis Godolphin D'Arcy, his successor;
2. Conyers George Thomas William, born in May, 1812 ; kUled accidentally at
Oxford, while wrestling, in February, 1831 ; 3. Charlotte, married, May, 1826,
to Sackville Lane Fox, Esq. ). He was lord-lieutenant of the North-Biding,
governor of the Scilly Islands, constable of Middleham Castle, ranger of
Bichmond Forest, Yorkshire. He was appointed Master of the Horse in
.May, 1827; sworn of the Privy Council on the 10th of the same month, and on
the same day elected a Knight of the Garter. His grace died July 10th, 1838.
(7th. ) Francis Godolphin D'Arcy, only surviving son, was born in 1798;
succeeded his father in 1838, having been previously summoned to the House
of Lords as Baron Osborne ; married, in 1828, Louisa Catherine, daughter of
Bichard Caton, Esq., of Maryland, and widow of Sir Felton Harvey, Bart.
THE REV. JOHSf KILLINGBECK, B.D. 123
1650-1716.
THE REV. JOHN KILLINGBECK. B.D.,
Vicar of Leeds from 1G90 to 1715, another native of the parish'
and eldest son of John Ivillingbeck, Esq., of Headingley, who
was mayor of Leeds in 1677. The Killingbecks (or Kelling-
becks), though originally sprung from a place of the same name
in an adjoining parish, had long nourished in the parish of
Leeds, where their names occur as witnesses to charters in the
14th century. One of this name was abbot of Kirkstall in the
reign of Henry VII. , and a benefactor to the church of Leeds.
John Ivillingbeck, the subject of this sketch, was born at
Headingley Hall, February loth, 1649, and baptized in the
chapel of that village, then lately erected. "We are not told
where he received his scholastic education; but on April 11th,
1671, he was admitted of Jesus College, Cambridge, where he
took both the degrees in arts, and that of Bachelor of Divinity.
In this college he resided fifteen years, and having been elected
Fellow, became a very eminent tutor. Here his " intense
studies, his solid parts, his grave and ingenuous deportment,
gained him the affection of his superiors, and recommended him
to the favour of that singularly good and learned prelate, Dr.
Gunning, then Bishop of Chichester," and master of St. John's
College, by whom he was ordained deacon in the chapel of that
His grace was M.P. for Helstone from 1826-30, colonel of the North York
Militia, kc. He was succeeded by his cousin, Lord Godolphin ; in the barony
of Conyers, by his nephew, S. G. Lane Fox, Esq., eldest son of his only
sister, Lady Charlotte Sackville Lane Fox, who died in 1836.
(8th.) George Godolphin, eldest son of first Lord Godolphin, by Elizabeth
Charlotte, daughter of first Lord Auckland ; born in 1802; succeeded as
second Lord Godolphin in 1850, and as Duke of Leeds in 1859; married,
in 1824, Miss Harriet Emma Arundel Stewart (who died in 1852); educated
at "Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford. Heir, his son, Marquis of Car-
marthen, born in 1828; married, in 1861, Fanny Georgiana, daughter of
fourth Lord Rivers. His grace inherits the princedom of the empire as
senior representative of John Churcliill, the fust and great Duke of Marl-
borough, on whom, and his heirs, the dignity was conferred by patent iu
November, 1705. Of these descendants, the Duke of Leeds is the senior
existing representative, being sole heir of Henrietta, Duchess of Marl-
borough, the eldest daughter of the first Duke of Marlborough, while the
present Duke of Marlborough is representative only of the second daughter,
Anne, Countess of Sunderland. In addition to the honour of being thus the
senior representative of the hero of Blenheim, the Duke of Leeds represents
also the famous minister, Sidney, Lord Godolphin, and the celebrated com-
mander, Frederick, Duke of Sehomberg, as well as Robert D'Arcy, Earl pi
Holderness, whose surname and arms the late duke took by royal licence in
1849, The illustrious houses of Conyers, D'Arcy, and Godolphin, which the
present Duke of Leeds represents, and his descent through various lines from
the royal house of Plantagenet, add a lustre to his grace's coronet of which
few other families can boast. — See Burke's Peerage, &c.
124: BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
college, May 25th, 1673. He received the order of priesthood
at Bishopthorpe, near York, September 19th (or 26th), 1675.
He was for some time curate to his good friend Dr. W. Cooke,
at Harleton, near Cambridge, to which he was admitted in
l<i77, by the before-mentioned Dr. Gunning, then Bishop of
Ely. In a short time he became so eminent for his well-
digested sermons and well-regulated zeal, that the university
presented him with a faculty, containing an ample commenda-
tion of his great knowledge, and probity of life answering
to his doctrine, and constituting him one of the university
preachers, with liberty to exercise his function throughout Eng-
land and Ireland. In May, 1682, he became lecturer of St.
Nicholas's chapel, Lynn Begis, and removed thither, to the
great comfort and advantage of the inhabitants, who very much
admired his edifying way of preaching. Here he was so con-
stant in his duty, and unblamable in his practice, that it
justly procured him the favour of several eminent men, who
very unwillingly parted with him. But the vicarage of Leeds
has always been an object of honourable ambition to natives of
the parish or neighbourhood, and Brovidence marked out this
preferment for the most useful and active period of Mr. Killing-
beck's life. Accordingly, fifteen of the twenty surviving feoffees
elected him successor to Mr. Milner, who without a formal
cession had withdrawn himself, and refused to take the oaths to
King William III. But his institution was deferred till July,
1690, Archbishop Lamplugh being unwilling to furnish the
first precedent of instituting to a benefice so circumstanced;
expressing, however, " his great willingness to admit so de-
serving a person to take care of so great a parish," and promising
to institute no other, nor take any advantage of the lapse.
This difficulty, however, was in due time overcome, especially
when Mr. Milner had had time to reflect; and after it appeared
that his scruples were invincible. " Of the character of this
excellent clergyman, I write," says Dr. Whitaker, " with the more
confidence, as I do little more than repeat the character given
of him by Thoresby, who knew him long and intimately, and
who says that ' he was a singular blessing to this populous
parish and parts adjacent, and might have been more so to the
whole nation, if he could have been prevailed upon to publish
some of those sermons, wherein was so rare a mixture of divine
and human learning, that at the same time they did instruct
and edify the more critical and judicious; they, by a peculiar
felicity and emphasis, did also move and profit the vulgar
capacities.' " His ministerial abilities were so conspicuous, that
THE REV. JOHN KILLINGBECK, B.D. 125
the deservedly celebrated Archbishop Sharp (who collated him
to a prebend of York in December, 1G94), publicly at a visita-
tion proposed him as an example to the clergy, both in point of
preaching and practice. In Thoresby's account of Mr. Killing-
beck, I meet with one of the earliest notices of the excellent
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, of which he was
an active and useful member, by distributing Bibles, Co mm on
Prayer-books, and other books of practical devotion to the
sober and religious poor of his parish, accompanied with good
advice and exhortations. (Such institutions were then in their
infancy ; but the people, comparatively humble and teachable,
were better disposed to profit by them than at present, when
infinitely greater exertions are used for the spiritual advantage
of the poor, and probably with less effect.) Another good work
of this vicar, the effects of which subsist to the present day,
was his exertion for the foundation of a charity school, which
in a few weeks produced a subscription of above £200 per
annum, for the entire maintenance and clothing of forty poor
children. Estimating the great depreciation of money — the
value of which is reduced to one-fourth in the last century — and
the increase of Leeds in population and opulence, this cannot
be considered as ecmivalent to less than an annual contribution
from the town of £2,000 at present. For the support of this
institution he was prevailed xxpon to print a sermon, entitled
The Blessedness and Eewa/rd of Charity Considered, preached
upon Innocents' Day, 1709. This was all that he would permit
to be published in his lifetime. After his death, however,
were printed Eighteen Sermons on Practical Subjects, — plain,
sensible, and pious; such as prove, without a panegyrist, that
he was a very usefid and edifying preacher : a second edition
of which was published in 1730. I transcribe the following
passage with pleasure, both on account of the subject and the
author, for it is the only relic which I can produce, or ever saw,
of his respectable successor (the Rev. Joseph Cookson), and is
part of the sermon preached at his interment : " God had
principally reserved him for the good of his own country, and
the place of his nativity, that it might boast of his endowments
as well as his birth, and be blessed with his spiritual govern-
ment and assistance. Here he was fixed by a concurrent voice,
and with a general joy and satisfaction; how faithful he hath
been in the discharge of this great trust, with what care he
hath watched over his flock, what he hath done for then peace
and happiness, what he hath done for the house of God, we are
witnesses, and the beauty and order of this place is a sufficient
]2G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
evidence. If we consider* him in this place (the place that he
truly delighted in), how important were his subjects! How
well chosen, and how adapted to the capacities and circum-
stances of his hearers! With what strength of argument did
he plead the cause of God and religion ! What fervency of
expression, what vehemence of elocution, what rhetoric had he
to persuade, what pressing motives to engage your practice!
And oh ! that these had but their desired effect ; could they
but be duly remembered, not only the present, but the suc-
ceeding generation would have reason to rejoice, and to praise
God for him. If we observe him in prayer and devotion, what
ardent zeal, what fervency of the spirit, what inward regard
and attention might be discovered by his outward address, his
humble deportment and decent gestures of the body ! Enough
to kindle a flame in the coldest heart, to strike the indifferent,
and bring the loftiest looks down to the ground. If we follow
him into his family, we find everything regulated by a daily and
orderly address to the throne of grace in prayers and praises, by
expressions of goodwill and kindness to those about him, endea-
vouring to improve the measures of love and unity, and give
no occasion of offence or clamour. If we inquire into his more
private behaviour, his closet retirements, those devout ejacula-
tions, those pious soliloquies, with which his public discourses
were frequently adorned, will be a sufficient evidence that his
thoughts and conversation were then chiefly in heaven; that he
was frequently prostrate upon his knees, humbling himself for
his own sins and those of others, deprecating the divine wrath,
and imploring mercy and protection for himself and for all
men. He lived like one of the primitive fathers, and preached
like one of the present. In brief, there was so perfect a har-
mony between his life and doctrine, and both so very amiable,
that several persons of distinction were brought over from the
Dissenters to the Established Church, not by set discourses
against them and passionate ill-natured reflections — which tend
too much to extinguish the life of religion and the power of
godliness, and never win upon ingenuous tempers — but by
preaching the substantial of the Christian religion. His
severer animadversions were generally and chiefly against the
Deists, "Unitarians, and modern Arians, who endanger the
foundations of revealed religion and the Christian faith. He
first introduced into this parish a monthly communion, which has
now been for many years, and is yet duly frequented by great
numbers of devout souls, who are breathing after higher
degrees of purity and perfection. As to charity to the poor, he
THE REV. JOHN KILLINGBECK, CD. 127
might be said (if the expression was decent) to be extravagant
therein, seldom knowing any bound but the bottom of his
pocket. What he taught in public he practised in secret, and
was eminent for his faithful discharge of all relative and per-
sonal duties, constant and exemplary in family and secret
devotions, and in the weekly fasts, ifcc. The care that ministers
and masters of families take for the souls of others, will not
extenuate the neglect of their own, or the public worship
supersede the religious exercises of the closet. In that place of
his fervent and constant devotion, he received the premonition
of his death with a most Christian submission. He continued
for a considerable time to frequent the public assemblies, even
after he was disabled from preaching; and he desired, one of the
last times, to administer the blessed elements at the Lord's
Supper, but did it with a faltering tongue and great weakness,
so that Mr. Lodge, an ingenious and eloquent preacher, was
obliged to conclude the service. This occasioned many weeping
eyes and bleeding hearts, and will, I believe, be remembered by
some of the participants as long as a breath remains." He died,
universally lamented, February 12th, 1715-16, aged sixty-six
years, wanting only three days, and was interred under the
communion-table of his own church, on the 16th, with a
general sorrow, not only of those of the Church of England,
but even of the Dissenters; so amiable is a holy life in the
eyes of all good Christians. To this general panegyric on Mr.
Killingbeck in particular, it may be added that he was a man
of apostolical simplicity and charity, ignorant to a great degree
of the modes and usages of common life, and so addicted to
acts even of undistinguishing bounty, that to prevent it his wife
found it necessary frequently to remove money from his pocket
by night, and place it in her own safe keeping; — a loss which
he never discovered. In addition to a Latin inscription to his
memory, his widow caused the following epitaph to be inscribed
on the stone which covers his remains : — " Here lieth interred the
body of John Killingbeck, B.D., late vicar of Leedes, and pre-
bendary of York, who was orthodox in religion, eminent in the
church for learning, constant and useful in preaching; an
example to his audience for piety and devution; a faithful
monitor in lectures of morality; ready to distribute to the
necessitous; zealous in promoting Christian education for the
ignorant and poor. This life he exchanged for a better, Feb-
ruary xii., mdccxv., in the lxvi. year of his age." — For farther
particulars, see Thoresby's Vicaria Leodiensis ; Whitaker's
Loidis and Ulmete, &c; and for his pedigree and coat of arms,
128 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 133; Whitaker's Thoresby,
p. 206, &c.
1616-1716.
EOBERT KITCHINGMAN, ESQ.,
A merchant of Leeds, who died May 7th, 1716, aged one
hundred years, at Allerton Hall, -which was upwards of four
centuries the property and residence of the Kitchingman family.
It was the largest and most ancient mansion hi Chapeltown,
consisting of above sixty rooms, with gardens and pleasure-
grounds. It was sold, about 1755, by James Kitchingman,
Esq., to Josiah Oates, Esq., merchant, of Leeds. The Kitching-
man family, for upwards of four hundred years, were carried
from this hall by torch-light, to be interred in the choir of St.
Peter's church in Leeds. At the interment of any of the
family, the great chandelier, consisting of thirty-six branches,
was always lighted. The above Mr. Robert Kitchingman
ordered his body to be buried with torch-lights at Chapel-
Allerton; he was interred on the 16th of May, when one
hundred torches were carried ; the room where the body was
laid was hung with black, and a velvet pall with escutcheons
was borne by the chief gentry; the pall-bearers had all scarves,
biscuits, and sack ; the whole company had gloves. Fifty
pounds were given among the poor, in the chapel yard, on the
day of his interment. Mary, his wife, died July 28th, 1716,
aged ninety -seven years, and was interred precisely in the
same way. She was daughter of Alexander Robinson, merchant,
of Leeds, and Grace, his wife, sister of the illustrious Har-
rison. Part of the house where Mr. Robert Kitchingman lived
is yet standing, although the greatest part of it was taken down
about the year 1730. When Sir Thomas Fairfax took Leeds,
Henry Robinson, vicar of Leeds, and brother of Mary Kitch-
ingman, fled to this house, after having narrowly escaped with
his life in crossing the Aire below St. Peter's church. He
afterwards made his escape to Methley Hall. Tradition says
that Kins Charles I. was concealed at this house before he went
to Leeds. Mr. Harrison, the great benefactor, spent the summer
of 16-45 here, when the plague raged in Leeds. — For his pedi-
gree and coat of arms, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis,
p. 256, &c.
1658—1725.
RALPH THORESBY, ESQ., F.R.S.,
An eminent antiquarian and topographer, was born at the house
of his father, John Thoresby, in Kirkgate, Leeds, August 16th,
RALPH THORESBY, ESQ., F.R.S. 129
1658. The family was ancient and respectable, and our anti-
quary was willing to accept the evidence of genealogists by pro-
fession, that it might be traced to Aykfith or Aykfrith, a noble
baron, lord of Dent, Sedberg, and twelve other seigniories in the
time of Canute, the Dane. From that period they are found in
the situation of lords of the manor of Thursby, Thorsby,
Thoresby, or, as the name of the place is now pronounced,
Thuresby, in Wensleydale. The direct male line continued to
Henry Thoresby, a lawyer of eminence, who died in 1615,
leaving a single daughter and heiress, Eleanor, who, by mar-
riage with Sir T. Hardresse, of Great Hardresse, in Kent,
brought the rnanor of Thoresby, with a large personal fortune,
into that family. Hemy had a younger brother, Ralph
Thoresby, settled, in what capacity we are not told, at "Wool-
ham, near Barnard Castle. Ralph was the father of George
Thoresby, of West Cottingwuth, in the county of York, w T ho by
two successive marriages had issue John and Paul. These
brothers of the half blood settled as clothiers at Leeds, where
both became aldermen of the borough. The elder had a son of
his own name, our author's father, and the younger had a
very numerous issue. The father, a merchant, Avas possessed of
a good share of learning, and had a particular turn to the
knowledge of antiquities, which disposition was inherited by
his son. Ralph Thoresby, the subject of this memoir, received
the first rudiments of learning in the school, formerly the
chantry, near the bridge at Leeds. He was next removed to
the Grammar School, and afterwards placed by his father's care
with a worthy relative in London, in order to acquire the
knowledge of his intended calling as a merchant. Here, how-
ever, a new and splendid scene of antiquities opened upon him,
and he seems to have been more occupied in visiting churches
and other remarkable places, copying monumental inscriptions,
and drawing up tables of benefactions, than in poring over
ledgers, drawing up invoices, or copying the unamusing articles
of a merchant's desk. In the spring of 1678, being now in his
twentieth year, he was sent by his father to Rotterdam, in
order to learn the Dutch and French languages, and to perfect
himself in mercantile accomplishments. The climate not agree-
ing with his constitution, he returned to England about the close
of the same year with the remains of an ague, which nothing
but air and exercise could dissipate. For this purpose he made
several excursions on horseback, constantly uniting the purpose
of recruiting his health with the desire of topographical know-
ledge. By the death of his father, in 1679, the mercantile con-
i
130 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
cerns of the house devolved upon the son at no very auspicious
period. The woollen manufacture — the old and staple trade of
the town — had for a season fallen into a state of decay. To
repair this deficiency, Ralph Thoresby purchased the freedom of
an incorporated company of merchant adventurers trading to
Hamburg and having placed his affairs, as he supposed, in a
promising situation, he married at Ledsham, near Leeds, Feb.
25, 1684, Anna, third daughter and co-heiress of Richard Sykes,
of Leeds, gentleman, whose descent he has carefully recorded.
But though merchandise was his profession, yet learning and
antiquities were his great delight] and they took so firm a pos-
session of his heart, that, contenting himself with a moderate
patrimony, he made them the great employment of his life.
His father had left him a valuable collection of coins and medals,
purchased from the executors of Sir Thomas, Lord Fairfax
(1611-1671), to whom and to whose family the Thoresbys had,
from similarity of principles, religious and political, been long
devoted. Like the old general of the Parliament, they were
moderate Presbyterians, but without any violent animosity to
the Church ; like him they were never undevoted to the person
of King Charles I., and with him they made an unqualified
submission to his son. After the accession of King James, and
when his conduct, however plausible towards the Dissenters,
threatened the ruin of Protestantism in all its denominations,
he became more frequent in his attendance upon the worship of
the Established Church. For this he had two reasons — first,
the learned and excellent discourses of his parish minister, the
Rev. John Milner, B.D. ; and, secondly, a generous resolution to
support by his countenance and example that Church, to the
existence of which it was supposed that the Dissenters would
finally be indebted for their own. Mr. Thoresby was well
respected by those of the clergy and gentry, in his town and
neighbourhood, who had any taste for learning or regard for
piety; and he was not more diligent to increase his learned
treasure, than ready to communicate it to others. It would be,
in a manner, endless to enumerate the assistances which he gave
in one way or another to the works of the learned. The new
edition of Camden's Britannia, in 1695, introduced our author
to Dr. Gibson, at whose request he wrote notes and additional
observations on the West-Riding of Yorkshire; and for the use
of this edition he transmitted above a hundred of his coins to
Mr. Obadiah Walker, who had undertaken that province which
related to the Roman, British, and Saxon moneys. And when
the bishop was preparing that work for another and more com-
KALPH THORESBY, ESQ., F.R.S. 131
plete impression, he sent a great number of queries to Mr.
Thoresby; which were answered entirely to his lordship's satis-
faction, and accompanied with other miscellaneous observations.
Mr. Thomas Hearne requested Mr. Thoresby's correspondence,
and often acknowledged the favour of it iu print. Mr. Strype
was obliged to him for communicating some original letters in
his collection. Besides these and many similar favours to
learned men, he imparted to Dr. Edmund Calamy Memoirs of
several northern divines for his A bridgment of Baxter's Life
and Times; as he did also of the worthy Royalists to Mr.
"Walker, for his Sufferings of the Clergy (which book was pub-
lished as an antidote to Dr. Calamy's work); for he esteemed
good men of all parties toorthy to have their names and
characters transmitted to posterity. His skill in heraldry and
genealogy rendered him, moreover, a very serviceable corres-
pondent to Mr. Arthur Collins in his Peerage of England, and
made him an acceptable acquaintance to the principal persons
of the College of Arms, at London. By these good offices, and
by that easiness of access which he allowed to his own cabinet,
he always found the bike easy access to the cabinets of other
virtuosoes, which gave him frequent opportunities of enlarging
his collection far beyond what could have been expected from a
private person not wealthy. His collection was in such esteem
that not only many of the nobility and gentry of our own
country, but likewise many foreigners, visited his museum, and
honoured his Album with their names and mottoes. Among
other virtuosoes, Mr. Thoresby commenced an early friendship
with the celebrated naturalist, Dr. Martin Lister. It was to
him that he sent an account of some Roman antiquities he had
discovered in Yorkshire, which, being communicated by Dr.
Lister, and Dr. Gale, dean of York, to the Royal Society,
obtained him a fellowship of that learned body, into which he
was unanimously chosen at their anniversary meeting in 1697;
and the great number of his papers which appear in their Trans-
actions, relating chiefly to Roman and Saxon monuments of
antiquity in the north of England, with notes upon them, and
the inscriptions of coins, &c, show how well he deserved that
honour. At what time he formed the plan of his great work,
the Ducatu8 Leodie?isis, does not appear; but the first impulse
appears to have been given by a sermon of the learned Mr.
Milner, in which he took occasion to mention the great anti-
quity of the town, and the notice with which it had been
honoured by the venerable Bede. " There is, however," says
Dr. Whitaker, " a MS. belonging to the Grammar School, and,
132 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
by the kindness of the late respectable master, Mr. Whiteley,
now before nie, containing the first rough draft of the Ducatus,
in Thoresby's handwriting ; but it has nothing to fix the date.
At this time I knew not that any other counties had been illus-
trated by the labours of provincial topographers than Kent,
Surrey, Cornwall, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire,
Shropshire, and Lancashire. Parochial histories were very few,
and our author modestly described himself as 'attempting his
account of the parish of Leeds in the manner of Dr. Plot.'"*
In the prosecution of this laborious work, he frequently an-
nounces his intention of compiling an historical or biographical
part, as an accompaniment to the topographical. For this
undertaking his own museum, as well as his recollection,
afforded ample materials; but age was now creeping upon him,
and indolence, its usual attendant, t A regard, however, to the
church of his own parish, and the many eminent divines who
had presided over it, prompted him to compose and commit to
the press his Vicar ia Leodiensis; or, The History of the Church
of Leedes, &c. (8vo.), which was published in 1724. He was
now sixty-six years of age — a period beyond which little space
is usually left for bodily or mental exertion. He had a consti-
tutional, perhaps an hereditary, tendency to apoplexy. The
consistency of his blood was thick, which exposed him to pains
or numbness in the back part of his head, with other apoplectic
symptoms. All these he received as intimations of his ap-
proaching departure, which was delayed beyond his expectation.
In the month of October, 1724, he was suddenly seized by a
paralytic stroke, from which he so far recovered as to speak
intelligibly and walk without help. There is also a letter
extant, written by him in this melancholy state, and com-
plaining, though with great patience and submission, of his
feelings : thus he languished till the same month of the fol-
lowing year, when he received a second and final shock from
* Mr. Thoresby had long formed a design of writing the history of his
native town, and its environs, and had accumulated a vast quantity of mate-
rials for the work; a part of which was published in one folio volume in
1714-15, under the title of Ducatus Leodiensis; or, The Topography of Leedes
and Parts Adjacent. To which is subjoined, Musceum Thoresbeianum ; or,
A Catalogue of the Antiquities, &c, in the Repository of Ralph Thoresby,
gent., &c.
f In this work he had proceeded so far as to bring his narration, in a fair
copy, nearly to the end of the sixth century, illustrating and confirming his
history by his coins, &c. This curious piece being found well prepared for
the press, as far as it extends, and well worthy of the public acceptance, is
inserted in the Biographia Britannica, in order to excite some able hand to
carry it on, and complete the noble design of the author.
ESQ., F.R.S. 133
the same disease, which put an end to his life, October 16th,
1725, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. He was interred
with his ancestors in the choir of the Leeds parish church, and
lay for upwards of a century without any memorial from the
piety of his friends, or the gratitude of his townsmen."
A memorial stone within the altar-rail at the south-east side of
the parish church now beat's this inscription: — "Sacred to the
memory of Ralph Thoresby, F.R.S., a member of the ancient
Corporation of Leeds. He was born 16th August, 1658. He
died 16th October, 1725, and was interred within these walls.
His name, known in the annals of literature as that of an
historian and antiquary, is recorded here as that of an humble
Christian. He was educated a Nonconformist, but the wish of
his maturer years was guided to seek the Church. Within her
fold he attended with a salutary diligence the ordinances of our
holy faith; hence he was enabled to dispense the benefits of a
respected example, and to receive the blessings of that pure and
undefiled religion which led him to visit the fatherless and
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from
the world." His character for learning is best seen in the
books he published, which show him to have been a great
master of the history and antiquities of his own country; to
attain which it became necessary for him to be thoroughly
skilled, as he was, in genealogy and heraldry. He appears from
these books to have been also an industrious biographer. That,
however, which set his reputation the highest as a scholar, was
his uncommon knowledge of both coins and medals. But Mr.
* The late Rev. T. D. Whitaker, LL.D. and F.S.A., vicar of Whalley, in
Lancashire, and author of Loidis and Elmete, published in 1816 a splendid
edition of the Ducatus Leodiensis of Thoresby, the antiquary, whose last
female descendant was espoused by the doctor (who died in 1822), having
himself gained considerable celebrity both as an antiquary and historian. Of
ten children born to our author, three only survived their father. Ralph and
Richard, the two sons, were clergymen, the first educated at Queen's College,
the second at Catherine Hall, Cambridge, and both promoted, by the kindness
of Bishop Gibson for their father's memory, to respectable benefices, the
elder being rector of Stoke Newington, where he died, April 24th, 1763,
without issue ; and the younger of St. Catherine's, Coleman Street, London,
who died in 1774. The following extract from the Gentleman's Magazine
for February, 1853, page 172, has been kindly contributed. The writer
(the Rev. C. J. Armistead, formerly of Leeds), alluding to one of Thoresby's
nieces, says: — "All that can be told with certainty is, that she married a
Jeremiah Nicholson, cloth-dresser, in Leeds; and Thoresby, in his Diary
edited by the Rev. Joseph Hunter, frequently speaks of his niece Nicholson;
they had Richard Nicholson, whose only daughter, Elizabeth, married James
Settle, father of the present F. Nicholson Settle, of Leeds. He has an
original painting of the antiquary, which was long neglected in the work-
shop of Jeremiah Nicholson. It is taken in the aldermanic dress of that
time."
134 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Thoi'esby possessed accomplishments more valuable than these,
and far beyond all kinds or degrees of learning; for he was a
truly good man — a man of humble virtue and unaffected piety.
How diligent soever he was in cultivating his favourite studies,
yet he never suffered such pursuits to interfere with his religious
services. He would often lament the great consumption of
time occasioned by the numerous visitors of his museum, but
took care they should not hinder his private or public worship.
He read the Scriptures many times over, with the best com-
mentators; nor was he unacquainted with the pi-evailing con-
troversies ; but books of warm practical divinity were his greatest
delight. He was modest, temperate, and even abstemious to an
uncommon degree. He was constant and regular at his private
devotions, and highly exemplary in the government of his
family; calling them together morning and evening to prayer
and reading the Scriptures. He was extremely careful of the
religious instruction of his children, and by no means unmindful
of the moral behaviour of his servants. He was strictly just,
and charitable to the utmost of his power. Being of a quiet
and peaceable temper, and constitutionally slow to resent, he
imbibed with ease the Christian principles of forbearance and
forgiveness, and constantly exemplified them in his practice.
He was a kind and steady friend ; always cheerfully em-
bracing any opportunity of exercising his benevolent affections.
Adorned with such accomplishments, and endowed wdth such
virtues, Mr. Thoresby was highly respected in his life, and his
memory will be had in honour amongst the wise and good.
Thoresby was intimate with some of the most excellent and
estimable men of his day; among them were Dr. Sharpe, Arch-
bishop of York; Dr. Nicholson, afterwards Bishop of Carlisle;
Dr. Gibson, afterwards Bishop of London; Dr. Gale, Dean of
York; Dr. George Hickes, Bishop Kennet, Thomas Hearne,
John Strype, John Ray, Dr. Richardson, of Biei'ley; Sir Hans
Sloane, John Evelyn, Dr. Mead, and Dr. Stukeley. He was a
man beloved as well as esteemed and valued for the warmth of
his affections, and the endowments of his mind. — For his por-
trait and other particulars, see his life at the beginning of
Whitaker's Thoresby ; the Biographia Britannica ; the British
Biography, vol. viii., &c. A tine portrait of him is also prefixed
to the sketch of his life in the Diary of Ralph Thoresby, F.R.S.,
author of the Topography of Leeds, by the Rev. Joseph
Hunter, F.S.A., published in 2 vols., London, 1830. See also
the Letters of Eminent Men, addressed to Ralph TJioresby,
F.R.S., 2 vols., London, 1832.
KEY. JOSEPH BOYSE. 135
1660—1728.
EEV. JOSEPH BOYSE,
An able dissenting minister, born at Leeds on the 14th of
January, 1659-G0. He was one of the sixteen children of Mr.
Matthew Boyse, of Leeds. After early instruction under the
care of his parents, who were persons of seriousness and piety,
he received the first part of his education for the ministry at
the private academy of the Rev. Mr. Frankland, near Kendal,
in Westmoreland, and completed it under the tuition of the
Rev. Edward Veal, who kept a private academy at Stepney,
near London. Having continued five years in these seminaries,
where he enjoyed many advantages for the prosecution of his
studies, in which he was extremely diligent, and having availed
himself of the opportunities which he enjoyed in the latter
situation of attending on the preaching of many able divines,
both Conformists and Nonconformists, he entered on the exer-
cise of his public ministry about the year 1G80. He was for
some time assistant to a dissenting minister in Kent, of whose
life he afterwards published an account. In 1681, he was
invited to be domestic chaplain to the Countess of Donegal,
who then resided at London, and in whose family he continued
till the beginning of the next summer, which he spent at
Amsterdam, where he had an invitation to preach at the
Brown ist church during the absence of the minister, whose
private affairs detained him in England about half a year.
After his return from Amsterdam, he continued to preach occa-
sionally at Leeds, and some other places in the neighbourhood,
till the year 1683, when, upon the death of one of his intimate
friends and fellow-students, who had been for some time
assistant to Mr. Daniel "Williams, pastor of a congregation in
Wood Street, Dublin, he received an invitation to succeed him
in that station. This invitation he at first took little notice of,
having an aversion to the thought of settling in a kingdom of
whose natives the history of the Irish rebellion had given him
a very frightful idea; but finding that he could not discharge
the duties of his function in England without molestation, he
went over to Dublin, and became joint pastor with Mr. (after-
wards Dr.) Williams. When that gentleman, some years after,
quitted his situation in Ireland, Mi". Boyse had fur his coadjutor
the Rev. Mr. Thomas Emlyn, so well known for his writings
and his sufferings. This connection subsisted between them for
more than ten years, with mutual friendship and uninterrupted
harmony: but it was at length dissolved in consequence of Mr.
13(3 BIOORAPHIA LEODIESTSIS.
Emlyn's sentiments concerning the doctrine of the Trinity. On
this occasion the zeal of Mr. Boyse for the orthodox view led
him to take some steps that were thought injurious to his former
colleague, and inconsistent with the friendship that had subsisted
between them; though he disapproved the prosecution which
Mr. Emlyn suffered, and behaved towards him with a greater
degree of kindness than any of the other dissenting ministers
of Dublin. The latter years of Mr. Boyse's life were embit-
tered by bodily disorders and straitened circumstances. The
exact time of his death is not mentioned, but his funeral sermon
was preached at Dublin on the 8th of December, 1728. He
was considered as a learned, pious, able, and useful divine;
assiduous in the exercise of his ministry, and in his conduct
generally esteemed. He had a principal share in promoting the
Act of Toleration in Ireland. His works were published in
two folio volumes in 1728. The first volume contains seventy-
one sermons, six dissertations on the doctrine of justification,
and a paraphrase on those passages of the New Testament
which chiefly relate to that doctrine. One of his sermons,
originally printed separately, on The Office of a Christian
Bishop, was ordered to be burnt by the Irish Parliament in
November, 1711. The second volume contains a variety of
pieces on controversial and miscellaneous subjects, of which the
principal is a Vindication of the True Deity of our Blessed
Saviour, in answer to Mr. Emlyn's Humble Inquiry into the
Scripture of Jesus Christ, &c. As Mr. Boyse's answer was
published at the time when Mr. Emlyn was under prosecution
for his sentiments, his conduct did not escape censure from
the friends of Einlyn, who did not think it candid, liberal, or
ingenuous. Samuel Boyse, his only son, who was born in 1708,
though very improvident, was the author of a poem on The
Deity, &c. — (For a sketch of his son's life, see Johnson's English
Poets, by Chalmers, vol. xiv.; the Biographical Dictionaries, &c.)
For additional information, see the Biographia Britannica,
2nd edition ; Swift's Works, vol. xi. ; the British Biography,
vol. x. ; the Biographical Dictionaries of Rose, Chalmers, &c.
1670-1729.
WILLIAM CONGREVE,
An eminent English dramatist, was born at Bardsey Grange,
seven miles north of Leeds, in 1669, or '70, as appears by the
register of his baptism there; hence it seems that the date
(1672) upon his monument in Westminster Abbey is erroneous.
Whilst he was very young, he was carried into Ireland by his
WILLIAM CONGREVE. 137
father,* who had a command in the army there, and who after-
wards settled in that kingdom, being engaged as steward to the
Earl of Burlington, whose estates were of very great extent. This
circumstance seems to have led some persons into the opinion
that Mr. Congreve was a native of Ireland; but, without doubt,
England has a just claim to the honour of his birth. His
father having thus fixed his residence in Ireland, our young
gentleman was sent to the great school at Kilkenny, where he
gave some eaidy proofs of a political genius ; and being removed
from thence to the University of Dublin, he soon became
acquainted with all the branches of polite literature, and dis-
tinguished himself by his correct taste and his critical know-
ledge of the classics. A little after the Revolution, in the year
1688, his father sent him over to England, and placed him as a
student in the Middle Temple. But the severe study of the
law was by no means suited to his disposition ; and though he
continued for three or four years to live in chambers and pass
for a Templar, yet his thoughts were employed on subjects very
remote from the profession for which his friends designed him.
Classical pursuits still engaged his attention ; and the turn of
his mind and the nature of his studies were soon discovered by
his first publication, which, though no more than a novel, and a
novel very hastily written, was a striking proof not only of the
vivacity of his wit and the fluency of his style, but also .of the
strength of his judgment. The title of this performance was
Incognita; or, Love and Duty Reconciled. This was indeed a
very early specimen of his talents, for Congreve was not at this
time more than seventeen years of age. Not long after this,
our young author amused himself, during a slow recovery from
sickness, with writing a comedy called The Old Bachelor, which,
at the instance of his friends, he consented to bring upon the
stage. In order to this, he was recommended to Mr. Southerne,
and his play was submitted to the inspection of Mr. Dryden,
who generously observed that he had never seen such a first
play in his life, and that it would be a pity to have it miscarry
for want of a little assistance in those points which required
amendment, not on account of any deficiency of genius or art
in the author, but purely from his being unacquainted with the
stage and the town. Accordingly, Dryden revised and corrected
* Congreve's mother (a relationship always pleasing to ascertain) was Anne,
daughter of Sir Thomas Fitzherbert, and grand-daughter of Sir Anthony, the
celebrated judge. According to a writer in the third series of Notes and
Queries, and in opposition to a note (from Leigh Hunt) in Cunningham's
recent Life, the above Anne was not the mother but the grandmother of
Congreve. See also Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
138 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIESTSIS.
it; and it was acted in the year 1693, before a numerous and
noble audience. The play was admirably performed, and was
received with the greatest applause; so that the author's repu-
tation was in a manner established by his first performance, and
he began to be considered as the support of the declining stage
and the rising genius in dramatic poesy. It was this successful
play that first introduced Congreve to the notice of the cele-
brated Earl of Halifax, who immediately took him under his
protection, and appointed him one of the commissioners for
licensing hackney-coaches; soon after which he bestowed upon
him a place in the pipe-office, and gave him likewise a post in
the custom-house of the value of six hundred pounds a year.
These extraordinary favours placed our young poet in a state of
ease and affluence; and the encouragement which the town had
given to his first attempt inducing him to exert his genius again
in the same way, he brought his Double Dealer upon the stage
in the ensuing year. This play was not so universally ap-
plauded as his former performance; but, what is perhaps more
for the true honour of the author, it was very liighly com-
mended by the best judges. His dedication of it to his great
patron, the Earl of Halifax, is not, like the generality of those
compositions, a mere string of acknowledgments and praises,
but it contains much true and solid criticism, and furnishes an
excellent vindication of the play itself from some objections
which had been urged against it. About the close of this year,
Congreve distinguished himself by writing a pastoral on the
death of Queen Mary, which has been much admired for its
simplicity, elegance, and correctness ; and in the following year,
1695, he brought his comedy of Love for Love upon the stage,
at the new theatre in Lincoln's Inn-fields, where it was received
with universal applause. There is prefixed to this play a short
dedication to Charles, Earl of Dorset and Middlesex, who was
Lord Chamberlain at that time — which is written, as all his
dedications are, with great decency and good sense, and without
any of that fulsome flattery which reflects at once on the patron
and the -writer. The same year, he attempted a new kind of
poetry, by addressing to King William an irregular Ode upon
the taking of Nainur; and the performance was well received.
His reputation as a comic writer being now raised to an exalted
pitch, he was willing to engage in another species of dramatic
composition; and in the year 1697, his tragedy called The
Mourning Bride was performed at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn-
fields. Few plays have excited so great expectations as this
did, and fewer still have answered them so well; for it was the
WILLIAM CONGREVE. 139
best received of all his pieces.* But our autbor bad not long
enjoyed tbat reputation which be bad acquired by bis dramatic
performances, before be found it necessary to vindicate tbese
works from tbe exceptions of tbe celebrated Jeremiab Collier,
who bad attacked all liis plays on tbe score of tbeir immoral
tendency, and had freely represented bim as a most dangerous
and pernicious writer. With this view, therefore, he drew up
a defence of bis four plays, in the form of letters to bis friend,
Walter Moyle, Esq., which he published under the modest title
of "Amendments of Mr. Collier's False and Imperfect Cita-
tions, &c, from Tlie Old Bachelor, Double Dealer, Love for Love,
and Mourning Bride: by tbe Author of those Plays." In this
apology, Congreve not only displayed his wit, but, upon the
foundation of some judicious remarks, attempted to justify the
greatest part of the passages objected to by bis antagonist;
others he strove to palliate, and some he frankly gave up, with
a promise of correction. But though, of all the writers anim-
adverted upon by Collier, be was thought to have escaped the
best, and to have defended hmiself with the greatest appearance
of learning, justice, and candour; yet it must be confessed tbat
his cause was desperate; for tbe gross licentiousness of sentiment
and expression with whicb bis comedies are contaminated is
utterly inexcusable, and deserving of tbe severest reprehension.
Some time after this, our author brought another comedy upon
the stage, entitled The Way of the World, a performance which
appears to have cost him much care and pains; but bis labours
were ill-requited, for bis play did not meet with a very favour-
able reception. This ill success, however, is well revenged in
the epilogue, as the occasion of it is justly exposed in the
author's dedication to Ralph, Earl of Montague; where, having
observed tbat but little of his comedy was prepared for that
general taste which seemed then to be predominant in tbe palates
of the audience, he explains the motives of his attempt to correct
the public taste, and vindicates the method he had adopted for
that purpose. But his first endeavours proving ineffectual, he
determined to relinquish the undertaking, and, throwing down
his pen in disgust, he withdrew from the theatre. Upon this
* The opening lines have often heen quoted : —
"Music has charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
I'vo read that things inanimate have moved,
And, as with living souls, have been infonm id,
By magic numbers and persuasive sound."
•ngreve's Mawrning Bride.
140 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
occasion, the well-known Mr. Dennis, though he was by no
means famous either for the civility or the elegance of his
remarks, paid him the just compliment of observing, " That
Mr. Congreve quitted the stage early, and that comedy left it
with him." Froin this time our author amused himself with
composing original poems and translations, which he afterwards
collected into one volume, and published in the year 1710. His
early acquaintance with the great had secured to him an easy
and a happy station in life, which freed him from the necessity
of courting any longer the public favour, though it still left him
under the obligations of gratitude to his illustrious friends; and
he acted in a manner suitable to his situation. He seldom
risked the character he had obtained, with a view to exalt it;
and he never omitted any opportunity of paying his compli-
ments to his patrons, in a manner worthy of himself and of
them, when events of a national or private concern furnished a
fit subject for his verse. In like manner, Congreve readily
embraced every opportunity of returning the favours he had
received from persons of a less exalted station, in the earlier
part of his life. In this spirit of gratitude, he wrote an
epilogue for his old friend Mr. Southerne's tragedy of
Oroonoko; and how much he had assisted Dryden in his trans-
lation of Virgil, that poet himself has told us: — "Mr. Con-
greve," says he, " has done me the favour to review the jEneis,
and to compare my version with the original. I shall never be
ashamed to own that this excellent young man has showed me
many faults, which I have endeavoured to correct." This gene-
rous commendation does equal honour to the poet and his friend;
as it shows the readiness with which the former received any
information of his own mistakes, and as it sets the abilities of
the latter in the fairest point of view. But this was not the
only occasion upon which he testified his regard for Dryden,
and his willingness to serve him. For when that great poet
proposed to publish a translation of Juvenal, Congreve contri-
buted the eleventh satire, and at the same time wrote a recom-
mendatory copy of verses on the translation of Persius, which
Dryden himself had completed. He likewise wrote a prologue
for a play of Mr. Charles Dryden' s, full of kindness for that
young gentleman, and of respect for his father. Besides the
translations already mentioned, our author produced some ver-
sions of select parts of the ancient poets, which have done him
great honour, in the opinion of the best judges; and amongst
his other occasional productions, we find two pieces of the
dramatic kind, which show that he had a fine taste for music as
WILLIAM COXGKEVE. 141
well as for poetry. These are The Judgment of Paris — a Masque,
and The Opera of Semele; the former of which was acted with
great applause, and the latter finely set to music by his friend,
Mr. John Eccles, who was a very elegant composer. In the
latter part of his life, Congreve was very much afflicted with
the gout ; and at length his constitution was so impaired by this
disorder, that he felt himself sinking into a gradual decay. In
this condition he went to Bath for the benefit of the waters, in
the year 1728, where he had the misfortune to be overturned in
his chariot; and from that hour he complained of a pain in his
side, which was supposed to arise from some inward bruise.
Upon his return to London, his health declined more and more ;
and on the 19th of January, 1728-9, he breathed his last, at
his house in Surrey Street, in the Strand. On Sunday, the
26th of the same month, his corpse lay in state in the Jerusalem
Chamber; from whence it was carried the same evening, with
great decency and solemnity, into King Henry the Seventh's
chapel at "Westminster, and was interred in the abbey. The
pall was supported by the Duke of Bridgewater, the Earl of
Godolphin, Lord Cobhani, Lord Wilmington, the Hon. Geoige
Berkeley, and Brigadier-General Churchill; and Colonel Con-
greve followed as chief mourner. Some time after, an elegant
monument was erected to his memory by the Duchess of Marl-
borough, to whom he bequeathed all his property, with the fol-
lowing inscription: — "Mr. Win. Congreve died Jan. 19, 1728,
aged fifty-six [at least 58 or 59], and was buried near this place;
to whose most valuable memory this monument is set up by
Henrietta, Duchess of Marlborough, as a mark how dearly she
remembers the happiness and honour she enjoyed in the sincere
friendship of so worthy and honest a man; whose virtue, can-
dour, and wit, gained him the love and esteem of the present
age, and whose writings will be the admiration of the future."
Mr. Congreve's manners and conversation were extx*emely
engaging, and he not only lived in familiarity with the greatest
men of his time, but they courted his friendship by rendering
him every good office in their power. It has been observed,
that no change of the Ministry affected him in the least; nor
w;is he ever removed from any place that was given him, unless
it were to a better. His place in the custom-house, and his
other appointments, are said to have brought him in more than
twelve hundred pounds a year; from which revenue, though he
lived in a maimer suitable to his fortune, his good economy
enabled him to save a considerable estate. It has been observed,
likewise, that no man of his parts and learning ever passed
1 I j BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
through life with more ease, or more unmolested by his com-
petitors for fame. In the dawn of his reputation he endeared
himself to the greatest wits of his time, and he always con-
tinued to receive the tiniest marks of a sincere regard from men
of crenius and learning, in whose contentions he was never
involved. He lived in a state of friendship with Mr. Addison
and Sir Richard Steele, who testified their personal esteem for
him, and their high opinion of his writings, upon many occa-
sions; and he was particularly honoured with the respect and
applause of Mr. Pope, who, it is veil known, disdained the
thought of paying a servile court to any man, and scorned to
prostitute his praises. The commendations which that poet
bestowed on Congreve were no more than justice demanded,
when he thus expressed himself at the close of his postscript
to the translation of Homer: — "Instead of endeavouring to
raise a vain monument to myself, let me leave behind me a
memorial of my friendship with one of the most valuable men,
as well as finest writers of my age and country : one who has
tried, and knows by his own experience, how hard an under-
taking it is to do justice to Homer, and one who, I am sure,
sincerely rejoices with me at the period of my labours. To
him, therefore, having brought this long -work to a conclusion,
I desire to dedicate it, and to have the honour and satisfaction
of placing together in this manner the names of Mr. Congreve
and of A. Pope." The fame of Congreve was not confined to
his own country. It was spread through every part of Europe
by the celebrated Voltaire, who, when he was in England,
visited our author, and, in Ins letters on the English nation, has
spoken of him in these terms: — "Mr. Congreve raised the
glory of comedy to a greater height than any English writer
before or since his time. He wrote only a few plays, but they
are excellent in their kind. The laws of the drama are strictly
observed in them. They abound with characters, all which are
shadowed with the utmost delicacy; and we don't meet with so
much as one low or coarse jest. The language is everywhere
that of men of fashion, but their actions are those of knaves —
a proof that he was perfectly well acquainted with human
nature, and frecpiented what we call polite company. He was
infirm, and come to the verge of life, when I knew him. Mr.
Congreve had one defect, which was his entertaining too mean
an idea of his first profession — that of a writer — though it was
to this he owed his fame and fortune. He spoke of his works
as of trifles that were beneath him; and hinted to me in our
first conversation, that I should visit him upon no other footing
MR. THO.MAS BRIDGES. 143
than that of a gentleman who led a life of plainness and sim-
plicity. I answered, that had he been so unfortunate as to be a
mere gentleman, I should never have come to see him; and I
was very much disgusted at so unseasonable a piece of vanity."
It is no wonder that Voltaire was chagrined at such a recep-
tion: for it was necessary to his own good opinion of himself,
that the name of poet should be esteemed a most honourable
appellation. But the case was different with Congreve, who,
whatever may have been his former love of fame and sensibility
to praise, was now got beyond the season of such gratifications;
and having no longer the pride of an author about him, was
unwilling to be considered and conversed with merely as such.
And in this, perhaps, he merited commendation rather than
blame. In other respects this admirable writer has done justice
to his character.* Congreve was considered very handsome. The
best portrait of him is that amongst the kit-cat series presented
to Jacob Tonson, and now at Bayfordbury, Herts, t Congreve's
works were published in 3 vols. 8vo. ; and they have been most
elegantly reprinted by Baskerville, tfcc. — See also Leigh Hunt's
Dramatic Works of Wycherley, Congreve, &c. For an engraved
portrait of Congreve, see vol. viii. of the British Biography ;
for additional information, see Kippis's Biographia Britannica;
Johnson's English Poets, by Chalmers, vol. x. ; Memoirs of Wm.
Congreve, Esq. ; Cunningham's Lives of Eminent and Illustrious
Englishmen ; the Biographie Universelle, vol. ix. ; Chambers's
Cyclopczdia of English Literature, vol. i, p. 593; and the Bio-
graphical Dictionaries of Chalmers, Knight, Hose, <kc. And for
still later information, see Johnson's Lives of the Poets, by Cun-
ningham, vol. ii, p. 231, &c.
1683—1735.
ME. THOMAS BRIDGES,
A native of Leeds, whom Dr. YVhitaker, the editor of Thoresby's
Works, designates a " true antiquary," to wdiose industry and
exactness in recording the transactions of this town and parish
* " Congreve! the justest glory of our age !
The whole Jlenander of the English stage !
Thy comic muse, in each complete design,
Does manly sense and sprightly wit combine."
■f" Another authority in Notes and Queries says that the best portrait of
Congreve is undoubtedly that by Sir Godfrey Kneller, now in the possession
of the junior branch or the family. Wm. Congreve, Esq., of Congreve, in
Staffordshire; and Richard Congreve, Esq., of Barton, in Cheshire, are the
present representatives of this ancient family. Their mi >1 to is, ii Non moritur
cujus fama vivit" — He dies not whose fame survives. Sec Burke's Landed
Gent
144 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
for a series of years, lie acknowledges himself to have been
greatly indebted. He was the third son of the Rev. William
Bridges, M.A., vicar of Castleford, and Sarah, daughter of
Richard Lodge, of Leeds; and he was born in the year 1683.
His brother, the Rev. William Bridges, who succeeded his
father as rector of Castleford, having built there a very good
house for himself and successors, died in 1729. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Stapleton, formerly
of Bradford, in this county. Mr. Bridges had also gathered
the most valuable collection of ancient medals which this town
or neighbourhood has had to boast since Thoresby's museum.
They were recently in the possession of his grandson, Francis
Sharp Bridges, Esq., of Little .Horton, near Bradford. He
died on the 9th of February, 1735, aged fifty-two years; and
there is in the cemetery of St. John's, Leeds, an inscription in
Latin to his memory. — For a copy of which, and also for
his pedigree and other particulars, see Thoresby's Ducatus
Leodiensis, p. 73; Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, pp. G3, 354,
&c.
1646—1736.
THE REV. HENRY ROBINSON, M.A.,
Minister of St. John's, and founder of Trinity church, Leeds,
was the son of the Rev. Henry Robinson, B.D., vicar of
Leeds, who bore the same Christian and surname. He was
bom August 9th, 1646, and was appointed minister of St.
John's church, Leeds, on the 25th of November, 1683, which
he held for about thirteen years (until 1696). He married
Sarah, relict of Wm. Hutchinson, Esq., mayor of Leeds, in
1672. He died July 26th, 1736, aged ninety, about forty
years after his resignation. Thoresby, who rejoiced in every
good work, just lived to see the plan, and to contribute to the
erection of another church in Leeds (Holy Trinity), endowed
by Mr. Henry Robinson, the nephew of the magnificent founder
of St. John's. For a fine engraving of Trinity church, see
Whitaker's Loidis, p. Q5. % The fabric is a correct and beautiful
edifice, built with durable moorstone of the Doric order, though
the capitals of the columns within are composite. It may be
doubted whether the first proposal for erecting Trinity church
originated with Mr. Robinson, — who certainly promised to endow
* In Thoresby's engraving, prefixed to the Vicaria (1724), there appears only
a square tower, and the adoption of the extinguisher, which now appears on
the top, was unquestionably one instance among many of private interfer-
ence, by which the better judgment of real architects is often overruled, and
for which they are unjustly considered as responsible. — Dr. Whitaker.
THE REV. HENRY ROBINSON, SI. A.
145
it, when built, -with lands of the annual value of £80, — or with
Thomas Layton, Esq., of Rawdon, who, after having engaged
to contribute £1,000 to the edifice, incurred no small reproach
by failing to perform his undertaking. This defect, however,
was supplied by Lady Elizabeth Hastings (a name never to be
mentioned without honour), who, on March 21, 1721, entered
into an engagement to defray half the expense of the building,
provided that such half did not exceed £1,000, and on condition
also that Mr. Robinson should endow the church when built,
according to his former promise. This sum was soon doubled by
subscription, and the site having been purchased for £175, the
foundation-stone was laid by Mr. Henry Robinson, August 23rd,
1721. The entire expense of the building was £4,563 9s. Gel,
of which £3,731 19s. 6d. was the amount of the subscriptions;
and the remainder, namely, £831 10s., was supplied by the sale
of the pews. The consecration did not take place before
August 21st, 1727, just six years from the laying of the founda-
tion-stone, the ceremony being performed by Archbishop Black-
burn. On this occasion Lady Elizabeth Hastings was first led
with great ceremony into the church, as the principal bene-
factress to the building. The only epitaphs which merit atten-
tion are those of the venerable founder, whose monument in
the church was erected to Ins honour by H. Scott, Esq., nephew
to the above-mentioned Mr. Robinson, with a long Latin inscrip-
tion, t There is also the following tablet: —
"A Schedule of Mr. Robinson's Public Charities: — To the endowment of
this Chapel, £2,000. To procure the Bounty of Queen Anne for
£200
200
200
200
50
50
50
50
50
40
Binglev vie £100
Wighillvic 100
Giggleswick vie 100
Ossett chap 200
Headingley ch 100
Holmfirth ch 100
Horbury ch 200
Hawnby rect 200
Dronfieldvic 200
Tadcastervic 200
C Impel- Allerton ch 100
" To the Charity Schools of
Leeds, during life, £255 ; Rotherham, £100; Kirklmrton, £100 ; left by will to
Leeds Charity School, £200; the Society fur Propagating the Gospel, £200.
" Go, and do thou lib wise."
For additional infonnation, see Thoresby's Vicar ia Leodiensis ;
and for his pedigree, ic, Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. 96, &c.
St. Saviours, York
Holbeck ch. (lands
Thorparch vie,
Bramley ch.
Honley ch. .
Light cliff e ch.
Deanhead ch.
Flockton ch.
Sandal vie. .
Beeston ch. .
t In this church there is also a tablet, — "In memory of the Rev. James
Scott, A.M. (1700-1782), first minister of this church, to which he was nomi-
K
14 G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1682—1739.
LADY ELIZABETH HASTINGS
Was the daughter of Theophilus, seventh Earl of Huntingdon,
and Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir John Lewis, Bart.,
of Ledstone, near Leeds; and was born on the 19th of April,
1682. In her childhood she was remarked for a sweetness of
countenance, expressing at once dignity and modesty, for an
ingenuous temper, an aptness of understanding, a tractable will,
and a devout frame of spirit, which early disposed her to an
awful sense of holy things. She was sister to George, the
eighth Earl of Huntingdon, who carried the sceptre at the
coronation of Queen Anne, and who died unmarried, February,
1704. "When she thus became, at the age of twenty- two, the
mistress of a large fortune, her character was necessarily more
known to the world, and she was observed to be somewhat more
than a lady of great beauty and fine accomplishments, of con-
descension and good nature, and regular observance of religious
duties. In order to increase the stock of wisdom and know-
ledge, which she had laid in by her own endeavours, and by
assistance from the appointed ministers under whom she lived,
she cultivated the friendship of such learned men as Archbishop
Sharpe, Mr. Robert Nelson, Dr. Lucas, and others, of which
friendships she spoke with joy more than twenty years after
the latest of these holy men had left this world. Her residence
was at Ledstone House, near Leeds, a fine gray-stone building,
of the style of Queen Elizabeth's reign, standing upon a height
which looks towards the south, beautiful both within and with-
out, where she spent the greater part of her life, diligently
employing her time there in friendship for those who lived
with her as friends and neighbours, and charity to those who
required her assistance. Her beauty and other attractions of
person, manners, and accomplishments, were such as without
nated in 1727, by the munificent founder, his maternal uncle, Henry Robinson,
A.M., great nephew to the illustrious John Harrison. The duties of his
sacred function he performed with unwearied propriety, dignity, and
solemnity. A living example of the divine religion he taught ; whose excel-
lencies, while he illustrated, he was himself one of her brightest ornaments.
In private life he was revered for his spotless truth and integrity, and heloved
by those who knew him for his cheerful and benevolent disposition ; con-
cealing under the exterior of a too severe and rigid virtue the most endearing
sweetness and gentleness of manners. Regretted by the wise, and lamented
by the good, he died full of years and honour, Feb. 11th, 1782, aged 82." On
a marble slab which covers his remains, there is also a short Latin inscription.
He married Annabella, daughter of Henry "Wickham, captain in the Royal
Navy, and son to the dean of York. He was father to the Rev. James Scott,
D.D., who died in 1814. See Whitaker's Loidis, &c.
LADY ELIZABETH HASTINGS. 147
her large fortune might easily inspire affection, but she refused
the offers of several among the nobility, and chose to continue
in a single life; either, it is supposed, that she might make a
wise and religious use of her great estate, or accounting that a
single life naturally led to higher perfection. In 1721, she gave
£1,000 towards building Trinity church, in Leeds; but, that
this donation might not hurt the mother church there, she
afterwards offered a farm near Leeds, of £23 per annum, and
capable of improvement, to be settled on the vicar and his
successors, provided the town would do the like; which the
corporation readily agreed to, and to her ladyship's benefaction
added lands of the yearly value of £24, for the application of
which they were to be entirely answerable to her kindred. In
the manors of Ledstone, Ledsham, Thorparch, and Coilingham,
she erected charity schools; and for the support of them and
other charities she gave, in her lifetime, Coilingham, Shadwell,
and an estate at Burton Salmon. This excellent lady distin-
guished herself by many works of piety and benevolence. She
erected schools, built churches, supported many indigent families,
and at her death bequeathed considerable sums for charitable and
public uses; amongst which were five scholarships in Queen's
College, Oxford, for students in divinity, of £28 a year each
(now worth between £75 and £90 a year), to be enjoyed for five
years, and, as the rents should rise, some of her scholars to be
capable, in time, of having £60 per annum, for one or two
years after the first term. The Free Grammar School, at Leeds,
is entitled to send one poor scholar to be nominated, in common
with the following similar establishments, viz. — Wakefield,
Bradford, Beverley, Skipton, Sedbergh, Bipon, and Sherburn,
in Yorkshire; Appleby and Haversham, in Westmoreland; and
St. Bees and Penrith, in Cumberland. When she had entered
her fifty-fourth year, she began to suffer from a tumour, pro-
duced by a hurt during her youth, which till that time had
caused her little or no disturbance, but then increased so
dangerously that an eminent surgeon decided upon the necessity
of a most painful operation for removing the evil. She died at
Ledstone House, near Leeds, in her fifty-eighth year, December
22nd, 1739. She was buried in the family vault, near her
grandfather, Sir John Lewis, on the 7th of January. A stately
monument in Ledsham church, near Leeds, afterwards aug-
mented with the statues of her two amiable sisters, records in
elegant Latin the character of this ornament of her sex. Her
own figure is placed on a sarcophagus, reclining, and reading a
book of devotion; and the countenance, which is a portrait, is
148 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
handsome and spirited. Lady Frances and Lady Ann Hastings
are placed on pedestals at the sides, and are represented with
the emblems of piety and prudence. (For a copy of which, see
Whitaker's Loiclis and Elmete.) This lady is described in the
forty-second number of the Tatler, under the name of Aspasia.
After speaking of the ladies of that day who were wits, poli-
ticians, virtuosoes, free-thinkers, and disputants, and showing
how different they were from the women of Shakspeare's time,
who were only mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives, the paper
goes on : — " But these ancients would be as much astonished to
see in the same age so illustrious a pattern to all who love things
praiseworthy, as the divine Aspasia. Methinks I now see her
walking in her garden like our first parent, with unaffected
charms, before beauty had spectators, and bearing celestial con-
scious virtue in her aspect. Her countenance is the lively
picture of her mind, which is the seat of honour, truth, com-
passion, knowledge, and innocence. In the midst of the most
ample fortune, and veneration of all that behold and know her,
without the least affectation, she consults retirement, the con-
templation of her own being, and that Supreme Power which
bestowed it. Without the learning of schools, or knowledge of
a long course of arguments, she goes on in a steady course of
uninterrupted piety and virtue, and adds to the severity and
privacy of the last age all the freedom and ease of this. The
language and mien of a court she is possessed of in the highest
degree; but the simplicity and humble thoughts of a cottage are
her more welcome entertainments. Aspasia is a female philo-
sopher, who does not only live up to the resignation of the most
retired lives of the ancient sages, but also to the schemes and
plans which they thought beautiful, though inimitable. This
lady is the most exact economist, without appearing busy; the
most strictly virtuous, without tasting the praise of it; and
shuns applause with as much industry as others do reproach.
This character is so particular, that it will very easily be fixed
on her only by all that know her; but I dare say she will be
the last that finds it out." The above character, from the Tatler,
was written in July, 1709, when she was in her twenty-eighth
year, and the following, published in Wilford's Memorials, from
the notices of her after her death in the public prints, is in as
warm a strain of panegyric: — "The splendour she derived from
her birth and extraction, though great, strikes but faintly among
the numerous and shining qualities of this most excellent lady.
Graceful was her person, genteel her mien, polite her manners,
agreeable her conversation, strong and piercing her judgment
LADY ELIZABETH HASTINGS. 149
and understanding, sacred her regard to friendship, and strict to
the last degree her sense of honour; but could all these be
painted in the liveliest colours, they would make but the lowest
part of her character, and be rather a shade and abatement
than add any lustre to it. For, what is infinitely above all, ' she
did justice, loved mercy, and walked humbly with her God.'
The whole Christian religion was early planted in her heart,
which was entirely formed and fashioned by it. She learned it
from the Sacred Scriptures, and the faithful depository of ever-
lasting truths, the Church of England; whose genuine daughter
she was, and bore towards our dearest mother as inviolable
devotion as even those whose names shine amongst the martyrs.
Her life had chiefly for its direction two great objects — how she
might exalt the glory of God, and how demonstrate her own
good-will towards men. The first she sought by employing all
her power and capacities for his honour and service, and what-
ever related to it was ever in motion, and never discontinued,
but so far as the weakness of human nature made it necessaxy.
Her supplications and prayers, intercessions and giving of
thanks, as they were directed towards heaven, so being dis-
charged of every weight and incumbrance, and cleansed from
every impurity and alloy, they easily ascended thither, and the
holy flame was rarely suffered to languish, never to go out. Her
benevolence to her fellow-creatures was such as the good angels
are blessed with — warm and cherishing, wide and unbounded.
Thousands and tens of thousands has she comforted and relieved,
many has she enriched and advanced, and the collective mass of
mankind daily had her blessings and her prayers. Such was
the Lady Elizabeth Hastings, not after the gaiety of youth was
over, and the gratifications of it became deadened by much
using, but in its early beginning, through all the stages of life,
down to its most glorious conclusion. And well may it be
called so, for, make what demand you will of every virtue, in its
full height and stature, that can be thought of or wished for, to
crown a life in everything excellent, and the same might have
been seen exemplified in her last long and tedious sickness.
Her patience under God's visitation, and her absolute resignation
to Lis will; the continual labour and travail of her soul for the
enlargement of his kingdom, and the increase of his glory; her
heaviness and mourning for the sins of other men ; her un-
wearied study and endeavours for their recovery and eternal
welfare; her generous and charitable appointments; her tender
and affectionate expressions to her relations, her friends, and
servants; and her grateful acknowledgments to her physicians,
150 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENS1S.
and to those who more immediately attended upon her, would
require pages to set them in a proper light. In short it may
be affirmed without excess, that scarce any age or country of
later times has presented to the world a person that was a
greater blessing to many, and a more illustrious pattern to all."
She was fond of her pen, and frequently employed herself in
writing; but, previously to her death, she destroyed the greater
part of her papers. A more full account of her life is given in
English Church Women of the Seventeenth Century, and also in
an " Historical Character relating to the holy and exemplary
life of the Right Honourable the Lady Elizabeth Hastings,
with the scholastic codicil to her will, and a schedule of her
charities," written by Thomas Barnard, M.A., master of the
Free Grammar School, Leeds (from 1712 to 1750), and pub-
lished at Leeds, in 1742. — For further particulars, see Gentle-
man's Magazine, vols. vi. and x.; Tatler, with notes, vol. i.,
p. 346; Chalmers' Biographical Dictionary ; Parsons' History
of Leeds, &c.
1662-1740.
WILLIAM MILNEK, ESQ.,
Merchant and alderman of Leeds, lord of the manor of Beeston,
and justice of the peace for the West-Riding of Yorkshire,
died December 23rd, 1740, aged seventy-eight years. He was
born November 29th, 1662, being the son of William Milner,
merchant, of Leeds, who died in 1691, and the grandson of
Richard Milner, alderman of Leeds, who died in 1659. He
married Mary, daughter of Joshua Ibbotson, Esq., mayor of
Leeds, in 1685, by Mary, daughter of Christopher Bi-earey, Esq.,
lord mayor of York in 1666. William Milner was also mayor
of Leeds in 1697, and a great benefactor to the Leeds Chaiity
School, &c. There was formerly in the south transept of the
Leeds parish church, a tablet and sarcophagus of marble,
inscribed as follows: — "Near this place is interred the body of
William Milner, Esq., alderman and merchant of this town,
whose eminent knowledge in that business procured him the
regard, as his uprightness in the exercise of it did the esteem,
of all he dealt with. His private charities were large, frequent,
and extensive. His public benefactions were twenty pounds
per annum to the poor; ten pounds per annum towards the
repairs of Trinity chapel; and twenty pounds per annum, as a
stipend for a clergyman to read prayers in St. Peter's church, at
seven o'clock in the evening. After a life spent in piety towards
God, usefulness to his country, tenderness and affection to his
WILLLIAM 3IILNER, ESQ. 151
family, kindness and affability to his friends and acquaintance,
and benevolence towards all men, he died universally esteemed,
beloved, and lamented, on the twenty-third day of December,
1740, aged seventy-eight years. He married Mary, daughter of
Mr. Joshua Ibbotson, merchant, by whom he had issue, Sir
"William Milner, Bart.* (who married the daughter of Sir William
Dawes, Lord Archbishop of York), Mary, Jane, Elizabeth,
Francis, &c." The white marble Statue of Queen Anne,f exe-
cuted by Carpenter (which was thought to be equal, if not
superior, in point of workmanship, to the one at St. Paul's, in
London), was, at the expense of Alderman William Milner,
erected in front of the Moot Hall, J which was removed from
the centre of Briggate, Leeds, in 1825, since which this beauti-
ful statue has occupied a niche in front of the Corn Exchange,
at the head of the same street. It has been re-chiselled, and is
considered the best marble effigy of Queen Anne extant. There
were great rejoicings at Leeds, and a splendid procession and
festival in honour of the queen, on the day when her statue
was erected, viz., May 12th, 1713. For other particulars, see
Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, &c.
* I. Sir William was created a baronet in 1717 ; married Elizabeth,
daughter of His Grace Sir "William Dawes, Bart., Archbishop of York, by
whom he had a son and a daughter. He represented the city of York in
parliament, and died in November, 1745.
II. Sir William, bom in 1719 ; married in 1747, Elizabeth, youngest
daughter and co-heiress of the Rev. George Mordaunt, and niece of Charles,
third Earl of Peterboro', by whom he had William Mordaunt, his successor
(George, born in 1760, a general officer in the army, who died in 1836; Henry
Stephen, born in 1764, in holy orders, D.C.L.), &c. Sir William was for many
years receiver of the excise, and died in 1774.
III. Sir William Mordaunt, born in 1754 ; married in 1774, Diana, eldest
daughter of Humphrey Sturt, Esq., of Dorsetshire. He represented the city
of York in three parliaments, and died in September, 1811.
IV. Sir William Mordaunt Sturt, born in October, 1779 ; married first in
1803, Selina, only daughter of the Eight Hon. Theophilus Clements, and niece
of the first Earl of Leitrim ; secondly, in May, 1809, Harriet Elizabeth,
daughter of Lord Edward Charles Cavendish Bentinck (brother to the Duke
of Portland), by whom he had the present baronet, &c. He died in March,
1855.
V. Sir William Mordaunt Edward, born in June, 1820 ; married in April,
1844, Lady Georgiana Anne, sister of the present Earl of Scarboro', and has
issue William Mordaunt, bom in May, 1848, &c. The present baronet is a
deputy-lieutenant for the West-Riding, and has sat for York in parliament,
&c. See Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, &c.
1" For a large engraving of the Statue of Queen Anne, see Thoresby's
Ducalus Leodiensis, 1715, p. 250.
t For a fine engraving of the Moot Hall, see Whitaker's Thoreshy, p. 248,
•%c. The following inscription, translated from the Latin, in letters of gold
153 BIOGRAPHIA LEOD1ENSIS.
1662-1742.
THE REV. RICHARD BENTLEY, D.D.
This very extraordinary and celebrated person was born at
Oulton, in the parish of Rothwell, about five miles from Leeds,
on the 27th of January, 1662. His ancestors were respectable,
and long possessed an estate at Heptonstall, in the parish of
Halifax. James Bentley, the grandfather of the subject of the
present sketch, was a captain in the royalist army in the civil
wars, who was involved in the fate of his party; his house was
juundered, his estate was confiscated, and he died a prisoner in
Pontefract Castle. Thomas Bentley, the son of this martyr to
royalty, who owned a small estate at Woodlesford, married in
1661, Sarah, the daughter of Richard "Willis, of Oulton, who
had also been an officer in the army of Charles I. ; he being then
a widower considerably advanced in life, while she was only
eighteen. To this gentleman, who was left his guardian,
Richard Bentley was, in part, indebted for his education; and
having gone through a day school at Methley, and the Grammar
School at Wakefield, with singular reputation, both for his pro-
ficiency and his exact and regular behaviour, he was admitted
a sizar of St. John's College, Cambridge, under the tuition of
Mr. Johnson, on the 24th of May, 1676, being then only four
months above fourteen years of age. In 1680 he took his
degree of Bachelor of Arts, on which occasion his name ap-
peared sixth in the list of mathematical honours. On the 22nd
of March, 1681-2, he stood candidate for a fellowship; and
would have been unanimously elected, had he not been excluded
upon black marble, was subsequently ordered by the Corporation to be placed
thereunder, at their expense : —
"Makkthis elegant Statue,
(Superior even to that of St. Paul's, in London,)
PIOUSLY CONSECRATED TO OUR MOST ILLUSTRIOUS QUEEN,
ANNE,
(Though far surpassing every representation, )
AND ERECTED AT THE SOLE EXPENSE OF Wi. MILNER, KNIGHT,
A PRUDENT JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, A FAITHFUL SUBJECT,
A NOBLE CITIZEN, AND AN OPULENT MERCHANT."
This statue was removed to the Corn Exchange, at the top of Briggate, in
1828, and the following is the inscription now beneath it : —
"This Statue of QUEEN ANNE was erected
at the cost of alderman milner,
in the front of the ancient moot hall, a.d. 1712;
was restored at the expense of the corporation,
and transferred to this site, a.d. 1828;
the Moot Hall having been purchased by the Town,
and demolished, a.d. 1825."
THE REV. RICHARD BENTLEY, D.D. 153
by the statxites, on account of his being too young for priests'
orders. He was then a junior bachelor, and but little more
than nineteen years old. It was soon after this that he became
a schoolmaster at Spalding. After twelve months he accepted
the office of private tutor to the son of Dr. Stillingfleet, dean
of St. Paul's — an office in which he enjoyed the benefit of one
of the best private libraries in the kingdom, as well as the
society of its learned possessor. In July, 1683, he took bis
degree of Master of Arts. He had all along been looking for-
ward to taking holy orders; but in 1685, when he completed
his twenty-third year, James II. came to the throne; and his
hostility to the Church of England made Bentley pause a while
in his intention. He afterwards went, with Dr. Stillingfleet's
son, to the University of Oxford, and being then at age, he
made over a small estate, which he derived from his family, to
his elder brother, and immediately laid out the money he
obtained for it in the purchase of books. It is recorded of
him, that having, at a very early age, made surprising progress
in the learned languages, his capacity for critical learning soon
began to display itself. Before the age of twenty-four, he had
written with his own hand a sort of Hexwpla, a thick volume
in 4to., in the first column of which was every word of the
Hebrew Bible, alphabetically disposed ; and in five other
columns all the various interpretations of those words in the
Chaldee, Syriac, Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, Aquila, Symma-
chus, and Theodosian, that occur in the whole Bible. This
he made for his own use, to know the Hebrew, not from the
late Rabbins, but from the ancient versions, when, excepting
Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic, he must then have read over the
whole Polyglott. He had also at that time made, for his own
private use, another volume in 4to., of the various lections and
emendations of the Hebrew text, drawn out of those ancient ver-
sions, which, though done at such an eai-ly age, would have made
a second part to the famous Capellus's Critica Sacra. On the 4th
of July, 1689, he was incorporated M.A. in the University of
Oxford, where he could for a time revel in the treasures of the
Bodleian; and is mentioned by Anthony Wood (though then
but a young man a good deal under thirty) as a genius that
was promising, and to whom the world was likely to be indebted
for his future studies and productions. Being ordained deacon
at length, in 1G90, he received the appointment of chaplain to
the Bishop of Worcester. Mean wl die he did not neglect his
classical studies. In 1691, he published a Latin epistle to John
Mill, D.D., containing some critical observations relating to
154 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Johannes Malala (or Malela-s), Greek Historiographer, published
at the end of that author, at Oxon, in a large 8vo. This was
the first piece that our author published. Nor was religion less
indebted to him than learning, for in 1692 he had the honour
to be selected as the first person to preach at Boyle's Lectures
(founded by the Hon. Robert Boyle, to assert and vindicate the
fundamental truths of natural and i-evealed religion), upon
which occasion he successfully applied Sir Isaac Newton's
Principia Mathematical to demonstrate the being of God, and
altogether silenced the atheists, who, in this countiy, have,
since that time, for the most part, sheltei'ed themselves under
Deism. Evelyn was in St. Martin's church when the second of
these addresses was delivered; and the high opinion he there
formed of the author's merits led to a warm friendship
between them. Bentley's Boyle Lectures are deservedly
esteemed, have passed through many editions, and been trans-
lated into several foreign languages. There is a good edition
by the Rev. A. Dyce, which will amply repay perusal. On the
2nd of October, 1692, he was installed a prebendary of Wor-
cester by Bishop Stillingfleet. Upon the death of Mr. Justel,
Mr. Bentley was immediately thought upon to succeed him as
keeper of the royal libraiy at St. James's; and accordingly, a
few months after his decease, he had a warrant made out for
that place from the secretary's office, December 23rd, 1693, and
had his patent for the same in April following. Soon after he
was nominated to that office, before his patent was signed, by
his care and diligence he procured no less than a thousand
volumes of one sort or another, which had been neglected to be
brought to the library, according to the act of parliament then
subsisting, which prescribed that one copy of every book
printed in England should be brought and lodged in this library,
and one in each University library. In the following year he
was made one of the chaplains in ordinary to the king. It was
about this time, and upon this occasion of his being made
librarian, that the famous dispute between him and the Hon.
Charles Boyle, whether the Epistles of Phalaris were genuine
or not, in some measure, at first took rise, which gave occasion
to so many books and pamphlets, and has made so much noise
* Newton's Principia had been published about six years, but was as yet
little understood ; and to Bentley belongs the credit of first presenting it to
the public in an inviting form. It is related in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes
"that Dr. Bentley, when in town, was frequently at Sir Isaac's table; and
that his behaviour was singularly haughty and inattentive to every one but
Newton himself,"
THE REV. RICHARD BENTLEY, D.D. 155
in the world. Bentley rejoined by his enlarged Dissertation on
Phalaris, a volume of lasting value to the lovers of ancient
literature. The loudness of the outcry raised against him made
him write cautiously, and therefore well. In the words of
Macaulay, in his Essay on Sir William Temple: — "His spirit,
daring even to rashness, self-confident even to negligence, and
proud even to insolent ferocity, was awed for the first and last
time; awed, not into meanness or cowardice, but into wariness
and sobriety. For once he ran no risks, he left no crevice un-
guarded, he wantoned in no paradoxes; above all, he returned no
railing for the railing of his enemies. In almost everything that
he has written, we can discover proofs of genius and learning.
But it is only here that his genius and learning appear to have
been constantly under the guidance of good sense and good
temper." As to its more enduring effect, it may not be too
much to assert that, as Bentley himself may be considered the
" progenitor of the great and enlightened philologers of Ger-
many," so the Phalaris in particular " paved the way for
Niebuhr's History of Rome." When, in 1696, he was admitted
to his degree of D.D., he preached, on the day of the public
commencement, from 1 Peter iii. 15, "Be ready always to give
an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you." In 1700, upon the resignation of Dr. Mon-
tague, he was by the Crown presented to the Mastership of
Trinity College, Cambridge, which is reckoned worth near
£1,000 per annum/'' and was also in the same year Vice-Chan-
cellor of the University; upon obtaining which preferment, he
resigned his prebend of Worcester; but June 12th, 1701, on Dr.
Saywell's death, he was collated archdeacon of Ely. It had
been intended that the young Duke of Gloucester, on whom the
hopes of the nation then rested, should be educated under the
immediate superintendence of the new Master; but this design
was frustrated by the death of the former, July 29th, 1700.
What next employed his critical genius were the two first
comedies of Aristophanes. Upon these he made some curious
annotations, which were published at Amsterdam in 1710; as
was much about the same time at Bheims his Emendations, &c,
on the Fragments of Menander and Philemon, in the feigned
name of " l'h'dfl< ntherus Lipsiensis." Under this character he
appeai'ed again, in 1713, in remarks upon Collins's Discourse on
* In after years he refused to exchange it for the bishopric of Bristol ; and,
being asked by the minister what preferment he would consider worth his
acceptance, wisely replied, in a sentence that might have been pointed by
Diogenes, " that which would leave him no reason to wish for a removal,"
156 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Freethinking, — a book which had made no small noise in the
world at that time. This he handles and confutes in a critical,
learned, and yet familiar manner. Before his Remarks on Free-
thinking, in 1711, came forth his so long-expected and cele-
brated edition of Horace. On the 5th of November, 1715, the
doctor preached a sermon before the University against Popeiy,
on which somebody soon after published remarks which occa-
sioned Dr. Bentley's answer, entitled Reflections on the Scandal-
ous Aspersions cast on the Clergy, by the Author of the Remarks
on Dr. Bentley's Sermon on Popery, &c. This was printed in
1717, in 8vo. In 1716, at which time he succeeded to the chair
of Regius Professor of Divinity, the doctor had two printed
letters inscribed to him, dated January 1st. He very shortly
added his answer concerning his intended edition of the Greek
Testament, giving some account of what was to be expected in
that edition. In 1725, at a public commencement on the 6th
of July, the doctor made an elegant Latin speech on creating
seven doctors of divinity. About 1732, the doctor published
his Milton's Pa/radise Lost, when he was, as he says in his
preface, about seventy years old. This is a very elegant and
beautiful edition of that poem, but cannot be said to have con-
tributed much to the editor's reputation. The dispute between
Dr. Bentley and the University, and the proceedings of the
latter against him, we have no inclination to detail, nor would
the narrative be either agreeable or useful to our readers. It
originated in a demand which Dr. Bentley made of four guineas
from several doctors who were attending in the senate house
to receive their degrees the day after a visit from the king
(George I.).* Those who are inclined to examine further into
the dispute may peruse the well-written life of Bentley, by
Hartley Coleridge, in his Northern Worthies. Bentley, it is
well known, gained the victory in the contest, and the Court of
Bang's Bench sent down a mandamus to restore Dr. Bentley
to whatever honours he might have been deprived of in the
course of the dispute. After this triumph he employed himself
in various literary undertakings until his death, July 14th,
1742, aged eighty years. Bentley's character was distinguished
by sternness and perhaps querulousness ; his wit was caustic and
severe; and whatever commendation may be bestowed upon
* Hartley Coleridge, in his Biographia Borealis, offers some palliation for
this conduct. Considering the trouble and expense to which Bentley was
put by this visit of George I. , and the easy terras on which the new doctors
of divinity, owing to the same event, obtained their degree, he thinks the
latter might have paid the fee with a good grace.
THE REV. RICHARD BENTLEY, D.D. 157
him as one of the most learned men of his day, he could not
have been involved in so many quarrels, unless there had been
something reprehensible as well as unfortunate, both in his
manners and in his temper.* In his domestic relations Bentley
was pre-eminently happy. He married, January 4th, 1701,
Joanna, daughter of Sir John Bernard, of Brampton, in
Huntingdonshire; and during the forty years that she shared
his joys and sorrows, her gentle manners and excellence of dis-
position did much to smooth his frequently rugged path. She
died in 1740, leaving three surviving children. Of these,
Richard, + who showed such early promise that he was made a
Fellow of Trinity College at fifteen, became in after life the
friend of Horace Walpole. Of the other two, who were
daughters, Elizabeth, the elder, married for her first husband
Humphrey Ridge, Esq., a Hampshire gentleman, and for her
second the Rev. James Fa veil; the younger one, Joanna, J who
was the " Phoebe" of Byron's beautiful pastoral in the Spectator,
married the Rev. Denison Cumberland, afterwards Bishop of
* Bentley was esteemed by the best judges to be the greatest critic in the
learned languages of the age in which he lived ; aud was more celebrated for
bis extensive and uncommon erudition in foreign nations, than in his own
country. But there appears to have been something haughty and overbearing
in his manners and behaviour, which caused him to have many enemies. He
was also apt to speak too contemptuously of others, and especially if he had
any personal pique against them. But, independent of the above, Dr. Bentley
seems to have been a very agreeable and entertaining companion ; and this he
was enabled to be, not only by his extensive erudition, but by his wit and
humour, of which he possessed a considerable degree. It was certainly not
merely the haughtiness of his behaviour, which procured him enemies in his
own College and in the University. His superior learning and abilities excited
envy (he being at that time, there is great reason to believe, the most learned
man in England, if not in Europe); and many of the Fellows of his College
were much disgusted at sundry regulations which he made therein, though
those regulations were evidently agreeable to the design of the founder, and
calculated for the promotion and encouragement of learning. And it is said
that an eminent lawyer, who was counsel against him in the trial between
him and the University of Cambridge, declared that " he was sure Dr. Bentley
must be a very good and virtuous man, since, in the course of that trial,
nothing inconsistent with that character could he proved against him." As a
scholar, Bentley had perhaps no rival ; the only man who can be placed in
competition with him is Joseph Justus Scaliger ; but, though we are far
from wishing to underrate the merits of the latter, we confess that, in our
opinion, Bentley has more valid claims on the gratitude of the learned. His
name constitutes an epoch in the history of philology. He united in cue
person the copious erudition of the older scholars, and that peculiar felicity
in verbal emendation which is so remarkable in some modern critics, and
especially in Porson and Monk.
t His library passed into the hands of his son. Dr. Richard Bentley, a man
of learning and talent, but of too desultory habits to obtain eminence in any
pursuit. 'I'lic lmoks were purchased after his deatli by the house of Lacking-
ton, from which they were repurchased by the British Museum.
X In her honour, when a beautiful girl of eleven, Byron (then a B.A. of
158 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Kilmore, and became the mother of Richard Cumberland, the
well-known dramatic writer. The letters of this eminent man,
under the title of The Correspondence of Richard Bentley, D.D.,
were edited by the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D., and
published, in 1842, in two volumes 8vo.* — For his portrait, and
a very pleasing and eulogistic life, see Richard Bentley, in vol. vi.
of De Quincey's Works, Edin., 1862; and for a more particular
account, see Life of Richard Bentley, D.D. (with a portrait and
a vignette of the house in which he was born), by J. H. Monk,
D.D. (1830), who soon after its publication was raised to the
bishopric of Gloucester. See also his Life in Coleridge's York-
shire Worthies ; in the Gentleman s Magazine ; in Cunningham's
Lives; in Kippis's Biographia Britannica; in the British Bio-
graphy; in the Biographie Universelle; and in the Biographical
Dictionaries of Chalmers, Knight, Rose, kc. &c.
1678-1745.
THE REV. JOSEPH COOKSON, M.A.,
Son of Mr. William Cookson, was born in Kirkgate, Leeds,
September 24th, and baptized October 16th, 1678. He was
educated at the Grammar School of his native town, and after-
wards admitted of Christ's College, Cambridge, where he took
the degrees of B.A. and M. A. He was first settled at Hen don,
in Middlesex, and on the 17th of November, 1709, became
lecturer of the parish church of Leeds. In 1710, he married
Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Smith, of Hendon.t He
was elected vicar of Leeds, March 4th, 1715-16 (the candidates
being himself, then lecturer of St. John's, and Dr. Brooke,
aftei'wai'ds minister of that church). About the year 1738, he
became sub-dean of Ripon, and died February 20th, 1745.+ Of a
ministry which continued nearly thirty years, we have been able
TrinityColl. ), wrote the little pastoral poem found in No. 603of the Spectator: —
" My time, O ye Muses, was happily spent,
When Phoebe went with me wherever I went ;
Ten thousand sweet pleasures I felt in my breast :
Sure never fond shepherd like Colin was blest," &c.
* A series of his letters to and from Dr. Bernard, the Savilian professor,
is also published in the Museum Criticum, vol. ii. ; together with a series of
emendations on the Greek Plays, previously unpublished. Dr. Bentley also
published, in 1725, a new edition of Terence and Phcedrus, which was
reprinted in 1726-7. — See Chambers's Cyclop, of Eng. Lit, vol. i., p. 660.
*|* He had a son, the Bev. Edward Cookson, M.A., born in 1712, who also
became lecturer at the Leeds parish church.
% The following Epitaph on the Rev. Joseph Cookson, vicar of Leeds,
was written by the Rev. Francis Fawkes, M.A., in 1747 : —
' ' Wrapt in cold clay, beneath this marble lies
What once was generous, eloquent, and wise ;
THE REV. JOSEPH COOKSON, M.A. 159
to learn but very little. From the specimen of Mr. Cookson's
funeral sermon for his predecessor, it is impossible not to think
favourably of his piety, and of his talents as a preacher. An
irregular practice of baptizing children of the higher ranks at
home, having been connived at by his predecessor, Mr. Killing-
beck, had become inveterate. Mr. Cookson's mode of redressing
the evil was ingenious. During the mayoralty of his brother
(Wm. Cookson, either in 1725 or 1738),* having been invited as
usual to perform that ceremony in a private house, he complied,
and procured himself to be presented for the irregularity in the
ecclesiastical court at York, with which he had a good under-
standing on the subject. This, of course, broke through the
practice. In the year 1727, Mr. Cookson rebuilt the vicarage-
house and offices upon the ground in the Vicar's Croft (now
the Kirkgate market), which, with the lands they stood upon,
were given in 1453, by 'William Scott, of Potternewton, and
which, after standing nearly a century, were taken down, and
the site and croft converted into a large public market. A
large and handsome house in Park Place was purchased as the
future vicarage. After the death of Mr. Cookson, a severe con-
tent followed. The candidates were James Scott, A.M., curate
A genius form'd in every light to shine,
A well-bred scholar, and a sage divine ;
An orator in every art refin'd,
To teach, to animate, and mend mankind ;
The wise and good approVd the life he led,
And, as they lov'd Mm living, mourn him dead."
* " William Cookson, Esq. (1669-1743), alderman of Leeds, buried July
25th, 1743. N.B. — He was thrice mayor of this corporation, of which he was
the greatest ornament. His virtues [shined] shone with an amiable lustre
through the various scenes of life. He was a pious Christian, a generous
benefactor, an honest tradesman, a tender husband, an indulgent parent, a
sincere friend, and a complete gentleman. " The above is an extract from the
register of the Leeds parish church for 1743. He was the son of William
Cookson, who was born in 1639, who settled in Leeds about 1652; and was
the son of Brian Cookson, who was born in 1610, and died in 1685. It is a
singular fact that the ancestors of this Brian possessed an estate near Settle
for upwards of 3Q0 years, under the names of Brian and Robert alternately,
as is evident from the family deeds. The son, Wm. Cookson, was born at
Leeds, October 17th, 1669 ; and married at Roth well, June 22nd, 1701, Susanna,
daughter of Michael Idle, Esq., mayor of Leeds in 1690. He was elder
brother to the Rev. Joseph Cookson, M.A., vicar of Leeds; and was thrice
mayor of Leeds, in 1712, 1725, and 1738. He died July 22nd, 1743, and was
succeeded by his son Thomas, who married Margaret, daughter of "William
Dawson, Esq., and had issue William Cookson, born in 1749, twice mayor of
Leeds, in 1783 and in 1801, and who died in February, 1811. The Cooksons,
of Whitehill, in the county of Durham; and those of Meldon l J ;nk, in the
county of Northumberland, are also descended from this family. Their
motto is, "Nil desprrandum" — Never despair. For their pedigree, coat of
arms, and other particulars, see Burke's Landed Gentry; Thoresby's Bucatus
Leodiensis, p. 136, &c.
160 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of Trinity church, Leeds, and Samuel Kirshaw, A.M., rector of
Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, son of Richard Kirshaw, D.D.,
rector of Ripley. The former was, by nature, arrogant and
haughty, of no contemptible talents, and confident of success
from the merits and interest of his family. The pretensions of
the latter were very different; considerable merit as a clergy-
man, together with great calmness, prudence, and discx*etion.
The latter was elected. For a further account, see Thoresby's
Vicaria Leodiensis, &c.
1669—1749.
SIE WALTER CALVERLEY, BART.,
Was the son of Walter Calverley, Esq., of Calverley, near
Leeds, and Frances, daughter and heiress of Henry Thompson,
Esq., of Esholt, near Leeds. He married Julia, eldest daughter
of Sir William Blackett, Bart., in January, 1706; was created
a baronet in December, 1711, and died in 1749. In the parish
church of Calverley, over the vestry door, there is a large mural
monument to him, with the following eulogistic inscription: —
"To the memory of Sir Walter Calverley, of Calverley, Bart. —
His mother, Frances, daughter and sole heiress of Henry Thom-
son, of Esholt, Esq. — His wife, Julia, eldest daughter of Sir
William Blackett, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Bart. — And of his
two sisters, Ann, married to Benj. Wade, of New Grange
(near Leeds), Esq., and Bridget, first married to John Ramsden,
of Crowstone, Esq., and afterwards to William Nevile, of Hol-
beck, Esq. — all of them persons of merit and character. Sir
Walter was descended from an ancient and eminent family;* he
made it the study of his life to reflect back upon his ancestors
the lustre which he received from them. He possessed every
qualification which distinguishes the great man; he cultivated
* John Calverley, Esq. , next brother of Sir William Calverley, Knt. , of
Calverley, and tenth in direct descent from John Scot, alias Calverley, lord
of Calverley in 1136, held lands in Churwell in 1510. His son, Christopher
Calverley, of Rothwell, who died in 1546, was great-great-grandfather of
Robert Calverley, Esq. , of Oulton, near Leeds, who died in 1674, leaving four
sons, of whom the third, Matthew, born in 1652, was father of William, born
in 1684, who married, in 1714, Frances, daughter and co-heiress of John
Grosvenor, and dying in 1729, left a son, John, mayor of Leeds, who married
Mary, daughter of Thomas Walker, Esq., of Dewsbury, and died in 1783,
leaving a son, John Calverley, Esq. , who assumed, by royal licence, in 1807,
the name and arms of Blayds. He married Mary, daughter of the Rev.
Charles Downes, and left at his decease, in 1827, the present John Calverley,
Esq. , who resumed, by royal licence, in 1852, the name and arms of Calverley,
of Oidton Hall, near Leeds, born in September, 1789 ; married in May, 1822 ;
and has issue, Edmund, born in August, 1826; married in April, 1852,
Isabella Mary, elder daughter of John Thomas Selwyn, Esq., of Down Hall,
Essex, &c— See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
SIR WALTER CALYERLEY, BART. 161
every virtue which, adorns the good one. Independent, lie
regarded no interest but the interest of his country; that
interest he steadily asserted with prudence, with dignity, with
spirit. Preferring the tranquillity of retirement to the grandeur
of a court, he fixed his residence at Esholt; there, by a generous,
affable hospitality, he circulated his fortune through its proper
channel ; diffused cheei-fulness among his friends and neighbours,
and quickened the industry of his tenants and dependents.
Fond of agriculture and all the rural arts, he not only improved
and beautified his own estate, but his admirable skill manifestly
operated to the general emolument of this county. Manufac-
tures and manufacturers were the immediate objects of his
attention and regard. He was an able and willing patron of
the diligent poor; these he daily relieved by that most bene-
ficial charity — employment : in the tender characters of the
husband and the father, he discovered the purest conjugal love,
the truest paternal indulgence and care; as a wise and upright
magistrate, he commanded obedience to the laws by his autho-
rity and by his example. In his religion he was warm without
enthusiasm, strict without superstition. Thus, in the active
discharge of his duty to God and to mankind, having reached,
through temperance and exercise, the eightieth year of his age,
death, by an easy and gradual dissolution, opened to him a
glorious immortality, the 17th of October, 1749. " :: " Beneath
* The three following notes ought to have been inserted somewhat earlier : —
Thomas Kirke, Esq., F.R.S. (1650-1706).— This respectable gentleman,
who lived at Cookridge, near Leeds, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
in 1693 ; to which society he afterwards communicated An Account of a Lamb
Icing Sucked by a Wether Sheep for several Months after the Death of the Ewe.
(See Philosophical Transactions, vol. xviii., p. 263.) He died April 24th,
1706, aged fifty-six. In December, 1583, Gilbert Kirke purchased Cookridge
of Sir Thomas Cecil, afterwards Earl of Exeter. Gdbert dying without issue
in 1586, was buried in St. Peter's church, Leeds, leaving his estate at Cook-
ridge to Gilbert, second son of his brother, Thomas Kirke, of Buslingthorp,
with a legacy to Frances Kirke, his sister, and great-grandmother to Ralph
Thoresby. This Gilbert died in 1628, and was succeeded by his son, Thomas
Kirke, of Cookridge, gent., who died in 1633. and was succeeded by Gilbert
Kirke, who was born in 1624; married, in 1649, Margaret, daughter of Francis
Layton, Esq., of Rawdon, and had issue Thomas Kirke, Esq., of Cookridge,
justice of the peace, who was born December 22nd, 1 < ".50 ; married, July 11th,
1678, Rosamund, daughter and co-heiress of Mr. Robert Abbot, and died in
1706. "Cookridge," says Thoresby, "is deservedly famous for the noble and
pleasant walks that this Mr. Kirke has contrived in his wood there. An
avenue of four rows of trees leads from his house to that most surprising
labyrinth, winch at once delighteth and amuseth the spectator with the
windings and variously intermixed walks, which are so intricate that those
who are engaged in them cannot without some difficulty extricate themselves,
there being no less than 65 centres and about 300 views, better expressed by
the plan (see Thoresby"s Ducatus Leodii wis, p. 158) than any description I am
aide to give of it. The whole contains about sixscore acres, the double line
1G2 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
which there is also the following inscription: — " Lady Calverley
was endowed with that equal disposition of mind which always
creates its own happiness; with that open and flowing bene-
volence which always promotes the happiness of others; her
person was amiable and engaging ; her manners soft and gentle ;
her behaviour delicate and graceful; her conversation lively and
instructing ; even her amusements distinguished her a woman of
sense, having not only innocence but merit to recommend them :
she fulfilled the endearing offices of the wife, the mother, and
the friend with the most perfect constancy and affection. Her
virtues were crowned with a most sincere piety to her Maker,
the great Author and final Rewarder of all goodness. She died
the 16th of September, 1736, in the fifty-first year of her age,
as universally lamented in her death as she had been admired
in her life." To the memory of these excellent persons, more
especially of his honoured parents, Sir Walter and Lady
Calverley; Walter, their only son, now Sir Walter Blackett,
hath erected this monument, 1752. — Near this place lies the
body of Sir Walter Blackett, of Wallington, in the county of
Northumberland, Bart., son of Sir Walter Calverley, Bart.,
who died February 14th, 1777, aged sixty-nine years. Sir
Walter Calverley's only daughter, Julia, was married to Sir
walks are about twenty feet wide, and the single about eight ; and all kept in
excellent order by that ingenious gentleman, who has the pleasure (or fatigue,
shall I say?) of almost all foreigners and gentlemen of curiosity of our own
nation that travel into the north, and who afterwards can as little conceal
their admiration as before they could their desire to see it." The Roman
rig, or via rieiualis, from the lately-discovered station near Adel Mill (of
which there is an account in the Philosophical Transactions, No. 282), passes
through Cookridge, which perhaps might receive its denomination from
thence. "This rig is evidently in some part of Mr. Kirke's grounds, who
showed me the place where several Roman monuments were dug up ; previous
to which a statue of a Roman officer, with inscription, had been dug up, both
which perished through the ignorance and stupidity of the labourers." His
son, Thomas Kirke, gent., died in January, 1709. According to Thoresby,
" both the Mr. Kirkes were great virfruosoes in all sorts of learning, and had a
fine library and museum of curiosities ; all which were sold by auction in
1710."— For several letters to and from Mr. Kirke, Sir Hans Sloane, Sir
Godfrey Copley, and Sir John Wentwortk, see Nichols's Literary Illustrations,
vol. iv. , p. 72, &c. For their pedigree and other particulars, see Whitaker's
Thoresby, &c
Henry Watkinson, Esq., LL.D. (1628-1712), an excellent civilian, born in
Kirkgate, Leeds, baptized April 24th, 1628, was the son of Henry Watkin-
son, Esq., merchant, of Leeds, who died in November, 1638, and Bridget,
daughter of Thomas Lodge, of Leeds, who was married in October, 1625.
His daughter, Mary, married "William Pearson, LL.D., chancellor of York,
and rector of Bolton Percy. His brother, Christopher Watkinson, Esq.,
baptized August 11th, 1630, was mayor of Leeds in 1668, and died in 1676,
having previously married Mary, daughter of William Foxley, Esq., twice
mayor of Hull, whose daughter, Bridget, married, in April, 1688, Richard
Thornton, Esq., recorder of Leeds. Dr. "Watkinson was educated at the Leeds
GENERAL GUEST. 163
George Trevelyan, Bart., who died December 28th, 1768, from
whom is descended the present Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan,
Bart. — For their pedigree and coat of arms, &c, see Thoresby's
Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 116.; Burke's Peerage, &c.
-1745—.
GENERAL GUEST,
Who commanded the king's troops at Edinburgh during the
rebellion in 1 745, was a native of Leeds, and the son of a cloth-
dresser — a business at which he himself laboured in the early
part of his life.* Of the circumstances which produced his
elevation, there are at present no trace — at least none to which
we have access. After the army of Charles Stuart had taken
possession of the town of Edinburgh, General Guest made use
of some finesse to engage the rebel army in a siege of the castle,
and thus prevented them from marching directly into England;
with this view, after the battle of Freston, he wrote four or five
letters addressed to the Duke of ^Newcastle, Secretary of State,
stating that there was but a small stock of provisions in the
Castle of Edinburgh, and that he should be obliged to surrender
immediately. These letters fell, as it was designed they should,
Grammar School, became chancellor and vicar-general to four archbishops of
York, and died April 22ud, 1712, in his eighty-fourth year. — For his pedigree
and other particulars, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 73. <S:c.
Cyril Arthington, Esq., F.R.S. (—1720), was in the commission of the
peace for the West -Riding of the county of York; and is represented by
Thoresby, in 1712, "as having then lately erected a noble hall at Arthington,
near Leeds, and furnished it with water conveyed in pipes of lead from an
engine by him contrived at his mill upon the river Wharf ; being an ingenious
gentleman, and well seen in hydrostatics." He also erected a stately monu-
ment in [Addle] Adel church for his first cousin, Henry Arthington, Esq.,
who died in 1681, and to whose estates he succeeded as next heir. He was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1701, and died without issue in
1720. He devised his estate to his brother Sandford, M.D., of Milford, and
his heirs male, and then to his sister Hardcastle's youngest son, Sandford,
whose son, Sandford, was rector of Adel, and died in 1788, having previously
married the Dowager Countess of Mexborough. From a sister of his, Dr.
Cyril Jackson, the celebrated dean of Christ Church, and Dr. William
Jackson, who, in 1815, died Bishop of Oxford, were lineally descended. The
Arthingtons in the twelfth century were a very devout and munificent family ;
for, besides their benefactions to Kirkstall Abbey, in which, by a distinguished
generosity, they preferred to see the flocks of th us grazing on the
brow in front of the manor-house rather than their own; they amortized
another portion of their demesnes for the endowment of a house of nuns at
Arthington, Of this nunnery not a vestige now remains. — See Nichols's
wry Illustrations, vol. iv., p. 74, &c. For their pedigree, &c, see
Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 7, &c.
Another account states that General Guest was once a servant at the
Angel Inn, in Halifax : which greatly redounds to his honour, as be was most
probably promoted for his merit. His parents lived for some time at Light-
cliffe, near Halifax. See History of Halifax by Watson, Crabtree, &c.
1G4 BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
into the hands of the rebels, and had the desired effect; and
there is no doubt that his judicious defence of the castle con-
tributed to retard, in a very considerable degree, the progress of
the arms of the Pretender, and thereby rendered a very essen-
tial and lasting service to his country. — See Byley's Leeds
Guide, <kc.
1684—1755.
THE EEV. THOMAS MAGNEY, D.D.,
Was born in Leeds, in 1684, and educated at St. John's College,
Cambridge, whei'e he took his degree of Doctor of Divinity. He
was successively rector of St. Nicholas's, Guildford, and St.
Wilfred's, Bread Street, London; preacher at Lincoln's Inn,
prebend of Durham, and vicar of Ealing. This learned and
eloquent preacher died March 11th, 1755, deeply regretted. —
See Gentleman's Magazine, &c.
1705—1757.
DAVID HAETLEY, M.A., M.D.,
An eminent physician and metaphysician, was the son of a
clergyman at Armley, near Leeds, where he was born, August
30th, 1705.* After being for some time at a private school, he
was admitted of Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1720, and was
afterwards elected a Fellow of that society. He took his degree
of A.B. in 1725, and that of A.M. in 1729. He was originally
intended for the Church, but having some scruples as to sub-
scription to the thirty-nine articles, gave up that design, although
throughout the whole of his life he remained in communion
with the Church of England. He now directed his studies to
the medical profession, in which he became eminent for skill,
integrity, and charitable compassion. His mind was formed to
benevolence and universal philanthropy, and he exercised the
healing art with anxious and equal fidelity to the poor and to
the rich. He commenced practice at Newark, in Nottingham-
shire, whence he removed to Bury St. Edmund's, in Suffolk;
and after this he settled for some time in London. His last
residence was at Bath. Dr. Hartley was industiious and inde-
fatigable in the pursuit of all collateral branches of knowledge,
and lived in personal intimacy with the learned men of his age.
The bishops Law, Butler, and War burton, and Dr. Jortin, were
* It is also stated, though with less certainty, that he was born at Illing-
worth, near Halifax ; his father was curate there, and married, May 25th,
1707 (?), a daughter of the Rev. Edward Wilkinson, his predecessor. This
curacy Mr. Hartley afterwards resigned for the chapelry of Armley, near
4 Leeds. — See Watson's and Crabtree's History of Halifax, &c.
DAVID HARTLEY, M.A., M.D. 165
his intimate friends, and he was much attached to Bishop Hoadly.
Among his other friends or correspondents may be mentioned
Dr. Hales, Mr. Hawkins Browne, Dr. Young (the poet), Dr.
Byrom, and Mr. Hooke, the Roman historian. Pope was also
admired by him, not only as a man of genius, but as a moral
poet; yet he soon saw the hand of Bolingbroke in the Essay
on Man. Dr. Hartley's genius was penetrating aud active; his
industry indefatigable ; his philosophical observations and
attentions unremitting. From his earliest youth he was devoted
to the sciences, particularly to logic and mathematics. He
studied mathematics, together with natural and experimental
philosophy, under the celebrated Professor Saunderson. He was
an enthusiastic admirer and disciple of Sir Isaac Newton in
every branch of literature and philosophy, natural and experi-
mental, mathematical, historical, and religious. His first prin-
ciples of logic and metaphysics he derived from Locke. He
took the first rudiments of his own work, the Observations on
Man, from Newton and Locke; the doctrine of vibrations, as
instrumental to sensation and motion, from the former, and the
principle of association originally from the latter, further
explained by the Rev. Mr. Gay in his Essay on the Fundamental
Principle of Virtue or Morality, prefixed to Law's translation
of Archbishop King's Origin of Evil. Dr. Hartley commenced
the composition of the work, by which he has become universally
known, at the age of twenty-five, in 1730. It had been the sub-
ject of his thoughts even previously to this; but the work was
not finished until sixteen years after, and it was ultimately
published in 1719, when he was about forty-three years of age,
under the title of Observations on Man: his Frame, his Duty,
and his Expectations, in 2 vols.,-8vo. His biographer informs
us that " he did not expect that it would meet with any general
or immediate reception in the philosophical world, or even that
it would be much read or understood; neither did it happen
otherwise than as he had expected. But at the same time he
did entertain an expectation that at some distant period it would
>me the adopted system of future philosophers." In this,
however, he appears to have been mistaken. We know of no
"future" philosophers of any name who have adopted his
system. Dr. Priestley, indeed, published, in 1775, Hartleys
Theory, dr., with Essays on the subject of it, but all he has done
in this is to convince us of his own belief in materialism, and
his earnest desire to prove Hartley a materialist, who dreaded
nothing so much, although it must be confessed that his doctrines
have an apparent tendency to that conclusion. Since that time
1G6 BIOGBAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Hartley's work was nearly forgotten until 1791, when an
edition was published by his son, in a handsome 4to. volume,
with notes and additions from the German of the Rev. Herman
Andrew Pistorius, rector of Poseritz, in the island of Pugen;
and a Sketch of the Life and character of Dr. Hartley.* The
doctrine of vibrations, upon which he attempts to explain the
origin and propagation of sensation, although supported by
much ingenious reasoning, is not only built upon a gratuitous
assumption, but, as Haller has shown, it attributes properties to
the medullary substance of the brain and nerves, which are
totally incompatible with their nature. Upon his doctrine of
association the various systems of Mnemonics, which have lately
been published, are founded. Dr. Hartley was the author of
some medical tracts relative to the operation of Mrs. Stephens's
medicine for the stone, a disease with which he was himself
afflicted ; he was, indeed, principally instrumental in procuring
for Mrs. Stephens the five thousand pounds granted by parlia-
ment for discovering the composition of her medicine, which was
published in the Gazette in June, 1739. In 1738, he published
Observations made on Ten Persons who have taken the Medica-
ment of Mrs. Stej)hens; and in 1739 his View of the present
Evidence for and, against Mrs. Stejmens's Medicine as a Solvent
for the Stone, containing 155 Cases, with some Experiments and
Observations, and a Supplement to the View of the present
Evidence, &c. His own case is the 123rd in the above-mentioned
View; but, notwithstanding any temporary relief which he
might receive from the medicine, he is said to have died of the
stone, after having taken above two hundred pounds' weight of
soap, which is the principal ingredient in the composition of that
celebrated medicine. In the Gentleman 's Magazine for February,
1746, Dr. Hartley published with his name, Directions for Pre-
paring and Administering Mrs. Stephens's Medicine in a Solid
Form. He is also said to have written in defence of inoculation
for the small-pox, against the objections of Dr. Warren, of
Dury St. Edmund's; and some papers of his are to be met with
in the Philosophical Transactions. He died at Bath, August
28th, 1757, aged fifty-two. He was twice married, and left
issue by both marriages. The philosophical character of Dr.
Hartley, says his son, is delineated in his works. The features
* An edition was also published in 3 vols., 8vo., London, 1791. The third
volume contains a Life and character of Dr. Hartley, with notes and additions
by Pistorius. He also wrote The Truth of the Christian Religion, included
in Bishop Watson's Tracts, &c. — See Nichols's Literary Anecdotes ; Darling's
Cyclopciidia BibliograpMa, &c.
DAVID HARTLEY, If. A., M.D. 167
of his private and personal character were of the same com-
plexion. It may with peculiar propriety be said of him, that
the mind was the man. " His thoughts were not immersed in
worldly pursuits or contentions, and therefore his life was not
eventful or turbulent, but placid, and undisturbed by passion or
violent ambition. From his earliest youth his mental ambition
was pre-occupied by pursuits of science. His hours of amuse-
ment were likewise bestowed upon objects of taste and senti-
ment. Music, poetry, and history, were his favourite recita-
tions. His imagination was fertile and correct, his language
and expression fluent and forcible. His natural temper was
gay, cheerful, and sociable. He was addicted to no vice in any
part of his life; neither to pride, nor to sensuality, nor intem-
perance, nor ostentation, nor envy, nor to any sordid self-interest;
but his heart was replete with every contrary virtue. The vir-
tuous principles which are instilled in his works, were the
invariable and decided principles of his life and conduct." His
person was of the middle size, and well-proportioned. His
complexion fair, his features regular and handsome. His coun-
tenance open, ingenuous, and animated. He was peculiarly
neat in his person and attire. He was an early riser, and
punctual in the employments of the day; methodical in the
order and disposition of his library, papers, and writings, as the
companions of his thoughts, but without any pedantry either
in these habits or in any other part of his character. His
behaviour was polite, easy, and graceful; but that which made
his address peculiarly engaging was the benevolence of heart
from which that politeness flowed. He never conversed with a
fellow-creature without feeling a wish to do him good. He con-
sidered the moral end of our creation to consist in the perform-
ance of the duties of life attached to each particular station, to
which all other considerations ou<dit to be inferior and subor-
dinate ; and conseqiiently that the rule of Hfe consists in
training and adapting our faculties, through the means of moral
habits and associations, to that end. In this he was the faithful
disciple of his own theory; and, by the observance of it, he
avoided the tumult of worldly vanities and their disquietudes,
and preserved his mind in sincerity and vigour to perform the
duties of life with fidelity and without distraction. His whole
character was eminently and uniformly marked by sincerity of
heart, simplicity of manners, and manly innocence of mind.
His son, David Hartley, who was for some time member of
parliament for Kingston-upon-Hull, and one of the first pro-
moters of the abolition of the slave-trade, died at Bath in
1G8 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
1813, aged eighty-four years. — For a more detailed account, see
Iris Life by his sou ; Reid's Essays on the Intellectual Powers,
p. 84, &c.; Monthly Review, vols, liii., liv., and lvi.; Watson's
and Crabtree's History of Halifax, &c. ; Cunningham's Lives;
H. Coleridge's Northern Worthies; the Biographical Dictionaries
of Chalmers, Knight, Rose, &c.
-1761.
SIR HENRY IBBETSON, BART.,
Second son of Henry Ibbetson, Esq., of Red Hall,* Leeds, by
Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of James Nicholson, Esq.,
M.D., of York; having raised a corps of a hundred men, at his
own expense, during the rebellion of 1745, was, as a recompense
for his loyalty, created a baronet on the 12th of May, 1748,
and had, as an honourable addition to his armorial bearings, the
Golden Eleece, the arms of his native town of Leeds, ingrafted
on his paternal coat. He married, in 1740, Isabella, daughter
of Ralph Carr, Esq., of the county of Durham, by whom he
had ten children. He was elected mayor of this borough in
1752-3, having served the office of sheriff of the county in
1748. Sir Henry died in 1761, and was succeeded by his
eldest son, Sir James,f who, in 1795, was succeeded by Sir Henry .
Carr Ibbetson, Ac. Their country-seat was till very recently
at Denton Park, near Otley; and their motto, in English, is,
* Red Hall was built by Mr. Richard Lodge, a Leeds merchant, in 1628,
and was afterwards noted for being the birthplace of His Grace the Duke of
Norfolk, premier peer of Great Britain, upon which honourable occasion it
was most probably that the three dukes were there, who are said to have
lodged in that house at the same time. An apartment in this house has also
been called the king's chamber ever since King Charles I. lodged in it.
t II. Sir James Ibbetson, who married, in 1768, Jane, daughter of John
Caygill, Esq., of Halifax, by Jane, sister of Charles Selwyn, Esq. (and had,
1, Hemy Carr, his successor; 2, Charles, who inherited the Selwyn estates,
but eventually succeeding his eldest brother, these passed to his younger
brother ; 3, James, killed by a fall from his horse in 1801 ; 4, John Thomas,
who acquired the Selwyn estates on his brother Charles inheriting the
baronetcy in 1825, and assumed in consequence the surname of Selwyn . He
married "in that year Isabella, daughter of General John Leveson Gower, of
Berkshire). Sir James was high sheriff for the county in 1769, and in Sep-
tember, 1770, he* was chosen common councilman of Leeds, being then
resident in Kirkgate ; he afterwards removed to Bath, where he died in
September, 1795.
III. Sir Henry Carr, captain in the 3rd Dragoon Guards, in which regiment
he served in Flanders under the Duke of York, and was afterwards lieutenant-
colonel of the West York Militia, and high sheriff of Yorkshire in 1793 or
1803; married in November. 1803, Alicia Mary, only daughter of William
Fenton Scott, Esq., of Woodhall, in this county. Sir Henry died in June,
1825, when the title devolved upon his brother.
IV. Sir Charles, born in September, 1779, who resumed in 1825 his
paternal surname of Ibbetson, which he had relinquished for that of Selwyn,
SIR THOMAS DEXISOX. 169
" I have lived a freeman, and so will die." This family of the
Ibbetsons has flourished in the county of York from time
almost immemorial. — For their jnedigree, &c., see Whitaker's
Thoresby, p. 146; Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, &c.
1699-1765.
SIR THOMAS DENISON,
The son of a clothier at Korth-town-end, Leeds; educated at
the Leeds Grammar School ; who, by his industry and abilities
as a lawyer, "was knighted, and elevated to a seat in the King's
Bench. He died on the 8th of September, 1765, in the sixty-
seventh year of his age. His veneration for Chief-Justice
Gascoigne induced him to order his own remains to be laid
beside those of the great ornament of the same bench. He
was buried in Harewood church, near Leeds, where a handsome
monument, surmounted by a bust of the judge, is erected to his
memory. The inscription is said to have been written by his
friend, Lord Mansfield. " To the memory of Sir Thomas
Denison, Knight. This monument was erected by his afflicted
widow. He was an affectionate husband, a generous relation, a
sincere friend, a good citizen, an honest man. Skilled in all
the learning of the common law, he raised himself to great
eminence in his profession, and showed by his practice that a
thorough knowledge of legal art is not litigious, or an instru-
ment of chicane, but the plainest, easiest, and shortest way to
the end of strife. For the sake of the public he was pressed,
and at List prevailed upon, to accept the office of a judge in the
Court of King's Bench. He discharged the important trust of
that high office with unsuspected integrity and uncommon
ability. The clearness of his understanding, and the natural
probity of his heart, led him immediately to truth, ecpiity, and
justice." Second column: — "The precision and extent of his
legal knowledge enabled him always to find the right way of
doing what was right; a zealous friend to the constitution of
liis country, he steadily adhered to the fundamental principle
upon -which it is built, and by which alone it can be main-
tained, — a religious application of the inflexible rule of law to
l'.y sign-manual in 1817, under the will of his maternal great-uncle, Thomas
Selwyn, Esq., of Down Hall, Essex. He married, in February, 1812, Char-
lotte Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Thomas Stoughton, Esq., and had issue
Charles Henry, &c.
V. Sir Charles Henry Ibbetson, Bart., of Leeds, county York, rn;ijor of
the 5th West York -Militia, born 24th July, 1814; succeeded his father in
April, 18:59 ; married in December, 1847, Eden, widow of Perceval Perkins,
Esq., of the county of Durham. — See the Peerages and Ban/adages, kc.
170 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
all questions concerning the power of the Crown and privileges
of the subject. He resigned his office February 14th, 1765,
because, from the decay of his health and loss of his sight, he
found himself unable any longer to execute it. He died
September 8th, 1765, without issue, in the sixty-seventh year
of his age. He wished to be buried in his native county, and
in this church. He lies here near the Lord Chief-Justice Gas-
coigne, who, by a resolute and judicious exertion of authority,
supported law and government in a manner which has per-
petuated his name, and made him an example famous to
posterity." The founder of the Denison family was William
Denison, of Leeds, who rose to be an opulent merchant, and
who had two sons, — 1, "William, his heir, who died in 1782;
2, this Sir Thomas, a distinguished lawyer, appointed one of the
judges of the Court of King's Bench, 16th February, 1742,
and died in 1765. Mr. Justice Denison left no issue, and on
the death of his widow,* his large estates passed, under his
will, to Edmund, son of the late Sir John Beckett, Bart., of
Leeds, who assumed the surname of Denison in 1816. + — For
further information, see Whitaker's Thoresby ; Jones's History of
II nrewood; Burke's Landed Gentry, &c; Foss's Judges of Eng-
land, 1864, vol. viii., p. 266, &c.
-1768.
EEV. RICHARD BARON,
A dissenting minister, but most noted for his zeal as a political
writer, was born at Leeds, and educated at the University of
Glasgow, which he quitted in 1740, with very honourable testi-
monies to his learning and personal character, from the cele-
brated Dr. Hutcheson, and the mathematical professor, Simpson.
In 1750, Baron began to distinguish himself as an editor, in
which capacity he displayed considerable merit, and was of
essential service to the cause which he so warmly espoused.
* In the same chapel, and on the south wall, is a monument to the memory
of Dame Anne Denison, wife of the above Judge Denison. The inscription
on her tomb is as follows: — "In the same vault with those of her late hus-
band, Sir Thomas Denison, Knight, and agreeable to her will, are deposited
the remains of Dame Anne Denison, daughter of Robert Smithson, Esq.
(of Leeds). She departed this life the 1st of July, 1785, in the seventy-second
year of her age." The present Speaker of the House of Commons, the Right
Hon. John Evelyn Denison, is also descended from this family.
t Edmund Denison, Esq., J. P., born January 29th, 1787; married,
December 14th, 1814, Maria, daughter of William Beverley, Esq. , of Beverley,
and great niece of the wife of Sir Thomas Denison, Knt., judge of the
Common Pleas, and by her has issue — 1, Edmund Beckett — , M.A., born May
12th, 1816 ; of Lincoln's Inn, Queen's counsel ; married October 17th, 1845,
Fanny Catherine, second daughter of the Rigbt Rev. John Lonsdale, bishop
of Lichfield. — 2, Christopher Beckett — , born May 9th, 1825, in the Indian
KEY. RICHARD BARON. 171
He republished about that time a collection of tracts, under the
title of A Cordial for Low Spirits, in 3 vols., 12mo. ; and this
republication was soon followed by another, entitled Scarce and
valuable Tracts and Sermons, occasionally published by the late
Reverend and Learned John Abemethy, M.A., author of the
" Discourses on the Being and Perfections of God;" now first col-
lected together. The original editions of these tracts were given
to Baron, when he was a student at Glasgow, by Professor
Hutcheson, upon a presumption that, some time or other, he
might be inclined to publish them. He also published in. 1750,
from a manuscript letter to Archbishop Herring, which fell into
his hands, Bower s own A ccount of his Escape from the Inquisi-
tion, which first occasioned a suspicion, and led to a detection of
Bower. Where he passed his time after leaving Glasgow, we
scarcely know; but, in 1753, he became pastor of the dissenting
meeting at Pinner's Hall, Broad Street, London : a congregation,
if we are not mistaken, of the Baptist persuasion. What he
was as a divine is not very clear, but the whole bent of his
studies was to defend and advance civil and relisrious libertv.
This zeal led the famous Thomas Hollis, Esq., to engage his
assistance in editing some of the authors in the cause of free-
dom, whose works he wished to reprint with accuracy, and in
an elegant fonn. Toland's Life of Milton, and Locke's Letters
on Toleration, were prepared and corrected by Mr. Baron.
Not long after this, he procured a noble edition of Ludlow's
Memorials, in folio, to which he wrote a preface. He also
revised and corrected the folio edition of Algernon Sydney's
Discourses on Government, and that of Milton's Prose Works, in
2 vols., quarto. He likewise republished ISTedham's Excellency
of a Free State, to which he wrote a short preface. For this
task he was well qualified, being an industrious collector of
books on the subject of constitutional liberty, several of which
he communicated to Mr. Hollis, with MS. notes or memoranda
of his own in the blank pages, in which, we are told, he was
not always in the right. Still he was indefatigable in seai'ching
for what he reckoned scarce and valuable Liberty-tracts, many
of which Mr. Hollis bought of him while he lived, and others
civil Service. — 3, William Beckett—, horn September 6th, 1826; married one
of Lord Fevershani"s daughters; is a banker at Leeds. Mr. Denison, who is
fifth son of the late Sir John Beckett, of Leeds, Bart., and brother of the
late Eight Hon. Sir John Beckett, Bart, (and heir presumptive to his brother,
the present Sir Thomas Beckett, Bart.), of Somerby Park, near Lincoln,
assumed the surname and arms of Denison. by royal licence, in September,
1816. Their motto is, " Prodesse cUnbw"— To do good to the citizens.— See
Burke's Landed Gentry, kc.
1 7 2 BI0GRAPH1A LEODIENSIS.
he bought at the sale of his books after his death. He was
also vigilant in detecting the underhand manoeuvres of men
whom he knew to be disaffected to public liberty; and it is
believed that some good "Whig pamphlets were the better for
his notes. In 1 755, Mr. Baron was so fortunate as to discover
the second edition of Milton's Iconoclastes, of the year 1650,
which contained large additions to the former edition, and
which he republished in a thin quarto. He presented several
copies of his edition to those whom he esteemed. In the copy
sent to Mr. Pitt was written: — " To William Pitt, Esq., assertor
of liberty, champion of the people, scourge of impious ministers,
their tools and sycophants, this book is pi'esented by the editor."
His principal publication was a Collection of what he called
Liberty-tracts, pai'tly written by Gordon, the translator of
Tacitus, first published in 2 vols., 12mo., in 1752, under the
title of The Pillars of Priestcraft and Orthodoxy Shaken. He
is, however, supposed to have been mistaken, or misinformed,
concerning the persons to whom he ascribed some of these
tracts. In 1767-8, he prepared another edition, enlarged to
four volumes, to be published by subscription, which appeared
after his death, along with his MS. sermons and other papers.
His character has been thus drawn by no injudicious hand: —
" Mr. Baron's character was one of the most artless and undis-
guised that ever appeared in the world. He was a man of
real and great learning, of fixed and steady integrity, and a
tender and sympathizing heart. He firmly believed in Revela-
tion, and for this very reason was infinitely more concerned to
promote the cause of truth and virtue in the world, than to
procure any emolument or advantages to himself. No man was
ever more zealous in the cause of civil and religious liberty than
Mr. Baron. The whole bent of his studies led him that way.
Well did he understand the cause in its utmost extent.
Warmly was he animated whenever it was the subject of
debate, and zealously indignant was he when he thought it
attacked or in danger of subversion. Could he have restrained
the natural impetuosity of his temper, no man would have had
more friends, or better deserved them.* With many virtues
and few faults, winch only wanted the elevation of a higher
station and a better fate to have assumed the form of virtues,
* His eagerness and precipitation in favour of the cause he espoused, pre-
vented Mr. Hollis from having that free and unreserved intercourse with
him, which his many valuable qualities would otherwise have disposed that
excellent person to have encouraged and turned to the account of the public
in various ways.
GEORGE (LANE FOX), LORD BINGLEY. 173
Mr. Baron passed the greatest part of his life in penurious cir-
cumstances, which neither abated the generous ardour, nor
overcame the laudable independency of his spirit. These are
virtues which, when exerted in a low sphere, seldom bring their
reward to the possessor; yet these, with their blessed effects,
were all this good man left behind him for the consolation and
support of a widow and three children." He died at his house
at Blackheath, near London, Feb. 22nd, 1768. — For additional
information, see the Protestant Dissenters' Magazine, vol. vi. ;
the Memoirs of Thomas Hottis, F.R.S. ; the British Biography,
vol. x. ; the Biographical Dictionaries of Chalmers, Rose, &c.
-1772.
GEORGE (LANE FOX), LOED BINGLEY,
"Was the eldest surviving son of Henry Fox, Esq., who mar-
ried, secondly, in 1691, the Hon. Frances Lane, daughter of
Sir George Lane, of Tulske, county Roscommon, principal
Secretary of State in Ireland, created Viscount Lanesborough ;
and sister and heiress of James, Viscount Lanesborough, who
died in 1724. This George inherited by will the great estates
of Lord Lanesborough, and assumed by act of parliament,
March 22nd, 1750-1, in accordance with the testator's injunc-
tion, the additional surname and arms of Lane. He was M.P.
for the city of York, and married, in 1731, Harriet, daughter
and sole heiress of the Right Hon. Robert Benson, Lord
Bingley, and was created, on the extinction of his father-in-
law's peerage, in May, 1762, Baron Bingley of Bingley, in the
county of York.* By this lady, with whom he acquired
£100,000, and .£7,000 a year, he had an only son, Robert,
who married, in 1761, Bridget, daughter of the Earl of JSTorth-
ington, but died in his father's lifetime, 1768, without issue.
Lord Bingley died in 1772 (when the barony became extinct),
and, having survived his only child, devised his great estates
in England and Ireland to his nephew, James Lane Fox,
* The following Epitaph to his next brother, James Fox, Esq., who died in
October, 1753, was written by Francis Fawkcs, M.A., in 1754:—
"Peace to the noblest, most ingenuous mind.
In wisdom's philosophic school refin'd,
The friend of man ; to pride alone a foe;
Whose heart humane would melt at others' woe.
Oft has lie made the breast of anguish gay,
And sigh'd, like Titus, when he lost a day.
All vice he Iaah'd, or in the rich or great,
But piais'd mild merit in the meanest state.
( '; i i 1 1 1 and serene in virtue's paths he trod,
LoVd mercy, and walk'd humbly with his God."
174 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
Esq., of Bramham Park, near Leeds. The family of Fox,
which is of ancient descent, ranks among the most influential
and opulent in the north of England. — For further particulars,
see Burke's Landed Gentry ; Extinct Peerage, &c.
1728—1772.
EOBEET STANSFIELD, ESQ.
In G-uiseley church, near Leeds, there is a monument with the
following inscription: — "Sacred to the memory of Robert
Stansfield, of Esholt, Esq.* He married Jane, eldest daughter
and co-heir of Richardson Ferrand, of Harden, Esq. ; and by her
had two daughters, who died in their infancy. He departed
this life September 14th, 1772, aged forty-four years. He was
of a friendly, generous, and affectionate disposition, esteemed
by his acquaintance, beloved by his relations, and was truly
deserving the chax-acter of a worthy gentleman." — For the
Stansfields' pedigree and other particulars, see Whitaker's Loidis
and Elmete, pp. 202-3, etc.; Burke's Heraldic Illustrations,
vol. iii. ; Commoners of England, vol. iv., &c.
1721—1777.
THE REV. FRANCIS FAWKES, M.A.,
A poet and miscellaneous writer, was born at or near Leeds, in
Yorkshire, about the year 1721. He was educated at Leeds,
under the care of the Rev. Mr. Cookson, vicar of that parish,
from whence he went to Jesus College, Cambridge, and took his
Bachelor's degree in 1741, and his Master's in 1745. After
being admitted into holy orders, he settled at Bramham, in his
native county, near the elegant seat of that name belonging to
* Robert Stansfield, Esq., purchased Esholt Hall (or Priory), in 1755, of
Sir Walter Blackett, Bart., and died there in 1772. He was the son of
Robert Stansfield, of Bradford, by Ann, daughter of William Busfield, Esq.,
of Eishworth, near Bingley. His sister Ann, by whom he was succeeded,
married, in 1758, William Rookes, Esq., of Roydes Hall, near Morley,
who was senior bencher of Gray's Inn, and formerly of Jesus College, Cam-
bridge; and died at Esholt Hall in February, 1798, and was also buried at
Guiseley, near Leeds. Her daughter, Anna Maria Rookes, heiress from her
mother of Esholt Priory, born in July, 1763, married at Otley, in February,
1786, Joshua Crompton, Esq., third son of Samuel Crompton, Esq., late of
Derby, and had issue Wm. Rookes Croinpton, who, having succeeded to his
mother's estates, assumed, in compliance with her will, the additional sur-
name and arms of Stansfield, and is the present William Rookes Crompton
Stansfield, Esq., M.A., J.P., &c, recently of Esholt Hall, near Leeds. See
Burke's Landed Gentry, kc. — For the pedigree of the Rookes, see Whitaker's
Loidis and Elmete, p. 203, kc.
David Stansfeld, of Leeds, merchant, was descended from the above
Robert's grandfather's brother, John, wlio died in 1737. He was born in
February, 1755; married, in 1776, Sarah, daughter and heiress of Thomas
Wolrich, Esq., of Armley House, near Leeds, and had issue — 1, Peggy,
THE REV. FRANCIS FAWKES, M.A. 175
Robert Lane (now George Lane Fox), Esq., the beauties of
■which afforded him the first subject for his muse. He pub-
lished his Bramham Park in 1745, but without his name. His
next publications were the Descripticms of May and Winter,
from Gawen Douglas — the former in 1752, the latter in 1754:
these brought him into considerable notice as a poetical anti-
quary, and it was hoped that he would have been encouraged to
modernize the whole of that author's works. About the year
last mentioned, he removed to the curacy of Croydon, in Surrey,
where he was noticed by Archbishop Herring, who resided
there at that time, and to whom, among other comp lim entary
verses, he addressed an Ode on his Grace's Recovery, which was
printed in Dodsley's collection. These attentions, and his
general merit as a scholar, induced the archbishop to collate
him, in 1755, to the vicarage of Orpington, with St. Mary
Cray, in Kent. In 1757, he had occasion to lament his patron's
death in a pathetic elegy, styled Aurelius, printed with his
Grace's sermons in 1763, but previously in our author's volume
of poems in 1761. About the same time he married Miss
Furrier, of Leeds. In April, 1774, by the late Dr. Plumptre's
favoui-, he exchanged his vicarage for the rectory of Hayes, in
the same county. This, except the office of chaplain to the
Princess Dowager of Wales, was the only ecclesiastical pro-
motion he obtained. In 1761, he published by subscription a
volume of Original Poems and Translations, by which he got
more profit than fame. His subscribers amounted to nearly
eight hundred, but no second edition was called for. Some
other pieces by him are in Mr. Nichols's collection, and in the
married, in 1802, to James, second son of George Bischoff, Esq., of Leeds. —
2, Thomas Wolrich Stansfeld, of Burley "Wood, lieutenant-colonel of the
Leeds Local Militia in 1808; bom in March, 1779; married in October, 1820,
Anne, eldest daughter of Rawdon Briggs, Esq., of Halifax (and bad issue
Thomas Wolrich Stansfeld, born in December, 1829, &c). He died in May,
1853. — 3, 4, anil 5, died young. — 6, James Stansfeld, of Green Bank, Halifax,
judge of the County Court, who married Emma, daughter of the Rev. John
Ralph (and has issue James Stansfeld, of the Inner Temple, LL.B.,M.P., &c).
— 7, Hatton Hamer, late of St. Anne's Hill, Burley.— 8, Henry, of Burley,
who died in 1829.— 9, Hamer, late of Headingley Lodge, J. P. for the West-
Riding of Yorkshire, born in 1797, &c.
The family of Stansfield (or Stansfeld of Stansfeld, as anciently written),
trace their descent from one of the companions-in-arms of William the Con-
bhe grant of the lordship of that name. If is descen-
dants have remained ever since enjoying high respectability in the county of
York, and their ancient residence, Stansfield Hall, is still to be seen in the
once beautiful valley of Todmorden, in the parish of Halifax.
The Stausfelds' motto is, "Nosa feipgiwn,"— Know thyself. The Wolrichs',
"Virtue post fwnera ww£"— Virtue lives after death. The Cromptons',
"Love and Loyalty." For a long pedigree of the Stansfelds, see Burke's
Landed Gentry; Whitaker's Thoresbtj, vol. ii., p. 202, &c.
170 BIOUEAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Poetical Calendar, a periodical selection of fugitive vei*ses,
which lie published in conjunction with Mr. Woty, an indif-
ferent poet of that time. In 1767, he published an eclogue to
the Hon. Charles Yorke, entitled Partridge Shooting, which was
inferior to his other productions. He was the editor also of a
Family Bible, with notes, in 4to., which is a work of very incon-
siderable merit, but to which he probably contributed only his
name — a common trick among the retailers of Complete Family
Bibles. His translations of Aoiacreon, SappJio, Bion, Moschus,
and Musaius, appeared in 1760, and his Theocritus, encouraged
by another liberal subscription, in 1767. His Apollonius
Rhodius, a posthumous publication, completed by the Rev. H.
Meen, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, made its appearance
in 1780, when Mr. Fawkes's widow was enabled, by the kind-
ness of the editor, to avail herself of the subscriptions, contri-
buted as usual very liberally. Mr. Fawkes died in Kent,
August 26th, 1777. These scanty materials are taken chiefly
from Nichols's Life of Bowyer, and little can now be added to
them. Mr. Fawkes was a man of a social disposition, with
much of the imprudence which adheres to it. Although a pro-
found classical scholar, and accounted an excellent translator,
he was unable to publish any of his works without the previous
aid of a subscription; and his Bible was a paltry job which
necessity only could have induced him to undertake. With all
his failings, however, it appears that he was held in esteem by
many distinguished contemporaries, particularly by Drs. Pearce,
Jortin, Johnson, Warton, Plumptre, and Askew, who contributed
critical assistance to his translation of Theocritus. As an
original poet, much cannot be said in his favour. His powers
were confined to occasional slight and encomiastic verses, such
as may be produced without great effort, and are supposed to
answer every purpose when they have pleased those to whom
they were addressed. The epithalamic Ode may perhaps rank
higher, if we could forget an obvious endeavour to imitate
Dryden and Pope. In the Elegy on the Death of Bobbin, and
one or two other pieces, there is a considerable portion of
humour, which is a more legitimate proof of genius than one
species of poets are disposed to allow. His principal defects are
want of judgment and taste. These, however, are less discover-
able in his translations, and it was probably a consciousness of
limited powers which inclined him so much to translation. In
this he everywhere displays a critical knowledge of his author,
while his versification is smooth and elegant, and his expression
remarkablv clear. He was once esteemed the best translator
FIRST EARL OF MEXBOROUGH. 177
since the days of Pope; a praise which, if now disallowed, it
is much that it could in his own time have been bestowed with
justice. These poetical versions have been repeatedly published.
His poetry, though not of first-rate talent, is elegant and cor-
rect. — For additional information, see Johnson and Chalmers's
English Poets, 1810, vol. xvi., Arc. : Nichols's Poems (and Bowyer);
Aikin's General Biography ; Cunningham's Lives, vol. xi.;
Chambers's Cyclopaedia of English Literature, vol. ii., p. 118;
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iii., p. 51, ke.; the Biographical
Dictionaries of Chalmers, Gorton, Rose, &c.
1720-1778.
FIRST EAEL OF MEXBOROUGH,
Formeidy John Savile, Esq., was installed a Knight of the
Bath in 1749, and elevated to the peerage of Ireland on the 8th
of November, 1753, as Baron Pollington of Longford. His
lordship was created Viscount Pollington and Earl of 3Iex-
borough, on the 11th of February, 1766. He married, in
January, 1760, Sarah, sister of John, Lord Delaval, by whom
he had issue John, the second earl, and two other sons. The
first earl died in February, 1778, aged fifty-eight, and is buried
at Methley church, where there is a monument to him. This
being a peerage of Ireland, it confers no hereditary seat in par-
liament, and the present earl is not one of the representative
lords. The distinguished family of Savile has possessed patents
of nobility in two of its branches prior to those of the present
noble house, namely, Savile, Duke of Sussex, extinguished in
1672, and Savile, Marquis of Halifax, extinguished in 1700.
From a third branch sprung Sir John Savile, Knight, of
Bradley Hall, in this county, one of the Barons of the Exche-
quer, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., from whom this
family is descended.* Their coat of arms includes three owls;
* Sir John Savile, Knight (brother to the equally celebrated Sir Henry
Savile, warden of Merton College, Oxf. >rd, who died in 1621, and grandson
of John Savile, Esq., of New Hall, near Leeds), was succeeded at his decease,
in 1606, by his eldest son, Henry Savile, Esq., of Methley, near Leeds, who
was created a baronet in 1(511; but dying without issue in 1631, the title
became extinct— (for a fine engraving of the tomb of Huron Savile, and Sir
Henry Savile, his son, in Methley church, see Whitaker's Loidis, p. 270)—
and the estates devolved upon (the son of Sir John Savile, by his second
wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wentworth, Esq.) his half-brother,
John Savile, Esq., who Urns became "of Methley." He married, first,
Mary, daughter of John Robinson, Esq., of Bather; and, secondly, Margaret,
daughter of Sir Henry Garraway, Knight, Lord Mayor of London. After
being sheriff of Yorkshire, he died in L65L, and was succeeded by his son,
John Savile, Esq.. of Methley and Thriberg, born in 1644; married Sarah,
daughter of Peter Tryon, Esq., and was succeeded by his second^son, Charles
M
178 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
and their crest is also an owl. Their motto is, " Be fast," and
their country-seat is at Methley Park, near Leeds. — For the pedi-
gree, &c, of the Saviles, Earls of Mexborough, see Whitaker's
Loidis and Elmete, p. 272; Hunter's South Yorkshire, &c.
3727-1778.
CHAELES (INGEAM), VISCOUNT IEWIN*
There is a monument m Whitkirk church, near Leeds, to the
memory of the late Lord and Lady Irwin, the latter of whom
Savile, Esq., born in May, 1677; married Aletheia, daughter and co-heiress of
Gilbert Mellington, Esq., of Nottinghamshire, and was succeeded, in 1741,
by his only son, Sir John Savile, LL.D., M.P., &c, the first Earl of Mex-
borough, of Methley Park, near Leeds. — See the Peerages of Burke, Collins,
Debrett, Lodge, &c.
* The founder of this family was Hugh Ingram, a wealthy citizen and
merchant of London, and of Thorp-on-the-Hill, near Leeds, who died in
1612, leaving a large fortune to his two sons. The elder, Sir AVilliam iDgram,
LL.D., Secretary to the Council of the North, died in July, 1623, leaving
issue. The younger, Sir Arthur Ingram, made entensive purchases in the
county of York, including Temple Newsom, on the river Aire, two miles
below Leeds, from the Duke of Lennox. He served the office of sheriff for
Yorkshire in the 18th of James I. ; often represented the city of York in
parliament ; was one of the right hon. Council in the North, and justice of
the peace in the several Ridings. He was thrice married, and succeeded by
his eldest son, — Sir Arthur Ingram, of Temple Newsom, high sheriff of York-
shire in the 6th of Charles I., deputy-lieutenant, and justice of the peace,
died in July, 1655, and was succeeded by his second son, — Henry, Lord
Ingram, of Temple Newsom, who, having been a great loyalist during the
troublesome reign of Charles L, was created a peer of Scotland, with
remainder to the heirs male of his body, as Lord Ingram, Viscount of Irvine,
by letters patent, dated 23rd May, 1661. He married Lady Essex Montagu,
daughter of Edward, Earl of Manchester, and had two sons, Edward and
Arthur. His lordship died in August, 1666, and was succeeded by his elder
son, — Edward, Lord Ingram, second Viscount Irvine or Irwin, who married
Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Leitrim, and sister of the Earl of Harborough ;
died in 1688, and was succeeded by his brother, — Arthur, Lord Ingram, third
Viscount Irwin, who married Isabella, eldest daughter and co-heiress of
John Machel, Esq., M.P. for Horsham, Sussex, and had nine sons, of whom
five, Edward, Richard, Arthur, Henry, and George, became fourth, fifth,
sixth, seventh, and eighth Viscounts Irwin.
Edward, Lord Ingram, fourth Viscount, was lord-lieutenant of the East-
Riding, and died in May, 1714. Richard, Lord Ingram, fifth Viscount, mar-
ried Lady Anne Howard, third daughter of Charles, third Earl of Carlisle. (Of
this lady there is a portrait in Park's Walpole.) She was a poetess, and
printed the following works :— In 1759, A Character of the Princess Elizabeth;
An Ode to George III., in 1761; An Answer to some Verses of Lady Mary
Worthy Montague, printed in a supplement to Pope's Works; A Poetical
Essay on Mr. Pope's Characters of Women. For this last her ladyship was
thus noticed in Duncombe's Feminead: —
"By generous views, one peeress more demands
A grateful tribute from all female hands ;
One, who to shield them from the worst of foes,
In their just cause dar'd Pope himself oppose.
Their own dark forms, deceit and envy wear,
By Irwin touch'd with truth's celestial spear."
CHARLES (INGRAM), VISCOUNT IRWIN. 179
spent a long and beneficent life at Temple Newsom, near
Leeds — the design of which, though very handsome, scarcely
required the hand of Nollekins — with the following inscrip-
tion: — "To the memory of the best of parents, Charles, Vis-
count Irwin, and Frances, Viscountess Irwin, his beloved wife,
this monument is erected by their most dutiful and afflicted
daughter, Isabella Ann Hertford.* The Right Hon. Charles
Ingram, Viscount Irwin, born 19th of March, 1727, died 19th
He was Governor of Hull, colonel of the Body Guards, and was appointed
Governor of Barbadoes, but died a few weeks before lie should have set out
for that island, in May, 1721, without issue.
Arthur, Lord Ingram, sixth Viscount, M.P. for Horsham, and lord-lieu-
tenaut for the East-Riding ; died in June, 1736, without issue.
Henry, Lord Ingram, seventh Viscount, also M.P. for Horsham, commis-
sary for the stores at Gibraltar, and lord-lieutenant of the East-Biding, also
died without issue.
Bev. Dr. George, Lord Ingram, eighth Viscount, canon of Windsor, pre-
bendary of "Westminster, and chaplain to the House of Commons, succeeded
his brother in 1761, and dying without issue in 1763, aged sixty-nine, was
succeeded by his nephew,
Charles, Lord Ingram, ninth Viscount (son of Charles Ingram, younger
brother of the six preceding peers, colonel of the 2nd Begiment of Foot
Guards, and adjutant-general of the forces, M.P. for Horsham till his death
in 1748), married, in 1756, Miss Shepherd, a lady of large fortune. His lord-
ship, who was chosen one of the representative peers of Scotland in 1768,
died at Temple Newsom, June 27th, 1778, when, having no male issue, the
peerage became extinct. He had the following five daughters (who all bore
the additional surname of Shepherd): —
1. Isabella Ann Ingram Shepherd, married, in 1776, to Francis Seymour
Conway, second Marquis of Hertford, K.G., &c, lord of Temple Newsom
(jure uxoris); took the surname and arms of Ingram, by royal licence, in
1807 ; appointed lord chamberlain in March, 1812 ; and had issue an only son,
Francis Charles, third Marquis of Hertford, E.G., kc.
2. Frances Ingram Shepherd, married in March, 1781, to Lord "William
Ion (see his lines addressed to the Marchioness of Hertford), second son of
Cosmo George, third Duke of Gordon, and died without issue.
3. Elizabeth Digram Shepherd, married in August, 1782, Hugo Meynell,
Esq. (a) the younger, of Bradley, in the county of Derby, and died in May,
1800, leaving issue,
4. Harriet Digram Shepherd, married in September, 1789, to Colonel
Henry Harvey Aston, and had issue,
5. Louisa Susan Ingram Shepherd, married in June, 1787, to Sir John
Bamsden, Bart., of Byrom Hall, in the county of York, and had issue John
I Sharles Bamsden, M.P. for Malton, &c, who married Isabella, fourth
daughter of Lord Dundas, and had issue the present Sir John William
Bamsden, Bart., M.P. for the West-Biding, &c— Burke's Extinct Peerage, kc.
Lines addressed to the Marchioness of Hertford, by Lord William
G irdon, on the death of her mother: —
"In the cold grave, where earth-born sorrows cease,
Thine honour'd, aged mother, sleeps in peace !
' Hugo Meynel). Esq.. of noar Cross, county Stafford, married the Hon. Elizabeth Ingram,
daughter and co-heiress of the last Viscount lima, and by that lady had issue Hugo Charles- his
Henry, par-admiral, late M.P. for Lisburn; Frances Adeline, married in November, i-n.
to u llliam Beckett. Esq.. MI', for Leeds. Mr. Meynell died in ism. and was succeeded by bis
elder son. who, having token the additional surname of Ingram, is the present Hugo Charles
I] Ingram, Esq., of Temple Newsom, near Leeds. Their motto is. " Virtute vici;" or, "By
virtue I have conquered."— See Lurke's Landed Gentry, &c.
180 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of June, 1778, aged fifty-one years. The Right Hon. Frances,
Viscountess Irwin, born 8th of August, 1734, died 20th of
November, 1807, aged seventy-three years." There is at
Temple Newsom a series of family portraits, including one of
the ninth and last Lord Viscount Irwin, by Wilson, and another
of his daughter, Isabella, the late Marchioness of Hertford, by
Sir Joshua Reynolds. — For their pedigree, coat of arms, and other
particulars, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 230; Burke's
Extinct Peerage; Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol. i., p. 173, &c.
-1782.*
WILLIAM DENISON, ESQ.,
Eldest son of William Denison, a Leeds merchant, and brother
to Sir Thomas Denison, was also a merchant in Leeds, where
he realized a large fortune, and where for many years he was a
Long in the paths of virtue had she trod,
Each step directed hy the hand of God :
Long had she prospered, in this vale of tears,
And happiness inereas'd with length of years ;
Each duty piously fulfill'd in life,
Of mother, daughter, neighbour, friend, and wife.
Full oft on angel-errand would she go,
To carry comfort to the house of woe ;
Oft to the family of silent grief,
Bear unsolicited, uuhoped relief ;
And homeward as she hied, along the vale,
On every side around her hreath'd the gale
Of gratitude, and, far as she could hear,
The voice of distant blessings reach'd her ear ;
And still at early morn and evening late,
The child of want found welcome at her gate ;
While Charity, within her ancient hall,
Dealt largess, food, and raiment, unto all ; —
Her day on earth was happy ! like the sun
In a May morn, her dawn of life began ;
Unclouded was the sky, serene the air,
And twilight infancy heam'd passing fair;
High rose her charms, and with no common blaze,
Shone in the noontide lustre of their rays ;
Lovely and settled were her evening hours,
Unvex'd by storms of grief, or sorrow's showers,
Late, in the sea of calm content, she sat,
And left behind a night of long regret.
Oh ! say, could fond imagination trace,
Through the long hue of life, a happier race?
Yet, what avails the thought ! In silent course,
Sorrow still flows from memory's lov'd source ;
The tear still rises in a daughter's eye,
Falls on her bosom, and there meets a sigh ! "
ST* For tablet and inscription, &c, to the memory of the Rev. James Scott,
M.A., the first minister of Holy Trinity church, Leeds, who died in February,
1782, see Sketch of the Eev. Henry Eobinson, M.A., who died in 173G, p. 145.
See also note to the Rev. James Scott, D.D., who died in 1814.
JEREMIAH DIXON, ESQ., F.R.S. 181
great benefactor to the poor. He lived in Kirkgate, and after-
wards at Denison Hall, Hanover Square, in this town. In
January, 1776, he gave thirty loads of corn and four hundred
corves of coals to the poor of Kirkgate division. The Leeds
Corporation brought an action against him, when alderman, for
refusing to take upon himself the office of mayor, to which he
had been elected no less than four times, namely, in 1754,
1755, 1756, and 1758. Lord Chief-Justice Mansfield, who tried
the cause at York, observed " that he was surprised Mr. Denison
should refuse the highest honour that the Corporation of Leeds
could confer upon him." The cause was compromised by his
engaging to accept office, on condition that the duties thereof
might be discharged by his brother. He purchased the manor
of Ossington, in Nottinghamshire, in 1753, and served as
high sheriff of that county in 1779. He died at Bath, April
11th, 1782, worth half-a-million of money, leaving issue John,
his heir,* and Nathaniel. In Ossington church there is a
magnificent mausoleum to his memory. — See the Annals and
Histories of Leeds, &c.
1726-1782.
JEEEMIAH DIXON, ESQ., F.K.S.,
"Was born at Gledhow, near Leeds, in 1726; was high sheriff
for the county of York in 1758; and died in 1782, aged fifty-six
years. t He was the only son of Mr. John Dixon, merchant,
* His eldest son, John Denison, Esq., was 3d. P. for Chichester, and after-
wards for Minehead. He married twice; by his first wife he had two
daughters, of whom the elder, Charlotte, married the Eight Hon. Charles
Manners Sutton, Speaker of the House of Commons, afterwards Viscount
Canterbury; by his second wife, Charlotte, daughter of Samuel Eastwicke,
Esq., M.P., he had issue — 1, John Evelyn (of Ossington Hall, county Notts),
born 27th January, 1800 ; married 14th July, 1827, Lady Charlotte Bentinck,
third daughter of the present Duke of Portland. He is M.A. of Christ
Church, Oxford, and has been a member of the House of Commons since the
year 1823. He was chosen Speaker in May, 1857, and made a PC. — 2,
Edward (Right Rev.), D.D., born in 1801, consecrated Bishop of Salisbury
in 1837, died in 1854. — 3, William Thomas (Sir), Knt., captain Royal En-
gineers, and late Governor-General of Australia, now of Madras. — 4, George
Anthony, in holy orders, M. A., rector of East Brent, prebendary of Salisbury,
and archdeacon of Taunton; married 4th September, 1838, Georgiana, eldest
daughter of J. W. Henley, Esq., M.P.— 5, Henry, M.A., Fellow of All Souls,
Oxford, and barrister-atdaw ; Stephen Charles, M.A., barrister-atdaw, &c;
with several others. — For further particulars, see Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
h He was lineally descended from William Dixon, of Heaton Royds, near
Shipley, who was living in the year 1564 ; whose grandson, Joshua, settled at
Leeds, in the cloth trade, and married Eleanor, sister of William, father of
Alderman John Dodgson, twice mayor of Leeds, in 1696 and 1710; whose
eldest son, Jeremiah, of Leeds, died in October, 1721, having married Mary,
daughter of the above John Dodgson, and left issue John Dixon, of Leeds,
merchant, who married Frances, daughter of Thomas Gower, Esq., of Hutton,
182 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of Leeds, for whom he caused a monument to be erected in the
Leeds parish church, with the following inscription : — " Near
this place are deposited the remains of Mr. John Dixon, of
Leeds, merchant, who died 4th February, 1749, aged fifty -four
years. — And also of Frances, his wife, who died 16th September,
1750, aged sixty-two years. Their exemplary conjugal affec-
tion, and uniform practice of religious duties, made their loss
sincerely lamented, more particularly by their only son, Jeremiah
Dixon, of Gledhow, Esq., F.R.S., high sheriff of this county in
the year 1758, who died 7th of June, 1782, aged fifty-six years.
At whose request this monument is erected, as a token of
respect, to the memory of his parents. His own unsullied
purity and amiableness of manners, strict integrity and elegance
of taste, cultivated mind and evenness of temper, with an
unwearied attention to the duties of a man, a citizen, and a
Christian, engaged the esteem of all who knew him, and ren-
dered him an example worthy of the imitation of posterity. —
Also in memory of Mary Dixon, wife of the above-mentioned
Jeremiah Dixon, Esq., and daughter of the Rev. Henry Wick-
grandson of Edward Gower, younger brother of Sir Thomas Gower, Bart. , of
Sittenham, in this county, from whom the Duke of Sutherland and Earl
Granville are descended. This Jeremiah Dixon, their son, purchased, in
1764, the estate of Gledhow from the WUson family ; in 1765, the manor of
Chapel- Allerton from Mr. Killingheck ; and in 1771, the estates of Lady
Dawes and her son. In the years 1766 and 1767, he made considerable addi-
tions to the old house of Gledhow, and during the remainder of his life con-
tinued to adorn it with beautiful plantations. Having first introduced the
Apherhously pine into the neighbourhood, it is usually known by the name
of the Gledhow pine. (For a fine engraving of his bouse at Gledhow, and the
surrounding country, see Dr. Whitaker's History of Leeds, p. 131. ) He left
three sons — 1, John, his heir ; 2, Jeremiah, mayor of Leeds in 1784, who
married Mary, daughter of John Smeaton, Esq., F.R.S., who built Eddystone
Lighthouse ; 3, Henry, of Brooke Farm, near Liverpool, who married Miss
Townley Plumbe, daughter of Thomas Plumbe, Esq., and sister of Colonel
Plunibe Tempest, of Tong Hall, near Leeds, by whom he had a large family.
John Dixon, Esq., of Gledhow, the eldest son and heir, was born in June,
1753; became colonel of the 1st West York Militia; justice of the peace, and
deputy -lieutenant for the West-Riding ; married in July, 1784, Lydia,
daughter of the Rev. T. Parker, of Astle, in the county of Chester, and had
issue — 1, Henry, his heir; 2, John, present representative; 3, George, late
captain in the 3rd Guards, &c. Colonel John Dixon died in April, 1824, and
was succeeded by Henry Dixon, Esq., of Gledhow, born in November, 1794;
lieutenant in the 15th Hussars ; married in December, 1829, Emma Matilda,
niece of Sir Robert Wilmot, of Derbyshire, and died without issue in
August, 1838, when he was succeeded by his next brother, —John Dixon, Esq.,
of Astle Hall, near Knutsford, Cheshire, born in February, 1799 ; a captain in
the army; married in May, 1840, Sophia, daughter of the late T. W. Tatton,
Esq., and has issue six sons and three daughters. — See Burke's Landed Gentry,
&c. For an account of James Henry Dixon, Esq. , of Seaton Carew, county
of Durham, and the old family of the Beestons, of Beeston, near Leeds, see
appendix to Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
THE REV. SAMUEL KIRSHAW, D.D. 183
ham, rector of Guiseley, who departed this life the 7th of April,
1807, aged seventy -three years." — For pedigree and other par-
ticulars of the Dixons, see Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete,
p. 130; Burke's Landed Gentry; Commoners of England,
vol. hi., &c.
1701—1784.
THE EEV. THOMAS ADAM, B.A.,
A pious divine, was born at Leeds in the year 1701, and edu-
cated at Wakefield. He was the second son of H. Adam, Esq.,
town-clerk of Leeds, by Elizabeth, daughter of Jasper Blyth-
man,* Esq., recorder of Leeds, who died in December, 1707.
After remaining two years at Cambridge, he went to Oxford,
where he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts. He afterwards
obtained the living of Winteringham, in Lincolnshire, of which
lie continued rector fifty-eight years, and repeatedly refused
additional preferment. He died, much regretted, in his eighty -
third year, in 1784. His Works were published in 3 vols.,t
Svo., London, 1822. — For additional particulars, see his Life
and Memoirs, mentioned below; the Monthly Review; Dar-
ling's Cyclopaedia Bibliographia, &c.
1706-1786.
THE EEV. SAMUEL KIRSHAW, D.D.,
Vicar of Leeds, an attentive and conscientious parish priest,
was the son of the Bev. Bichard Kirshaw, D.D., rector of
Bipley forty-two years, who died in 1736, aged seventy-two,
and Rebecca, daughter of Samuel Sykes, Esq., mayor of Leeds
in 1674, whose younger daughter, Mary, married Samuel Kir-
shaw, of Leeds, merchant, Bichard's brother. Bichard Kir-
* For the pedigree of the Blythman family, see Thoresby's Ducntus
Leodiensis, p. 9, &c.
T Vol. i. contains A Life and Character of the Author; An Exposition of
St. Matthew's Gospel, with suitable lectures and prayers.
Vol. ii. A Paraphrase on Romans; Private Thoughts on Religion ; Prac-
tical Lectures on the Church Catechism; An Exercise Preparatory to Con-
firmation. — According to the Monthly Review for February, 1754, " the author
writes like a pious n ',;>.:», and one who. is desirous to make us good Christians."
Vol. in. Evawjdical Sermons (twenty-six in number). The volume of
'Zermons published in 1781 contains only the last eleven of the above.— In
the year 1786, the Rev. Joseph Milner assisted the Rev. William Richardson
in the publication of the posthumous works of their venerable friend, Mr.
Adam. The preface to the Private Thoughts was their joint work. The
Rev. James Stillingfleet wrote the Life.
He also wrote an Exposition of the Four Gospels, which was edited by the
Rev. A. Westoby, M.A., with a Memoir by the editor, 2 vols., 8vo., Loudon,
1837. Mr. Westoby aLso published a Life of the Rev. Thomas Adam, sepa
lately in 183 1, l'.'nio.
184 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
shaw's father was also rector of Ripley, and his mother was
also a Miss Sykes. Samuel, the vicar of Leeds, was educated
at the Leeds Grammar School, and afterwards at Catherine
Hall, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B.A. in 1727;
proceeded M.A. in 1731; and D.D. in 1740. He was regularly
elected vicar of Leeds, March 2 1 st, 1751, after a long contest. He
married Ann, only surviving daughter of the Rev. S. Brook, D.D.,
minister of St. John's, Leeds, and had issue — 1, Richard, Fellow
of Trinity College, Cambridge, B.D., rector of Masham, and
minister of Holy Trinity, Leeds, bom in 1743, and died in Jan.,
1791-2, without issue; 2, Frances, born in 1751, and married
Ralph Shipperdson, Esq., of Pidding Hall, Garth, in the county
of Durham. For an account of him and his successors, see
Burke's Landed Gentry, &c. After the death of the Rev.
Joseph Cookson, in 1745, a contest and litigation of six years
ensued, owing to one of the twenty-five trustees nominated
under a decree of Lord Bacon having died, and the remaining
twenty-four divided their votes equally between two candidates,
viz., James Scott, M.A., and Samuel Kirshaw, M.A. Thus
the matter rested till one of the twenty-four died, and the
twelve friends of Mr. Scott strove to enforce his election, which
the other eleven trustees rejected, and demanded a popular
election. Mr. Kirshaw was chosen by the major part of the
parishioners ; several bills were now filed in Chancery, where at
length it was ordered that the trustees should fill up their
number to twenty-five, which was done, and Mr. Kirshaw was
re-elected and inducted in 1751. At the close of this long
contest, the disappointed candidate, Mr. Scott, gave vent to his
feelings by an angry and injudicious pamphlet, which was
answered in a strain of cool and sarcastic humour by Mr.
Fawcett, afterwards minister of St. John's, to whom the charge
of the parish church had been committed during the seques-
tration. The parish had great reason to be thankful for the
decree of the Court of Chancery, and the subsequent conduct of
the electors. Through the remainder of a long life, Dr. Kir-
shaw devoted himself to the duties of his position with great
assiduity, and died, much regretted, at the age of eighty,
November 1st, 1786.* He was also rector of Ripley, where,
during a summer residence of four months, he annually visited,
at their own houses, every family in a parish of no inconsider-
* We understand that John Smith, Esq., the banker, has a fine oil-paint
portrait of the Rev. S. Kirshaw, D.D., formerly vicar of Leeds. N.B. — We
shordd like to see a full collection of Portraits, &c. , of all the most celebrated
"Worthies of Leeds and Neighbourhood," got together by some gentleman
BENJAMIN WILSON, ESQ., F.R.S. 185
able extent.'"' He was interred beneath the communion-table of
the parish church, Leeds. The truly classical epitaph, written
by his son, aud inscribed on a mural monument in the choir,
has the additional merit of speaking the language of truth, as
well as of affection. — For his pedigree and other particulars, see
Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, pp. 22, 36, &c. ; Whitaker's
Loidis and Elmete, p. 360, &c; Nichols's Literary Illustrations,
vol. iii., p. 757, &c.
1720—1788.
BENJAMIN WILSON, ESQ., F.R.S.,
A celebrated painter, born at Leeds about 1720. Having
shown some talent for drawing, he was sent to London when
young, and was recommended to Dr. Berdmore, master of the
Charter-house, who took him under his protection. It is uncer-
tain whether he was regularly educated in the art, but by his
natural disposition and assiduous application, he became a very
reputable painter of portraits. He was among the first of the
portrait painters of his time who endeavoured to introduce a
better style of relief and of the chiar-oscuro into his pictures,
and his heads are coloured with more warmth and nature than
those of the generality of his contemporaries. About the year
1773 he was appointed master-painter to the Board of Ordnance,
which he retained till a few years before his death. He was
particularly distinguished for his etchingst in imitation of
Rembrandt, which are said to have completely deceived the
connoisseurs of that day. The celebrated painting of the
Raising of Jairuss Daughter, valued at £500, is an honourable
proof both of his abilities as an artist, and of his generosity;
it being now in the board-room of the Leeds General Infirmary.
He was also pre-eminent amongst the men of science of his
day, not only for the extent of his scientific attainments, but
who has not only the will but also the means, and presented to some of our
public institutions; — exempli gratia, the political ones might go to the Town
Hall; the literary and philosophical, to the Museum of the Literary and
Philosophical Society ; aud the vicars and clergy, to the Church Institute, &c.
* Dr. Kirshaw was the author of two papers in the Philosophical Trans-
actions: — An Account of two Pigs of Lead found near Ripley, vol. xli.,
p. 560; and An Account of a Thunder and Lightning Storm, by which Mr.
Huntley, of Harrogate, was Killed, September 29th, 1772, vol. lxiii., p. 177, &c.
1" There are several etchings by this artist, among which are the following :
— An old man's head, with a hat and feather, and a ruff; in imitation of
Rembrandt. A small landscape, lengthways; in imitation of the sam<>
master. Flis own portrait, in a wig, with very little drapery. A i-<>arse
etching of The Repeal. It was published upon the repeal of the American
Stamp Act, and contains the portraits of the leading men of the ministerial
party. — See Bryan's Biographical Dictionary of Painters, vol. ii., p. 012, &c.
186 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
also for the originality of his views. His contributions to the
science of electricity procured for the humble painter of Boar
Lane the unsolicited honour of being elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society: an honour conferred, at that time, with strict
impartiality and discrimination. He died at his house in Great
Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London, June 6th, 1788. — For a
long list of his papers contributed to the Philosophical Trans-
actions, see Gentleman s Magazine for 1788, p. 656. See also
several articles in the Leeds Mercury for October, 1832, on
Intellectual Epochs in Leeds.
3707—1788.
THE REV. SIR WILLIAM LOWTHER, BART., M.A.,
Rector of Swillington, near Leeds, was born July 10th, 1707,
and was the son of Christopher Lowthei', younger brother of
Sir William Lowther, M.P. for Pontefract, who was created
a baronet in 1715; married Annabella, daughter of Lord May-
nard, and had issue Sir William Lowther, Bart., also M.P. for
Pontefract, who died in December, 1763, without issue; when
the title became extinct, his brothers having died. This Rev.
William procured a fresh patent of baronetage, dated August
22nd, 1764; married in August, 1753, Anne, eldest daughter of
the Rev. Charles Zouch, vicar of Sandal, near Wakefield, and
had issue Sir William Lowther, Bart., born December 29th,
1757; married July 15th, 1781, Lady Anne Fane, daughter of
John, ninth Earl of Westmoreland; M.P. for Carlisle, 1780;
for Cumberland, 1784; for Rutland, 1796; and on the death of
James, late Earl of Lonsdale, in May, 1802, succeeded him as
second Viscount Lowther. On April 4th, 1807, he was created
Earl of Lonsdale, and about the same time elected K.G., &c.*
In Swillington church, near Leeds, there is a monument to the
above, with the following inscription : — "Sacred to the memory
of the Rev. Sir Win. Lowther, Bart., prebendary of the cathedral
church of York, and rector of this parish. In all the relative
duties of life truly exemplary; without pride, without osten-
tation; modest and unaspiring in his desires; of excellent
understanding and sound judgment; graced with all the noblest
acquirements of learning, and distinguished by that urbanity of
manners which adorns the accomplished scholar: the benign
cheerfulness of his aspect shone forth a silent testimony of the
inward serenity of his mind. He died, full of the blessings of
* See also Sir William Lowther, who died in 1705, p. 119 ; and also the
Earl's younger brother, Sir John Lowther, who was created, a ba.rouet iu
1824, and died in 1S44.
JOHN BERKENHOUT, ESQ., M.D. 187
a virtuous life, full of the hopes of a happy immortality, June
loth, 1788, aged eighty-one years." — For pedigree and other
particulars, see the Peerages and Baronetages; Dr. Whitaker's
Loidis and Elmete, p. 260, &c.
1731-1791.*
JOHN BEEKENHOUT, ESQ., M.D.,
A celebrated naturalist and miscellaneous "writer, was bom at
Leeds in 1731, and was educated in the Leeds Grammar School.
His father, who was a merchant, and a native of Holland,
intended him for the mercantile profession ; and with that view
sent him at an early age to Germany, in order to learn foreign
languages. After continuing a few years in that country, he
made the tour of Europe in company with one or more English
noblemen. On their return to Germany they visited Berlin,
where Mr. Berkenhout met with a near relation of his father's,
the Baron de Bielfeldt, a nobleman then in high estimation
with Frederic the Great, king of Prussia; distinguished as one
of the founders of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin,
and universally known as a politician and a man of letters.
With this relation our young traveller fixed his abode for some
time; and, regardless of his original destination, became a cadet
* — 1791-2, Mr. Reuben Burrow, a zealous and well-known mathematician,
was bom at Hoberly, near Leeds. His father, who occupied a small farm,
was not in circumstances to afford him a better education than reading and
writing : when about fifteen or sixteen years of age, however, he went for a
short time to a school in Leeds, where he made rapid progress in algebra,
geometry, and mensuration. A friend in London having engaged to procure
for him the situation of clerk to a timber merchant, Reuben, in his eighteenth
year, left Yorkshire, and in less than four days completed the journey to
London, principally, if not all the way, on foot; his whole expense, it is said,
amounted to no more than one shilling and tenpence/ He continued Mith the
timber merchant a year, and then engaged himself as an usher to Benjamin
Webb, the celebrated writing-master, in Bimhill Row. It was not long,
however, before he commenced master himself, and set up a school at Ports-
mouth; but as it failed to answer his expectations, he returned to London.
His next situation was that of assistant to Dr. Maskelyne, at the Royal Obser-
vatory, Greenwich; here he continued about two years, and then, in conse-
quence of his marriage, left the doctor; but, in 1774, was sent with him to
assist in making the observations at the mountain Schiehallion : and soon
after he returned from Scotland, his friend and patron, Colonel Henry
Wal son (himself an able mathematician), procured him the appointment of
mathematical master at the drawing-room in the Tower. He now compiled the
Lady's and Gentleman's Diary, Poor Robin, and some other almanacs, sold
by Carnan, in St. Paul's Churcbyard. In 1770 he published a Rcstitutimi oj
the Geometrical Treatise of Apollonius Pergceus on Inclinations; also, The
Theory of Gunnery ; or, the Doctrine of Projectiles in a NoTwesistvng Medium,
4to. These are strongly marked with originality in geometrical construction.
In 1782 he embarked for the East Indies, at the request of Colonel Watson,
who thought he might exercise his abilities to much more advantage in that
country than he could in England, His first employment after ho arrived at
188 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
in a Prussian regiment of foot. He soon obtained an ensign's
commission ; and, in the space of a few years, was advanced to
the rank of a captain. He quitted the Prussian service on the
declaration of war between England and France in 1756, and
was honoured with the command of a company in the service
of his native country. When peace was concluded in 1760,
he went to Edinburgh, and commenced the study of physic.
During his residence at that university, he compiled his Clavis
Anglica Linguae Botanicce — a book of singular utility to all
students of botany, and at that time the only botanical lexicon
in our language, and particularly expletive of the Linnsean
system. It was not, however, published until 1764-5. Having
continued some years at Edinburgh, Mr. Berkenhout went to
the University of Leyden, where he took the degree of Doctor
of Medicine in 1765, as we learn from his Dissertatio Medico,
inauguralis de Podagra, dedicated to his relation, the Baron de
Bielfeldt. Returning to England, Dr. Berkenhout settled at
Isleworth in Middlesex, and in 1766 published Ins Pharma-
copoeia Medici, 12mo., the third edition of which was printed
in 1782. In 1769 he published Outlines of the Natural History
Calcutta was private teaching ; this we learn from a paragraph which
appeared in one of the English newspapers, stating that a Cashmerean, one of
Mr. Burrow's pupils, who understood English, "was translating Newton's
Principia into Persian" ! Besides Colonel Watson, he soon reckoned the late
Sir W. Jones, Colonel Wilf ord, &c. , among his intimate friends, who recom-
mended him to Mr. Hastings, and he was made mathematical master to the
corps of engineers. He now became one of the first members of the Asiatic
Society, and a contributor to their Transactions. He is also supposed to have
been the first European who discovered algebra among the Hindoos. In 1787
the East India Company came to a resolution that a trigonometrical survey,
similar to that carried on in England under the direction of General Roy,
should commence on the coast of Coromandel, or somewhere in Bengal— this
has since taken place under the direction of Major Lambton — and it was
generally supposed that the execution of this business would have been com-
mitted to Mr. Burrow ; but the instruments intended for that purpose were
not ready, and it appears from the papers of Major Lambton, in the Asiatic
Researclies, that they were not sent from England till about 1800 or 1802 ;
this must have been a great disappointment to a person of Mr. Burrow's
zeal in the pursuit of mathematical knowledge. It did not, however, deter
him from commencing the operation; accordingly we find that in 1790 he
began near a place called Cawkselly, in lat. 23° 28' 7" N., hag. 5h. 53 m.
18 sec. E., and actually measured a distance of 212,670 feet (about 40 miles)
on the parallel of that latitude : the corresponding difference of longitude
he found by going twelve or thirteen times from one extremity of the
measured line to the other, with four of Arnold's and Earnshaw's chrono-
meters; the mean result he puts down at 2 m. 32s., which gives 55,989
fathoms for a degree of longitude in tat. 23° 28' N. In the following year
he determined the length of a degree on the meridian in lost. 23° 18' N. A
distance of 411,004 feet on the meridian was actually measured with rods
(not computed trigonometrically), and the corresponding difference of latitude
found to be 1° 7' 55", making 60,457 fathoms for a degree. A mean of 59
189
of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. i. ; vol. ii. appeared in 1770,
and vol. iii. in 1771. The encouragement this work met with
afforded at least a proof that something of the kind was wanted.
The three volumes were reprinted together in 1773, and in
1778 were again published in 2 vols., 8vo., under the title of
Synopsis of the Natural History of Great Britain, ike. In
1771, he published Dr. Cadogan's Dissertation on the Gout exa-
mined and refuted; and in 1777, Biographia Literarxa; or, a
Biographical History of Literature; containing the Lives of
English, Scotch, and Irish authors, from the dawn of Letters in
these kingdoms to the present time, chronologically and classi-
cally arranged, 4to., vol. i., the only volume which appeared.
This volume contains the authors who lived from the beginning
of the fifth to the end of the sixteenth century. In a very-
long preface, dated from Richmond, in Surrey, the author pro-
mises his readers a second, third, and fourth volume, but they
never made their appearance. The hives are very short, and
the author occasionally introduces sentiments hostile to religious
establishments aud doctrines, which could not be veiy acceptable
to English readers. The dates and facts, however, are given
with great accuracy, and in many of the lives he profited by the
assistance of George Steevens, Esq., the celebrated commentator
latitudes was taken at one extremity of the measured arc, and a mean of 131
at the other. These latitudes were observed with an astronomical quadrant,
one foot radius, by Kamsden, and for measuring his rods he had one of
Eamsden's fifty feet steel chains of the new construction. A detail of these
operations was intended for the Asiatic Researches, hut Mr. Burrow died the
year following, and therefore we have reason to suppose that he was prevented
by illness from arranging the result of his labours for the press. In 1796,
however, A Short Account of the late Mr. Burrow's Measurement of a Degree
of Longitude, and mi', titer of Latitude, near the Tropic in Bengal, in the years
1790-1, was published by his friend Mr. Dalby, who collected the materials
from some papers which Mr. Burrow left him at his decease ; and it appears
from this publication (a thin 4to., from which these particulars were originally
extracted), that the axes of an ellipsoid determined from these measurements
have veiy nearly the same ratio as the axes of the earth according to Newton.
Mr. Burrow certainly possessed strong natural abilities; but bis attainments
were not confined to the mathematics: he could read and translate Latin.
French, and Italian, with facility; and he made considerable progress in
Arabic and Persian after he left England. His disposition was rather con-
vivial, and he bad a ready fonack at'writing burlesque and doggerel verse ; two
or three specimens of the kind, in ridicule of Captain Robert Heath (\vh<> pub-
lished the Royal Astronomer and Navigator, &c), appeared before he left
and- His form was athletic, and countenance expressive, with a pene-
ti'atm ut the graces had been somewhat neglected, and he pose
of the suaviter in mod of the fortiter in re. His papers in the
.1. iatic Researches an — On Friction in Mechanics; On Calculating tht Moon's
Parallaxes; On Artificial Horizons; On the Intersections of Cv. I tree-
turn of Lunar Observations, in voL i. On the Cases mi Deducing the Longir
in,/,, ",!•,-. ,■ Observations oj Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites; On tin Hindoo
mial Theorem, in vol. ii.— See the New Monthly Magazine, &c.
190 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
on Shakspeare. This was followed by A Treatise on Hysterical
Diseases, translated from the French. In 1778 he was sent by
Government with certain commissioners to treat with America,
but neither the commissioners nor their secretary were suffered
by the Congress to proceed further than New York. Dr.
Berkenhout, however, found means to penetrate as far as
Philadelphia, where the Congress was then assembled. He
appears to have remained in that city for some time without
molestation; but at last, on suspicion that he was sent by Lord
North for the purpose of tampering with some of their leading
members, he was seized and committed to prison. How long
he remained a state prisoner, or by what means he obtained his
liberty, we are not informed ; but we find from the public
prints that he rejoined the commissioners at New York, and
returned with them to England. For this temporary sacrifice
of the emoluments of his profession, and in consideration of
political services, he obtained a pension. In 1780, he published
his Lucubrations on Ways and Means, inscribed to Lord North,
proposing certain taxes, some of which were adopted by that
minister, and some afterwards by Mr. Pitt. Dr. Berkenhout's
friends at that time appear to have taken some pains to point
him out as an inventor of taxes. His next work was An Essay
on the Bite of a Mad Dog ; in which the claim to infallibility
of the principal preservative remedies against hydrophobia is
examined. In the year following, Dr. Berkenhout published his
Symptomatology: a book which is too universally known to
require any recommendation. In 1788 appeared First Lines of
the Theory and Practice of Philosophical Chemistry, dedicated
to Mr. Eden, afterwards Lord Auckland, whom the doctor
accompanied to America. Of this book it is sufficient to say,
that it exhibits a satisfactory display of the state of chemistry
at that time. In 1779 he published a continuation of Dr.
Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, 4 vols., 8vo. ; and once
printed Proposals for a History of Middlesex, including London,
4 vols., folio, which, as the design dropt, were never circulated.
His last publication was Letters on Education, to his Son at
Oxford, 1791, 2 vols., 12mo. There is also reason to suppose
him the author of certain humorous publications, in prose and
verse, to which he did not think fit to prefix his name, and of a
translation from the Swedish language of the celebrated Count
Tessin's Letters to the late King of Sweden. It is dedicated to
the Prince of Wales, afterwards King George the Third; and
was, we believe, Mr. Berkenhout's first publication. He died
on the 3rd of April, 1791, aged sixty years. Dr. Bei'kenkout
191
was one of the greatest ornaments to his native town; and
when we reflect on the variety of books that bear his name, we
cannot but be surprised at the extent and variety of the know-
ledge they contain. His knowledge was acquired not only by
study, but by the variety of circumstances in which he was
placed. He was originally intended for a merchant ; thence
his knowledge of the principles of commerce. He was some
years in one of the best disciplined armies in Europe; thence
his knowledge of the art of war. His translation of Count
Tessin's Letters shows him to have been well acquainted with the
Swedish language, and that he was a good poet. His Pharma-
copoeia Medici, &c, demonstrate his skill in his profession. His
Outlines of Natural History, and his Botanical Lexicon, prove
his knowledge in every branch of natural history. His First
Lines of Philosophical Chemistry have convinced the world of
his intimate acquaintance with that science. His Essay on
Ways and Means proves him well acquainted with the system
of taxation. His Biographia Literaria, and all his writings,
prove him to have been a classical scholar; and it is known that
the Italian, French, German, and Dutch languages were familiar
to him. He was moreover a painter; and played well, it is
said, on various musical instruments. To these acquirements
may be added a considerable degree of mathematical knowledge,
which he attained in the course of his military studies. An
individual so universally informed as Dr. Berkenhout, is an
extraordinary appearance in the republic of letters. His works,
published at different times, on history, literature, biography,
medicine, and chemistry, comprise nineteen volumes. In his
character, which, we believe, was published in his lifetime, there
is the evident hand of a friend. Dr. Berkenhout, however,
may be allowed to have been an ingenious and well-informed
man, but as an author he ranks among the useful rather than
the original; and the comparisons of his friends between him
and the "admirable Crichton" are, to say the least, rather
injudicious. — For further information, see European Magazine,
1788, vol. xiv. ; Cunningham's Lives, vol. xi. ; Gentleman's
Magazine, vol. lxi. ; Hutchinson's Medical Biography ; Parsons'
History of Leeds; the Biographical Dictionaries of Chalmers,
Gorton, Knight, Rose, Watkius, &c.
1724-1792.
JOHN SMEATON, ESQ., F.E.S.,
A very celebrated mechanic and civil engineer, was born in 1724
May 28th, according to Chalmers, &c, but according to hifi
192 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
monument on the 8th of June), at Ansthorpe, near Leeds, in a
house built by his grandfather, and long afterwards inhabited
by his family. From his early childhood he discovered a strong
propensity to fhe arts in which he afterwards excelled; was
more delighted in talking with workmen than in playing with
other boys; and surprised or occasionally alarmed his friends
by mechanical efforts disproportioned to his years; sometimes
being at the summit of a building, to erect a kind of mill, and
sometimes at the side of a well, employed in the construction of
a pump." When he was about fourteen or fifteen he had con-
structed a lathe to turn rose-work, and presented many of his
friends with specimens of its operation in wood and ivory.
"In the year 1742," says one of his earliest biographers, "I
spent a month at his fathei*'s house; and being intended myself
for a mechanical employment, and a few years younger than he
was, I could not but view his works with astonishment. He
forged his iron and steel, and melted his metal; he had tools of
every sort for working in wood, ivory, and metals. He had
made a lathe by which he had cut a perpetual screw in brass—
a thing little known at that day, and which, I believe, was the
invention of Mr. Henry Hindley, of York, who was a man of
the most communicative disposition, a great lover of mechanics,
and of the most fertile genius. Mr. Smeaton soon became
acquainted with him, and spent many a night at Mr. Hindley's
house till daylight, conversing on those subjects." The father of
Mr. Smeaton was an attorney, and wished to bring him up to
the same profession. Mr. Smeaton, therefore, went up to
London in 1742, and attended the courts in "Westminster Hall;
but finding that the law did not suit the bent of his genius, he
wrote a strong memorial on the subject to his father, who had
the good sense to allow him from that time to pursue the path
which nature pointed for him. Early in 1750 he had lodgings
in Great Turnstile, Holborn, and was commencing the business
of a mathematical instrument maker. In 1751 he invented a
machine to measure a ship's way at sea, and a compass of
peculiar construction, touched by Dr. Knight's artificial mag-
nets; and made two voyages with Dr. Knight to ascertain the
merit of his contrivances. In 1753 he was elected a Fellow of
the Royal Society, and the number of his papers inserted in
* At a proper age the boy was sent to school at Leeds, which then possessed,
as it still does, the great advantage of an excellent Free Grammar School.
At which school Smeaton is supposed to have received the best part of his
school instruction ; and it is said that his progress in geometry and arithmetic
was very decided.
JOHN 3-SIEATON', ESQ., F.R.S. 193
the Transactions of that body sufficiently evince how highly
he deserved that distinction. In 1759 he received, by a
unanimous vote, the Copley gold medal for his curious paper,
entitled, An Experimental Inquiry concerning the Natural
Poioers of Wind and Water to turn Mills and other MacJoines
depending on a Circular Motion. This paper, he says, was the
result of experiments made on working models in 1752-3, but
not communicated to the Society till 1759; before which time
he had not an opportunity of putting the effect of these experi-
ments into real practice, in a variety of cases and for various
purposes, so as to assure the Society that he had found them to
answer. These experiments discovered that wind and water
could be made to do one-third more than was before known,
and they were made, we may observe, in his twenty-seventh and
twenty-eighth years. In 1754 he visited Holland and the
Netherlands; and the acquaintance he thus obtained with the
construction of embankments, artificial navigations, and similar
works, probably formed an important part of his engineering
education.""" In December, 1752, the Eddystone Lighthouse
was burned down, and Mr. Sineaton was recommended to the
proprietor by Lord Macclesfield, then president of the Royal
Society, as the person best qualified to rebuild it. This great
work he undertook immediately, and completed it in the summer
of 1759. An ample and most interesting account is given of
the whole transaction in a folio volume published by himself
in 179 1, entitled, " A Narrative of the Building, and a Description
of the Construction, of the Eddystone Lighthouse with Stone; to
which is subjoined an Appendix, giving some Account of the
Lighthouse on the Spurn Point, built upon a Sand; by John
Smeaton, Civil Engineer, F.R.S." This publication may be con-
sidered as containing an accurate history of four years of his
life, in which the originality of his genius, with his great
alacrity, industry, and perseverance, are fully displayed. It
contains also an account of the former edifices constructed in
that place, and is made, by the ingenuity of the writer, an
entertaining as well as an instructive work. This volume is of
great and permanent interest, detailing in the most minute am!
; Bid harbours open, public ways extend ;
Bid temples, worthier of God, ascend ;
Bid the broad arch the dang'rous flood contain,
The mole projected, break the roaring main;
Back to its bounds their subject sea command,
And roll obedient rivers through the land.
These honours, peace to happy Britain brings;
These are imperial works, and worthy kings." I'ny;
N
194 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
simple manner every circumstance worthy of record concerning
the history or the construction of the lighthouse. It is dedi-
cated to George III., who had taken much interest in the
structure ; and in the dedication, in explaining the circumstances
which had deferred the appearance of the Narrative so long
after the completion of the building, the author observes — " I
can with truth say, I have ever since been employed in works
tending to the immediate benefit of your Majesty's subjects;
and indeed so unremittingly, that it is not without the greatest
exertion that I am enabled even now to complete the publica-
tion." His building the Eddystone Lighthouse, were there no
other monument of his fame, would establish his character. The
Eddystone Rocks have obtained their name from the great variety
of contrary sets of the tide or current in their vicinity. They
are situated nearly S.S.W. from the middle of Plymouth Sound.
Their distance from the port of Plymouth is about fourteen
miles. They are almost in the line which joins the Start and the
Lizard points; and as they lie nearly in the direction of vessels
coasting up and down the Channel, they were unavoidably, before
the establishment of a lighthouse there, very dangerous, and
often fatal to ships. Their situation with regard to the Bay of
Biscay and the Atlantic is such, that they lie open to the swells
of the bay and ocean, from all the south-western points of the
compass; so that all the heavy seas from the south-west quarter
come uncontrolled upon the Eddystone Rocks, and break upon
them with the utmost fury. Sometimes, when the sea is to all
appearance smooth and even, and its surface unruffled by the
slightest breeze, the ground-swell meeting the slope of the rocks,
the sea beats upon them in a frightful manner, so as not only
to obstruct any work being done on the rock, or even landing
upon it, when, figuratively speaking, you might go to sea in a
walnut-shell. That circumstances fraught with danger sur-
rounding it should lead mariners to wish for a lighthouse, is not
wonderful; but the danger attending the erection leads us to
wonder that any one could be found hardy enough to undertake
it. Such a man was first found in the person of Mr. H. Win-
stanley, who, in 1696, was furnished by the Trinity House with
the necessary powers. In 1700 it was finished; but in the
great storm of November, 1703, it was destroyed, and the pro-
jector perished in the ruins. In 1709 another, upon a different
construction, was erected by a Mr. Rudyerd,* which, in 1755,
* An anecdote is told of a circumstance which occurred during its erection,
so creditable to Louis XIV., then king of France, that it is repeated here.
JOHN SMEATON', ESQ., F.K.S. 195
was unfortunately consumed by lire. The next building was
under the direction of Mr. Snieaton, who, having considered
the errors of the former constructions, has judiciously guarded
against them, aud erected a building, the demolition of which
seems little to be dreaded, unless the rock on which it is erected
should perish with it. The cutting of the rock for the founda-
tion of the building was commenced on the 5th of August, 1756 ;
the first stone was landed upon the rock June 12th, 1757; the
building was finished on the 9th of October, 1759, and the
lantern lighted for the first time on the 16th. During this
time there were 421 days' work done upon the rock." But
although Mr. Smeaton completed the building of the Eddystone
Lighthouse in a manner that did him so much credit, it does
not appear that he soon got into full business as a civil engineer;
for in 1764, while he was in Yorkshire, he offered himself a
candidate for the place of one of the receivers of the Derwent-
water estate. This place was conferred upon him at a full
board in Greenwich Hospital, the last day of the same year,
notwithstanding a powerful opposition. He was very service-
able in it, by improving the mills and the estates belonging to
the hospital; but in 1775 his private business was so much
increased that he wished to resign, though he was prevailed
upon to hold it two years longer. He was now concerned in
many important public works. He made the river Calder
navigable: a work that required great skill and judgment, on
account of the very impetuous floods to which that river is
liable. He planned and superintended the execution of the
great canal in Scotland, which joins the two seas, from the
Forth to the Clyde. To his skill, in all probability, the pre-
servation of old London Bridge for many years was attributable.
In 1761, in consequence of alterations made for the improve-
ment of the navigation, one of the piers was undermined by
There being war at the time between France and England, a French privateer
took the opportunity of one day seizing the men employed upon the rock,
and carrying them off prisoners to France. But the capture coming to the
ears of the king, he immediately ordered that the prisoners should be released
and sent back to their work with presents, declaring that, though he was at
war with England, he was not at war with mankind; and, moreover, that the
Ivldystone Lighthouse was so situated as to be of equal service to all nations
having occasion to navigate the channel that divided France from England. —
See Smeaton's Narrative, p. 28, Sec.
* The last mason's work done was the cutting out of the words " /
Deo" (Praise to God), upon the last stone set over the door of the lantern.
Round the upper store-room, upon the course under the ceiling, had been cut
at an earlier period, "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain
that build it." — Psalm exxvii. 1.
19G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
the stream to a fearful extent. The bridge was considered in
such danger that no one would venture to pass over it; and the
engineers were perplexed. An express was therefore sent to
Yorkshire for Smeaton, who immediately sunk a great quantity
of stones about the endangered pier, and thereby preserved it.
In 1771 he became joint proprietor, with his friend Mr. Holmes,
of the works for supplying Greenwich and Deptford with water
— an undertaking which they succeeded in making useful to the
public and beneficial to the proprietors, which it had never been
before. Mr. Smeaton, in the course of his employments, con-
structed a vast vaxiety of mills, to the entire satisfaction and
great advantage of the owners; and he improved whatever he
took under his consideration of the mechanical or philosophical
kind. Among many instances of this, Ave may mention his
improvements in the air-pump, the pyrometer, the hygrometer,
and the steam-engine. He was constantly consulted in parlia-
ment, and frequently in the courts of law, on difficult questions
of science; and his strength of judgment, perspicuity of expres-
sion, and strict integrity, always appeared on those occasions to
the highest advantage. The Spurn Lighthouse at the mouth of
the Humber, some important bridges in Scotland, and many
other works of like character, might also be mentioned. About
1785, finding his health beginning to decline, Mr. Smeaton
wished as much as possible to withdraw himself from business,
and to employ his leisure in drawing up and publishing an
account of his principal inventions and works. His Narrative
of the Eddystone Lighthouse, already mentioned, was a part of
this design, and the only part which he was able to complete.
It was to have been followed by a Treatise on Mills, and other
works, embodying his valuable experience as an engineer.
Notwithstanding his wish to retire from business, he could not
resist the solicitation of his friend Mr. Aubert, then chairman
of the trustees for Eamsgate hai'bour, to accept the place of
engineer to that harbour; and the improvements actually made,
as well as his report pubbshed by the trustees in 1791, evince
the attention which he paid to that important business. This
harbour, being enclosed by two piers of about 2,000 and
1,500 feet long respectively, affords a safe refuge for ships,
where it was much needed ; vessels in the Downs having been
exposed to imminent risk, during bad weather, before it was
constructed. On the 16th of September, 1792, Mr. Smeaton
was suddenly struck with paralysis as he was walking in his
garden at Austhorpe, and remaining in a very infirm state,
though in full possession of his faculties, died on the 28th of
JOHN SMEATON, ESQ., F.R.S. 197
the ensuing month. The character of this celebrated engineer
may properly be given in the words of his friend Mr. Holmes: —
" Mr. Smeaton had a warmth of expression that might appear
to those who did not know him to border on harshness; but
those more intimately acquainted with him knew it arose from
the intense application of his mind, which was always in the
pursuit of truth, or engaged in investigating difficult subjects.
He would sometimes break out hastily, when anything was said
that did not tally with his ideas; and he would not give up
anything he argued for, till his mind was convinced by sound
reasoning. In all the social duties of life he was exemplary;
he was a most affectionate husband, a good father, a warm,
zealous, and sincere friend, always ready to assist those he
respected, and often before it was pointed out to him in what
way he could serve them. He was a lover and encourager of
merit, wherever he found it; and many men are in a great
measure indebted for their present situation to his assistance and
advice. As a companion he was always entertaining and instruc-
tive; and none could spend their time in his company without
improvement. As a man (adds Mr. Holmes), I always admired
and respected him, and his memory will ever be most dear to
me." A second edition of his Narrative of the Eddystone
Avas published in 1793, under the revisal of his friend Mr.
Aubert, but without any addition. The papers of Mr. Smeaton
were purchased of his executors by Sir Joseph Banks, under
the voluntary promise of accounting to them for the profits of
whatever should be published. Accordingly, under the inspec-
tion of a Society of Civil Engineers, founded originally by Mr.
Smeaton, three -ito. volumes of his Reports were published in
1797, &c, with a Life prefixed; but the work was not com-
pleted until 1812, when a fourth was added, consisting of his
miscellaneous papers communicated to the Royal Society, ifcc.
The society above alluded to is mentioned in the first volume of
the Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers, as still
ting. The introduction to this volume contains a high
eulogium mi the talent of Smeaton as an engineer. Alluding
to the Eddystone Lighthouse, it observes: — "This, Smeaton's
first work, was also his greatest; probably, the time and all
tilings considered, it was the most arduous undertaking that has
fallen to any engineer, and none was ever more successfully
executed.* And now, having been buffeted by the storms of
* It is truly observed by the late Lord Ellesniere, in lii^ Essays on
Engineering, that bloody battles have been won, and campaigns conducted to
a successful Issue, with less "f personal exposure to physical danger on the
198 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
nearly eighty [now (18G5) upwards of a hundred] years, the
Eddystone stands unmoved as the rock it is built on — a proud
monument to its great author. Buildings of the same kind
have been executed since, but it should always be borne in
mind who taught the first great lesson, and recorded the pro-
gressive steps with a modesty and simplicity that may well be
held up as models for similar writings. His Reports are entitled
to equal praise; they are a mine of wealth for the sound prin-
ciples which they unfold, and the able practice they exemplify,
both alike based on close observation of the operations of
nature, and affording many fine examples of cautious sagacity
in applying the instructions she gives, to the means within the
reach of art." The debiberation and caution always exercised
in the works of Smeaton are well worthy of imitation; and to
these may be attributed the almost unexampled success of his
undertakings. Smeaton also introduced many improvements in
mathematical apparatus, and had an ardent love for science.
He was particularly attached to astronomy, and had an obser-
vatory at Austhorpe, near Leeds, where, even during the most
active part of his career, he occasionally resided.* In person
he was of middle stature, broad and strong made, and of good
constitution. His manners were simple and unassuming; his
temper was warm, but not overbearing ; and his social character
unimpeachable. Very little is recorded of his private history;
but his daughter, Mary Dixon,t in a letter prefixed to his
part of the commander-in-chief than was constantly encountered by Smeaton
during the greater part of those years in which the lighthouse was in course
of erection. In all works of danger he himself led the way — was the first to
spring upon the rock, and the last to leave it ; and by his own example he
inspired with courage the humble workmen engaged in carrying out his plans,
who, like himself, were unaccustomed to the special terrors of the scene.
* During many years of his life, Mr. Smeaton was a constant attendant on
parliament, his opinion being continually called for. And here his natural
strength of judgment and perspicuity of expression had their full display.
It was his constant practice, when applied to, to plan or support any measure,
to make himself fully acquainted with it, and be convinced of its merits,
before he would be concerned in it. By this caution, joined to the clearness of
his description and the integrity of his heart, he seldom failed having the
bill he supported carried into an act of parliament. No person was heard
with more attention, nor had any one ever more confidence placed in his
testimony. In the courts of law he had several compliments paid to him
from the bench, by the late Lord Mansfield and others, on account of the new
light he threw upon difficult subjects.
■f* She was the wife of Jeremiah Dixon, Esq., mayor of Leeds in 1784,
afterwards of Fell Foot, Windermere, and an active county magistrate. She
possessed much of the force of character and benevolence of disposition
which distinguished her father ; and was regarded as a woman of great
practical ability. She survived her husband many years, and during her
lifetime built and endowed a free school for girls at Staveley, about a mile
JOHN SMEATOX, ESQ., F.R.S. 199
Reports, gives a pleasing account of his chai-acter as a husband,
parent, and friend. He was by no means grasping or avaricious,
as many anecdotes related of him seem to show.* The inscrip-
tion on the monument in Whitkirk church, near Leeds, to this
celebrated man, is as follows: — " Sacred to the memory of John
Smeaton, F.R.S., a man whom God had endowed with the most
extraordinary abilities, which he indefatigably exerted for the
benefit of mankind, in works of science and philosophical
research; more especially as an engineer and mechanic. His
principal work, the Eddystone Lighthouse, erected on a rock in
the open sea (where one had been washed away by the violence
of a storm, and another had been consumed by the rage of fire),
secure in its own stability and the wise precautions for its
safety, seems not unlikely to convey to distant ages, as it does
to every nation of the globe, the name of its constructor. He
was born at Austhorpe, June 8th, 1724, and departed this life
October 28th, 1792. t Mt. 68."— For additional information, see
from her residence, which is now, and has been ever since its establishment,
of very great benefit to the population of the neighbourhood. Mrs. Dixon
was also an artist of some merit, and painted in oils; the altar-piece and
decorated Ten Commandments now in Staveley church being of her execution.
* The maxim which governed his life was, that "the abilities of the
individual were a debt due to the common stock of public well-being." This
high-minded principle, on which he faithfully acted, kept him free from
sordid self-aggrandisement, and he had no difficulty in resisting the most
tempting offers which were made to attract him from his own settled course.
When pressed on one occasion to undertake some new business, and the pro-
spect of a lucrative recompense was held out to him, he called in the old
woman who took charge of his chambers at Gray's Inn, and, pointing to her,
said, " Her attendance suffices for all my wants." If urgently called by duty,
he was ready with his help ; but he would not be bought. "When the Princess
(Daschkov) Dashkoff urged him to go to Russia and enter the service of the
Empress Catherine, she held out to him very tempting promises of reward-
even his own terms. But he refused : no money would induce him to leave
his home, his friends, and his pursuits in England; and, though not rich, he
had enough and to spare. "Sir," exclaimed the Princess, unable to withhold
her admiration, " I honour you! you may have your equal in abilities, per-
haps ; but in character you stand alone. The English minister, Sir Robert
Walpole, was mistaken, and my sovereign has the misfortune to find one
man who has not his price." — See Smeaton's Ht/mrt.s, 1812, vol. L, p. 28, &c.
f — 1790. John BOBNELL, ESQ., alderman, who served the office of lord
mayor of London in the year 1788, and died on Monday, January 18th, 1790,
in the eighty-fifth year of his age, at his house in Green Street, Leicester
Square, London, was born at (Addle) Adel, near Leeds; served his appren-
ticeship to a bricklayer at Hunslet, and at the expiration of Ids time went to
London; where, by his industry and abilities, he* acquired a fortune of
upwards of one hundred thousand pounds. He left a few legacies to some
poor relations in this parish.
—179:5. .John Lek, ESQ. (M.P. ), barristcr-at-law, member of parliament
f or Higham Ferrers, and attorney-general of the count} palatine of Durham,
wus a native of Leeds, and died at bis Beat, Staindrop, in the county oi
Durham, after a tedious illness, August 5th, 17;i:''. hi the sixty-first year of
200 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
his Life prefixed to his Reports; Hutton's Dictionary ; Cun-
ningham's Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen, part
xi. ; Lighthouses and Harbours in Timbs's Stories of Inventors;
Smiles's Lives of the Engineers, vol. ii. (with a fine portrait, and
illustrations of his native district, the Eddystone Lighthouse,
Ramsgate harbour, his house at Austhorpe, his burial-place and
monumental tablet at Whitkirk) ; Lowndes's Bibliographer s
Manual; the Biographical Dictionaries of Chalmers, Gorton,
Knight, Rose, &c. ; and for pedigree, &c, see Whitaker's Loidis
and Elmete, p. 130, &c.
1715-1792.
THE RIGHT REV. CHRISTOPHER WILSON, D.D.,
Was the third son of Richard Wilson, Esq.,'"' the elder, recorder
of Leeds, who died in April, 1761, aged eighty-three, and Anna,
daughter of Christopher Lock wood, Esq., of Leeds. His eldest
brother, Richard Wilson, jun., also became recorder of Leeds,
and died, unmarried, in July, 1776, aged sixty-six. He was
born March 22nd, 1715 ; and was educated at the Leeds
Grammar School, and afterwards at Catherine Hall, Cam-
bridge, where he took his B.A. in 1736; proceeded M.A. in
1740; became a Fellow; and was Proctor of the University in
1742-3. He occurs rector of Fulham, rector of Willingale
his age. He had the honour of being promoted to the offices of solicitor-
general and attorney-general to the king under the administrations of the
Marquis of Rockingham and the Duke of Portland. Of his distinguished
professional abilities it is unnecessary to speak ; they deservedly gained him
a most extensive practice. To an accurate and a profound knowledge of the
laws of his country, he added a more splendid accomplishment, a uniform
integrity of conduct, which i:>eculiarly marked his character. Blessed with a
memory uncommonly tenacious, he had diligently cultivated the ornamental
parts of general literature. In his manners lie was mild and gentle, in his
disposition open and ingenuous, in his demeanour humble and affable, and in
the relative duties of society truly amiable. The writer of this paragraph
knew him in the undress of life, when the artifices of forensic skill were laid
aside. To soothe the pang of unavailing anguish, which his death occasioned,
he offers this faint tribute of regard to the memory of his respected friend.
— See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for August, 1793.
* Richard Wilson, Esq., recorder of Leeds, son of Thomas Wilson, Esq.,
of Leeds, merchant, the representative of an ancient Yorkshire family (of
which there is a copious pedigree in Dr. Whitaker's edition of Thoresby's
Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 3), was born July 24th, 1678 ; elected recorder of
Leeds in 1729 ; and dying April 7th, 1701, was succeeded as recorder by his
eldest son, Richard, who died, unmarried, July 13th, 1770. The late Mr.
Richard Wilson had several volumes of pedigrees, surveys of churches, &c,
transcribed from Dodsworth by the Rev. W. Smith, rector of Melsonby;
additions to Camden and Thoresby, &c, &c, which were afterwards in the
possession of his brother and heir, Thomas Wilson, Esq. , of Leeds, who died
in 1789, aged seventy-six years.— See Gough's Brit. Topoff., vol. ii., p. 410;
Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. v., p. 507, &c.
THE RIGHT REV. CHRISTOPHER WILSON, D.D. 201
Spayne, in Essex, from 1744 to 1770; and vicar of Halstead, in
the same county, from 1744 to 17GS — the former in the gift of
the Crown, on the nomination of the Bishop of London, the
latter in the gift of the Bishop of London absolutely; and was,
in 1748, installed a prebendary of Westminster, which he
resigned in 1758, on being made a canon residentiary of St.
Paul's. He was afterwards prebendary of Finsbury, and rector
of Barnes, in Surrey, which he held in commendam. He pub-
lished a sermon delivered before the House of Peers, January
.'51st, 1785, from Dan. v. 21; and, had he not been prevented
by illness, would have been the preacher in course at the
anniversary meeting of the Society for Propagating the Gospel
in 1791. He also published a sermon from 1 Cor. xii. 21,
preached January 30th, 1754, London, 4to. He married Anne,
youngest daughter of the celebrated Dr. Edmund Gibson, Bishop
of London; and he himself afterwards became Lord Bishop of
Bristol (1783).'" His memory will endure in Leeds so long as
St. Paul's church stands, for he gave the ground on which it was
built. He died, April 18th, 1792, aged seventy-seven years.
Bishop Wilson's life was of that undiversified tenour which dis-
tinguishes churchmen who intermeddle little with politics, contro-
versy, or literature. Exemplary was his conduct in every social
claim upon character. His high office was sustained with suit-
id 4e dignity; and the urbanity and intelligence of the gentleman
and the scholar gave a finish to his domestic manners. They
who look for the habitudes of life to influence the moment of
dissolution may infer the best of his, for his serenity was
* Another bishop (in addition to those already given), born in this neigh-
bourhood, though more than two hundred years previous, was the Right Rev.
Ralph Baynes, D.D. (—1559), who was born at Knostrop, near Leeds; edu-
cated at St. John's College, Cambridge; proceeded B.A. in 1517-18, and was
ordained priest at Ely, April 23rd, 1519, being then a Fellow of St. John's,
on Bishop Fisher's foundation. He became M.A. in 1521; was constituted
one of the university preachers in 1527, and was collated to the rectory of
Hardwicke, in Cambridgeshire, which he resigned in 1544. He opposed
Latimer at Cambridge, and in 1550 we find him disputing at Westminster on
the Roman < 'atholic side. He afterwards went to Paris, and was professor of
Hebrew in that university. He continued abroad till the accession of Mary,
when lie returned to England, and on November 18th, 1554, was consecrated
Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, taking his D.D. at Cambridge in 1555. He
took a prominent part in the persecution of the Protestants; and when
Elizabeth ascended the throne was deprived of his bishopric, and imprisoned
for non-compliance with the changes in religion which then ensued. He died
of flie stone, at Islington, November 18th, 1559, and was buried in the church of
Dunstan-in-the-West, London. He was one of the chief restorers of Hebrew
learning in this country, and was also well versed in Latin and Greek. He
published a Hcbrnn C niiiititu i\ and other works, at Paris, from 1550 to 1555.—
For other particulars, see Fuller's Worthies; Fullers Church History
Cooper's Athcn. Cantab.; Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 100, &e.
202 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
unruffled; and, not having lived to give pain to others, at the
close of being he felt none himself. He had ordered a
full and superb set of communion-plate, which he intended
to present to the new church of St. Paul, in his episcopal
city of Bristol. He left one son and five daughters ; and
died extremely rich, having, as prebendary of Finsbury, made
a most fortunate and lucrative contract for a lease with
the city of London.* His eldest son, Richard, married
Elizabeth, daughter of the Very Rev. Dr. Fountayne, dean of
York, and thus became the father of Richard Fountayne Wilson,
Esq., who was for some time member of parliament for York-
shire, and to whom Leeds is indebted for the valuable piece of
ground in front of the General Infirmary, and also for the
extinction of small tithes. His third daughter, Mary, was
married to the first Sir John Beckett, and thus became the
mother of the second Sir John, Christopher, Sir Thomas,
Richard, William, and Edmund — the latter of whom changed
his name to Denison. Another of his daughters married the
Rev. Mr. Disney, vicar of Halstead, Essex. — For pedigree and
other particulars, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 3 ;
Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. G3 ; Nichols's Literary
Anecdotes, vol. iii., p. 97; Gentleman s Magazine, 1792, p. 477;
Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. v., p. 507, &c. See also a
Sketch of R. F. Wilson, Esq., M.P., who died in 1847.
* The amazing improvement in the prebendal manor of Finsbury is worthy
of notice (for a long account of which, see Nichols's Literary Anecdotes,
vol. ix., pp. 520-24). The history of the church affords but few instances of
such an increase of value ; and still fewer of its individuals that have amassed
such an immense fortune from such slender means — a life interest of only
£39 13s. 4d. a year. It may be said, such opportunities seldom occur; but
the merit of the man must not be forgotten, who was equal to the
chance. He was an able calculator ; and possessed a persevering spirit, and a
temper and manners of all others suited to soothe and harmonize the conten-
tions of so fluctuating a body as the Corporation of London in nearly fifty years'
intercourse. In tracing his benefits from authentic documents, it appears that
he received more than £50,000 (clear of all deductions) in his lifetime, with-
out the assistance of compound interest ; and he charged this estate in his will
with legacies to the amount of £50,000 more, which, on the authority of his
executors, has proved ample, and will leave a very large residue. The net
division at Christmas, 1797, after all dediictions, was, to the Corporation,
£3,646; to the heirs of Bishop Wilson, £2,431; to Dr. Apthorpe, the next
prebendary, £1,215. Bishop Wilson was not the only one of his family whom
fortune had favoured with her abundance ; for his brother equalled his suc-
cess by early engaging in the Selby Navigation, and, growing wealthy in
Yorkshire, showed his affectionate regard by pressing the doctor to take
time and use precaution in agreeing to renew the lease, for he could and
would support him. The brother died first, a bachelor ; the doctor died soon
after, leaving a numerous offspring to inherit the great property of both. — See
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, &c.
LIEUTENANT C. H. NEVILE. 203
1775—1794.*
LIEUTENANT C. H. NEVILE.
" Eveiy man who falls in the service of his country," says
Dr. Whitaker, "deserves more lasting remembrance than marble
can bestow." On a neat tablet in the chancel of the Leeds
parish church, there is the following inscription : — " Sacred to the
memory of Charles Henry Nevile, lieutenant in the Queen's (or
2nd) Regiment of Foot, who, being on the marine duty on board
Earl Howe's ship, after behaving in a most brave and gallant
manner in the engagement which took place between the Eng-
lish and French fleets for three days, was killed by a grape shot,
June the 1st, 1794, aged nineteen years."
"YE SONS OF PEACE, WHO BLEST
WITH ALL THE DEAR DELIGHTS OF SOCIAL LIFE,
BEHOLD THIS TABLET,
WHICH AFFECTION REARED,
TO THE LOV'D MEMORY OF THE YOUNG, THE BRAVE ;
WHOSE EARLY BLOOM, SMOTE BY THE RUTHLESS HAND OF WAR,
FELL, ADMIRED, LAMENTED !
OH! GIVE ONE PITYING TEAR,
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE GENEROUS YOUTH,
WHO DAUNTLESS MET THE DREADFUL BATTLE'S RAGE,
AND NOBLY BLED,
THAT YOU MIGHT LIVE SECURE."
For pedigree, &c, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 184;
Whitaker's Loidis, p. 338, &c. See also Gervase Revile (in this
volume), who died in 1676, p. 107, &c. ; and the Note to Lieu-
tenants Nevile, who died in 1799, p. 209, &c.
* — 1794. Captain Henry Spencer, of the 53rd regiment, died in May,
1794, in the prime of life, in the island of Guadaloupe : a gallant officer and a
worthy man, formerly of Bramley Grange, near Leeds.
— 1 794. The Rev. "Guy Fairfax, of Newton Kyme, near Leeds, as he was
performing divine service in his parish church, on Sunday evening. Sep-
tember 7th, 1794, in apparent good health, fill back in the reading-desk, and
instantly expired without a single groan ! It is doing very imperfect justice to
his character to say, he was a man of the mildest and most amiable manners ;
of the most distinguished benevolence, as unostentatious as it was diffusive;
and such was the invariableness of his conduct, that his whole life, in what-
ever point of view it might be contemplated, appeared but as one continued
act of preparation for a better. Under these circumstances, severe as must
be the affliction of his surviving family for the loss of so valuable a member
of it; the manner, at least, of his death must be considered by them as a
matter rather of consolation than regret. He was the fourth son of Thomas
Fairfax, Esq., of Newtoj) Kyme, near Tadcaster, who was the only boh "f
Robert Fairfax, Esq., of Xewton Kyme, vice-admiral of the Blue, M.I', for
York, and its lord mayor in 1715, the memoraH. yeaT of il<> rising for
Prince Charles. The Rev. Guy Fairfax married a daughter of tin Rev. John
204 BKXiRAFHIA LEODIENSIS.
1712—1795.
FIRST LORD HAREWOOD,
Formerly Edwin Lascelles, Esq., son of Henry Lascelles, Esq.,
of Harewood and Northallerton, which latter place he repre-
sented in parliament, dying in 1745; succeeded his father, and
was elevated to the peerage by the title of Baron Harewood of
Harewood, on the 9th of July, 1790. He was baptized in
February, 1712, and twice married, first in Januaiy, 1746, to
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir D'Arcy Dawes, Bart.,
who died at Bath, in August, 1764; secondly, in March, 1770,
to Jane, daughter of W. Coleman, Esq., and Jane. Seymour,
sister to the Duke of Somerset, who survived him. This
nobleman having died, January 25th, 1795, without male issue,
the title was extinguished ; but his lordship's estates descended
to the eldest surviving son of his deceased uncle, Edward
Lascelles, Esq., of Barbadoes, his cousin, who was created, on
the 18th of June, 1796, Baron Harewood of Harewood, in the
county of York; and advanced to a viscounty and earldom on
the 7th of September, 1812, by the titles of Viscount Lascelles
and Earl of Harewood. The baron's loss was greatly deplored,
especially by the peasantry of Harewood, who, having often
experienced his benevolence, considered him as a father.'"' The
noble lord was interred at Hai'ewood, where there is a monu-
ment erected to his honour. The family of Lascelles has been
Kearney, D.D., by Henrietta, his wife, daughter of the Hon. and Rev.
Henry Erydges, brother of James, Duke of Chandos, and had a daughter,
Henrietta Catherine, married to the present Joseph Chamberlayne Chamber-
layne, Esq., of Maugersbury House, Gloucestershire. His elder brother,
John Fairfax, Esq., succeeded to the estates of Steeton and Newton Kyme,
and was succeeded by his son, Thomas Loddington Fairfax, Esq., of Newton
Kyme, born in 1770; married Theophania, daughter of James Ckaloner, Esq.,
of Guisborough, in this count}', and died July 1st, 1840, leaving three
daughters and a son, his successor, the present Thomas Fairfax, Esq., of
Newton Kyme, J. P. and deputy -lieutenant, born in 1804; married, July
29th, 1836, Louisa Constantia, daughter of George Eavenscroft, Esq., and
has issue, Thomas Ferdinand, born October 6th, 1839, &c. — See the Leeds
Intelligencer, &c, for September, 1794; Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
' The Eight Hon. Edwin, Lord Harewood, was a nobleman to whose
character it is not easy to do justice. In the senate, his lordship was inde-
pendent and upright ; in private life, he was affable and courteous, hospitable,
and generous. His moderation, indulgence, and liberality towards his ten-
antry, were unexampled. His princely fortune was employed in such
improvements as afforded support to all the neighbouring poor. The whole
parish regarded him as then- father and their friend ; and the universal and
deep regret manifested at his death (in his eighty-third year), was the surest
indication how highly, in his life, he was honoured and beloved. He was
M.P. for Scarborough, and for Northallerton in 1754, and again from 1780 to
1790. In 1759, he laid the foundation-stone of Harewood House, near Leeds.
—See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c. for January, 1795.
THE REV. JOSEPH MILNER, 31. A. 205
of importance in the county of York since the reign of Edward
I., when Roger de Lascelles was summoned to parliament, ;i>
baron, 1295 ; but dying without male issue, the barony fell into
abeyance between his four daughters, and has never been
reclaimed. The earl is lineally descended from John de
Lascelles, of Hinderskelfe (now Castle Howard), who lived in
1315. The first earl was heir of the two senior lines of the
family. Their motto, in English, is, " Salvation in God alone."
Their town residence is in Harewood Place, Hanover Square,
London, and their country-seat at Harewood House, near
Leeds. — See Burke's Extinct Peerage ; Jones's History of
Harewood, ifec.
1744-1797.
THE REV. JOSEPH MILNER, M.A.,
A pious, learned divine, and ecclesiastical historian, was born at
Leeds, January 2nd, 1744, and was the son of a poor weaver.
He was educated at the Leeds Grammar School, where he made
great proficiency in Latin and Greek, in which he was greatly
assisted by a memory of such uncommon powers, that his
biographer, the Dean of Carlisle, asserts that he never saw his
equal among the numerous persons of science and literature
with whom he had been acquainted. This faculty, which Mr.
Milner possessed, without any visible decay, during the whole
of his life, gained him no little reputation at school, where his
master, the Rev. Mr. Moore, often availed himself of his
memory in cases of history and mythology, and used to say,
" Milner is more easily consulted than the Dictionaries or the
Pantheon, and he is quite as much to be relied on." Mr.
Moore, indeed, told so many and almost incredible stories of his
memory, that the Rev. Mr. Murgatroyd, a very respectable
clergyman, at that time minister of St. John's church, in Leeds,
expressed some suspicion of exaggeration. Mr. Moore was a
man of the strictest veracity, but of a warm temper. He
instantly offered to give satisfactory proof of his assertions.
" Milner," said he, " shall go to church next Sunday, and,
without taking a single note at the time, shall write down
your sermon afterwards. "Will you permit us to compare what
he writes with what you preach?" Mr. Murgatroyd accepted
the proposal with pleasure, and was often heard to express Lis
astonishment at the event of this trial of memory. " Tin-
lad," said he, " has not omitted a single thought or sentiment in
the whole sermon; and frequently he has got the very words
for a long way together."' By his industry aud talents he
206 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
gained the warm regard of his instructor, Mr. Moore, who
resolved to have him sent to college. This plan was nearly
frustrated by the death of Milner's father in. very narrow
circumstances; but by the assistance of some gentlemen in
Leeds, whose children Milner had lately engaged to teach, he
was appointed, at the age of eighteen, to the office of chapel-
clerk at Catherine Hall, Cambridge, where he took his
Bachelor's degree in 1766, and obtained one of the Chancellor's
medals. He now became assistant-master in the Leeds Grammar
School, and soon afterwards the curate of the Rev. Mr. Atkin-
son, at Thorp-Arch, the father of the Rev. Miles Atkinson,
minister of St. Paul's church, Leeds. He afterwards became
head-master of the Hull Grammar School, worth .£200 a year;
and was soon after chosen afternoon lecturer of the principal
church in that town. On obtaining this situation he sent for
his mother (then living at Leeds in poverty) to Hull, where
she became the manager of his house; he also sent for two
poor orphans, the children of his eldest brother ; he also
removed his brother Isaac from Leeds, where he was humbly
employed in a woollen manufactory, and made him his
assistant. This brother afterwards became master of Queen's
College, Cambridge, professor of mathematics, and dean of
Carlisle. About the year 1770, he embraced the sentiments of
the Evangelical party in the Church of England. This change
in his religious views brought upon him neglect, and, in some
cases, open opposition from many among the upper classes, who
had once been his admirers and friends; but his chui'ch was
soon crowded with others, chiefly from the lower orders of the
people, in whose sentiments and manners his preaching pro-
duced a striking change : and at length he not only recovered
the esteem of his fellow-townsmen, but lived to see his own
religious sentiments become so popular in the town, that many
of the pulpits of the churches were filled by his friends and
pupils, and he himself was chosen vicar of Hull by the mayor
and corporation. His election took place only a few weeks
before his death, which happened on the 15th of November,
1797, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.* For seventeen years
* By his death the world was deprived of a real philanthropist, his kindred
of an affectionate relative, his acquaintance of a sincere friend, his king of a
loyal subject, his country of a true patriot, and the Christian church of a
zealous, learned, and sound divine. In short, he professed himself a Chris-
tian, and his practice proved his sincerity. He held the above grammar
school upwards of thirty years, during which period he applied himself with
the most indefatigable attention to the arduous duty of education, and the
many excellent scholars formed by his care are living monuments of his zeal
and application. — See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for November, 1797.
THE REV. JOSEPH MILNER, 31. A. 207
before his death he had been minister of North Ferriby, near
Hull. An elegant monument, executed by Bacon, was erected
to his memory in the High church of Hull by several gentlemen
who had been his pupils.* The excellences of Mr. Milner' s per-
sonal character were of the highest order. He was a highly
popular and successful preacher. He was also deeply pious,
upright in all his conduct, singularly open and sincere; and
kind, cheerful, and amusing in social life. In his political
principles he was strongly attached to the established order of
things in Church and State. The work by which he is best
known is the History of the Church of Christ, which was com-
menced by himself, and completed by his brother, the master of
Queen's College, Cambridge, and which extends from the rise of
Christianity to the Reformation. The first edition of this
work appeared in 5 vols., 8vo., 1794 to 1812, and a second
edition in 1810. It has been more than once reprinted. t The
other works of Milner are, — 1, Gibbon's Account of Christianity
Considered; together with some Strictures on Hume's Dialogues
concerning Natural Religion; 2, Some Remarkable Passages in
the Life of William Hoioard; 3, Essays on the Influence of the
Holy Spirit; 4, Tracts and Essays, Theological and Historical ;
5, Practical Sermons, with an account of his Life and Cha-
* His monument contained the following inscription : — "To the memory of
Joseph Milner, M.A., successively lecturer and vicar of this church, and
upwards of thirty years, master of the Free Grammar School, this monument
is erected by the grateful affection of his scholars. He was a man of a
vigorous understanding, extensive learning, and unwearied diligence; dis-
tinguished by primitive purity of sentiment, and holiness of life. He
uniformly proved himself, through a long and active fministry, a zealous
champion of the faith of Christ; which his labours successfully inculcated,
and his writings will exhibit and vindicate to future generations. He died on
the 15th of November, 1797, in the fifty-fourth year of his age."
*t* His Church History is important for giving a view of the progress of
religion. The following are some of the principal editions : — History of the
Church of Christ, with a continuation to the present time ; by the Rev. T.
Haweis, LL.D., 8vo., Edinburgh, 1834.
Practical Sermons, to which is prefixed a Life and Character of the author,
second edition, revised and corrected by the Very Rev. Isaac Milner, D.D.,
dean of Carlisle. Large additions are made to the Life of the author, with
further animadversions on Dr. Haweis* misrepresentations, 3 vols., 8vo.,
1801-23.
A Selection of Tracts and Essays from the miscellaneous writings of the
late Rev. Joseph Milner, A.M., edited by the Very Rev. Dr. Milner, 8vo.,
London, 1810.
The following edition by Mr. Grantham is much improved: — The History.
of tlie Church of Christ, with additions and corrections by the Very Rev.
Isaac Milner, D.D. A new edition, revised and corrected throughout by the
Rev. Thomas Grantham, B.D., rector of Bramber, Sussex, 4 vols., 8vo.,
London, 1847. This work lias been continued by Dr. Stebbing, and also by
Scott. — For the texts and subjects of his Sermons, &c, see Darling's Cyclo-
paedia Bibliographia ; Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual, &c.
203 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSI3.
racier, by the Dean of Carlisle, 2 vols. Some of Ins Practical
Sermons were also edited by the Rev. Edward Bickersteth, in
1830 ; and others in 1841 by the Rev. James Fawcett, late incum-
bent of Woodhouse, Leeds. A complete collection of his works
was edited by Dean Milner, in 8 vols., in 1810. — For a more
detailed account, see Gentleman's Magazine; the Christian
Observer ; Cunningham's Lives ; Parsons' History of Leeds ;
the Biographical Dictionaries of Gorton, Watkins, Chalmers,
Knight, Rose, Mackenzie, &c.
1717—1798.
THOMAS MAUDE, ESQ.,
The author of Wharf edale, Wensleydale, and other poems, was
born, it is said, at Harewood,* near Leeds, in 1717; but
another account — though less certain — gives Westminster the
credit of his birth. He was brought up to the medical profes-
sion, and was surgeon on board the Barjleur, with Captain
Lord Harry Powlett. On returning, he became steward for the
estates of the Duke of Bolton, and resided chiefly at his Grace's
seat, Bolton Hall, in Wensleydale. He afterwards erected
Burley House, near Otley, where he spent the latter part
of his life. His principal poems are, — Wensleydale, or Rural
* The following extracts evince poetic powers of a high order, and possess
much local interest : —
" As artists borrow some illustrious name,
And on its wide-spread base erect their fame ;
8o I, ambitious to adorn a tale,
Must of expediency myself avail.
In yonder fields, near Harewood's splendid dome,
Where pleasure dwells and freedom feels at home,
"Where ease and elegance their charms combine,
And sister arts in happy union twine :
I sportive ranged ; there sipped parental dew,
When first life's coinage current-value knew,
Ere prejudice had sown her choking tares,
And dashed my journey with intrusive cares.
*Twas there in guileless hour my race began,
While lib'ral culture trained me up to man.
Thanks to that care, whose precepts first inspired,
Whose kindness cherished, and example fired ;
Whose doctrines taught with philosophic skill
To rein the sallies of a devious will.
So ruled a sire his son with virtuous sway,
And gave to thought full energy to play.
Kest, sacred shade ! here, filial reverence, raise
This last memorial of defective praise ;
Nor shall maternal merit rest unknown
While Phoebus condescends my muse to own,
Or duty bids to clasp the mournful bier,
And lends the heaving sigh and trickling tear."
LIEUTENANTS NEVILE. 209
Contemplations ; and Yerbeia* (Yerbia), or Wharfedale, dedicated
to Edwin Lascelles, Esq. He died in 1798, aged eighty-one
years. — See Sckroeder's Annals of Leeds; Jones's History of
Harewood, kc.
—1799.
LIEUTENANTS NEVILE. t
There is a tablet in the chancel of the Leeds parish church
with the following inscription: — "To the memory of John Pate
Nevile, lieutenant in the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, who
was wounded in Holland, in an engagement against the French,
September 19th, of which wound he died October 10th, 1799,
aged twenty-five years. — Also to the memory of Brownlow
Pate Nevile, lieutenant in the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards,
who was likewise wounded in Holland, in an engagement
against the French, September 10th, and died September 16th,
1799, aged twenty-three years. They were the brothers of
Charles Henry Nevile, who was killed on board Earl Howe's
ship, June 1st, 1794, and the sons of John Pate Nevile, Esq.,
of Badsworth, in the county of York." The merit of the sub-
jects is the only reason for inserting these epitaphs. It is to be
lamented that brave men, who have died for their country,
should be no better recorded; but, as it is so, they ought not to
be consigned to oblivion for the bad style of their epitaphs.
Nevile (frequently written Neville) Street, leading to Holbeck,
is of course called after this family. — For pedigree, &c, see
Thoresby's Bucatus Leodiensis, p. 184-5; "NVhitaker's Loidis.
p. 338; Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol. ii., p. 394, &c.
* Verbeia was the Roman patroness of the Wharf e, as appears _ by an
inscription dug up at Ilkley, the Olicana of the Romans. The stone is men-
tioned by Camden, and is now existing near the public way in that village.
t Descended from the Gervase Nevile, Esq., of Beeston and Holbeck, who
was quartermaster-general to the Duke of Newcastle in 1643, and died in
February, 1676, aged eighty-five years, and was buried in the great chancel of
St. Peter's church in Leeds ; whose eldest son and heir, Gervase Nevile, Esq. ,
of Beeston, sometime of Sheffield, and afterwards of Holbeck, died in May,
1696, aged fifty-seven, and was buried at Leeds; having married Dorothy,
daughter of Francis Cavendish, Esq., of Doveridge, county of Derby. She
died in January, 1713, aged seventy, and was buried at Leeds ; leaving issue —
1, William Nevile, of Holbeck, Esq., high-sheriff of Yorkshire, in 1710, who
married Bridget, daughter of Walter Calverley, Esq., and died in April, 1713,
without issue. — 2, Rev. Gervase Nevile, vicar of Bingley in 1712, who suc-
ceeded to the Holbeck estate, and at length to the entailed estates of Chevet,
near Wakefield, and died unmarried. —3, Rev. Cavendish Nevile, M.A.,
sometime Fellow of University College, Oxford, forty years vicar of Norton,
near Sheffield ; at length succeeded his brother, Gervase, in the Chevet estates,
fcc, and vra - I be last of the male line of this family. He married Catherine,
daughter of Sir Lionel Pilkington, Bart., of Stanley, near Wakefield, sister
of sir L. PilMngton, Bart., Lord of Chevet by purchase; she died. in August.
o
210 EIOGRAPHIA LEOD1ENSIS.
1732-1800.
REV. NEWCOME CAPPE,
A dissenting minister of the Socinian persuasion, son of the
Rev. Joseph Cappe, minister of the dissenting congregation at
Mill Hill, in Leeds; was born in that town, Feb. 21st, 1732-3,
and educated for some time under the care of his father, whom
he lost in his sixteenth year.""' Having at this early age dis-
covered a predilection for nonconformity, he was placed at the
academy of Dr. Aikin, at Kibworth, in Leicestershire, in 1748,
and the next year removed to that of Dr. Doddridge, at North-
ampton. During his residence here, he overcame some scruples
that arose in his mind respecting the evidences of revealed
religion, by examining them in the best writers with great
attention. After passing two years at Northampton, he was
1 790, aged seventy-seven, and was buried at Norton. He died at Clievet in
February, 1749, aged sixty-nine, and was also buried at Norton. — 4, Barbara,
married in November, 1705, at Eckington, county of Derby, to the Rev.
Peter Robinson, and had a daughter, Dorothy, only issue and heir of her
m other, born in 1700, sole heir also of her cousin, Anne Nevile, (the Rev.
( 'avendish Nevile's daughter, who died at school in London, unmarried, in
1756), and heir general of her grandfather, Gervase Nevile, Esq. She died at
Shrewsbury in October, 1782, aged seventy-six ; having married John Lister,
Esq., of Sysonby, county of Leicester, and had issue — 1, John Pate Nevile
(formerly Lister), Esq., of Badsworth, lord of the manors of Holbeck and
( 'hevet, born at Sysonby in March, 1734, baptized at Melton Mowbray, after-
wards lived at Doncaster ; a captain in the Blues ; married at St. James's,
Westminster, in March, 1771, Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Chambers Bate,
of Forston, county of Derby, and rector of Easton, county of Northampton,
::nd left a numerous family, most of whom fell in the service of then- country.
1, Lieutenant John Pate Nevile, who died of his wounds in October, 1799,
aged twenty -five. — 2, Lieutenant Charles Henry Nevile, who died on board
Lord Howe's ship in June, 1794, aged nineteen. — 3, Lieutenant Brownlow
Pate Nevile, who died of his wounds in September, 1799, aged twenty-three.
— 4, Lieutenant Cavendish Nevile, who died in December, 1812, aged twenty-
five. — 5, George Nevile, Esq., his heir, of Skelbrook Park, Badsworth, in
this county, who married Georgiana Catherine, daughter of the Rev. Dr.
( 'hampneys, and had issue John Pate Nevile, Esq., formerly an officer in the
76th Regiment of Foot, who married, in 1838, Louisa Mary, daughter of
Robert Foster Grant-Dalton, Esq., and sister of Dalton Foster Grant-Dalton,
Esq., J.P., of Shanks House, county of Somerset. He died in 1847, leaving issue
— 1, Percy Sandford Nevile, Esq., of Skelbrook Park, near Pontefract, born
in 1840, with two other sons and a daughter. Their motto is, "iVe vile velis"
— Wish nothing vile, or wish no evil.— See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
* He showed early marks of singular genius and application to study ; and
at six years of age he had made considerable progress in the Latin language.
He was in the habit of rising at four o'clock in the morning, in order that he
might read his lessons imdisturbed, which "he did in the winter by the
kitchen fire, which in that part of the country it was customary to keep in
all night;" and in the summer, when the weather allowed, he chose for the
place of his morning studies the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, situated about
three miles from Leeds, on the banks of the river Aire. — See Monthly Rc-
ricv; vol. xliii., p. 162, &c.
REV. NEWCOME CAPPE. I'll
deprived of the benefit of Dr. Doddridge's instructions, who
was obliged to leave England on account of his health, and in
1752 went to the University of Glasgow, where he continued
three years, improving his knowledge with great industry and
success, and forming an acquaintance with many eminent men
of the day, particularly Dr. Leechman, Dr. Cullen, Dr. Adam
Smith, Dr. Moore, and the late Dr. Black. Having completed
his studies, he returned in 175.5 to Leeds, and within a short time
after was chosen co-pastor, and the following year sole pastor, of
the dissenting congregation at St. Saviour-gate, York. This
situation he retained for forty years, during which he engaged
the respect and affection of his hearers, and was distinguished
as a preacher of uncommon elocpience, and a man of great
learning and amiable manners. In 1791 and 1793 he experi-
enced two paralytic shocks, which ever after affected both his
walking and his speech; but he was enabled to employ much of
his time in preparing those woi-ks for the press which appeared
after his death. Weakened at length by paralytic affections, he
died December 24th, 1800. He published in his lifetime —
1, A Sermon upon the King of Prussia's Victory at Rosbach,
November 3rd, 1757; 2, Three Fast-day Sermons, published
during the American War; 3, A Sermon on the Thanksgiving-
day, 1784; 4, A Fast-day Sermon, written during the American
War, hut first published in 1795; 5, A Sermon on the Death of
the Rev. Edward Sandercock ; 6, A Selection of Psalms for
Social Worship; 7, Remarks in Vindication of Dr. Priestley, in
A nswer to the Monthly Reviewers ; S, Letters published, in the
York Chronicle, signed "A Doughty Champion in Heavy
Armour" in reply to the attack of Dr. Cooper {under the signa-
ture of " Erasmus") upon Mr. Lindsey on his resigning the
Living of Catterick;* and Discourses on tlie Providence and
* Rev. Theophilus Lindsey, M.A. (1723 — 1808), a Socinian writer, born at
Middlewich, in Cheshire, June 20th, 1723, educated there, and at the Leeds
Grammar School, under Mr. Barnard, where he made rapid progress in
1 learning. At the age of eighteen (in 1741), he was admitted of St.
John's College, Cambridge, where, by exemplary diligence and moral con-
duct, he obtained the entire approbation of his tutors; and, after taking his
degrees, was elected Fellow in 1747, about which time he commenced his
clerical duties at an episcopal chapel in Spital Square, London. Soon after
this, he was, by the recommendation of Theophilus, Earl of Huntingdon,
appointed domestic chaplain to Algernon, Duke of Somerset; after whose
death, he travelled for two years on the continent with his son, subsequently
Duke of Northumberland. On his return, about 1753, he was presented to
the living of Kirkby Wiske, in the North-Biding; and in 17f>0 he removed to
that of Piddletown, hi Dorsetshire. In 1760, he married a step-daughter of
his intimate friend, Archdeacon Blackburne; and in 1763, chiefly for the
sake of enjoying his society, and that of other friends in Yorkshire, he
212 BIOGTtAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
Government of God, 8vo., London, 1795. In 1802 were pub-
lished Critical Remarks on many important Passages of Scrip-
ture, together with Dissertations upon several subjects tending to
illustrate the Phraseology and Doctrine of the New Testament*
To these were prefixed Memoirs of his Life, by the editor,
Catherine Cappe, his second wife, 2 vols., 8vo. (who also pub-
lished Memoirs of herself, in 1822, and Observations on Charity
Schools, &c). The chief object of these Remarks is to attack
the Trinitarian doctrine, and to give those explanations and
meanings to various parts of the New Testament language which
are adopted by the modern Unitarian school. How far he has
been successful may be seen in the following references : — His
Life, as above; Monthly Review, vol. lxix., where his Remarks
in Vindication of Dr. Priestley are examined; British Critic,
vol. xxi., p. 66, Arc. ; Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual; the
Biographical Dictionaries of Chalmers, Gorton, Rose, &c.
exchanged the living of Piddletown for the vicarage of Catterick, which was
of inferior value. Here he resided nearly ten years, an exemplary pattern of
a primitive and conscientious pastor, highly respected and beloved by the
people committed to his charge. In 1771, he co-operated with Archdeacon
Blackburne, Dr. John Jebb, Mr. Wyvil, and others, in endeavouring to obtain,
relief in matters of subscription to the thirty-nine articles. In Novem-
ber, 1773, he wrote to the prelate of his diocese, informing him of his inten-
tion to quit the church, in consequence of scruples respecting the doctrine of
the Trinity. Previously to leaving Catterick, he delivered a farewell address
to his parishioners, in which he stated his motives for quitting them. He
then settled in London, where he opened a place of worship in Essex Street,
Strand. The service of the place was conducted according to the plan of a
liturgy, which had been altered from that used in the Established Church by
Dr. Samuel Clarke. About the same time he published his Apology, Vindicice
Priestleiance, &c. He died on the 3rd of November, 1808, in his eighty-sixth
year, and was buried at Bun hill-fields. Mr. Lindsey was a man of mild and
amiable manners, and very highly respected by every person who knew him.
As a writer on the side of Unitarianism, it cannot be said that he brought
many accessions of new matter and argument ; but his honourable conduct in
the resignation of his pref erment rendered him peculiarly an ornament to the
sect he joined, and the loss of such a man might be justly regretted by the
church he left. Besides copious biographical notices of Lindsey, which were
published in the Monthly Repository and Monthly Magazine of December,
1808, the Rev. Thomas Belsham published, in 1812, a thick octavo volume of
Memoirs, in which he gives a full analysis of his works, and extracts from his
correspondence, together with a complete list of his publications. Two
volumes of his Sermons were printed shortly after his death. — For additional
particulars, see the above Memoirs, &c, and also the Athenaeum, voL v.;
Bees's Cyclopaedia ; Biographical Dictionaries of Chalmers, Knight, Maunder,
Bose, &c. For a very eulogistic character of him, see Gentleman's Magazine,
vol. lxxviii.,p. 1,044; Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. v., p. 415, &c.
* He also pubbished Discourses, chiefly on Devotional Subjects, to which are
prefixed Memoirs of his Life, 8vo., York, 1805; and Discourses, chiefly on
Practical Subjects, 8vo., York, 1815; and other works.— See Darling's Cyclo-
paedia Bibliographia, &c.
MR. THOMAS WRIGHT. 213
1736—1801.
MR. THOMAS WEIGHT,
"Whose interesting Autobiography (1736-1797) lias been recently
edited by his grandson (Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A., F.S.A.,
&c, London, 1864), from which this sketch is compiled, and
chiefly in his own words — except that the third person is used
instead of the first — lived, for the most part, at Birkenshaw, in
the parish of Birstal, near Leeds. He was, as may be seen by
his own writings/' no ordinary man. Endowed with very con-
siderable talents, and with an earnest desire for knowledge, and
a love of literature which might have raised him to a very dis-
tinguished position in fame, he evidently, from his own account,
often regretted that he had no guardians of his youth who could
appreciate the real bent of his mind, and give him the educa-
tion which his fortune, though not great, as w r ell as his inclina-
tions, claimed But, left an orphan in his earliest infancy, with
none but distant relatives, who thought only of securing a
share of his property; at first a spoiled child, and subsequently
a neglected boy, nothing could swerve his mind from its natural
bent, and some of his manuscripts in his grandson's possession,
as well as the reports of those who knew him, prove that he
possessed an extraordinary extent of reading, a large amount
of miscellaneous knowledge, with power and judgment in the
application of it, which must have made him an object of
respect among the society of what was then rather a wild part
of Yorkshire. At an early age he went through the usual
course of Latin in the old and justly celebrated Free Grammar
School at Bradford, which was the whole amount of what may
be called his liberal education ; and the writer of his brief Life,
prefixed to the second edition of his Familiar Religious Con-
versation, printed in 1812, states that, "He was accounted very
* In addition to loos Autobiography, he published at Leeds, in 1778, a
poetic;il Essay, being a general defence of the Arminian party against the
Calvinists, entitled (a parody on the title of Hogarth's celebrated picture)
. I Modern Fam Mar Rt ligious < 'on versation. Possessing an excellent memory,
he often entertained his friends by repeating to them a great part of this
poem. They generally expressed themselves highly delighted with it. The
high seasoning of Hudibrastic composition which the author had imparted to
it, excited their risible muscles to a high degree, and they frequently declared
it to he a performance which contained much matter in a small compass.
After mature consideration, he resolved on publishing it. The demand for it
was much beyond his expectations. Iu a very short time there was not a
of it to be procured. The first edition, published anonymously, is now
a book of extreme rarity. 15ut in 1812, a second and posthumous edition
was printed tinder the modified title of A Familiar Religious Conversation,
in Verse, by Thoma Wright,
214 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
clever while at school; and when he went home, it was with
the reputation of being a youth, of facetious disposition, and of
the most ready wit and invention." He was born at the
Mulcture Hall, in Halifax, January 27th, 1736; and lived with
his father and mother, grandmother and grandfather Cordingley,
at the said Mulcture Hall, where they all lived together till they
almost all died. His mother died in childbed of his sister
Elizabeth, when he was somewhat turned of two years old.
His father died a year or two afterwards, leaving him and all
his concerns to the care of his grandfather and grandmother.
His eldest sister, Martha, having died sometime before of the
small-pox, his grandmother, who was exceedingly fond of him,
as the only remains of her only offspring, and consequently
very anxious to preserve his life, was persuaded by Dr. Nettle-
ton, who was intimate with the family, to have him inoculated,
as the safest method against that dreadful malady. As soon as
he became acquainted with his letters, that inclination for
reading and the acquisition of knowledge, which was one of the
strongest propensities of his nature, discovered itself. He was
never weary of his book; and by the time he was seven or
eight years old, he had read through the Old and New Testa-
ments, and was well acquainted with every remarkable story to be
found there, and in the Apocrypha. Soon afterwards, his grand-
mother died, and he was then taken by his aunt Ellison to
Birkenshaw, where, after being sometime at the Bradford
Grammar School, he was put to the white cloth-making trade,
which on his coming of age he relinquished. Being in pretty
good circumstances he bought many books, and read much
divinity, philosophy, history, poetry, voyages, travels, &c. ; and,
having a good memory,'"' by this means he acquired a good deal
* He was celebrated for an extraordinary memory, of winch there are
several anecdotes recorded. It is still remembered (says his grandson) in one
of the manufactories in which, when the increase of his family called for all
his resources, he took employment, that "Tommy Wright," as he was popu-
larly called in the phraseology of the district, could repeat the whole of
Milton's Paradise Lost whenever called upon, besides the works of other
poets; and yet that he could not remember accurately for a few hours a
common business commission. This is, perhaps, somewhat exaggerated on
the side of the forgetfulness, although he had evidently no taste for business ;
but only a few years ago his grandson heard directly the following anecdote
from an old man, who may be still alive, and who was when young his inti-
mate neighbour. This rjerson, -who -was an intelligent man, and in easy
circumstances, stated that, on the day when the Leeds Mercury, then a
young newspaper, arrived, "Tommy Wright" usually brought it with him to
his house, took his usual seat by his kitchen fire, and, after both had lit their
pipes, proceeded to read it through. The Mercury was then, of course, com-
paratively a small paper; but when he had once read it, if called upon
Mtt. THOMAS WRIGHT. 21f>
of various knowledge, which, qualifying him for conversation,
enabled him to contract a very large acquaintance with some of
the most sensible men and best families in the surrounding-
country.* He also learned to play upon the violin and the
German flute. He was also a good shot, and loved the
pleasures of the chase; and he appears to have mixed not
unwillingly in the rustic amusements of the people. About
that time he visited Hull, York, Scarborough, Harrogate,
Ripon, and London, where he saw the old king, George
II., and the Prince of Wales, afterwards George III., and
most of the royal family. He also went to Greenwich and
Woolwich, to see the men-of-war, &c. He was privately mar-
ried at Gretna Green, November 19, 17GG, to Lydia,t daughter
of William Birkhead, of Brookhouses, near Cleckheaton. He
then lived at Lower Blacup j for about fourteen years ; also near
Cleckheaton, where he had issue — 1, Elizabeth, born January
30th, 1768; married, December 25th, 1789, at the Leeds parish
church, by the Rev. Mr. Fawcett, to Joseph Greenwood,
tobacconist, Lowerhead Bow, Leeds, and had issue, Thomas,
immediately afterwards to repeat either the whole or any part of it, even an
advertisement, he could do it without hesitation, and so accurately that it
was quite unnecessary to refer to the paper itself.
* It must not be supposed that in this country Thomas Wright was buried
among a population of mere ignorant rustics. A considerable portion of the
people around him were occupied in the cloth manufacture, and were steadily
laying the foundation of the present manufacturing wealth of the district,
and some of them had already enriched themselves by their industry and
intelligence. There were, moreover, in the country around, a few men who
had raised themselves to intellectual distinction. At Bierley Hall, about two
miles to the north-west of Birkenshaw, lived Dr. Richardson, F.R.S., the
eminent naturalist, with whom Thomas Wright was intimate in his youth.
Fieldhead, in the parish of Birstal, was the residence of the Priestleys, where
they established a celebrated boarding-school for ladies, to which he sent ons
of his daughters. As the celebrated Dr. Joseph Priestley, F.R.S., who was
born at Fieldhead, was resident at Leeds during several years subsequent to
1767, he must have frequently visited his near relatives at the place of his
birth, and it i3 at least probable that Thomas Wright was personally
.acquainted with him. He visited Miss Bosanquet, subsequently the wife of
Fletcher, of Madeley, at Cross Hall, in the parish of Batley, about three
miles to the east of Birkenshaw. He also describes as his friend, John
Taylor, of Great Gomersal, little more than a mile to the south of Birken-
shaw, the enterprising and intelligent merchant and manufacturer, whose
character is drawn so admirably by Charlotte Bronte, under the name of
Mr. Yorke, in the novel of Shirley.
+ Mary Birkhead, of Bmokhouses, mother of the above Lydia, died April
29th, 1796, in the eightieth year of her age. William Birkhead, father of the
above Lydia, and husband of Mary, died March 3rd, 17!<7, in the hundredth
year of his age. — See the inscriptions in the chapel at Cleckheaton, Dear
Leeds. Obadiah Brooke, late a surgeon in Leeds, was related to this family.
X For an illustration of his residence at Lower Blacup, as it appeared in
November, 1863, see the frontispiece of his Autobiorjr>i)>i> /.
21 G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
born in May, 1793; Lydia, born in October, 1795; Mary Ann,
in June, 1797, &c. — 2, Mary, born November 22nd, 1769, who
died May 25th, 1770.— 3, Thomas Wright,* born March 8th,
1771. — 4, Sarah, bom March 5th, 1773; married, June 17th,
1793, at Birstal parish church, by the Rev. Reuben Ogden, to
Timothy Greenwood, surgeon and apothecary, of Cleckheaton,
and had issue, John Brook Greenwood, born in March, 1794;
Mary Ann, born in May, 1796, &c. — 5, 6, 7, James, John, and
William, who all died when children. His wife, Lydia, died of
consumption, October 22nd, 1777, aged thirty years. He mar-
ried, secondly, November 4th, 1781, at Birstal parish church,
Alicia, daughter of Mr. Thomas Pinder, farmer, of Upper
Blacup. In 1783, he removed again to Birkenshaw, where he
had issue, — 8, Martha, born January 28th, 1783. — 9, Ann,
born June 27th, 1785. — 10, Benjamin, born September 20th,
1787.— 11, Hannah, born June 25th, 1790.— 12, John, born
September 21st, 1793.— 13, Joseph, born June 10th, 1796.
Thomas Wright, of Birkenshaw, died of an attack of typhus
fever, on Friday, January 30th, 1801, aged sixty-five years.
He was buried at the White Chapel, in the parish of Birstal,
near Leeds, and retained his office of inspector of woollens (or
cloth- searcher) to the end of his life. He appears to have been
much attached to his children, and he describes the death of a
favourite son, named John, in a detailed account, which is
extremely pathetic. The loss of this child seems to have
weighed heavily on his mind for several years, in which he
devoted the anniversary of the sorrowful event to the composi-
tion of a short poem to his memory. These, together with an
Heroic Poem in praise of Richard Hill, Esq., will be found in
the appendix to his Autobiography.
* His eldest son, Thos. Wright, was apprenticed to Messrs. Nicholson, printers
and publishers, of Bradford ; and after being deceived by Mr. S. Nicholson, the
master's youngest son, he accompanied the eldest son, Mr. George Nicholson, to
Ludlow, in Shropshire, where the latter continued for some years to publish
books, which were remarkable for their good taste and good printing, and which
had a large circulation. There the present Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A.,
F.S.A., author of several valuable works, was born, which was the cause of
his being a native of that county, instead of a Yorkshireman. Mr. Nicholson
was his own compiler and editor, and his own traveller ; and he performed the
latter task almost always on foot. His Cambrian Travellers' Guide, first pub-
lished in 1808, but much enlarged and improved in a second edition, in 1813,
is still the best work we have on Wales. Thomas Wright had the greatest
personal esteem and respect for George Nicholson, and their friendship con-
tinued till the death of the latter in 1825. For a longer and more particular
account, see the Autobiography, &c.
REV. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, LL.D., F.R.S. 217
1773—1801.*
LIEUTENANT SAMUEL PREDHAM,
A native of Leeds, in the 54th Regiment, who was shot through
the body on the 25th of August, 1801, aged twenty-eight, near
the gates of Alexandria, in Egypt, where he displayed the
active zeal, the intrepid gallantry, and the invincible spirit and
courage of a true British soldier. There is a monument to him
in the Leeds parish church with the following inscription: —
" In memoiy of Samuel Predliam, of this town, late lieutenant
of his Majesty's 54th Regiment of Foot. This monument is
erected by his most affectionate and disconsolate mother on the
loss of her only son.t In the memorable expedition to Egypt
he bore a distinguished part, and displayed on all occasions the
active zeal, the intrepid gallantly, and the invincible spirit and
courage of a true British officer. He was shot through the
body, the 25th of August, 1801, near the gates of Alexandria."
"but, like the immortal Abercromble,
he refused to quit his post
so long as he could stand.
his death, which ensued the 13th of october following,
at the age of twenty-eight years,
to his freends was most affecting ;
to himself it was glorious,
as his llfe had been honourable."
1733-1804.
REV. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, LL.D., F.R.S.,
A dissenting divine, but more justly eminent as a philosopher,
was born March 13th, 1733, at Fieldhead, Birstal, near Leeds.
His father, Jonas Priestley, a cloth-dresser, was a dissenter of
the Calvinistic persuasion. His mother dying when he was six
years of age, he was adopted by a paternal aunt, Mrs. Keighley,
by whom he was sent to a free grammar school in the neigh-
bourhood, where he was taught the Latin language and the ele-
* 1727 — 1802. Thomas "Walker, Esq., serjeant-at-law, &c, for whom there
is in Guiseley church, near Leeds, a monument with the following inscription :
— "In memory of Thomas Walker, Esq., serjeant-at-law, and accountant-
general of the High Court of Chancery, who died 29th of January, 1802, in
the seventy-fifth year of his age, and was buried in the benchers' vault of the
Middle Temple, in the Temple church, London. Be was the sun and heir of
Thomas Walker, of the parish of Guiseley, by Susannah Harrison, his wife,
both of whom were buried in the churchyard of this parish."— For a
engraving of the nave and part of the choir of < iuiseley church, see Whitaker's
Loidis and Elmcte, p. 210.
+ His father, Mr. .Samuel (Predam or) I'redham, of Leeds, died November
10th, 1795, after a lingering illness, aged sixty-five years.
218 BIOGllAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
ments of Greek. His vacations were devoted to the study of
Hebrew under a dissenting minister; and when he had acquired
some proficiency iu this language, he commenced and made con-
siderable progress in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. In the
mathematics he received some instruction from Mr. Haggerstone,
who had been educated under Maclaurin. From his habits of
application and attachment to theological inquiries, his aunt
early entertained hopes of his becoming a minister. Ill health,
however, led him to abandon for a while his classical studies,
and apply himself to mercantile pursuits. "We learn from his
own statement that his constitution, always far from robust,
had been injured by a " consumptive tendency, or rather an
ulcer in the lungs, the consequence of improper conduct when
at school, being often violently heated with exercise, and as
often imprudently chilled by bathing," <kc. Without the aid of
a master, he acquired some knowledge of French, Italian, and
German. With the return of health his earlier occupations
wex^e resumed, and at the age of nineteen he entered the Dis-
senting academy at Daventry (afterwards Coward College,
and now incorporated with New College, London), conducted
by Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Ash worth, the successor of Dr. Dod-
dridge. Both his parents were of the Calvinistic persuasion, as
also was his aunt, who had omitted no opportunity of incul-
cating the importance of the Calvinistic doctrine. As however
differences of opinion on doctrinal points were not with her
sufficient ground for rejecting the society of those whom she
believed to be virtuous and enlightened, her house became the
resort of many ministers and clergymen whose views were more
or less opposed to those of Calvin. In their discussions youzig
Priestley took considerable interest, and they may be supposed
to have had considerable influence in leading him to a systematic
examination of the grounds upon which he had rested his own
belief. Before the age of nineteen, he styles himself rather a
believer in the doctrines of Arminius, though he adds, " I had
by no means rejected the doctrine of the Trinity or that of the
Atonement." Before leaving home he expressed a desire to be
admitted a communicant in the Calvinistic congregation which
he had been in the habit of attending with his aunt; but the
minister having elicited from his replies that he entertained
doubts relative to the doctrines of original sin and the eternity
of punishment, his admission was refused. In the academy lie
spent three years, and came forth an adherent to the Arian
system. Here he was also introduced to an acquaintance with the
-writings of Dr. Hartley, which exerted a powerful and lasting
REV. JOSEPH PKIESTLEV, LL.D., F.K.S. 219
influence over his whole train of thinking. During hi.s resi-
dence at the academy he composed the first part of his Insti-
tutes of Natural and Revealed Religion, published in 1772; the
remaining three parts appeared in 1773-4. On quitting the
academy in 1755, he became minister to a small congregation at
Needhain-Market, in Suffolk ; whence, after a residence of
three years, he removed to Nantwich, in Cheshire, where he
took the charge of a congregation, to which he also joined a
school. Here he was more successful as a schoolmaster, and
by means of the strictest economy was able to purchase some
philosophical apparatus, including an air-pump and an electrical
macliine, and also to keep out of debt, which through life he
always made a point of doing.* His first publication was an
English Grammar, on a new plan, printed in 1761, in which he
pointed out errors in Hume's language, which that author had
the candour to rectify in his future editions of his celebrated
History. In the same year he was invited by the trustees of
the dissenting academy at Warrington, to succeed Mr. (after-
wards Dr.) Aikin, as tutor in the languages. Here he began to
distinguish himself as a writer in various branches of science and
literature. Several of these had a relation to his department in
the academy, which, besides philology, included lectures on
history and general policy; among which were his lectures on
The Theory of Language and Universal Grammar, 1762; on
Oratory and Criticism, 1777; on History and General Policy,
1788; on The Laws and Constitution of England, 1772; an
Essay on a Course of Liberal Education for Civil and Active
Life, 1765; Chart of Biography, 1765; Chart of History, 1769,
<fcc. Here also he married the daughter of Mr. Wilkinson, an
ironmaster of Wales, a lady of great amiability and strength of
mind, by whom he had several children. A visit to London
was the occasion of his introduction to Dr. Franklin, Dr. Price,
Dr. Watson, Mr. Canton, and others. To the first of these he
communicated his idea of writing an historical account of elec-
trical discoveries, if provided with the requisite books. These
Dr. Franklin undertook to procure; and before the end of the
year in which Priestley submitted to him the plan of the work,
he sent him a copy of it in print, though five hours of every
day had been occupied in public or private teaching, besides
which he had kept up an active philosophical correspondence.
* In the business of education lie was indefatigable; and he added to the
more common objects of instruction, experiments in natural philosophy,
which were the means of fostering in himself a taste for pursuits of that
kind.
220 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
The title of this work is The History and Present State of Elec-
tricity, with Original -Experiments, 1767 (third edition, 1775).*
Shortly before its publication (in 1766) he was elected a Fellow
of the Royal Society, and about the same time the honorary
title of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh. The approbation bestowed on his History
o+* Electricity induced him to compose his History and Pre-
sent State of Discoveries relating to Vision, Light, and Colours,
published by subscription in 2 vols., 4to, 1772, which he
intended should be succeeded by a similar account of the other
branches of experimental science; but the sale of this work not
answering his expectations, the design was abandoned, and, we
believe, the work itself did not evince any very intimate know-
ledge of the subject. A disagreement between the trustees and
professors of the academy led to his relincpiishing his appointment
at "Warrington in 1767. His next engagement was at Mill Hill
chapel, Leeds, where his theological inquiries were resumed,
and several works of the kind composed, chiefly of a contro-
versial character. From an Arian he was now become a Socinian ;
and not content with enjoying the changes which he was at
perfect liberty to make, he began to contend with great zeal
against the authority of the established religion. The vicinity
of his dwelling to a public brewery was the occasion of his
attention being directed to pneumatic chemistry, the considera-
tion of which he commenced in 1768, and subsequently prose-
cuted with great success. His first publication on this subject
was a pamphlet on Impregnating Water with Fixed Air (1772);
the same year he communicated to the Royal Society his Obser-
vations on Different Kinds of Air, to which the Copley medal
was awaixled in 1773. t While at Leeds very advantageous
* Almost the whole of his historical facts are taken from the Philosophical
Transactions ; but at the end he gives a number of original experiments of his
own. His Original Experiments, though numerous and interesting, did not
give rise to any discovery of importance, and the entire work is described by
Dr. Thomson as "carelessly written," which may readily be attributed to the
rapidity with which it was executed. The most important of all his electrical
discoveries was, that charcoal is a conductor of electricity, and so good a con-
ductor that it vies even with the metals themselves. This publication went
through several editions, and was translated into foreign languages.
+ " No one," observes Dr. Thomson, " ever entered upon the study of
chemistry with more disadvantages than Dr. Priestley, and yet few have
occupied a more dignified station in it, or contributed a greater number of
new and important facts. The career which he selected was new, and he
entered upon it free from those prejudices which warped the judgment and
limited the views of those who had been regularly bred to the science. He
possessed a sagacity capable of overcoming every obstacle, and a turn for
observation which enabled him to profit by every phenomenon which pre-
sented itself to his view. His habits of regularity were such that everything
REV. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, LL.D., F.R.S. 221
proposals were made to him to accompany Captain Cook in his
second voyage to the South Seas ; but when about to prepare
for his departure, it was intimated to him by Mr. (afterwards
Sir Joseph) Banks, that objections to his religious principles had
been successfully urged by some of the ecclesiastical members of
the Board of Longitude. In 1773, after a residence at Leeds
for six years,* through the recommendation of Dr. Price, he
received the appointment of librarian and literary companion to
the Earl of Shelburne (afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne), with
a salary of £250 a year, a separate residence, and a certainty
for life in the event of his lordship's death or their previous
separation, t In the second year of this engagement he accom-
was registered as soon as observed. He was perfectly sincere and unaffected,
and the discovery of truth seems to have been in every case his real aDd undis-
guised object." He discovered oxygen gas, nitrous gas, nitrous oxide gas,
nitrous vapour, carbonic oxide gas, sulphurous oxide gas, fluoric acid gas,
muriatic gas, and amrnoniacal gas. The first of these, which he named
" dephlogisticated air," he discovered in 1774, having obtained it by concen-
trating the sun's rays upon red precipitate of mercury. He showed that the
red colour of arterial blood resulted from its combination with the oxygen of
the atmosphere; that the change produced in atmospheric air during the
process of combustion and putrefaction arose from a similar abstraction of
oxygen ; and recognized the property possessed by vegetables of restoring the
constituent thus abstracted. Moreover, the pneumatic apparatus now used
by chemists was principally invented by him. " But though," observes Dr.
Thomson, "his chemical experiments were, for the most part, accurate, they
did not exhibit that precise chemical knowledge which distinguished the
experiments of some of his contemporaries. He never attempted to deter-
mine the constituents of his gases, nor their specific gravity, nor any other
numerical result." Of this he himself was, doubtless, aware; for in a letter
written many years after (in 1795), he observes, " As to chemical lectureship, I
am now convinced I could not have acquitted myself in it to proper advan-
tage Though I have made many discoveries in some branches of
chemistry, I never gave much attention to the common routine of it, and
know but little of the common processes." The theory promulgated by
Lavoisier, though founded on the discoveries of Cavendish and Priestley, was
never adopted by the latter, who continued to adhere to the phlogistic theory,
notwithstanding the many facts and arguments adduced against it.
* In his own words, — " At Leeds I continued six years, very happy with a
liberal, friendly, and harmonious congregation, to whom my services (of which
1 was not sparing) were very acceptable. Here I had no unreasonable prejudices
to contend with, so that I had full scope for eveiy kind of exertion ; and I can
truly say that I always considered the office of i tan minister as the
most honourable of any upon earth, and in the studies proper to it I always
took the greatest pleasure." Again he writes, "The only person in Leeds
who gave much attention to my experiments was Mr. Hey, a surgeon. He
was a zealous Methodist, and wrote answe me of my theological tracts;
but we always conversed with the greatest freedom on philosophical subjects,
without mentioning anything relating to theology. When I left Leeds, he
begged of me the earthen trough in which I had made all my experiments on
air while I was there. It was such an one as is there commonly used for
washing linen," &c.
+ This situation was useful, as affording Dr. Priestley advantages in im-
proving his knowledge of the world, and in pursuing his scientific researches;
k 222 BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
panied liis patron through France, Flanders, Holland, and Ger-
many. At Paris his philosophical publications procured for
him an easy introduction to several of the leading chemists and
mathematicians, whom he describes as professed atheists; and
by whom he was told that he was the only individual they had
ever met with, and of whose understanding they had any
opinion, who was a believer in Christianity. To combat their
and similar prejudices, he wrote his Letters to a Philosophical
Unbeliever, containing an examination of the principal objections
to the doctrines of natural religion, and especially those con-
tained in the writings of Mr. Hume (1780); to which he after-
wards added the State of the Evidence of Revealed Religion,
with animadversions on the two last chaptei's of the first volume
of Mr. Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire (1787). While resident with Lord Shelburne, who
allowed him .£40 a year towards defraying the expenses of his
chemical experiments, he printed the first four volumes of his
Experiments and Observations on Air, 1774-79; a fifth appeared
in 1780. He also wrote his Miscellaneous Observations on Edu-
cation (1778), and an Introductory Dissertation to Hartley's
Observations on Man. In this dissertation, having expressed
his doubts concerning the immateriality of the sentient prin-
ciple in man, he was denounced in most of the periodicals as an
unbeliever in revelation and an atheist. This led to the publi-
cation of his Disquisitions relating to Matter and Sjpvrit (1777),
wherein his object is to show that "man is wholly material, and
that our only prospect of immortality is from the Christian
doctrine of a resurrection." In the same year it was followed
by A Defence of Unitarianism, or the Simple Humanity of
Christ, in opjyosition to his Pre-existence ; and of the Doctrine of
Necessity* The cause of the separation between Priestley and
and, as he was perfectly free from restraint, this was the period of some of
those exertions which increased his reputation as a rdiilosopher, and some of
those which brought the greatest obloquy irpon him as a divine. In 1775, he
published his Examination of the Doctrine of Common Sense, as held by Drs.
Re-id, Beattie, and Oswald, in which he treated those gentlemen with a con-
temptuous arrogance, of which, we are told, he was afterwards ashamed.
In his manner of treating his opponents, lie always exhibited a striking con-
trast to the mild and placid temper of his friend Dr. Price.
* It is not improbable that the odium which these works brought upon him
was the cause of a coolness in the behaviour of his noble patron, which about
this time (1780) he began to remark, and which terminated in a separation
after a connexion of seven years, without any alleged cause of complaint.
That the Marquis of Lansdowne had changed his sentiments of Dr. Priestley
appears from the evidence of the latter, who informs us, that when he came
to London he proposed to call on the noble lord, but the latter declined
receiving his visits. Dr. Priestley adds, that during his connexion with his
REV. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, LL.D., F.R.S. 223
Lord Shelbume (1780) has never transpired, and does not
appear to have been known to Priestley himself. Some have
attributed it to the odium to which the works last mentioned
subjected their author, and to the invidious attacks which issued
in almost all quarters from the press; but whatever may have
been their true motives, the conduct of both appears to have
been strictly honourable. Priestley retired with an annuity of
.£150 a year, and in 1787 Lord Shelburne made overtures for
renewing the original engagement, which, however,. Priestley
thought proper to decline. On leaving Lord Shelburne he
became minister to the principal dissenting congregation at
Birmingham, and a subscription was entered into by his friends
for defraying his philosophical experiments arid promoting his
theological inquiries. His receipts from these sources must, by
his own account, have been veiy considerable. Offers were also
made to procure him a pension from Government, but this he
declined. In 1782 he published his History of the Corruptions
of Christianity, 2 vols., 8vo. A refutation of the arguments
contained in this work was proposed for one of the Hague prize
essays; and in 1785 the work itself was burnt by the common
hangman in the city of Dort. It was succeeded by his History
of Early Opinions concerning Jesus Christ, 1786, 4 vols., 8vo.
His Familiar Letters to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, from
the ironical style in which they were written, exasperated even
the populace, urged on by strong party feeling and bigotry. His
Reply to Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution, an event
to which the lower orders of Birmingham were at that time
unfavourably disposed, led to his being nominated a citizen of
the French Republic ; and the occasion of a public dinner, given,
to say the least, with little judgment or taste — the state of the
public feeling being taken into account — by some of his friends,
July 14th, 1791, in celebration of the anniversary of the
destruction of the Bastile, at which, however, Priestley himself
was not present, afforded to an excited mob the opportunity of
gratifying the malignity which they conceived they had grounds
to entertain towards him. After demolishing the place where
lordship, he never once aided him in his political views, nor even with a
single political paragraph. The friends of both parties seem to think that
there was no bond of union between them, and his lordship's attention
became gradually so much engaged by politics, that every other object of
fcudy lost its hold. According, however, to the articles of agreement, Dr.
Priestley retained his annuity for life of £150, which was honourably paid to
ihe last; and it has been said that when the bond securing this annuity was
buiTit at the riots of Birmingham, his lordship in the handsomest manner
presented him with another.
224 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
the dinner bad been given, they broke into Iris house, destroyed
his philosophical apparatus, a valuable collection of books, and
a large number of manuscripts, the result of many years' labour,
after which they made an unsuccessful attempt to burn the
dwellings and what was left in it. An eye-witness of the
"riots" asserts that the high road, for fully half a mile of the
house, was strewed with books, and that on entering the library
there were not a dozen volumes on the shelves, while the floor
was covered several inches deep with the torn manuscripts. In
the meantime, he and his family sought safety in flight. The
first two nights he passed in a post-chaise, the two succeeding
on horseback ; but owing less to his own apprehensions of
danger than to those of others. The sum awarded to him at the
assizes as compensation for the damage is not stated, but he tells
us that it fell short of his loss by £2,000. Individual gene-
rosity made ample amends. Among other instances of this
kind, his brother-in-law made over to him the sum of £10,000
invested in the French funds, besides an annuity of £200 a
year. After this he removed to Hackney as the successor of
hits deceased friend, Dr. Price; but finding his society shunned
by many of his former philosophical associates, among whom
were the members of the Royal Society, from whom he formally
withdrew himself, and seeing no pi'ospect of enjoying permanent
tranquillity in England, he determined on quitting it. Accord-
ingly, April 7th, 1794, he embarked with his family for America,
and took up his abode at Northumberland, in Pennsylvania.
A few days before his embarkation he was presented with a
silver inkstand bearing the inscription — " To Joseph Priestley,
L.L.D., &c, on his departure into exile, from a few members
of the University of Cambridge, who regret that this expres-
sion of their esteem is occasioned by the ingratitude in
their country." He had contemplated no difficulty in forming
a Unitarian congregation in America; but in this he was
greatly disappointed. He found that the majority disregarded
religion ; and those who paid any attention to it were more
afraid of his doctrines than desirous of hearing them. By the
American government, the former democratic spirit of which
had subsided, he was looked upon as a spy in the interest of
Prance. His wife died in 1796. His youngest son had died a
few months previous. He himself, in 1801, became subject to
constant indigestion and difficulty of swallowing any kind of
solid food. This continued to increase till 1803, when, per-
ceiving his end approaching, he told his physician that if he
could prolong his life for six months he should be satisfied, as
EEV. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, LL.D., F.R.S. 225
in that time lie hoped to complete the works upon which he
was then engaged. These were his General History of the
Christian Church from tlie Fall of the Western Empire to the
Present Time, 4 vols., 1802-3 (which had been preceded by his
General History of the Christian Church to the Fall of the
Western Empire, 2 vols., 1790), and T/ie Doctrines of Heathen
Philosophy compared with those of Revelation (posthumous).
He died February Gth, 1804, expressing the satisfaction he
derived from the consciousness of having led a useful life, and
the confidence he felt in a future state, in a happy immortality.
On his death becoming known at Paris, his eloge was read by
Cuvier before the National Institute. There is a statement in
more than one work that Priestley's death was occasioned by
poison, but it does not appear to be supported by any autho-
rity.* The Autobiography of Dr. Priestley, originally written,
as he informs us, during one of his summer excursions, con-
cludes with the date " Northumberland, March 24th, 1795."
It was published in America after his decease, with a con-
tinuation by his son, Joseph Priestley, and observations on his
writings by Thomas Cooper (president judge of the fourth
district of Pennsylvania), and the Rev. William Christie.t
* There are many circumstances in this account which the attentive reader
will consider with profound attention. It is unnecessary to point them out,
or to attempt a lengthened character of Dr. Priestley. It has been said with
truth that of his abilities, none can hesitate to pronounce that they are of
first-rate excellence. His philosophical inquiries and publications claim the
greatest distinction, and have materially contributed to the advancement of
science. As an experimental philosopher, he was among the first of his age.
As a divine, had he proved as diligent in propagating truth as in dissemi-
nating error, in establishing the Gospel in the minds of men, instead of
shaking their belief in the doctrines of revelation, perhaps few characters of
the last century would have ranked higher as learned men, or have been held
in greater estimation. Such, however, was not the character of his theo-
logical writings, which, as Dr. Johnson said, were calculated to unsettle
everything, but to settle nothing. All this accords with the sentiments of
the great majority of the nation with respect to Dr. Priestley as a divine,
although we are aware that the epithet of bigot will, by some, be applied to
him who records the fact. On the other hand, in dwelling on Dr. Priestley's
character as a philosopher, his friends may take the most effectual method of
reconciling all parties, and handing down his fame undiminished to the latest
posterity. Dr. Priestley, according to another account, was a man of perfect
simplicity of character. In spite of his many controversies, he entertained
in> personal enmities, and was entirely free from envy and jealousy. In the
intercourse of life he was agreeable and benevolent." His mind was active,
discriminating, and exact; his knowledge comprehensive and various; his
style in composition was very clear and fluent.
+ We have enumerated his principal works in the preceding Sketch, but the
whole amount to about 70 vols., or tracts, in Svo. An analysis of them is
given in the Mi moirs partly written by himself, and partly by his son, 1806-7,
2 vi. Is., Svo., to which we are principally indebted for the above particulars.
"To enumerate," says the celebrated Mr. Kirwan, "Dr. Priestley's dis-
P
22 G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Priestley's Correspondence lias been collected and incorporated
Avitli the above Memoir by Mr. John Towill Rutt, forming tlie
first two volumes of his collected edition of Priestley's Theo-
logical and Miscellaneous Works, in 25 vols., 8vo., Hackney,
1817, etc. At pp. 537-44 of the second volume of this edi-
tion will be found, chronologically arranged, a complete list
of Priestley's works : an imperfect list is given in Watts's
Bibliotheca Britannica; Darling's Cyclopaedia Bibliographia, <kc.
— See his portrait in the Leeds Philosophical Hall. The Leeds
Library, which is undoubtedly the largest in the north of
England, owes its origin to the celebrated Dr. Priestley. Por
additional information, see Thomson's Annals of Philosophy,
vol. i., 1813; Thomson's History of the Royal Society, 4 to.,
1812; Cuvier's "Notice of the Life of Priestley" in the Bio-
graphie Universelle; the articles, "Electricity" and "Chemis-
try," in the Encyclopaedia Melropolitana, by the Rev. Francis
Lunn ; Rees's Cyclopaedia ; Cunningham's Lives of Eminent
and Illustrious Englishmen; Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxiv. ;
Monthly Bevieiv ; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, and Literary
Illustrations, vol. v., p. 418 ; Literary Memoirs of Living
Authors (1798), vol. ii. ; Chambers's Cyclopaedia of English
Literature, vol. ii., p. 213; Brougham's Philosophers of the
Time of George the Third, various editions, with portrait ;
Rutt's Memoirs and Correspondence of Priestley, above-men-
tioned; the Christian Observer ; the Biographical Dictionaries
of Chalmers, Gorton, Knight, Rose, Watkins, &c.
coveries, would, in fact, be to enter into a detail of most of those that have
been made within the last fifteen years. How many invisible fluids, whose
existence evaded the sagacity of foregoing ages, has he made known to us?
The very air we breathe he has taught us to analyze, to examine, to im-
prove ; a substance so little known, that even the precise effect of respiration
was an enigma, until he explained it. He first made known to us the proper
food of vegetables, and in what the difference between these and animal
substances consisted. To him pharmacy is indebted for the method of
making artificial mineral waters, as well as for a shorter method of preparing
other medicines ; metallurgy, for more powerful and cheap solvents ; and
chemistry, for such a variety of discoveries as it would be tedious to recite —
discoveries which have new-modelled that science, and drawn to it, and to
this country, the attention of all Europe. It is certain that, since the year
1773, the eyes and regards of all the learned bodies in Eui-ope have been
directed to this country by his means. In every philosophical treatise his
name is to be found, and in almost every page. They all own that most of
their discoveries are due either to the repetition of his discoveries, or to the
hints scattered through his works." — See also a very eulogistic character of
him by Lord Brougham, D.C.L., F.R.S., &c, in his Lives of Men of Letters
and Science who flourished in the Times of George III., 1845; vol. i., p. 427,
with a fine portrait, from a picture by Gilbert Stewart, in the possession of
T. B. Barclay, Esq., of Liverpool.
MR. GERVAS STORR. 227
-1805.*
MR. C4ERVAS STORR
Was a worthy member of the Leeds Society of Friends. To
delineate the character of this truly good man, with justice, is
not only difficult, but impossible. With an income of several
hundreds per annum, his personal expenses did not exceed £30
a year : the surplus he bestowed upon the poor — not through the
medium of agents, but with his own hands ministering to their
necessities. For this purpose he performed weekly circuits of
several miles' extent through the adjacent villages, where he ex-
plored the wretched abodes of misery, investigated their various
necessities, and administered advice, bedding, clothing, and money,
in the most judicious manner; and, during his last illness, he
expressed his firm belief that the same Divine Power which had
stimulated him thus to alleviate the distresses of his fellow -
creatures, would raise up some others to supply his place. His
spare habit, his venerable gray locks, his plain and rather coarse
clothing, with the sanctity of his countenance, and general
appearance, produced in beholders the idea of one of the ancient
prophets, and caused him to be regarded with reverential defer-
ence by all who knew him, especially the numerous claimants
on his unbounded charity, who deeply regretted his loss. This
useful and estimable man died on Wednesday, January 9th,
1805. May his truly pious example stimulate many others to
"Go and do likewise."t — See the Leeds Mercury, &c, for 180-5.
* — 1805. Mr. Gawthorp, a gentleman of the most benevolent and public-
spirited temper, and who, in addition to his unremitting endeavours to aid
the public charities in Leeds, gratuitously served the office of treasurer to
the paiish for a series of eighteen years, with " unremitting attention,
unwearied diligence, and perfect accuracy ;" and for wbich the managers of
the affairs of the town thought proper, some time previous to his death, to
vote him their " most grateful remembrances," and to assure him "that they
should hold him out to their friends, neighbours, and children, as a pattern
for their imitation." This charitable and disinterested person died, in Leeds,
on Tuesday, June 18th, 1805. — See the Leeds Mercury, &c.
t " No storied marble decorates thy earth,
No costly monument's erected nigh,
Save what thy modest, unassuming worth,
And never-fading virtues will supply !
Those sacred monuments shall ever shine,
While haughty sculpture moulders into dust,
And claim more honour than the golden shrine,
The trophied urn, or decorated bust.
Each mournful relative that lingers here,
Shall circulate thy deeds through life's short span,
And o'er thy grave, while falls affection's tear,
Shall pensive say, — Here lies an honest man."
228 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1726-1806.
JOSEPH DENISON, ESQ.,
Formerly of Leeds, died December 12th, 1806, probably about
eiglity years of age, an extraordinary instance of success and
prosperity in bis undertakings; being undoubtedly immensely
rich, though probably not to such an enormous degree as has
been represented. He was a native of the West part of York-
shire; his parents in the humblest rank of life. But by some
means he made his way to London, and after some time became
clerk in the counting-house of a Mr. Dillon, an Irish Catholic
merchant, who, " among the various changes of this mortal life,"
in aftertimes himself failing, was glad to become clerk to his
own ci-devant clerk, Mr. Denison. At length he entered into
business for himself; and, by unabated industry and the most
rigid frugality, worked himself into very high credit and an
increasing fortune. He dwelt for a considerable time in Prince's
Street, Lothbury, and afterwards removed to Jeffrey's Square
and St. Mary Axe. He became connected with the family of
Heywood, bankers, at Liverpool, and other considerable mer-
chants in the north of England. In the beginning of his life
he married a countrywoman of his own, of the name of Sykes,
distantly related to the mother of the well-known antiquary,
Mr. Ralph Thoresby, who bore that name. She was of great
service to him, and very assistant to his prosperity, keeping his
books, and looking after his affairs, when he was absent upon
business; she died about forty years ago, without issue. He
afterwards married Elizabeth, only child of a Mr. Butler, for-
merly a hat-maker in or near Tooley Street, Southwark : a well-
educated and very amiable woman, who lived with him only
three years and a half, dying November 27th, 1771, aged
thirty-two, much regretted by all her acquaintance. She left a
son, "William Joseph Denison (member of parliament for Camel-
ford, and afterwards returned for Hull), and two daughters;
Elizabeth, married to Henry, Earl Conjngham, and had issue;
and Maria, married to Sir Robert Lawley, and had no issue.*
He bought of Lord King the estate of Denbies, near Dorking,
in Surrey; and afterwards of the Duke of Leeds, for above
£100,000 (as has been said), the estate of Seamere, near Scar-
* At his death, he left his two daughters, the Countess of Conyngham and
Lady Lawley, £20,000 each, which, with their portions on marriage, would
make their respective fortunes £50,000. To an only sister he gave an annuity
of £100 per annum ; and the residue of his immense property, amounting to
£15,000 per annum, he hequeathed to his eldest son. — See Gentleman's
Magazine for February, 1807, &c.
esq. 229
borough, in Yorkshire. (See Gentleman s Magazine for Decem-
ber, 1806, &c.) According to a writer in Once a Week, the
good fortune which attended on the Denisons in their "rise and
progress" to opulence and title, has seldom or never been sur-
passed. Mr. Joseph Denison, the father of the late Mr. Wil-
liam Joseph Denison, M.P., of Denbies,* the wealthy banker,
whose daughter married the late Marquis of Conyngham,+ the
especial favourite of Cleorge IV., and whose grandson wore the
coronet of Lord Loudesborongh,J was the son of very poor
parents in Leeds. He travelled up to town as a youth with
one of the ten-hoi'se carriers' waggons then in fashion, some-
times riding, and at other times trudging along by the side of
* "William Joseph Denison, Esq. , of Denbies, near Dorking, in Surrey,
born in May, 1770; M.P. for that county since 1818. He was a magis-
trate for Surrey and Yorkshire, and served as high-sheriff of the latter
in 180S — was the son of Joseph Denison, Esq., of the city of London, a
banker and merchant of great eminence, who realized a large fortune, and
purchased considerable estates. He married, in 1768, Elizabeth Butler,
daughter of a Lisbon merchant, and left, at his decease, one son, "William
Joseph Denison, and two daughters, Elizabeth, married, in 1794, to Henry,
first Marquis of Conyngham, and Maria, married, in 1793, to Sir Robert
Lawley, Bart., created, in 1831, Baron Wenlock. — See Burke's Landed
Gentry, &c.
+ Conyngham, 181G, second Marquis (Francis N. Conyngham, K.P., P.C.),
eldest surviving son of first Marquis, by Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph
Denison, Esq., of Denbies, Surrey; born in 1799; succeeded in 1832; married,
in 1824, Lady Jane Paget, daughter of the first Marquis of Anglesea — sits as
Lord Minster; a major-general unattached; was M.P. for county Donegal,
1826-32; Postmaster General, 1834; Lord Chamberlain, 1S37-39. Heir, his
son, Earl Mount Charles, born in 1S25. The dowager Marchioness of Conyng-
ham was the daughter of Joseph* Denison, Esq., a native of Leeds, an
eminent and rich merchant of the city of London. This gentleman formed
the present Liverpool bank of Heywoods, nearly a century ago. Mr. Deni-
son, by his first lady (with whom he had no children), was related to the
Rev. Sir Mark Sykes, Bart., and also to the Sykes of Hull. The above
noble lad}', and also her sister, Lady Lawley, and the late member for Surrey,
were by Mr. Denison's second wife, a Miss Butler, living with her mother at
Xewington, near London. She, dying after her last child, left Mr. Denison a
widower again. This lady's mother, after this event, took the two young
ladies, afterwards the Marchioness of Conyngham and Lady (Lawley) Wen-
lock, under her care. Their father purchased the late Duke of Leeds' estate
round Scarborough, and several other large and valuable estates. These,
ined with the fine persons and accomplishments of the young ladies,
soon attracted admirers, and among the rest the late Marquis of Conyngham.
X Londesborough, 1850, first Lord (Albert Denison i tenison, K.C.H., F.R.S.,
&c), second surviving son of first Marquis of Conyngham, by Elizabeth,
bter of Joseph Denison, Es<j., born in lso."i; married, first, Henrietta
l, daughter of first Lord Forester: second, in 1847, Ursula Lucy,
daughter of the Hon. Captain Bridgeman; v.. 9 a vice-admiral of "Borkshire,
and a deputy-lieutenant for Donegal and the West-Biding; assumed, in 1849,
the name of Denison; died in 1860, when be was succeeded by his son,
William Henry Forester Denison, now the second lord, born in 1834,
cated at Eton, was M.P. for Ueverk-y, 1S.">7 9, tlmi Scarborough till I860.
Residence, Grimston Park, near Tadcaster, &c. —See thi ■"■ rages, &c.
230 BIOGEAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
the liorses, and buoyed up by the hope (in which he was scarcely
disappointed) that he would find the streets of London paved
with eold. His son died soruethmor more than a mere mil-
lionaire. Another Denison, who prospered in his day, was the
father of the Speaker of her Majesty's faithful Commons, now
by virtue of his office "the first Commoner" in the land. His
father, John Wilkinson, was a dyer at Leeds, who changed his
name — whether with or without leave and licence from royalty,
we do not know — to Denison,* on the death of his maternal
uncle, a cloth merchant, of Leeds, who had risen from the
ranks, and carried on a most successful trade with Portugal.
He increased his prosperity by two fortunate marriages ; by the
former of which he became father-in-law of one Speaker, Sir
Charles Manners Sutton (afterwards Viscount Canterbury) ;t
and by the second, the father of another Speaker, the present
Right Hon. John Evelyn Denison.;]: He became lord of the
manor of Ossington, and sat in parliament for many years ; and
had he lived a few years longer, he would have seen one of his
sons (John Evelyn Deuison) married to the daughter of a ducal
house (Portland), and chosen Speaker of the House of Com-
mons; another, Bishop of Salisbury (lately deceased); a third
(Sir W. T. Denison, K.C.B., &c), Governor-General of Aus-
tralia, now of Madras; and three others first-class men at Oxford,
Eellows of their colleges, and high up in the learned professions.
Another member of the same family, somewhat older than any
of the above-mentioned gentlemen, also the son of very poor
parents at Leeds, accumulated a .fortune in the law, and rose
to be chief-justice of the Court of Common Pleas (viz., Sir
Thomas Denison, who died in 1765). He married an heiress,
and his widow left her own and her husband's property to a
* John Denison. Esq., of Ossington Hall, in Nottinghamshire, died May
6th, 1820, at his house in Portman Square, London. He and his brother,
Edward Wilkinson, Esq., of Potterton Hall, in this county, inherited the
greater part of the immense property of the late Mr. Denison, of Leeds ; and
the deceased built the beautiful mansion of "Woodhouse (House or) Hall, near
Leeds, but never occupied it.— See the Leeds Mercwry, &c.,for May, 1820;
Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
t Canterbury, 1835, "second Viscount (Charles John Manners Sutton), elder
son of first viscount, by his first wife, Charlotte, daughter of John Denison,
Esq., born in 1812, succeeded in 1845. The first viscount was Speaker of the
House of Commons from 1817-34. Eesidence, Bottesford, near Grantham.
X Denison, Eight Hon. John Evelyn, speaker, eldest son of the late John
Denison, Esq., M.P. ; born in 1800; married, in 1827, Charlotte, daughter of
fourth Duke of Portland; educated at Eton, graduated B.A. at Christ
Church, Oxford, 1823; M.P. for South Notts, 1833-37; for Malton, 1841-57;
chosen for North Notts and elected speaker, 1857. Residence, Ossington,
near Newark. — See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
JOSEPH DEXISOX, ESQ. 231
great-niece, who married (Edmund) a member of the wealthy
family of Beckett, on condition of his assuming the name of
Denison, and became the mother of Mr. Edmund Beckett
Denison (M.A., Q.C.), whose name is so familiar to our readers
as the inventor of the great clock and bell at Westminster; and
Mr. William Beckett Denison, a banker at Leeds, &c. Their
father was one of the members of parliament for the West-
Biding for many years (1840-57). It should be added that
even to the present day the name of Denison is nearly as
common about Leeds, as Smith in London, or Jones in Wales,
or Campbell in Scotland, though it is rarely met with in other
parts of her Majesty's dominions. Another writer gives the
following statement in the Gentleman s Magazine: — u Mr.
Joseph Denison, the father of the late William Joseph Denison,
Esq., M.P. for West Surrey, who died in 1806, rose to enormous
wealth in the city of London, from almost the humblest begin-
nings. It has been stated that he was a parish boy, ignorant of
reading and writing, who made his way up from Yorkshire to
London on foot; others say that he was a respectable woollen
cloth merchant in Leeds, who resided at Burmantofts Hall.
The late William Joseph Denison, a man of sound principles
and excellent character, though less penurious than his father,
pursued the like process of accumulation."" It has always
been understood that a peerage was offered to the late banker,
through the intervention of his sister (Elizabeth), who obtained
a marquisate for her lord (Marquis of Conyngham in 1816),
and a barony for her brother-in-law, Sir Bobert Lawley (Baron
Wenlock in 1831), who died without issue; but the honour was
respectfully declined by the staunch old Whig, who considered
that his patronymic was more in its place at the head of his own
ledger, than in the pages of the peerage. Whilst out of parlia-
ment, Mr. William Joseph Denison served the office of sheriff
of Yorkshire in 1808; in which county he was the principal
landowner in the neighbourhood of Scarborough and Driffield.
His Yorkshire estates are valued at more than half a million;
those iu Surrey at one hundred thousand; the remainder of his
property is in the funds and other securities. The whole is
* It is said that a few (three) years ago, when the nephew to whom lie has
bequeathed £85,001) per annum, fell into railway difficulties (the speculation
having Leen undertaken with the sanction of his ancle), he permitted him to
fly from the writs out against him to the semi-penal settlement of Boulo
sur-mer, and reside there a twelvemonth with his young family, rather than
come down with the tune of £2,O00; yet to this very gentleman— a man of
the nicest honour he had at that very period bequeathed more than two
millions.— See Gentleman's Magazine.
232 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
valued at £2,300,000. — See Gentleman's Magazine, &c. See
also Sir Thonias Denison (in this volume), with Notes, p. 169,
&c. ; and also William Denison, Esq., with Note, p. 180, &c.
1745-1808.
EEV. WILLIAM WOOD, F.L.S.,
Minister of the Protestant Dissenting chapel, at Mill Hill, in
Leeds, was horn at Collingtree, a village near Northampton, on
May 29th, 1745. His father, Mr. Benjamin Wood, was a
memher of the Christian Society at Northampton, of which Dr.
Doddridge was the minister ; and being a pious man, paid
peculiar attention to the religious instruction of his children.
While engaged in the iisual occupations of his business, he was
accustomed to employ them in reading to him some work of
piety, to which he fixed their attention by frequent questions
and remarks, and thus imprinted upon their tender minds
lessons of the most salutary nature for the future conduct of
life. Happy the children who are thus early taught the love
and practice of religion! Of Mr. Wood's childhood little else
is known, than that he very early discovered considerable
talents; and that he passed, with great credit, through the
ordinary course of school education, under the late Dr. Stephen
Addington, at Market Harborough. At the age of sixteen he
entei'ed the Dissenting Academy in Wellclose Square, London,
at that time under the cai'e of the Rev. Dr. Jennings, and the
Rev. Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Morton Savage. In the folio whig
year, 1762, upon the death of Dr. Jennings, the academy was
removed to Hoxton; Mr. Savage was appointed to the office of
theological tutor, and with him were associated as tutors — the
one in the belles lettres, the other in mathematics and natural
philosophy — the Rev. A. Kippis, and Mr. A. Rees. Among his
contemporaries in the academy were Mr. J. Alexander, author
of a paraphrase on 1 Cor. xv.; Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Samuel
Wilton; Mr. Forsyth, late tutor at Daventry and Northampton;
Mr. Beaufoy, late member of parliament for Yarmouth; and
Mr. T. Jervis, formerly tutor to the late Marquis of Lansdowne,
and afterwards chosen to succeed to the pastoral office at Mill
Hill chapel, in Leeds. With some of these he continued to
maintain a pleasing intercourse through life ; but with the last
he formed a close and intimate friendship, which subsisted
without interruption till death. To the excellence of his con-
duct as a student, as also to the talents and virtues by which he
was throughout life distinguished, this " friend of his youth, and
companion of his early studies," has borne his affectionate and
REV. WILLIAM WOOD, F.L.S. 233
public testimony. (See Athenceum for May, 1808.) Mr. "Wood
had not chosen the work of the ministry as an idle occupation;
he was well aware of the importance of that work, and of the
necessity, not of natural talents alone, but of much acquired
knowledge, to its proper discharge. He had resolved not to
engage in it, unprepared to secure his own credit, and the real
advantage of those who might be committed to his care; and
he was fully sensible that the instructions of the ablest tutors
would be of little avail, without the constant personal diligence
of the student. By his own unwearied assiduity, therefore, he
aided their judicious efforts; and the consequence was, that few
young men ever left their preparatory studies better qualified to
discharge the weighty duties of the pastoral care, and to pursue
those interesting subjects of inquiry, to which the lectures of a
public tutor are only initiatory. He preached his first sermon
at Debenham, in Suffolk, on the 6th of July, 17 66, and a more
appropriate subject could scarcely have been chosen for such an
occasion than that which he selected. His text was taken from
St. Luke ix. 26. The remaining part of that year, and a great
part of 1767, was spent by him in the neighbourhood of London;
and during this period he preached before the principal congre-
gations in the metropolis and its vicinity. His talents were
noticed and admired, and he obtained the friendship of some of
the most eminent of the Dissenting ministers. Of this number
was the late Dr. Price, who was then settled at Newinjrton
Green, and for whom he appears to have frequently officiated.
The friendship of such a man was, in itself, an honour and an
advantage to one just entering upon the world; and as it con-
tinued unimpaired till the doctor's death, many occasions
occurred in which Mr. Wood was greatly indebted to his kind
exertions. Among other instances of this nature was a recom-
mendation to the important place which his friend the Rev. T.
Jervis so ably and so honourably filled in the family of the late
Marquis of Lansdowne. In the month of September of this
year he removed to Stamford, in Lincolnshire, as successor to
his excellent friend, the Rev. J. Ralph. Here, connected with
a small but affectionate society, he spent somewhat more than
three years. During this inteiwal he was ordained, together
with his late tutor, the Rev. A. Rees, at the meeting-house in
St. Thomas's, Southwark, and his testimonial was signed by the
principal Dissenting ministers then in London. From Stamford
he removed to Ipswich, in November, 1770, as assistant to the
Rev. T. Scott, the well-known translator of the Booh of Job.
At the close of the year 1772, Dr. Priestley resigned his situa-
234 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
tion of minister at Mill Hill chapel, in Leeds; and in conse-
quence of the joint recommendation of himself and Dr. Price,
Mr. Wood was invited to succeed him. On January 10th and
17th, 1773, he preached as a candidate at Leeds; and on the
30th of May, entered formally upon the office to -which he had
been unanimously chosen. The excellent discourse which he
delivered upon that occasion was soon afterwards published. In
it he justly and eloquently describes, and earnestly and forcibly
urges, the reciprocal duties of a Christian minister and his
hearers. When he undertook the charge of this numerous and
highly-respectable congregation, he had nearly completed his
twenty-seventh year. At such an age to be placed in such a
situation, and as the immediate successor of Dr. Priestley, was
a flattering distinction, and as such, he acknowledges he felt it ;
but at the same time he " was not unapprised of the unremitted
care which it behoved him to take, that no one might have just
reason to despise his youth." When he had been settled in
Leeds about two yeai's, he published a small volume consisting
of twelve Sermons on social life. These sermons were composed
solely for the pulpit, at different intervals, and not in the order
in which they were published. On the 29th of September,
1780, Mr. Wood married Loiiisa Ann, the second daughter of
Mr. George Oates, of Low Hall, near Leeds." This gentleman
was engaged in the Leeds trade, and his house (which was till
lately continued by two of his grandsons), was one of the oldest
and most respectable in the town. Being possessed of excellent
abilities, and much general information, he had great influence,
and was ever regarded by his neighbours as a leading man. In
religion he was a steady Dissenter, and in politics a Whig of
the old school. In this connection, which lasted six-and-twenty
years, Mr. Wood experienced much domestic felicity; and it
was a matter of no little importance to his comfort, that he
became by this means united in closer ties to a considerable part
of his congregation. The fruits of this marriage were four
children, three of whom survived their parents. At a meeting
of the Associated Dissenting Ministers in the West-Eiding of
Yorkshire, held at Bradford, July 4th, 1781, during the Ame-
rican war, he delivered an excellent discourse On the Christian
Duty of Cultivating a Spirit of Universal Benevolence amidst
* Their eldest son was George William Wood (of the firm of Oates, Wood,
and Smithson), some time M.P. for Kendal, who married Sarah, daughter of
Joseph Oates, Esq., of Weetwood Hall, near Leeds, his mother's brother, and
died in 1843. She died in July, 1864, aged eighty-six, at Singleton Lodge,
near Manchester. — For pedigree of the Oates family, and other particulars,
see Whitaker's Thoresby, p. 97, &c.
REV. WILLIAM WOOD, F.L.S. 235
the Present Unhappy National Hostilities. At the request of
the audience, it was afterwards published. From the time of
liis leaving the academy, but especially of his settling at Leeds,
Mr. Wood ardently devoted himself to the studies immediately
belonging to his profession, or intimately connected with it. Few
men were ever better qualified for the investigation of theological
truth. With considerable attainments in classical literature, and
an accurate knowledge of the Hebrew language and the Greek of
the synagogue, were united a sound understanding, a correct
judgment, a comprehensive mind, a well-formed taste, and
unw^eai'ied perseverance. From the principal sources of biblical
criticism he could draw with ease, and for the minutest and the
most patient investigation he was suited as well by habit and
disposition as by extensive and accurate learning. In 1785 he
began to deliver, once a fortnight, to the younger part of his
congregation, a long and interesting course of lectures. While
Mr. Wood was thus usefully and pleasingly occupied in studies
peculiarly connected with his profession, he devoted no small
part of his time and attention to the pursuit of natural history,
and particularly of English botany. He also rendered his
knowledge of nature subservient to the great purpose of public
religions instruction ; frequently drawing from the works of
God clear and impressive elucidations of his Word, and lessons
of piety and virtue which forcibly arrested the attention, and
remained deeply imprinted on the hearts of his hearers. The
centenary of the Revolution was an event which could not be
passed over in silence, by one who had early imbibed the love of
civil and religious liberty, and who was fimily attached by sub-
sequent conviction to the genuine principles of the British con-
stitution. Mr. Wood pai'took of the feelings which then gene-
rally prevailed, and on the two Sundays which succeeded the
4th of November, 1788, delivered two excellent Sermons,
which were afterwards published. A short account of Leeds
was, in 1794, contributed by him to Dr. Aikin's History of
Manchester. The nature of that work admitted only of a brief
and general view of the state of that extensive and flourishing
town. In the year 1796, he had the unhappiness to lose an
amiable and very promising son, at the early age of twelve years.
This was a severe trial, but the unobtrusive and sincere piety
which ever glowed in his bosom enabled him to bear it with
composure and fortitude. It was also no small source of alle-
viation to him, that at this time he was most actively and bene-
ficially engaged in the education of young persons. The cir-
cumstance which next brought him before the public was the
23G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
death of the Rev. Newcome Cappe. The age and character of
Mr. Wood, as well as his former connection and intercoui'se
with this truly venerable person, pointed him out as best quali-
fied to commit his remains to the earth, and to pay that tribute
which was so justly due to departed learning and piety. This
mournful office he performed on Wednesday, December 31st,
1800, in a manner most impressive, and in the presence of a
great concourse of people. When this ceremony was finished,
he delivered a sermon adapted to the occasion, and containing a
highly-wrought but just eulogy of his late revered friend.
"An eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures," were the
words which he selected as his text, and none more appropriate
could have been chosen. In fewer and in better terms the public
character of Mr. Cappe could not have been comprised. This
Sermon was shortly afterwards published, with a suitable dedi-
cation to Mrs. Cappe, and with an appendix containing brief
Memoirs of Mr. Cappe's life. In the course of these, some
interesting particulars are given, and a masterly analysis of the
few works which he published, especially of his Past Sermons,
which excited general admiration ; and had he been of less
retired habits, would have procured for him the friendship of
some of the most distinguished characters in the country. On
the following Sunday, Mr. Wood delivered a Sermon at Mill
Hill chapel, upon the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century.
It was written hastily, and with no view to publication ; but the
just and striking sentiments which it contained, together with
the peculiarity of the occasion, produced such an effect upon the
congregation, that immediately after the service they earnestly
and unanimously requested that it might be printed. In the
year 1801 he published a liturgy, consisting of five forms, for the
congregation at Mill Hill chapel. This, for the most part, was
compiled from the service of the Established Church, the Liver-
pool, Shrewsbury, and other liturgies before published by the
Dissenters. (See Political Papers, vol. vi., pp. 67-8.) He
was instrumental in the academical institution being trans-
ferred from Manchester to York. Upon the death of Dr.
Priestley, in 1804, Mr. Wood was led no less by his own
respect for the memory of that great and good man, than
bv the circumstance of his having succeeded to the same
pulpit, and by the earnest request of the older members of the
society, who remembered with pleasure and with gratitude the
instructions which he had so zealously and so ably dispensed to
them, to pay to his eminent virtues and talents that tribute
which they so justly deserved. He afterwards, at the solicita-
CAPTAINS WALKER AND BECKETT. 237
tion of the late editor of the Annual lievieiv, consented to
conduct the department of natural history. While he thus
enjoyed the opportunity of seeing valuable and expensive works
upon subjects relating to his favourite science, he gratified and
instructed the public by his able analyses of them, and by his
free and judicious remarks upon their merits or defects. But
the work in which he engaged about this time with the greatest
satisfaction, and with unwearied diligence, was that truly
national publication, the Cyclopcedia, earned on under the very
able and laborious superintendence of his friend, the Rev. Dr.
Rees. For this valuable work he wrote several articles con-
nected with Botany. The ability displayed in these articles
will be a lasting and an honourable testimony to his skill as a
botanist. He became a member of the Linnsean Society at its
first formation, and thus became intimate with many eminent
scientific persons. He died April 1st, 1808,'"" aged sixty-three
years, and was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Hutton. Memoirs
of his life and writings were published at Leeds in the following
year, by the Rev. Charles Wellbeloved, formerly of the Man-
chester College, in York, from which Memoirs the above Sketch
has been chiefly compiled. — For a small portrait and additional
information, see his Memoirs ; Gentleman 's Magazine, &c.
— 1809. t
CAPTAIXS WALKER AND BECKETT.
There is in the north transept of the Leeds parish church, a
most beautiful marble cenotaph, by J. Flaxman, Esq., R.A.,
which cost upwards of £600, erected to the memory of two
lamented young officers, of Leeds, who were killed at the battle
of Talavera. The monument represents a weeping Victory, as
* — 1808. James Kenton, Esq., formerly an eminent surgeon and alderman
of Leeds. The duties of the latter station he performed with zeal and im-
partiality during twenty-seven years, when his advanced age having rendered
a cessation from public duties necessary, he retired with the thanks and regret
of his colleagues. The eminence he attained in his profession was the result
of science, attention, and feeling ; while his perfect urbanity as a gentleman,
his piety as a Christian, and his goodness as a man, endeared him to all who
had access to him. As he lived respected, so he died regretted ; and Ins
memory will long be cherished by those who had the opportunity of best
knowing his virtues. He died March 21st, 1808, aged eighty years.
+ — 1810. Joseph WILKINSON, Esq., formerly of Bramhope, and recently of
Hawkeworth Hall, near Leeds, died July 30th, 1810, aged fifty-five years.
He was a gentleman well known and highly respected in this neighbourhood,
from the general urbanity <>( his manners, and the long services he rendered
his country, as major of the Leeds volunteers, and subsequently as captain in
the Wharfedale corps. —See the Leeds Mi rcury, &c, for August, 1810.
— 1810. ROBERT Davison', Esq., M.D., a physician of much eminence
and extensive practice in Leeds and neighbourhood, till he was obliged by
238 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
large as life, seated on a cannon, and supporting her head upon
her right hand, which rests on a banner, inscribed with the
word " Talavera" between two wreaths. Underneath is a
lion in basso-relievo, and on the base the following inscription : —
" To the Memory of Captain Samuel Walker,* of the 3rd Regi-
ment of Guards, and Captain Richard Beckett, of the Cold-
stream Regiment of Guards, natives of Leeds; who, having
bravely served their country together in Egypt, Germany, Den-
mark, and Portugal, fell, in the prime of life, at the glorious
battle of Talavera, in Spain, on the 28th of July, 1809,t their
fellow-townsmen dedicate this monument." Dr. Whitaker, in
bad health to retire from business, died August 11th, 1810. Nature had
given him a strong understanding and retentive memory, to which she added
a peculiar sagacity, that enabled him, in cases the most complicated, to
discriminate between cause and effect, between the disease and its symptoms.
A kind friend to the poor, he never exercised his medical skill with greater
satisfaction to himself than when he expected no remuneration except their
blessing. He was a man of truth, integrity, and honour, but, what is far
better, of unaffected piety, which could alone support him under accumu-
lated afflictions, and a long and painful illness, which he bore with natience
and resignation. He is gone to that place where physicians can he in no
request : for there, is neither pain, nor infirmity, nor disease ; but where
sincere Christians will meet with a joyful reception. The doctor was a
branch of the Davisons, of the Brand, in Shropshire. — See Leeds Mercury, &c.
* Samuel Walker was the fourth son of William Walker, Esq., of Killing-
beck Hall, near Leeds, whose pedigree, &c, may be seen in Whitaker's Loidis
and Elmete, pp. 3, 198, 202, &c. Richard Beckett, brigade-major in the second
regiment of foot-giiards, was the fourth son of the first Sir John Beckett,
Bart., of Leeds, and was born June 8th, 1782.
f The record of those gallant Britons who have finished their course of
honour in defence of the liberties of Spain and the civilized world, was also
augmented by the death of another of our townsmen. More of our best
blood has been shed in the great cause. John, the eldest son of Darcy
Lever, Esq., midshipman in the Atlas, Admiral Purvis's flag-ship (a gallant
youth only eighteen years of age), was killed on the 17th of February, 1810,
near Cadiz, by the bursting of a cannon as he was firing it against the French
batteries. He was on board the San Justo, a Spanish ship manned by British
volunteers, of which he was one of the foremost. Endowed with everything
that was excellent in private life, and with all the courage and humanity
characteristic of the British sailor, he promised to be a shining ornament to
his profession, and a valuable servant to his country. His dawn of life pre-
sented a fine prospect of a glorious day ; but the fair morn was scarce above
the horizon, and, by its brilliancy, appeared the precursor of a meridian
splendour, ere it was overcast by a dark and fearful cloud. It has set prema-
turely in the grave. Alas, brave youth ! thy career of glory has been short.
Though thy remains be engulphed in the ocean, or embowelled in the sands
of that shore which thou died to defend, the memory of thy merits shall long
live in the hearts of those who claimed thee as a friend or a comrade,
and be engraven by thy grateful countrymen on that tablet which is more
durable than monumental marble. And while we survey the memorial
erected to the memory of our Beckett and our Walker, and read, there
recorded, their valour and their fall in the same cause for which thou bled,
we will not forget to unite in the sympathetic emotions of sorrow the remem-
brance of our Lever. — See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for March, 1810.
THE REV. WILLIAM SHEEPSHANKS, M.A. 239
his Loidis and Ehnete, says — "The simplicity of this epitaph,
so unusual in that turgid species of composition, however laud-
able in itself, would, without a supplement, leave unrecorded to
posterity that these two brave men were of two most respect-
able families in the town of Leeds, equally respectable in their
own characters, and deeply regretted by their numerous connec-
tions, for those amiable qualities which, in the manners of the
present generation amongst our countiymen, are found to be
perfectly consistent with personal courage." — See monument in
Leeds parish church, and a fine engraving in Whitaker's
History of Leeds, p. 51.
1740-1810.
THE REV. WILLIAM SHEEPSHANKS, M.A.,
Minister of St. John's church, Leeds, was born March 18th,
1740, in the village of Linton, GVaven, of respectable parents.*
His father, who, having no trade or profession, lived upon and
farmed his own estate, was a very sensible and intelligent man,
so far superior to those among whom he lived, and so disin-
terested in the application of his talents, that he was highly
* He was the son of Richard Sheepshanks, of Linton, yeoman, who died
in December, 1779, and Susannah Garside, of Stainland, who died in July,
1784, leaving issue: — 1, The Rev. "William Sheepshanks, M.A., who married
Anne, daughter of Mr. John Hawkridge, of Grassington, who had a daughter,
Mary, born in 1777, married to the Rev. William Cary, D.D., prebendary of
Westminster, and late head-master of Westminster School. 2, Whittell
Sheepshanks, an eminent merchant of Leeds, bom November 14th, 1743,
alderman, and twice mayor of Leeds, in 1795 and 1815; assumed by royal
licence the surname and arms of York, and died in August, 1817, leaving
by Mary, his wife, relict of Mr. W. Peart, of Grassington, Richard, his
heir,'"' and Mary, who married, in 1801, the Rev. Anthony Lister (Marsden),
SLA., vicar of Gai-grave, and rector of Tathani, county of York. 3, Richard,
of Leeds and Philadelphia, merchant, born in September, 1747, died in 1797,
in America, having married Mrs. Ann Kidd, and left issue, William, of
Leeds and Philadelphia, born in 1774. 4, Rev. Thomas, M.A., rector of
Wimpole and Aspenden, in Cambridgeshire, born in December, 1752;
married, secondly, Martha, daughter of Robert Gynn, Esq., of Wisbech, and
had issue, William, B.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, Thomas, Maria,
and Louisa. 5, Joseph, of Leeds, merchant, born in May, 1755; married
Anne, daughter of Mr. Richard Wilson, of Kendal, and had issue, Thomas,
William, John, Anne, Susannah, and Richard, B.A., of Trinity College, Cam-
bridge. 6, James, of Leeds, merchant, who died in 1789. 7, John, M.A.,
late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, vicar of Wymeswolde, Leicester-
shire, and curate of Holy Trinity church, Leeds, born May 4th, 1765;
married Mary, daughter of Mr. John Anderson, of Cambridge, &c.
The crest of the Sheepshanks is a "Sheep passant," and the crest of the
Yorks is a "Demi-lion, supporting a woolpack, erect."
( *' Richard York, Esq. , son and heir of Whittell Sheepshanks, afterwards
York, Esq., bora in June, 1778; afterwards of Wigbil] Park, Dear Tadcaster;
a deputy-lieutenant, and lieutenant-colonel of the West-Riding of Yorkshire
Hussar Yeomanry : served as high-sheriff in 1832; married, April 20th, 1801,
Lady Mary Anne Lascelles, youngest daughter of Edward, first Earl of Hare-
240 BIOGftAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
popular and useful in his native village. His mother was a
woman of very superior undei'standing. He was educated at
the Grammar School of the parish, and in 1761 was admitted
of St. John's College, Cambridge. His singular facility in the
attainment of philosophical knowledge quickly became so con-
spicuous in this situation, that, at a time when other under-
graduates find sufficient employment in preparing for their own
exercises and examinations, he had no less than six pupils. At
this time also he laid the foundation of a lasting friendship with
two young men of great promise in the university, John Law
and William Paley, both of Christ's College — the one afterwards
Bishop of Elphin, the other wanting no addition, and above all
titles. In St. John's he lived upon terms of almost equal inti-
macy with Mr. Arnald, the senior wrangler of his yeai', whose
genius, always eccentric, after a short career of court ambition,
sunk into incurable lunacy. His academical exercises also con-
nected him more or less with the late Lord Alvanley, Mr.
Baron Graham, and the learned and pious Joseph Milner, after-
wards of Hull — all of whom, as well as Law, took their first
degrees at the same time with himself.* Such a constellation of
talent has scarcely been assembled in any single year from that
time to the present. In January, 1766, he took the degree of
B.A., and in 1767 was elected Fellow of his college, on the
foundation of Mr. Piatt. In the same year he also took the
degree of M.A. In 1772 he served the office of Moderator
(or Examiner) for the university, with distinguished applause.
During this period he numbered among his pupils several whom
he lived to see advanced to high stations in their respective
professions, particularly the late Bishop of Lincoln, and the
Chief-Justice of the King's Bench.t In 1773 he accepted from
the university the rectory of Ovington, in Norfolk; and, having
wood, and died January 27th, 1843, leaving an only son, Edward York, Esq.,
of Wighill Park, J. P., and deputy-lieutenant; born, January 6th, 1802;
married, November 25th, 1835, Penelope Beatrix, daughter of the Rev.
Christopher Sykes, rector of Poos, in Holderness, and has issue, Edward
Christopher, born October 14th, 1842; Lucy Mary, married to Edward
Brooksbank, Esq., of Healaugh Hall, near Tadcaster; Caroline Penelope;
Laura Marianne ; and Harriet. See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
* In 17G6, Arnald, or Arnold, William, of St. John's, was senior wrangler ;
Law, John, afterwards Lord Bishop of Elphin, was second ; Graham, Sir
Robert, afterwards Baron of the Exchequer, was third ; Arden, or Lord
Alvanley, afterwards Lord Chief -Justice of the Common Pleas, was twelfth.
Milner, Joseph, of Leeds, author of the History of the Church of Christ, he,
was third .among the senior optimes, with junior chancellor's medal ; Dr. John
Law taking the senior medal. Dr. Wm. Paley was senior wrangler in 1763.
*t Law, of Peter's, afterwards Lord Ellenborough, and Lord Chief-Justice
of the King's Bench, was third wrangler in 1771; and Dr. George Pretyman
THE REV. WILLIAM SHEEPSHANKS, M.A. 241
married a highly respectable person, the object of his early
attachment, settled at the village of Grassington, where he
received into his house a limited number of pupils, among
whom, in the years 1774-5, was the Rev. T. D. Whitaker. In
the year 1777, he removed to Leeds; and in the same year, by
the active friendship of Dr. John Law, then one of the pre-
bendaries of Carlisle, he was presented by that chapter to the
living of Sebei'gham, in Cumberland. In 1783, he was ap-
pointed to the valuable cure of St. John's church, in Leeds. In
1792 he was collated, by his former pupil, Dr. Pretyman, Bishop
of Lincoln, to a prebend in his cathedral, which, by the favour of
the late Archbishop of York, he was enabled to exchange, in
1794 or 1795, for a much more valuable stall at Carlisle,
vacated by the promotion of Dr. Paley to the subcleaneiy of
Lincoln. This was the last of his preferments, and probably the
height of his wishes; for he was in his own nature very disin-
terested. After having been afflicted for several years with
calculous complaints, the scourges of indolent and literary men,
he died at Leeds, July 2Gth, 1810, and was interred near the
communion-table in his own church, where there is a Latin
inscription to himself and wife.* In vigour and clearness of
understanding, Mr. Sheepshanks was excelled by few. His
spirits were lively, and his conversation was inexhaustibly
fertile in anecdote and reflection. His knowledge of common
life, in all its modes, was that of an original and acute observer
— his eyes w r ere the most penetrating and expressive, perhaps,
ever beheld. In short, nature had endowed him with faculties
little, if at all, inferior to those of the two great men with
whom he lived in habits of most intimate friendship. His con-
ttion had much of the originality and humour which dis-
tinguished that of Dr. Paley; and, when he thought proper, it
was equally profound and sagacious with that of Dr. Law.
When he could be prevailed upon to write at all, he wrote with
(Tomlme), afterwards Lord Bishop of Lincoln, and then of Winchester, was
senior wrangler in 1772, the year in which "William Sheepshanks, M.A., was
one of the moderators.
* He was religious 'without ostentation; a friend without deceit; and
charitable as hccomuth genuine charity. He was a man of first-rate genius
and high literary attainments. As a tutor, lie had had the honour of
educating some of the most exalted characters in the empire, \i/.. Lord
Ellenhorough, Sir Soulden Lawrence, Dr. Tomline, Bishop of Lincoln (who
was afterwards tutor of the great Pitt), &c He was the most intimate
friend of the late Dr. Paley, and stood high in the estimation of his Grace
the Archbishop of this province. The rectory of Ovington is. we believe, the
only one presented by the wholt University of Cambridge. — See the Leeds
Intelligencer, he., for July, 1810.
Q
242 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
the clearness and force peculiar to his school; so that, if his
industry had borne any proportion to his natural talents, and if
these had been sedulously applied to elucidate and expound
those branches of science in which he so much excelled, he
would have wanted no other memorial. But a constitutional
indolence robbed him of the fame which he might have attained :
the privation, however, occasioned neither a struggle nor a pang,
for his want of ambition was at least equal to his hatred of
exertion; and, as far as could be gathered from a conversation
in the highest degree open and undisguised, he was equally
careless of living and of posthumous reputation. Had the same
indifference extended to his surviving friends, this short account
would not have been written. — See Dr. Whitaker's History of
Craven, p. 473, &c. For his pedigree, &c, see Whitaker's Loidis
and Elmete, p. 63; and for a fine portrait of him, see the
Appendix, p. 31.
1741—1811.*
THE EEV. MILES ATKINSON, B.A.,
Founder of St. Paul's church, Leeds, and the second son of the
Rev. Christopher Atkinson, rector of Thorp-Arch, in the county
of York, was born at Ledsham, near Leeds, September 28th,
1741. In his earliest years he exhibited symptoms of great
* — 1811. Mr. Benjamin Clifford, a person very well known, and as
highly respected, in the musical world ; who had also spent several years of
his life in the band of the 1st West York Militia, died at Leeds, May
4th, 1811, aged fifty-nine. We understand that he had just prepared for
publication several pieces of music, and had obtained considerable patronage
from subscribers, when, we are concerned to say, he was brought to a prema-
ture grave by sleeping in a damp lied ; however, as his son was well qualified to
push forwai'd his father's undertaking, we hope the work has not been lost to
the public. When in garrison at Hull, he composed a common measure tune,
which rapidly spread through the whole empire, although he never published
it himself. In these parts it was simply called Clifford's Common Measure,
but in London it acquired the curious title of Bonaparte's March. On the
Tuesday following his death, his remains were attended to the parish church
by all the professional singers and amateurs in Leeds and neighbourhood, a
most numerous bod} 7 , who sang an anthem before the funeral procession left
his own house, and another when they bade him a final farewell in the
churchyard : and the superior style in which they poured out their har-
monious and plaintive notes in the hymns in the streets, and in the psalms at
church, had a most powerful effect on all who heard them. His company was
remarkably placid and pleasant, and it had become proverbial, that where
Clifford was, drunkenness and riot never showed their heads. He was
deemed the father of the musical club in Leeds, and the members, after the
funeral, repaired to their room, and spent the evening in various solemnities
of music adapted to the occasion, in remembrance of their respected and
lamented friend. — See the Leeds Mercury, &c, for May, 1811.
— 1811. Sir William Mo rd aunt Milner, Bart., whose grandfather, an
alderman of Leeds, presented the statue of Queen Anne, at the top of
Briggate, to the Corporation, expired September 9th, 1811, at his seat, Nun-
THE REV. MILES ATKINSON, E.A. 243
native benevolence and tenderness of heart, which he extended
to every part of the sensitive creation. He not only avoided
giving pain to, but he frequently exerted himself in rescuing
from a state of suffering, worms and insects. He was from the
beginning brought up by his father in strict habits of religion,
and accustomed to prayer. From a child he manifested an
earnest desire for the ministry. Before he went to the univer-
sity, he frequently visited the poor cottagers in his father's
parish, and conversed with them on the state of their souls;
at the same time his judgment was no less sound than his dis-
position was serious. He received the first rudiments of educa-
tion from his father; but his talents for learning did not become
conspicuous before he was thirteen or fourteen years old— after
which his progress was so rapid, that at the age of sixteen or
seventeen he was admitted of Peter House, Cambridge : where,
during the whole term of his pupilage, his conduct was so
uniformly moral and regular, that Dr. Law, who was then
master of the college, and afterwards Bishop of Carlisle, held
him forth as a model for the imitation of his fellow-students.
This strictness of conduct in so young a man, surrounded by
numberless temptations, brought upon him, as might be
expected, the sneers of those to whom his behaviour was a
reproach. But that he was enabled to withstand the railleries
of the vicious, and the allurements of pleasure, must be ascribed
to the strength of his religious principles, as he had nothing
cold or phlegmatic in his constitution. During his residence in
college, he was so strict an observer of the Sabbath, that on
that day he never read or wrote on any other than religious
Appleton, near Tadcaster, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. He was
chosen representative for the city of York in four successive parliaments,
during which he maintained what he believed to be the public interest with
exemplary consistency. He was a true friend to old English liberty, and
neither place nor pension were ever objects of his pursuit. His political life,
like his domestic, was unsullied with a blot. There was nothing mean nor
sordid in his character. He was frank, open, generous; and all the best
affections seem to have made his heart their favourite abode. His loss was
long felt, and deeply lamented by his relatives and friends; and by none
more than by him who wrote these few lines to record his worth, which lu-
had an opportunity of observing during an intimacy of twenty years. He
was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, Sir William M. Start Milner,
Bart. — See Note in this vol., p. 151 ; Leeds Mercury, &c, for September, 1811,
&c. Lady Milner died at Exeter, in January, 1805. A very few years back,
her ladyship was admired as the finest, the most beautiful, and accomplished
woman in the fashionable world, of winch she was at once the ornament and
the leader. For two years past, her ladyship had been in a very declining
state of health, and obliged to withdraw from those scenes of elegant life over
which her taste and accomplishments had so long shed a lustre. — See the
Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for January, 1805.
24:4 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXS1S.
subjects. He passed a very respectable examination for tlie
degree of B.A. in January, 1703, aud was the sixth wrangler
of that year in which Mr. (afterwards the celebrated Dr.) Paley
was senior wrangler. He never proceeded to any higher
degree. In March, 1 764, he was ordained deacon by the Bishop
(Green) of Lincoln, and in May, 1766, he was ordained priest
by Archbishop Drummond. Mr. Atkinson commenced his
ministerial labours as curate of the late Rev. Dr. Kirshaw, at
the parish church of Leeds, the great scene of his future use-
fulness. He preached his first sermon in that church from
Acts xvi. 30. In this situation he continued about three years,
during which period he made a point of visiting five or six
families daily— the individual sick amongst whom amounted on
the whole to nearly three thousand. By these exertions he so
much engaged the affections of the poor, that when he preached
the church was always crowded. In February, 1761, he was
licensed to the head-mastership of the school at Drighlington,
near Leeds, to which he had been nominated by Dr. Law,
master of Peter House, of which he continued to receive the
emoluments till the year 1770. In April, 1768, he married
Miss Mary Kenion, with whom he lived above thirty years in
the most uninterrupted bonds of conjugal affection; and in
May of the same year he removed to Aberford, where he only
remained about twelve months, being nominated to the lecture-
ship of the parish church of Leeds: an event of unspeakable
importance to many thousands of souls. As this was one of
the largest congregations, so it was one of the most extensive
scenes of usefulness, in the church. He seldom preached to
fewer than three thousand persons; and such was the power
with which he spoke, that the happy effect of his labours soon
became apparent. The private ministerial labours of Mr.
Atkinson in the populous town of Leeds were so various and
unceasing, that it is difficult to speak of them otherwise than
in general terms.'"' In visiting the patients of the General
* The example of Mr. Atkinson supported and enforced the doctrines which
he taught. He was distinguished by fortitude and fi delity in his religious course.
In early life he rejected offers of preferment which were made to him, on
condition of laying aside his obnoxious religion. To the close of his days he
baldly and faithfully set forth the whole counsel of God; never speaking
smooth things to please men; never sparing a sin because it was fashionable;
never composing his sermons so as to please the higher ranks, while he left the
poor to perish for lack of knowledge. His language was plain, but fervent ;
his rebukes earnest; and many who heard him were led to renounce their
sins, and turn to God. His private life was marked with the same integrity
winch distinguished his public ministry. — See his Funeral Sermon, by the
Rev. Thomas (Dikes or) Dykes, LL.B., &c.
THE EEV. MILES ATKINSON, L.A. 245
Infirmary, an extensive and well-conducted institution, many,
by his means, who came to be healed in their bodies, returned
with a much greater blessing, having found health and peace to
their souls. From 1773 to 1780, he was morning assistant to
the Rev. Mr. Simon, vicar of Whitchurch, near Leeds. In
1783 he was instituted to the vicarage of Kippax, near Leeds;
which afforded him not only an agreeable retreat in summer,
but what he much more desired, new opportunities of ministerial
usefulness. It was owing principally to his exertions that
Sunday schools were established in Leeds. In September, 1791,
he laid the foundation-stone of St. Paul's church, in Leeds (for
a fine engraving of which see Whitaker's Thoresby, &c), on a
site which had been given him by Dr. Christopher Wilson,
Bishop of Bristol, and which was consecrated September 10th,
1793, by Dr. William Markham,'"" Archbishop of York. His
attachment to the constitution of his country, in Church and
State, was active as well as zealous. He was ever ready to
assist, either by his pen, his influence, or example, in furthering
any measures which tended to promote the common welfare of
the nation, the efficacy of the laws, the safety of his sovereign,
and the happiness of his fellow-subjects. Few men were more
steady and active than he, in times peculiaidy pregnant with
* The Markkanis of Becca Hall, near Leeds, are descended from this arch-
bishop, who died in 1807, leaving issue:— 1, William, his heir; 2, John, born
in 1761, an admiral R.N., and M.P. for Portsmouth, who died in 1827; 3,
George, born in 1703, dean of York; 4, David, a colonel in the army; 5,
Robert, archdeacon of York, and rector of Bolton Percy; 6, Osborne, M.P.,
who married the Lady Mary Thynne, daughter of the first Marquis of
Bath, &c. William Markham, Esq.. the eldest son and heir, born in April,
1760, was private secretary to Warren Hastings, and subsequently resident for
some time at Benares, in India; eventually returning to Yorkshire, he seated
himself at Becca Hall, near Aberford. He died January 1st, 1815, leaving
issue : — 1, William, his heir; 2, John, born in June, 1797, a lieutenant R.N.;
3, David Frederick, born in March, 1800, canon of Windsor, married Catherine,
daughter of Sir William Mordaunt Milner, Bart., of Nun-Appleton ; 4,
Warren, born in July, 1801, a captain in 72nd Highlanders; 5, Charles, born
in March, 1803, lieutenant-colonel in the 60th Panes, married Emma, daughter
of the Rev. Ralph Brandling : — 1, Emma, married to AVilliam Rookes
Crompton Stansfield, Esq., recently of Esholt Hall, near Leeds; 2, Laura,
married to Colonel William Mure; 3, Lucy, married to Henry Lewis AVick-
ham, Esq., only son of the Right Eon. "William Wickham. William .'■
ham, Esq., of Becca Hall, J.P. and D.L., the eldest son and heir, born .lime
28th, 1706, colonel of the 2nd West York Militia, died January 26th, L852,
leaving issue :— 1, William Thomas, his heir; 2, Edwin, born in 'March, 1833,
lieutenant in the Royal Artillery; 3, Francis, horn October 31st, 1837, in the
rifle brigade; 1, Alfred, born June 26th, 1839, in the royal navy, &c. William
Thomas Markham, Esq., of Becca Hull, .1.1'., his eldest son and heir, horn
July i:;th, 1830, served in the rifle bi ad Coldstream (Jinmls from 184S
to 1856; now colonel of the Leeds Kill" Volunteers, &c. — See Burke's Landed
Gentry, &c
246 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
insurrection and sedition.* He died, aged seventy, on the 6th
of February, 1811, and was interred in St. Paul's church, Leeds,
amidst the tears and sighs of a numerous and affectionate
people. + On the following Sunday his funeral sermon was
preached at St. Paul's, to a most crowded congregation, by the
* Mr. Atkinson was also a true patriot. Loyalty to his king, love to his
country, and veneration for constituted authorities, manifested themselves in
him on all occasions. He considered ministers and magistrates as the great
delegates of heaven ; as the chief promoters and supporters, under divine
providence, of civil order and national happiness. His patriotic feelings were
most energetically expressed in a sermon which he preached at the parish
church in Leeds, on the day of National Jubilee, and which was published at
Leeds in 1809.
t We cannot suffer the irreparable loss, says the Leeds Intelligencer for
February, 1811, sustained by the public through this afflicting event, to be
recorded without some testimony (however unequal to the task), of that
sincere respect for his character while living, and of unfeigned regret for his
departure, which his intrinsic worth so fully demanded. His zeal for the
service of his Divine Master was constantly manifested by his earnest, una-
bated concern for the immortal welfare of those committed to ;his charge, as
displayed for the long space of nearly forty-eight years, during which he
officiated as lecturer of St. Peter's church, Leeds. He was, in every sense of
the word, that most estimable of all characters, the exemplary parish priest ;
and of him it may truly be said, that, while dispensing the bread of life, —
"At church, with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorned the venerable place;
Truth, from his lips, prevail'd with double sway."
In piety to his God — at once fervent and rational; equally removed from the
extremes of torpid indifference and wild fanaticism — he was excelled by none,
and the faithful, unremitted discharge of his public duty richly entitled him
to the praise so beautifully expressed by Cowper, in honour of the truly
Christian clergyman : —
" Simple, grave, sincere;
In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain,
And plain iu manner; decent, solemn, chaste,
And natural in gesture ; much impress'd
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge,
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds
May feel it too ; affectionate in look,
And tender in address, as well becomes
A messenger of grace to guilty men."
His private life corresponded with his public prof essions —a kind and tender
father, a zealous and affectionate friend, and those who had the happiness of
being admitted to his social circle can testify the cordial esteem which his
unadulterated manners and solid acquirements were so well calculated to
inspire. In unshaken loyalty to his king, his merit shone conspicuous. But
to enter at large upon the character of this invaluable servant of the public,
whether as a minister, a subject, a father, brother, or friend, would occupy a
volume; suffice it to say, that this tribute of unfeigned veneration for his
memory comes from the heart of one who feels a melancholy pleasure in reflect-
ing that our loss will be his unspeakable gain ; and in classing himself amongst
those by whom this upright pastor lived respected, died regretted, and in
whose breasts his numerous virtues deserve to be for ever embalmed : —
"The sweet remembrance of the just,
Shall flourish when he sleeps in dust."
THE REV. JOSEPH JOWETT, LL.D. 247
Rev. Tlioraas Dykes, of Hull, from the first and second verses
of the 57th chapter of Isaiah, which Sermon was afterwards
printed. Another sermon was preached on this mournful occa-
sion, in the afternoon of the same day, at the parish church, by
the Rev. Peter Haddon, vicar of Leeds, from the fourth and
fifth verses of the 49th chapter of Isaiah. His person was
athletic ; his countenance awful, yet easily softened into an
expression of benignity- his voice strong and sonorous. — For
his portrait, pedigree, &c, see Whitaker's Thoresby ; and for a
more detailed account, with portrait, see the Short Memoir pre-
fixed to his Practical Sermons, published in 2 vols., by Long-
man & Co., in 1812, from which this Sketch is chiefly compiled.
See also the Christian Observer for April, 1811, &c.
1750—1813.
THE EEV. JOSEPH JOWETT, LL.D.,
Pvegius Professor of Civil Law in the University of Cambridge,
born at Leeds about the year 1750, and educated at the Leeds
Grammar School, died suddenly at his residence in Trinity
Hall, Cambridge, on the 13th of November, 1813, in the sixty-
third year of his age. During the college residencies of forty-
three years, Dr. Jowett had been in the habit of spending two
evenings a week alone with the Rev. Dr. Milner, dean of
Carlisle, his oldest academical intimate. In this manner was
passed the evening of Wednesday, the 10th of November, 1813,
at Queen's College lodge ; Dr. Jowett being then, to all appear-
ance, in perfect health. The next day he drew up the Annual
Report of the Cambridge Auxiliary Bible Society. On Friday
he read the report to the committee, with a distinct and audible
voice; and it was generally observed that the professor never
appeared in better health and spirits than at that time. That
evening he became in some degree unwell, and passed a restless
night; and, in the forenoon of Saturday, complained of a giddi-
ness and disposition to faint. He walked, however, about two
o'clock, to Queen's College lodge; but with considerable diffi-
culty and some interruptions. The dean of Carlisle observed
thut his countenance was alarmingly pale, and that his pulse
was uncommonly weak, with frequent intermissions, so as some-
times to be scarcely sensible. By the administration of a warm
cordial draught, the stroke of his pulse soon became firm and
regular, his countenance recovered its usual florid appearance,
and he walked about the room conversing with as much cheer
fulness as if nothing had happened. " If all be well, I will visit
you to-morrow evening, as usual/' were the last words he spake
248 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
to Lis friend. The symptoms of returning health were, how-
ever, but of short duration — not niore than an hour; for, in
walking back to his college, he was seized with another fit of
fainting and giddiness; was carried home in a chair, and advised
to go into a warm bed. He attempted to take a little broth,
and afterwards a little brandy and water, but his stomach
rejected both. He grew very restless, rolled from one side
of the bed to the other alternately, and complained of great
coldness. He had left Queen's College about three o'clock, and
before half-past five he was no more. The remains of this good
man were deposited in the College chapel of Trinity Hall, on the
morning of the 18th November, — the very day of the meeting of
the members of the Auxiliary Bible Society. His numerous rela-
tives assembled from various parts to attend his funeral, along
with the members of his own college, and many of his friends,
then resident in the university, or met on occasion of the
society's anniversary; and with great truth it may be said, that
an assemblage of so much sincere and unaffected respect, of such
profound sympathy, and even of mournful regret for the loss
sustained by those who survive this excellent man — tempered,
however, with a most entire conviction that the awful change was
to himself an unspeakable gain — is veiy far from being an ordi-
nary event in the history of funereal sensibilities and attentions.
(For the eulogistic speeches of Professor Farish and Mr. Dealtry
at the Bible Meeting, held immediately after the funeral, see
the Christian Observer, for December, 1813.) The report itself
is a specimen of that neat, perspicuous, and forcible style which
characterized the compositions of Dr. Jowett; and the prepara-
tion of it was the last of his public services. He was looking
forward to the approaching anniversary with delight, because he
knew that there would be on that day a most magnificent dis-
play of the successes of the Bible Society. He himself loved
his Bible, and being deeply sensible of its worth, he was anxious
for its dispersion, and rejoiced in that extraordinary zeal and
unanimity which have constantly distinguished the proceedings
both of the parent society and its auxiliai'ies. " It cannot be
otherwise, than that in this afflictive separation the near rela-
tives of Dr. Jowett should experience a heavy stroke. Those
of them who are more advanced in life will look back on a long
series of useful and affectionate intercourse, now terminated,
and, in this world, never more to be resumed ; and the younger
branches of his family connections will, no doubt, often be
l'eminded how kind and valuable a friend, how wise and faithful
an adviser, they have lost; and how seldom such a loss is after-
THE REV. JOSEPH JOWETT, LL.D. 249
wards to be repaired in any considerable degree, in a world where
self-interests and partial affections so greatly predominate. It
will easily be understood, that after the first effusions of gx-ief
and surprise have subsided into a more sedate and pensive state
of the affections, there is, perhaps, no individual who will
experience more substantial causes for painful and melancholy
reflection than Dean Milner. The recollection of what he has
lost, and can never hope to recover, will assuredly hang heavy
on his mind as long as he lives. The dean has reason to thank
God, that he is by no means without excellent friends, and
friends, too, of long and tried worth, who possess large portions
of his heart. But, alas ! he looks around in A*ain for any one to
supply the place of Dr. Jowett, either by proximity of residence
and facility of communication, or by similarity of studies, and
disencumbrance from domestic concerns. The evils unavoidably
consequent on the dean's necessary habits of retirement, were
either removed or very much lessened by his constant inter-
course with his steady friend — always near, benevolent, and
communicative — the late professor of civil law. In mathe-
matical pursuits, and in subjects of natural philosophy, though
these two friends were of the same academical year, and for
some time likely to have been competitors for the university
honours at degree time, they constantly read together, afforded
mutual assistance to each other, and always communicated the
respective progress they were making, without the least reserve
or jealousy." The deceased professor of civil law was not origi-
nally of Trinity Hall. He was admitted, in June, 1769, at
Trinity College, under the tuition of the late Eev. Dr. Postle-
thwaite, where he continued till January, 1773; when Dr.
Halifax (or Hallifax), late bishop of St. Asaph, and at that
time regius professor of civil law, applied to his intimate friend,
Dr. Postlethwaite, to recommend to him one of his pupils, whom
he should judge to be a proper person to remove from Trinity
College to Trinity Hall, under the flattering prospect of being
made immediately the assistant tutor of the college, then Fellow
and principal tutor, and of afterwards obtaining the professor-
ship itself, on the appointment of Dr. Halifax to a bishopric,
an event which was supposed to be not very distant. The
proposal being made to Dr. Jowett, his pious father acceded to
it with considerable reluctance and hesitation. "The present
plan," he said, "was quite contrary to all his views and wishes.
He had set his heart on his son's becoming a useful, active
minister in the church, and for that purpose had sent him to
college, and not that he should be buried in pursuits of litera-
250 BIOGEAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
fcure." After some explanations, the worthy parent gave way
to the advice of certain friends, whose judgment he respected,
and whose knowledge of academical concerns he allowed to be
much superior to his own. Dr. Jowett was not disappointed in
his prospects at Trinity Hall. Dr. Halifax by marriage vacated
his Fellowship, October, 1775; and Dr. Jowett, in the suc-
ceeding month, was elected Fellow in his place, and became
the principal tutor of the college. In the year 1781, Dr.
Halifax was promoted to the see of Gloucester; and, in the
month of May of the succeeding year, Dr. Jowett obtained his
Majesty's patent, appointing him regius professor of civil law in
the University of Cambridge. The Fellowship of Dr. Jowett,
and his office as tutor, became vacant in the year 1795, the
usual term of a twelvemonth having elapsed after he had been
collated by the Master and Fellows of Trinity Hall to the living
of Wethersfield, in Essex.* But he retained his situation as
professor of civil law, and continued to discharge all the difficult
and important duties of it with great ability and exemplary
assiduity, till removed by his premature decease. The long
.summer vacations, when his presence was not called for in the
university, were spent in a conscientious care of his parish. It
.soon appeared with how much judgment and foresight the
Rev. Dr. Postlethwaite had selected from among his own pupils
Dr. Jowett to be the successor of Dr. Halifax. A clear under-
standing, and a strong taste for mathematics, eminently quali-
fied him to make rapid progress in that science; but further
cultivation of it, to any considerable degree, was now found
inconsistent with the duties of his situation. Numbers of his
pupils, many of them persons of rank and distinction, were
ready to report the solid sense contained in his annual courses
of lectures on the civil law, aud the elegance and perspicuity
Avith wdiich he used to compare together certain branches of the
Roman and British jurisprudence. This part of the professor's
lectures was always considered as peculiarly instructive and
gratifying. The extreme facility, the unaffected neatness, the
classical purity with which, when presiding in the public dis-
putations, he was accustomed to deliver his observations in
Latin — remarkably condensed as they always were — have long
been the admiration of the most elegant classical scholars in
the University of Cambridge. A profound knowledge in
divinity formed another part of the character of Dr. Jowett.
* Which had become vacant by the death of the Rev. Christopher Atkin-
son, brother to the Rev. Miles Atkinson, B.A., incumbent of St. Paiil's,
Leeds, &g.
THE REV. JOSEPH JOWETT, LL.D. 251
Perfectly orthodox in his religious sentiments, extraordinarily
■well acquainted with the several parts of Holy Writ, sedate
and impartial in the investigation and exposition of their
meaning, he was an inestimable friend to the Established
Church j at the same time that the native candour of his dis-
position led him to exercise a most exemplary Christian charity
towards all other religious denominations. In one word, the
University of Cambridge, in the premature decease of Dr.
Jowett, will have long to lament the loss of one of its most
useful, learned, and upright members. The influence of Dr.
Jowett, considered as a religious character, was by no means
confined to his speculations in the closet. He exemplified the
Christian character throughout the whole of his conduct. It is
well known that the tender consciences of pious young persons,
who have had the benefit of a religious education, are often
treated with contempt and ridicule; and that their zeal in the
cause of religion, however unexceptionable in its operations and
effects, is exposed to the misrepresentation, obloquy, and perse-
cution of the profane and ungodly. Now it is here that the
deceased professor, by his rank, his learning, and his modera-
tion, and by his firmness and counsel, proved, in many instances,
an admirable support to the oppressed, and a shield against the
oppressor. Who dared to ridicule the preacher, to whose dis-
courses Dr. Jowett was frequently known to listen ? And how
often has the modest, diffident youth, when derided by his com-
panions for being over religious, silenced their profane reproaches
by appealing to the example of Dr. Jowett ! How often have
both young graduates and undergraduates, of a pious turn of
mind, been kindly taken by the hand, and directed and supported
in their Christian course by the same judicious and excellent
person! This part of his character may not be very generally
known; but those who did know it, know also how extensiv lv
useful this species of patronage was found to be in the Univer-
sity of Cambridge, under the accredited management and direc-
tion of such a person as the late regius professor of civil law.
Notwithstanding his great attainments, and his numerous occu-
pations, the professor was rarely observed to be pressed for
time. Exact and regular in his arrangements, ternpci'ate and
even abstemious in his indulgences, he found the twenty-four
hours sufficient for every necessary or desirable purpose of life.
He constantly adhered to the habit of early rising — a practice
which, he used to say, gave him plenty of time both for study
and for bodily exercise and mental relaxation. His great talents
enabled him to go through much business with little comparative
252 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
labour. His temper was naturally cheerful and lively; and his
passions were at all times obedient to a systematic discipline,
His own internal resources were so abundant, that his spirits
were rarely known to flag; he was not only an example of a
person of excellent health, but of one who himself possessed
many of the veiy best preservatives of good health — viz., a
natural serenit}^ of mind, supported and improved by a good
conscience, and a steady hope and prospect of eternal happiness,
founded on the divine promises in Christ Jesus ; and these
superior principles by no means excluded from the mind of Dr.
Jowett an extraordinary relish for many innocent and rational
enjoyments of an inferior value. Often he regaled his senses in
admiring the beauties of nature, but oftener refreshed his intel-
lectual faculties by perusing the best compositions both in prose
and verse. He was passionately fond of music, and a warm
admirer of the finest productions of the great masters in
painting and architecture.* "Long, indeed, will this great and
good character be remembei'ed in the University of Cambridge,
which for so many years has reaped the benefit of his uninter-
rupted residence. The station, knowledge, and experience of
Dr. Jowett pointed him out, in many iu stances, as a proper
member of the Syndicate for the consideration of public busi-
ness, and as an examiner of candidates for academical scholar-
ships. In these things, the professor of civil law was peculiarly
distinguished for the exei"cise of his industry, good sense, and
impartiality. On the whole, though we are bound to allow
that so learned and respectable a body as the University of
Cambridge can have no difficulty in supplying the place of Dr.
Jowett, yet, at the same time, we believe it must be confessed
that this excellent person will seldom be surpassed in the essen-
tial qualifications of learning, wisdom, piety, and sound prin-
* Dr. Mansell, some time vicar of Barwick-in-Elmet, near Leeds, and after-
wards Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Lord Bishop of Bristol,
whilst a Bachelor of Arts, at Cambridge, rendered himself at once famous
and formidable by his satirical writings, and in particular distinguished him-
self as the author of several well-written jeux oVesprits. Dr. Jowett, of
Trinity Hall, the late acute and judicious professor of civil law, having
amused both himself and the public by a pretty little fairy garden, with
narrow gravel walks, besprinkled with shells and pellucid pebbles, the whole
being enclosed by a delicate Chinese railing, somewhat in the style of the
citizen's country villa described by Lloyd, the following lines were written
by Dr. Mansell, On the Garden of Joseph Jowett, LL.D. :—
" A little garden little Jowett made,
And fenced it with a little palisade ;
If you would know the taste of little Jowett,
This little garden won't a little show it."
MR. SAMUEL BIRCHALL. 253
ciples of every kind." — The greater part of the above tribute of
affection is generally supposed to have been written by the Very
Eev. Isaac Milner, D.D., F.R.S., Master of Queen's College,
Cambridge, &c. — See the Christian Observer, vol. xii. ; Life of
Isaac Milner, 1842, p. 581, &c, &c.
1761—1814.*
MR. SAMUEL BIECHALL,
"Woolstapler, of Leeds, was a member of the Society of Friends,
and an ardent lover of everything connected with natural his-
tory, and other scientific and antiquarian pursuits. He formed
valuable collections of stuffed brrds and beasts, of mineralogy,
of gold and silver coins, and of copper tokens — especially of
those that were chiefly issued between 1786 and 1796; and of
these last he published a descriptive work, entitled, "Birchall's
Provincial Copper Coins or Tokens (in alphabetical order; Leeds,
1796)", much sought after even yet by those curious in such col-
lections. He kept up an extensive acquaintance with men of
letters of similar pursuits in other parts of the country. He
was born in 1761, and died May 17th, 1814, aged fifty-three
years. Some of the above particulars have been kindly contri-
buted by his grandson, J. D. Birehall, Esq., the eminent woollen
merchant, of Wellington Street, Leeds.
* — 1814. Mr. Joseph Ltxslet, who for upwards of thirty-four years was
governor of the Leeds Workhouse, and filled that important, though often
unthankful, office with infinite credit to himself and advantage to the town,
died January 10th, 1814, aged seventy-three years. This benevolent yet
economical guardian of the poor was often visited by the philanthropic
Howard, who wrote as follows : — " The poor of Leeds are well fed, and taken
care of; indeed they, and the people at large, are happy in having a worthy
and very honest man for the governor of the workhouse, a Mr. Linsley, who
was formerly a manufacturer in the town. His temper and disposition, as
well as those of li is wife, seem peculiarly adapted to their charge; mildness
and attention to the complaints of the meanest, joined with firmness of
manner, gain the respect of those who are placed under their care. I am at
the same time convinced, by his open manner in showing me the books, that
he transacts the business of the town with rectitude and economy." He was
attended to his giave by a great number of the respectable inhabitants. — See
the Leeds Mercury for January, 1814; and for a longer account, see also the
Leeds InteUiycncer, &c.
—1814. JAMES LUCAS, Esq., Fellow of the Itova] College of Surgeons,
I, oikI. m, died December 6th, 1814, at West House, near Ripon, aged seventy
years. Example is never more instructive and Interesting than when profes-
sional ability is associated with private worth. Mr. Lucas was a, natiw .if
Leeds, and his birth did honour to it. Here he spent, the first and Lai
portion <>f his life, aiel l.oeniiie 1 1 i -, t i nguished as well for the eminence of bis
surgical skill as for (hose general habits which raise the human character, and
rendei i le in any condition of life. Bis practice was extensive, and
the public confidence in him was not misplaced. There are many still living
254 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1733—1814.
THE EEV. JAMES SCOTT, D.D.,
Ail eloquent preacher belonging to the Church of England, and
a zealous political writer, was bom at Leeds in 1733. His
father, James Scott,'"' was minister of Trinity church, Leeds,
and vicar of Bardsey. He was educated at Bradford School, and
admitted pensioner of Catherine Hall, Cambridge, in 1752, but
afterwards removed to Trinity College. He took the degree of
B.A. in 1757, and was chosen Fellow the next year. His first
employment in the church was the lectureship of St. John's,
Leeds, which he held till he took the degree of M.A. in 1760.
There his oratorical powers were first displayed. He had accus-
tomed himself to composition in college, and immediately after
his degree, he devoted his time to the study of divinity; he was
therefore enabled to write his sermons, and with so much care
did he apply himself to the task, that he preached, after some
corrections and additions, some of those sermons in the latter
part of his life, which he had written at the earliest clerical
age. His mind and heart were in his profession ; for no sooner
had he preached one sermon than he began to prepare another.
The young encouraged his zeal with their applauses; the old
gladdened his heart with their prayers. In 1768 he took the
degree of B.D., and in 1775 that of D.D. He served the
curacy of Edmonton from 1760 to 1761, after which he resided
in college. He frequently occupied the university pulpit; and
whenever he preached, St. Mary's was crowded — the parts of
the church appropriated to the university were also filled.
Noblemen, bishops, heads of houses, professors, tutors, masters
of arts, undergraduates, all attended St. Mary's to hear this
celebrated preacher. The inhabitants of the town expressed
the same eagerness ; for in hearing Mr. Scott, their under-
standings were informed, and their affections interested. The
who can bear testimony to his merits. From its first institution to the year
1794, he was one of the surgeons to the Leeds General Infirmary, and contri-
buted, by his voluntary labours, to lay the foundation of its great and
increasing fame. But the talents and station of many of his pupils furnish
cut his highest panegyric. — See the Leeds Papers, &c, for December, 1814.
* His father, the Rev. James Scott, M.A., who died in 1782 (for a notice of
whom, see p. 145), was Fellow of University College, Oxford; afterwards
minister of Trinity church, Leeds, for fifty-five years, and vicar of Bardsey,
in Yorkshire ; and was also domestic chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales.
He married a lady of the name of Wickham, who was grand-daughter to
John Wickham, dean of York, and lineally descended from William Wick-
ham, bishop of Winchester, who married one of the daughters of William
Barton, bishop of Chichester, of whom the following remarkable circum-
stance is recorded in Camden : that he had five daughters all married to
English bishops.
THE REV. JAMES SCOTT, D.D. 255
discourses usually addressed to the university are in general
uninteresting beyond what can be conceived; the matter studi-
ously abstruse, and the delivery of it unimpassioned and lifeless.
Mr. Scott, therefore, deviated altogether from the usual mode
of preaching: the subjects of his discourses attracted attention,
the discussion of them awakened the feelings, and the elocution
of tbe preacher captivated and fascinated the hoary sage, the
ingenuous youth, and the unlettered Christian.* About the
year 1764, Dr. Scott resided partly in London, and formed
habits of intimacy with the father of the late Earl of Sand-
wich, the Earl of Halifax, and with other public characters
who were connected with Mi*. Grenville's administration.
Under their patronage he wrote in 17 Go the letters signed
Anti-Sejanus, which were published in the Public Advertiser,
and were so popular that they raised the sale of the paper from
1,500 to 3,000 a day.t In 1768 the church of St. John's, in
Leeds, became vacant, which, as well as Trinity church, was
built and endowed by an ancestor of Dr. Scott, who left the
nomination to the mayor, the three senior aldermen, and the
vicar. For this preferment he was a candidate, and had the
votes of two of the senior aldermen: he might have obtained
the mayor's vote also, but it must have been at the expense of
truth and honour: in consequence of which he lost the living of
St. John's, endowed by his ancestor (the benevolent John Har-
rison) with lands now worth upwards of £600 a year. Being
the popular candidate, although his opponent was a man of
extensive learning and exemplary character; and the whole of
that populous town, including the Dissenters of every denomi-
nation, feeling a personal interest in his success, apprehensions
w-ere entertained that serious commotions would take place.
Happily the general indignation subsided. To compensate in
some measure for the grievous disappointment the town sus-
* He once displeased the undergraduates by preaching against gaming ;
they manifested their disapprobation by scraping with their feet, and inter-
rupting him in the delivery of his discourse. The next time he preached, he
chose for his text, " Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God,"
kc. ; which he no sooner pronounced than the galleries were in an uproar;
but the interposition of the university officers producing silence, he delivered
a discourse so eloquent, appropriate, and impressive, as to extort universal
approbation.
T These Letters, unfortunately, were never collected; but many of them
were published in 1767, in a work called A ('o/hrtion of Interesting Letters.
His intention in writing them was not so much to serve a party, as to expose
the mischief of favouritism. He chose, therefore, the signature of Anti-
Sejanus, Sejanus having been the great favourite of Tiberius, who advanced
him to the highest situation in government. There are likewise some others,
signed PMUvnglia, written by Dr. Scott.
2o6 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
tained, Dr. Scott was urgently requested to pi-each at his father's
church in the afternoon, when a very munificent subscription was
made for the purpose. One inconvenience, however, arose from
this new appointment, which was not foreseen. All the principal
inhabitants at that time went to Trinity church, his father
having been popular as a preacher; but, that they might get to
their seats, they were obliged, in consequence of the vast crowds
which uniformly attended, to go when the doors were first
opened, and to sit nearly an hour before the service began. An
assembly so crowded by both rich and poor, by Churchmen and
Dissenters of eveiy denomination, so eager to hear, and so
edified in hearing, is seldom witnessed. He continued the
lectureship only one year. In his farewell sermon, which was
printed, he pathetically addressed his hearers, whilst tears were
trickling from every eye, — "God is my record that I have wished
for nothing so earnestly, have prayed for nothing so fervently,
have laboured for nothing so abundantly, as the salvation of
your souls." In 1769 he was earnestly importuned to resume his
political pen, which he did under the signature of Old Sly Boots,
and several others. These Essays were collected and published
in a small octavo volume. Dr. Scott has often declared, upon
his word as a clergyman and a gentleman, that he never,
during his whole political warfare, received the smallest emolu-
ment, either pecuniary or of any other kind. He had promises
in abundance from Lord North, but they were none of them
fulfilled. In 1771, after being presented to the rectory of
Sinionburn, in Northumberland, obtained for liim by Lord
Sandwich, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty, he mar-
ried Anne, daughter of Henry Scott, Esq., and had three
children, who died young. Dr. Scott was, as may be supposed,
pursued with the utmost rancour and malevolence during the
litigation which he had with his parishioners;* all which he
bore with the utmost composure, until a desperate attempt was
made upon his life. He then left Simonburn and went to
London, where he resided in Park Street, Grosvenor Square,
* It was Dr. Scott's misfortune to succeed a clergyman who was so totally
negligent of his temporal affairs, that although he had held the living
rds of fifty -two years, it produced less to him at his decease than
il did at his induction. A number of surreptitious moduses had crept in,
which his long incumbency established; and the parishioners had been so
accustomed to pay to the rector just what they pleased, that they looked
upon his demands as oppressive and illegal; they therefore threatened him
that they would lay all their corn-lands down with grass, if he would not
take what they were disposed to give him for their tithes, and he then should
have no corn-tithe at all. After his arguments were disregarded, his persua-
sions ridiculed, and his proposals rejected, he was reduced to the necessity of
THE REV. JAMES SCOTT, D.D.
m
and preached frequently at St. George's, Hanover Square, at
Park Street and Audley chapels. Many applications were made
to him to preach occasional and charity sermons; and when he
was solicited to do a favour, of whatever kind, consistent with his
principles, he was never known to refuse. In summer he lived
at the pleasant village of Thornton,* in the district of Craven, in
Yorkshire; the living of which the late Sir John Kaye was so
kind to him as to give to his curate, that he might be accom-
modated with a house to dwell, and a church to preach in.
Dr. Scott published ten occasional sermons,t and printed one
claiming the tithe of agistment for barren and unprofitable cattle; and he
accordingly filed a bid in the Court of Exchequer in 1774, to substantiate his
claim. He had two decrees in his favour, and several submissions in court;
notwithstanding which, his parishioners would not concede to his demands,
which he prosecuted for more than twenty years, at the expense of nearly
£10,000. The litigation at length was closed upon the following conditions : —
The rector was to give up the tithe of agistment during his incumbency,
reserving the right to his successors; and the farmers were to pay the cost of
the suit, amounting to upwards of £2,400; from which concession it is
evident that they felt that the ground under them was giving way. The
agistment tithe had been estimated at £2,000 a year ; the parish was 34
miles long, about 14 broad, and 103 round. " It was a rectory of such magni-
tude and value that, on the next presentation, it was intended to be divided
into four, or, perhaps, into six, distinct benefices, each of which would be a
very acceptable preferment to the divine who might be so fortunate as to
obtain it." After his death, this large and valuable rectoiy was subdivided,
under the authority of an act of parliament ; and the commissioners of
Greenwich Hospital presented the Rev. David Evans, late of AYadham
College, Oxford, to the principal rectory of the mother church at Simonburn,
in reward for his long and meritorious services at sea, and as chaplain of the
Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar. The offspring minor rectories adjacent, at
£500 a year each, were conferred on the Rev. John Davis, the Rev. Evan
Halliday, the Rev. W. Salter, the Rev. W. Evans, and the Rev. W. Jones,
all chaplains in the royal navy.
* In the parish of Thornton there were many sectaries who had an idea
that a clergyman had not the gift of preaching, as their ministers did, extem-
pore; he, therefore, preached to them memoriter for many years. But this,
indeed, may be said to have been his usual mode of preaching. He generally
took his sermon into the pulpit, but seldom looked at it ; for, being short-
sighted, it was of little use to him; he, on that account, invariably repeated
it. Some previous labour was certainly requisite, but the effect was aston-
ishing.
"|" In the line of his profession, Dr. Scott was distinguished by several
elegant discourses. How far a State of Dependence and a Sense of Gratitude
should Influence our Conduct; a sermon preached before the University of
Cambridge, January 1st, 1704. A Sermon at the Visitation at Wakefield,
July 25th, 1709; which produced a pamphlet called Remarks, &c, censuring
the preaclier f'>r having entertained Ids audience with a "political declama-
tion." A Farewell Sermon at Trinity Church, Leeds, November 5th, 1769.
Bethcsda, or the House of Mercy ; a sermon preached at the parish church of
St. Nicholas, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, July 20th, 1777, before the govern., .
of the Infirmary. A Sermon preached at York on the 29th <>f March, 1780,
for the benefit of the Lunatic Asylum. A Sermon preached at York, in 1781 ;
and A Sermon preached at Pork Street Chapel, on April 19th, 1793, being the
day appointed for a general fast. By James Scott, D.D., late Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, 4to., &c.
R
258 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
for tlie benefit of his parishioners, on The Necessity of Receiving
the Holy Sacrament. He also published three Seatonian Prize
Poems, &c.,'"" which exalt him high as a poet. When he left
school, he was an admirable classical scholar; and during his
whole life he continued to read the principal Greek and Latin
authors, thereby improving his knowledge and refining his
taste. He devoted the last three years to the revisal of some
of his sermons for the press, intending to publish two volumes.
As a public speaker he had scarcely an equal; his voice was
loud and harmonious; his action solemn and dignified; there
was no appearance of vanity, no lure for applause; the glory of
his Master, and the salvation of his auditors, seemed alone to
engross his mind: it is no wonder, therefore, that in declaring
the promises and denouncing the terrors of the Gospel,
he produced in an unusual degree the corresponding emotions
of comfort and alarm in the breasts of his hearers. These
effects have by some been ascribed to the manner rather than
the matter, to vehement declamation rather than to genuine
pathos. But the occasional sermons which he published evince
the fallacy of this criticism. A sermon preached for the
Lunatic Asylum at York, is conclusive evidenced In private
* In 1760 lie far outstripped his competitors for the Seatonian prize, in a
poem which was published under the title of Heaven; and afterwards printed
Odes on several Subjects, 1761, 4to. ; a Spousal Hymn, or an Address to his
Majesty on his Marriage, 1761, 4to. ; Purity of Heart, a Moral Epistle,
which gained the author a second Seatonian prize ; A Hymn to Repentance,
1762, a third prize poem. In 1763 he published The Redemption, a Monody,
written for the Seatonian prize, but rejected; and, in the same year, Every
Man the Architect of his own Fortune, or the Art of Rising in the Church, a
Satire, in which he thus describes himself: —
"No sly fanatic, no enthusiast wild,
No party-tool, beguiling and beguil'd;
No slave to pride, no canting jump to power,
No rigid Churchman, no Dissenter sour ;
No fawning flatterer to the base and vain,
No timist vile, or worshipper of gain ;
When gay, not dissolute ; grave, not severe ;
Though learn'd, no pedant; civil, though sincere ;
Nor mean nor haughty : be one preacher's praise,
That — if he rise — he rise by manly ways :
Yes, he abhors each sordid, selfish view,
And dreads the paths your men of art pursue."
t That discourse is to be found in Mr. Clapham's third volume of Selected
Sermons; and it may be said without offence to that gentleman, whose
labours are very meritorious, and without injury to the characters of those
excellent authors whose works he has selected, that Dr. Scott's sermon, as an
oratorical composition, stands pre-eminently superior to the whole of the
collection. Mr. Clapham says: "His elocution is, I think, greatly superior
to what I have ever heard either in the pulpit or the senate; and his sermons,
whether considered as elegant compositions or persuasive exhortations, will,
when published, be esteemed, I doubt not, superior both to those of Blair
THE REV. PETER HADDON, M.A. 259
life he showed himself influenced by the principles of the
religion he so powerfully recommended in his public addresses.
His fortune being considerable, and his preferment large, he
lived in a manner becoming his distinguished station, exercising
the utmost hospitality, and singularly happy when he had his
friends around Mm, whilst his hands were always open to public
charities and to private distress. His manners were refined and
polished, and his conversation, beyond that of most other men,
was entertaining, interesting, and instructive. Such was Dr.
Scott ! Whether he may be considered as a polite scholar and
possessed of very extensive learning, as a powerful speaker and
an eloquent writer, a chosen instrument in the hands of Pro-
vidence to turn many to righteousness, or as an amiable member
of society and an exemplary Christian, the Church has lost one
of its brightest ornaments. He died December 10th, 1814, in
Somerset Street, Portman Square, London, in the 81st year of
his age. His entire library was sold by auction, in April, 1815,
by Messrs. Leigh and Sotheby. — For additional particulars,
see the Gentleman's Magazine; the New Monthly Magazine ;
Darling's Cyclopaidia Bibl'wgraphia ; Nichols's Literary Anec-
dotes, vol. ix., pp. 125, 724, &c.
1737-1815.
THE REV. PETER HADDON, M.A.,
Elected vicar of Leeds, December 24th, 178(5, was born at
Warrington (the only incumbent of this benefice since the pur-
chase of the advowson, in Pascet's time, 1583, who was not a
native of the West-EAding of Yorkshire); his father, the Rev.
John (Hadden or) Haddon, having been rector of that place,
and his grandfather vicar of Bolton, in Lancashire. He was
educated at Brazen ose College, Oxford, and became vicar of
Sandbach, in Cheshire. A graceful person, a cheerful counte-
nance, a musical voice, the deportment of a gentleman, and an
invincible tranquillity of temper, while they ensured to him
many friends, would not have left him an enemy, had not a
firm and decided attachment to the constitution of his country
in Church and State, drawn down upon him at one period a
portion of indignation from the rabble, who were most indebted
to him for the lenity and forbearance which he always dis-
played in the exaction of his rights. After maintaining his
native spirits, and the peculiar elasticity of his movements, to
and PortenB. From his occasional sermons, I could select many passages
which would abundantly justify the character I have given of his dis-
courses." — See C'cuUtinan's Magazine, vol. lxxxi., part 2, p. 348, &c.
2G0 B10GRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
his seventy-eighth year, his constitution, without any specific
disease, began to break, and he died of a gradual decay of
nature, February 22nd, 1815, aged eighty-two years, after being
vicar of Leeds for upwards of twenty-eight years (the fourth
incumbent of this benefice in a period of one hundred and
twenty-four years).* He was also prebendary of Ripon. As
a Christian, a scholar, and a gentleman, few have ever ranked
higher than the late venerable and most amiable divine. — For
further particulars, see the Leeds Intelligencer ; the New Monthly
Magazine; Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, &c.
1734-1815.
THE EEV. JOHN HEY, D.D.,
A very learned divine, the second but eldest surviving son of
Mr. Puchard Hey, of Pudsey, near Leeds, was born in July,
1734, and when between nine and ten years of age was sent
along with his younger brother William (see the year 1819, in
which he died) to an academy at Heath, near "Wakefield, which
was superintended by a gentleman of highly respectable character
and an eminent mathematician, Mr. Joseph Randall, who con-
ducted it upon a large and liberal, though somewhat expensive,
plan (the Rev. Dr. Dodgson, afterwards Bishop of Elphin, and
the Rev. Mr. Sedgwick, afterwards head-master of the Free
Grammar School at Leeds, being classical tutoi*s). When
seventeen years of age, in 1751, he went to the University of
Cambridge, where he was admitted of Catherine Hall, and he
continued a member of that college till 1758, when he removed
to a Fellowship in Sidney Sussex College; of which college he
continued a member till he quitted the university in 1795.
Before he was twenty-one years of age, he had taken his degree
of B.A. of Catherine Hall; and when twenty-four his degree of
MA. of Sidney Sussex College. He took the degree of B.D.
in 1765, and D.D. in 1780. But in 1775 he performed his
exercise for his Doctor's degree, in which he gave (says his
* The following list is extracted from tlie parish records : —
The Rev. John Killimgbeck, chosen vicar of the parish of Leeds in 1690;
died February 12th, 1715, aged sixty-six. — See p. 123, &c.
The Rev. Joseph Cookson, chosen vicar in 1715, died February 20th, 1746,
aged sixty-five. — See p. 158, &c.
The Rev. Dr. Kirshaw, chosen 1751, died November 1st, 1786, aged eighty ;
whose unsullied purity of morals, unremitted charity, and most exemplary
zeal and fidelity in the discharge of all the sacred duties of his profession,
deservedly had gained bun the universal esteem of all ranks of his numerous
parishioners. — See p. 183, &c.
The Rev. Peter ffaddon, chosen 1786, died February 22nd, 1815, aged
eighty-two, sincerely esteemed and lamented by almost every individual in his
extensive parish. According to the New Monthly Magazine for April, 1815,
THE REV. JOHN HEY, D.D. 261
brother Richard) an instance of that mode of disputation which
is not usual, and is called a "public act." He was a tutor of
Sidney Sussex College from 17 GO to 1779, and he was one of
the preachers of his Majesty's chapel at Whitehall. Lord
Maynard offered him the rectory of Passenham, in Northamp-
tonshire, near Stony Stratford, which he accepted, and immedi-
ately vacated his Fellowship in Sidney Sussex College. Not
long afterwards he obtained the adjoining rectory of Calverton,
in Buckinghamshire, by exchange for one offered to him by the
Earl of Clarendon, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. On
these two livings he bestowed assiduous pastoral care; the small
extent of the whole, and the thin population, enabling him to
attend to every distinct family in both parishes. From the time
of his obtaining Passenham till about five months before his
death, his ordinary residence was there, except the time which
the duties of his professorship required him to spend at Cam-
bridge. In 1780 he was elected the first Norrisian professor of
divinity in the university. In 1785, and again in 1790, the
professorship became vacant, by the will of. the founder, Mr.
Norris, and he was each time re-elected. In 1795 he ceased to
be professor — being too old, by the will, to be re-elected, and
having declined to vacate the professorship in 1794, in order to
be re-elected within the prescribed age. When tutor in Sidney
College, he gave lectures on morality, which were attended by
several persons voluntarily (amongst whom were the great
statesman, Mr. Pitt, and other persons of rank), besides those
pupils whose attendance was required. These lectures on
morality have not been printed; but his Lectures on Divinity
are before the public, having been printed at the university
press, 1796-1798, and published in four octavo volumes.
These lectures have passed through three editions ; the last
edition, published in 1841, was edited by Bishop Thomas
Turton, of Ely.* Dr. Arnold says of this work — " I like no
book on the Articles altogether; but Hey's Divinity Lectures at
Cambridge seem to me to be the best and fairest of any that I
know." And Bishop Kaye -ays of the author — "Dr. John
"The king had not a more loyal subject, the Established Church a more firm
and consistent minister, or the poor a more benevolent friend." Of him it
may most truly be said : — " Omnibus Me fiebilis occidit.''
* These exquisite discourses may boast of the singular honour of having
served as the mother's milk to many a babe in divinity, and of having given
a just bias to the opening thoughts of many a worthy pillar of the Church,
and many an upright son of truth and orthodoxy. When flowing from the
mouth of their pious and impressive deliverer, what ear but hung in rapture
on the sound !
262 BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Hey was one of the most acute, most impartial, and most
judicious divines of modern times." He also published Seven
Sermons at different times; and a Poem on Redemption, which
gained Seaton's prize in. the university, 1763; Discpurses on the
Malevolent Sentiments, in one volume, in 1801. In the year
1811 he printed, without publishing, General Observations on
the Writings of St. Paul. In 1814 he divested himself of the
whole of his ecclesiastical preferment, which was merely the
two livings before mentioned. He removed to London in
October; having resigned the living of Calverton at Lady-day,
and Passenham on the 10th of October. From that time he
continued in London until his death ; growing feeble in body,
till, without painful disease, he sunk under that feebleness;
retaining to the last a soundness of mind, and giving, to eveiy
business that came before him, a remarkable degree of that per-
severing attention which had evidently been with him a matter
of strict duty through a long course of years. Had a mitre
been placed on his head (which was at least once, from good
authority, understood to be highly probable), he appeared likely
to have discharged the duties imposed by it with the same
steady and principled perseverance. He died on the 17th of
March, 1815, aged eighty years, and was interred in the
burying-ground of St. John's chapel, St. John's Wood, in the
paiish of Marylebone, London, in which parish he died. — A
short Memoir of this worthy and eminent man appeared in
the Literary Memoirs of Living Authors, published in 1798; in
the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1815, p. 371, &c; in Rose's
Biographical Dictionary, &c. See also Darling's Cyclopaedia
Bihliographia ; Lowndes's Bibliographer s Manual, &c.
1747-1815.*
ME. JOHN EYLEY,
Master of the Leeds Charity (or Blue Coat) School for twenty-
six years, was born on the 30th of November, 1717, and died
April 22nd, 1815, aged sixty-eight. He enriched almost every
* —1816. The Rev. Thomas Goodinge, LL.D., formerly of St. John's
College, Oxford, and for twelve years head-master of the Leeds Free
Grammar School, which he resigned in 1790; afterwards rector of Cound,
near Shrewsbury (which is worth above a thousand a year), died July 2nd,
1816. His predecessor, the Rev. Samuel Brooke, M.A., formerly rector of
Gamston, Notts, was elected head-master of the Leeds Grammar School in
1 76 1, and died September 8th, 1778. He was distinguished for the point and
neatness of his epigrams in Latin and English. — There was another Rev.
Samuel Brooke, LL.D., minister of St. John's church, Leeds; appointed
February 17th, 1717 ; died in 1731, and was interred in the churchyard of
Birstal, near Leeds. He was also rector of St. Alphage, London ; prebendary
MR. JOHN EYLEY. 263
periodical publication in mathematics for nearly half a century,
and was justly admired for his problems and demonstrations.*
He was also editor of the "Leeds Correspondent ; a Literary,
Mathematical, and Philosophical Miscellany," 2 vols., 1815. He
also compiled a History of Leeds and the neighbouring villages,
published in 1808. The Leeds Charity School, of which he
was master, was originally established about the year 1705, by
means of a subscription, for the maintenance and education of
forty poor children in the principles of the Established Church,
and instructing them in reading, writing, and arithmetic, to
of York ; and was a candidate for the vicarage of Leeds in March, 1715-16,
together with the Rev. Mr. Cookson. — His successor was the Rev. Joseph
"Whiteley, M.A.
The Rev. Joseph Whiteley, M.A. ( — 1815), late of Magdalene College,
Cambridge ; head-master of the Leeds Free Grammar School ; vicar of
Lastingham, in the North-Riding, and domestic chaplain to the Earl of Hare-
wood, died May 8th, 1815. During his residence in Cambridge University, he
was greatly distinguished for the excellence of his theological compositions,
by which he gained no less than seven of the Norriaian prizes between 1781
and 1789. He was incumbent of Beeston from 1784 to 1789, and was head-
master of the Leeds Grammar School from 1790 to 1815. In the death
of Mr. Whiteley, a disconsolate widow and numerous family had to deplore
the loss of a tender husband and an affectionate father; his profession, a
sound divine, and an excellent writer ; and society, one of its members, who
possessed in an eminent degree that equanimity of temper and suavity of
deportment, which, while they heighten the enjoyment of social intercourse,
endear the departed to the memory of his surviving friends. Some of his
sermons and Norrisian jirize essays were published after his death, entitled,
Essays on Revelation, kc. See Gentleman's Muyxziiic for June, 1815, p. 541,
&c. He was succeeded by the Rev. George Page Richards, M.A., Fellow of
King's College, Cambridge.
— 1816. Alexander Turner, Esq., a justice of the peace for the borough
of Leeds, died July 24th, 1816, in his sixty-fifth year. He twice filled the
office of chief magistrate; during his first mayoralty (1793), he was amongst
the foremost to give his effective aid to that grand system of voluntary
defence which spread through the country with one general and spontaneous
burst of patriotism. He was a man of such amiable disposition, so mild, so
good, so conciliating, so humane, that all loved and honoured him. In the
exercise of his piivate and public duties, the fell passions of hatred and
malice stood appalled before his all-benignant smile. On the bed of lingering
sickness, and even in the hour of dissolution, his placid resignation to the
Divine will shone, if possible, with increasing lustre. Amidst their regret for
the loss of excellence so rare, most truly indeed might his surviving relatives
and friends indulge the pleasing reflection, that, as far as mortal could pass
through this troublesome world without an enemy, it was the lot of him now
departed. For those of our readers who are fond of brevity on these melan-
choly occasions, we may sum up such a character in very few words' :— -In him
were strikingly combined the uprijlii m: rostrate, the genuine patriot, and the
od Samaritan. — See the Leed* Intelligencer, &c, for July, 1816.
* "Without the polish of the accomplished scholar, Mr. John (Riley, or)
Rylev bad a soundness of judgment, and a guiekness of perception in mathe-
matical knowledge, that deservedly ranked him one of its first professors.
Possessed of these high attainments be sought not temporal honours ox
advancement, but closed a useful and honourable life with humble, pious
resignation. —See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for April, 1815,
2(54 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
qualify them for trade. The school was kept in a building
which had formerly been used as a workhouse, till 1726, when
a chapel belonging to Harrison's Hospital, and adjoining to St.
John's churchyard, was converted into a school for the purposes
of this charity ; at the same time the number of children was
increased, the practice of maintaining them was discontinued,
and the charity was limited to the purposes of clothing and
education.* In 1815, on the death of its last master (Mr. John
Ryley), this school was converted into an institution for clothing
and bringing up girls, not less than twelve years of age, as house
servants; and the funds are applied to supply eighty girls (now
forty) with clothing, and instructing them in all necessary
things to fit them for domestic service. On the alteration of
the charity, a new school-house was erected on the site of the
former, at a cost of £1,000 and upwaixls. The revenue of this
charity, arises from the dividends on stock in the public funds,
and from the rent of houses and lands enumerated in the report;
and the total income of the charity amounts to about .£400 a
year. The girls are under the care of the mistress and assistant,
who are allowed stipends of £60 and =£27 a year respectively.
The clothing, &c, is supplied by the mistress, and her disburse-
ments are repaid by the trustees. — See the Leeds Intelligencer
for February, 1827; Parsons' History of Leeds, &c.
1746-1817.
JOSHUA WALKER, ESQ., M.D.,
A member of the Society of Friends, and for twenty-five years
a physician to the Leeds General Infirmary, died at his house in
Park Place, Leeds, on the 12th of February, 1817. Dr. Walker
was born about 1746 of highly respectable parents at Bradford,
and received the first rudiments of his education at the Free
Grammar School there. He was afterwards placed under the care
of David Hall, of Skipton (a Quaker of considerable learning and
talents), previously to commencing his professional studies at
Edinburgh. Here his unceasing application and industry, in
acquiring a thorough knowledge of the theoretical learning of
his profession, were not less remarkable than his anxiety and
solicitude, when in extensive practice, to render his studies of
use to posterity ; having with great labour and assiduity com-
piled many manuscript volumes of notes and observations upon
the numerous and difficult cases in which he was consulted. In
his practice (which was founded chiefly on the principles of
* John Lucas, who died in July, 1750, and Thomas "Wilson, his successor,,
both masters of this school, were zealous and industrious antiquaries^
JOSHUA WALKER, ESQ., M.D. 265
Culler), Gregory, and Black), he displayed a praiseworthy inde-
pendence of the inferior branches of the profession; and his
brother physicians, who were in the habit of attending patients
along with him, bore ample testimony to his liberality, and
freedom from mercenary influence. He originally commenced his
professional career at Hull, where his success was so great as to
afford him the means of supporting a respectable establishment
in the short space of one year. His removal to Leeds (owing to
the state of his wife's health), though at first calculated to
retard his progress, may be considered to have been eventually
a fortunate circumstance, by its having opened a wider field for
the exertion of his talents. He was quickly elected a physician
of the General Infirmary there, to the duties of which situation
he paid unwearied attention during a space of twenty-five
years, though the greater part of the time engaged with an
extensive practice; and in a pecuniary point of view he was a
truly liberal benefactor to that institution. In early life he
pursued his natural talent for poetry as a favourite recreation —
some beautiful specimens of which were occasionally presented
to his friends; and his love of classical and polite literature was
eminently conspicuous during his whole life. In his political
sentiments he was unquestionably loyal ; although ever averse to
controversy on this subject, especially in public, yet to his inti-
mate friends he was known to possess sincere attachment to the
constitution and liberties of his country, unbiassed by prejudice
or party. He published an Essay on the Mineral Waters of
Harrogate and Thorp-Arch, in 1784, Svo.* The public at large
sincerely regretted the loss of his professional talents; while his
relations and friends long lamented his social and endearing
virtues, and with a melancholy pleasure recalled to mind the
instructive lessons of justice and morality, which his enlightened
conversation was accustomed to instil. Mary, his widow, t and
* The basis, being his medical thesis at Edinburgh; and some letters on
medical subjects between Dr. Walker and Dr. Lettsom, will be found in the
third volume of Mr. PettigreVs Life of Dr. Lettsom.
+ Their eldest daughter, Mary, married Thomas Jowitt, Esq., of Eltofts,
but soon died, leaving issue. Their surviving daughter, Margaret, was
married to the late William Leatham, Esq., of Heath, near Wakefield, and thus
became the mother of— 1, John Arthington Leatham. Esq., barrister-atdaw,
who died, unmarried, in May, 1857: 2, William Henry Leatham, Esq., J. P.
(author of a volume of Poems), who has kindly contributed a portion of this
Sketch, born in July, 1815; married, February 21st, 1839, PrisciUa, daughter
of the late Samuel Gurney, Esq.. of West Ham, Essex, and lias surviving
issue — Samuel; Gurney, born in December, 1840; William Eenry, in 1844;
Edmund Ernest, in 1.-17; Charles Alfred, in 184!).; Gerald Arthur Burton, in
1851; Herbert Barclay, in 1852; Octavius, in 1854; Claude, in 1856:
3, Joshua Walker Leatham, who died an infant in 1817 : 4, Margaret
266 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
last surviving daughter of the late John Arthington, Esq., one
of the founders of the Leeds Old Bank, died at her house in
Park Place, Leeds, after several years of severe bodily suffering,
April 19th, 1821, in the sixty-ninth year of her age. — For
additional particulars, see the Leeds Peters; the New Monthly
Magazine, &c.
1798-1817.*
MR HERBERT KNOWLES,
A young man of very distinguished talents, and of great
poetical genius, was born at Gomersal, near Leeds, in 1798,
brother to C. J. Knowles, Esq., an eminent barrister on the
Northern Circuit, and Q.C. He was educated in the Grammar
School at Richmond, and destined for the ledger at Liver-
pool. He is greatly lauded by R. Montgomery in The Christian
Life. He died at Gomersal, February 17th, 1817, at the
early age of nineteen, after having, by his talents as a poet,
gained the patronage of several of the most distinguished men
of the age. He left behind him a manuscript volume of poems,
Elizabeth, married, June 10th, 1847, to John Bright, Esq., M.P., of One
Ash, Rochdale: 5, Mary Walker, married to Joseph Gurney Barclay, Esq.,
of Lombard Street, London ; died lin 1848, leaving issue : 6, Charles Albert,
who married Miss Rachael Pease, of Southend, Darlington, and died in 1858,
leaving issue: 7, Edward Aldam Leatham, Esq., M.A., M.P., author of Char-
mione, &c, born in 1828; married, in 1851, Mary Jane, only daughter of
John Fowler, Esq., of Elm Grove, Melksham. Their motto is " Virtute
vinces"— by virtue thou shalt conquer, &c — See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
* — 1817. Mr. Cummins, a veteran and respectable performer of the Leeds,
Hull, and York theatres, died on Friday evening, June 20th, 1817, aged sixty-
two. His death was awfully sudden, —while performing the character of
Dumont in the tragedy of Jane Shore, he dropped down dead on the stage of
the Leeds theatre, having just repeated the benedictory words : —
"Be witness forme, ye celestial hosts!
Such mercy, and such pardon, as my soul
Accords to thee, and begs of Heaven to show thee ;
May such befall me, at my latest hour ! "
This melancholy event gave an awful stop to the performances of the evening,
and every one departed with feelings not easily to be described. Although
Mr. Cummins himself, and all his most intimate connections, had been aware
that his dissolution must be sudden, such an exit could not fail to excite
feelings, which on a similar occasion were strongly depicted through the
audience and public press, when Mr. Palmer died on the Livei-pool stage
of a similar disease (ossification of the heart). Mr. Palmer died exclaiming —
" There is another and a better world !" For more than forty years had Mr.
Cummins been esteemed most universally in his profession. A correspondent
thus feelingly contemplated his sudden demise: — " Quis nostrum tam ammo
agresti ac duro f uit, ut Roscii morte nuper non commovetur 1 " — Cicero. On
the Sunday evening following, the mortal remains of this highly esteemed
character were interred in St. John's churchyard, Leeds; Mr. Fitzgerald and
Miss Cummins were mourners ; the whole theatrical corps attended, the con-
course of people was immense, and all seemed to sympathize deeply at the
i icholy event. — See the Leeds Papers for June, 1817; the New Monthly
Magazine; the Gentleman's Magazine, &c.
WILLIAM HEY, ESQ., P.R.S. 267
the earliest of which were published in the Literary Gazette for
1824. His Three Tabernacles ; or, Methinks it is good to be
here, &c, written in Richmond churchyard, Yorkshire, is a
fine composition, and is well known. Little was wanting, under
God, to his well-doing, both at school and at the university, but
health. The lamp was consumed by the fire which burned in it.
— See Carlisle's History of Endowed Grammar Schools; the
Gentleman's Magazine ; Nichols's Literary Illustrations ;
Schroeder's Annals of Leeds, &c.
1736-1819.
WILLIAM HEY, ESQ., F.R.S.,
An eminent surgeon of Leeds, was born at Pudsey, on the 3rd
of September, 1736, and was the second son of Mr. Richard
Hey, a drysalter in that village. His mother was the daughter
of Jacob Simpson, surgeon, of Leeds, and grand-daughter of
William Simpson, M.D., of Wakefield. Their other sons were
all distinguished by their abilities. The eldest, the Rev. John
Hey, D.D., became the first Norrisian professor in the Univer-
sity of Cambridge. The third son, the Rev. Samuel Hey, M.A.,
was rector of Steeple Ashton, in Wiltshire; and the fourth was
Richard Hey, LL.D., barrister-at-law, and author of several
ingenious publications. When William Hey was about four
years old, he lost the use of his right eye, by a wound received
from a penknife, whilst cutting a piece of string. At the age of
seven years he was sent to an academy at Heath, near Wakefield,
conducted by Mr. Joseph Randall ; and with the Rev. Dr.
Dodgson, afterwards Bishop of Elphin, and the Rev. R. Sedge-
wicke, afterwards head-master of the Free Grammar School at
Leeds, as classical tutors. During the seven years that he
remained at this school, he applied himself to his studies with
great diligence and industry, and thus acquired a vast amount
of useful knowledge.* At the age of fourteen years he was
* He displayed a great love of learning aud science, which increased with
his years, and was conspicuous through every subsequent period of his life.
The assiduous care of the parents of William Hey to form his moral character
was eminently successful ; he was never known to utter a falsehood, and such
was his dutiful and affectionate regard totbein, that his sister cannot recollect
his having been ever accused of a single act of disobedience to his father
or mother. But the instructions of these worthy persona did not terminate
in teaching him a sacred regard to truth in his words, fidelity and uprightness
in his conduct, and the duty of cheerful obedience to themselves; they incul-
cated, hoth by precept and example, the important obligations of religion,
the fear of God, the importance and advantage of public worship and of private
devotion; and so Btrongly was bis mind impressed by their injunctions on the
subject of this duty, that on no occasion would he tolerate the omission of it.
Eabits of piety, formed thus early, lost none of their beneficial influence with
268 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
apprenticed to Mr. Dawson, a surgeon and apothecary at Leeds,
eminent for his knowledge of Mr. Ray's botanical system, which
had not then been superseded by the genius of Linnaeus. He
served his time with great credit to himself, and to the satisfac-
tion of his master. During this time he was most assiduous in
the studies connected with his profession, and was particularly
remarkable for temperance, industry, and piety. In the autumn
of 1757 he went to London to complete his professional educa-
tion. During the whole winter he seldom employed less than
twelve hours daily in the lecture and dissecting-rooms, and thus
he was enabled to acquire a thorough and practical knowledge of
anatomy, for which he was in later life so greatly distinguished,
as it rendered his operations so generally successful. He became
a pupil at St. George's Hospital, under William Bromefield,
Esq. Early in 1759, he attended the lectures of Dr. Mackenzie
on Midwifery; and early in April of the same year, he returned
to Leeds to enter upon his practice as a surgeon and apothecary,
but for several years his progress in gaining business was very
slow. On the 30th of July, 1761, Mr. Hey married Alice, the
second daughter of Mr. Robert Banks, a gentleman of Craven,
in Yorkshire, by whom he had a numerous family; three sons
and one daughter died in adult age, yet before their father:
"Memorable," says Whitaker, "no less for the happiness of
their deaths than the shortness of their lives, and very unlike
the last generation of their family, whose longevity was equally
remarkable." After the establishment of the Leeds General
Infirmary, he was appointed one of the surgeons, and in
November, 1773, became the senior surgeon of the institu-
tion. Three or four years before this time he commenced a
friendly intercourse with the celebrated Dr. Priestley, who
then resided at Leeds, and the two together conversed with
the greatest freedom and harmony on philosophical subjects ;
but on theological matters there was much difference of opinion
between them, though not sufficient to sever their friendship,
which remained steadfast for many years. On the recom-
mendation of Dr. Priestley, Mr. Hey was, in the year 1775,
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In the year 1778,
Mr. Hey had the misfortune to receive a kick from his horse,
his advancing years ; his adult age was distinguished by self-government,
temperance, purity, and a conscientious regard to his several duties ; and over
his more mature and declining years the power of religion shed a bright and
increasing influence, which actuated and adorned every subsequent period of
his life, and conducted him through those various scenes of useful exertion,
which procured for him a just veneration while living, and crowned his
memory -with honour. — See Pearson's Life of William Hey, pp. 4-6.
WILLIAM HEY, ESQ., F.R.S. 269
which threatened for a time to terminate his professional
labours ; he then stood veiy high as an operating surgeon, and
had a large practice. By this accident his leg was permanently
injured, so that till his death he was never able to walk without
the aid of a crutch ; he was then obliged to pay his professional
visits in a carriage. On the formation of a Leeds Philosophical
Society in 1783, Mr. Hey became president, and l'ead many
valuable papers to the members. In 1786 he was elected an
alderman of the borough of Leeds ; and in the following year
was appointed mayor. He was again elected mayor in 1802.
In the spring of 1800, he gave a course of twelve anatomical
lectures at the Leeds Infirmary; the clear profits of the course,
which amounted to .£27 6s., were given to the institution. In
1803 he gave a second course, and presented the profits (forty
guineas) to the Infinnary. In 1805 he gave a third course, by
which the institution gained £45 7s. In the year 1809 he gave
a fourth and last course, the subject dissected being a woman of
atrocious character (Mary Bateman). A great many people
attended these last lectures, and the profits Mr. Hey also pre-
sented to the institution, amounting to £80 14s. On October 7th,
1812, he resigned his office of surgeon to the Leeds Infirmary,
which he had held about forty-five years, thirty -nine of which
he had been senior surgeon ; on the following day, his son
William was unanimously elected to the office vacated by the
resignation of his father. An address of thanks was presented
to him by the trustees, beautifully engraved on vellum, and
ornamented with a vignette of the Infirmary; and also inserted
in each of the Leeds papers. (For a copy of which, see
Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c, page 272.)* Mr. Hey highly
* "To portray the character of this inestimable man is," according to the
Leeds Mercury for March, 1819, "a task of much difficulty; and is rendered
so by the deep regret which his loss occasions, as well as by the variety of
estimable traits in his mind and life, which equally attract admiration, and
press in upon the memory. "Where the numerous virtues of a good man,
testified in every department of his life, alike reflect honour upon himself
and benefit to his fellow-men, we scarcely know which to prefer, or in what
succession his several characteristics should be viewed. He was eminently a
public man ; he acted in many capacities in relation to his fellow-townsmen,
to the members of his profession, and to his country; and, in all these
capacities, the faculties of Ins mind and the disposition of his heart raised
him to an honourable elevation, which we may justly fear will long remain
unequalled. The soundness of his judgment, and the force of his genius,
were aided by profound science, by long experience, and by acute observation.
He was an ardent admirer of nature, and enthusiastically dc voted to his pro-
fession, whose every branch he studied with patient and unremitting research.
These secured to him that rare eminence which he attained as a medical man,
and enabled him to dispense the greatest of blessings to thousands of his
fellow-creatures. His surgical skill is well known to have been consummate :
270 BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
deserved those laudations. His intellectual powers were of
a high, order. He was capable of profound investigation;
was acute in discovering the difference of things ; patient
and diligent in his researches. His chirurgical writings,
especially his Observations on the Blood, published in 1799,
evince a strong, comprehensive, and enlightened view of the
it was founded on accurate anatomical science, and perfected by the extent of
his practice. His Observations on Surgery and his Treatise on the Blood are
works of sterling merit ; they are the best, and will be a permanent attesta-
tion of his proficiency in every branch of his profession. The fame of his
medical abilities was not confiued to the sphere of their operation : it spread
far, and gained him many honours in the abodes of science, with the estima-
tion and friendship of those who were its ablest supporters. Such was Mr.
Hey in his profession, aud as such he will be deeply deplored. He moved,
also, in the capacity of a magistrate; and though here his exertions were
necessarily more limited, his objects were constantly laudable, and were
admirably effected by the vigour and activity of his mind and habits. He
followed no beaten track of established negligence ; justice unbiassed, and
religion unfeigned, were his guides; he reformed many ciying abuses, re-
pressed as much as possible every species of immorality, and promoted the
interests of piety and benevolence, not only by his official authority, but by
the influence of his example. His reformations raised him some enemies, of
a species which every good man, active in discouraging vice, is sure to obtain,
and of which he need not be ashamed. But the town will remember his
undaunted perseverance in the course he adopted, and will acknowledge its
benefits. His virtues as a man are displayed in their surest test — his life and
practice. The noblest institution of our town — the General Infirmary — was
raised, in a great measure, by his benevolent exertions, and has grown almost
to perfection under his auspices. For nearly half a century he regularly
and assiduously supported it by his talents ; and by none will he be regretted
more justly than by the officers and friends of that institution, who have been
accustomed, from their first connection with it, to regard him as the founder,
the active and judicious supporter, of its interests. The religious and
benevolent institutions of the town found in him a zealous and unwearied
friend. He was ever foremost in disseminating among the ignorant the
invaluable blessirigs of that Book which was his delight and his guide ; and
to enable the poor to acquire its benefits, he steadily supported that excellent
institution which dispenses to them the advantages of mutual instruction in
a manner so effectual, so liberal, and so generous. The Bible Society and the
Lancasterian School may mourn the loss of their venerable friend. Mr. Hey,
in all his concerns, was cautious and prudent, yet decisive. He coolly
deliberated, then firmly resolved. Through all his actions the vital principles
of Christianity beamed ; the fear of God was the foundation of his wisdom ;
and that wisdom, thus founded, matured with his age. His mind, till the
very time of his last illness, had the vigour and acuteness of youth ; unim-
paired in the slightest degree, it appeared as strong as his excellent constitu-
tion. It was a cheering, a consoling sight, to view so admirable a specimen
of the mental and bodily powers of humanity, entering the vale of years,
with a mien so unshattered by laborious service, with faculties so perfect,
with an aspect rendered so venerable and dignified by the honours and
experience of fourscore years. It is such a man whose sudden extinction we
have to lament ; and we regret the portrait we are enabled to give of him is
so imperfect; but his life stands an exemplar, worthy to be admired and
led. Mr. Hey was born in 1736, and is the fourth member of his father's
family whose life has been terminated in the eighty -third year; two of his
brothers and one sister having attained, without surpassing, that age."
WILLIAM HEY, ESQ., F.R.S. 271
subjects which he undertook to illustrate, and are very valuable
to the faculty. In the exercise of his profession he was inde-
fatigable ; in its attainments eminently distinguished. In domes-
tic life he was kind, tender, tmd affectionate ; as a magistrate,
just, legal, and conscientious. Through life he was remarkable
for sobriety and temperance, united with wisdom and Christian
piety.* At the age of eighty-two, his eyesight was remarkably
good, so that he could read and write in a good light without
spectacles ; and his handwriting was firm and distinct, without
any of those irregularities which denote a tremulous pen. His
hearing was very acute ; and his vocal powers, although much
diminished, were agreeable. Tire distinctness of his conceptions,
the soundness of his judgment, his orderly and correct mode of
thinking, and his facility of conveying his notions with perspi-
cuity, copiousness, and fluency, did not appear to have suffered
any diminution. t This eminent man died on Tuesday, the 23rd
* Mr. Hey seems to have been by nature thoughtful and serious; and
having in his early days unquestionably seen much to lament in the state of
doctrine as well as practice among the members and even ministers of the
Established Church, and the Methodists having recently commenced their
labours, Mr. Hey was induced to unite with that society. But he soon became
dissatisfied with their apparent conformity, and at one of then' public con-
ferences he obtained leave from Mr. Wesley, whose host at Leeds lie had
always been,' to read a memorial on the subject. Mr. "Wesley, however, cut
short the recitation, with a promise that, when a convenient opportunity
arrived, the reader should be heard out; but the opportunity never arrived.
Mr. Hey had always the deepest veneration for the Church of England,
together with a dread of what he thought schism, and on these grounds
wholly withdrew from a society whose principles of church government he
could not espouse. From this period of his life Mr. Hey continued a regular
and conscientious member of the Church, without any abatement of rational
zeal or steady orthodoxy. About this time he became acquainted with
Dr. Priestley, then a Unitarian minister in Leeds, whom he assisted in his
philosophical pursuits, while he steadily counteracted the mischiefs then
spreading in the town from the heterodoxy of the latter, expressed too boldly
both in his sermons and pamphlets. Of this celebrated man, Mr. Hey was
wont to speak as possessing two understandings — the one philosophical, the
other theological; or, rather, as conducting one and the same understanding
in opposite ways, according to the application which he made of it. The
acquaintance of Mr. Hey with Dr. Priestley was the means of inducing the
former to publish two treatises, one On the Ainm tm ni, and the other On the
Divinity of Christ, which have been productive of immense good in this part
of the country, and which, it is to be regretted, are not more frequently
perused at the present day. He also published, in the Gentleman's Maga ine,
some papers on Subscription to tltc Thirty-nine Articles, of which it is not
necessary to speak.
t Mr. Hey was afflicted by a lameness for more than twenty years of I lie
part <>f his life, which precluded the possibility of his visiting his
patients except in a . Cpou this subject one of his biographers says, —
'■ This apparent misfortune, by his wise economy of fcime, was converted into
a substantial blessing, as by the strength ami steadiness of his remaining
(for he had one only, though of great lustre), ho was enabled to read in a
carriage without interruption upon the roughest roads; while, by another
272 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of March, 1819, full of honours, and at the advanced age of
eighty-three. On the following Saturday, he was buried at St.
Paul's church, Leeds. His funeral was attended by a great
number of his friends and fellow-townsmen : and a funeral
sermon was preached on the following day by his friend and
highly-respected pastor, the Rev. Miles Jackson, in the church
of St. Paul, where Mr. Hey had been a constant attendant on
divine worship since its consecration in 1793. The death of
Mr. Hey was an event deeply felt and sincerely lamented
throughout the borough of Leeds.* A volume of his Tracts
felicity, that as he had friends always happy to attend him on these occasions
for the henefit of his conversation, he was always ready to resume even a
difficult argument, on his return to his carriage, precisely at the point where
it had been broken off." On these occasions, whether thus accompanied or
not, the Bible was his inseparable companion ; and his example may prove a
very useful fact, namely, how much both of knowledge and piety, amidst the
labours of a toilsome profession, a man may gain who resolves never to lose a
moment. About the year 1800, Mr. Hey was of singular use to the Established
Church, by promoting, with great activity, and at a considerable expense, the
erection of a new church at Leeds, which was designed for the late benevolent
and pious Mr. Atkinson, who became the instrument of gathering and retain-
ing in his own communion multitudes of serious persons, who otherwise
■would have remained attached to the world. But he did more : by his
affectionate and faithful instructions he prepared them for a better and
higher communion.
* The following character of William Hey, Esq., F.R.S., one of the brightest
names which has probably ever yet adorned this ancient and populous town,
was given by the Leeds Intelligencer : — "With regard to the professional
talents and character of Mr. Hey, it would be as presumptuous as it is
unnecessary for us to speak, appreciated as they have been for so great a
number of years, not only in the extensive sphere of his own practice, but by
most of the eminent medical authorities of the day; and recognized as well
by those unsolicited honours conferred on him at home and abroad, as by the
offers of higher distinctions which he not only declined, but, with a modesty
peculiar to himself, was as sedulous to conceal, as less elevated minds would
have been anxious to display. His professional eminence was not the result
of fortunate circumstances or extraordinary patronage, but was built on the
solid foundation of profound knowledge, developed in long practice and
experience. To the qualifications necessary to his particular pursuits, he
added various other literary attainments, as deep as they were extensive. As
a linguist, both with regard to the dead as well as modern tongues, he was of
the first order ; while his philosophical knowledge and acquirements associated
him in many important pursuits and discoveries with some of the first
characters of his time, and many years ago procured for him the highest and
most unequivocal distinction of this nature, that England, or probably any
other nation, has to confer. Yet with all this intellectual superiority, he
preserved, or rather, perhaps, attained to, that perspicuous and dignified
simplicity, both in his conversation and writings, which afforded a most
striking contrast to the spurious, and often confused, eloquence of the day.
With a mind naturally comprehensive and persevering, he thought closely,
understood clearly, and, consequently, expressed himself plainly. Hence, in
mingling with the social circle (for his habit of redeeming the time, notwith-
standing his pursuits and engagements, afforded him opportunities, not unfre-
quently, of giving his friends that pleasure), he was unostentatious, cheerfully
familiar; and strove to instruct rather than to dazzle .to please rather than to
WILLIAM HEY, ESQ., F.R.S. 273
and Essays was published after his death. A full-length marble
statue of Mr. Hey (by Chantrey) was subsequently erected by
the subscriptions of his fellow-townsmen, and is placed in the
Leeds General Infirmary. — For a more lengthened account, see
his Life, by John Pearson, F.R.S., 2 vols., published in 1827, &c.
(with an excellent likeness of Mr. Hey, from the painting by
astonish. But in regard to his mental energies and endowments, however
much admired, he could be an object of imitation only to the few; yet, in
another and more important point of view, he " being dead yet speaketh,"
and calls aloud to his numerous friends and acquaintance, to the whole town
and neighbourhood, to which he long afforded so bright a living example, to
embalm his character in their most cherished recollections, and to copy its
shining excellencies. He was not one of those, who, affecting to be absorbed
in high pursuits, and elevated in lofty attainments, can afford no room in
their hearts, nor spare any portion of their time, for the cidtivation of the
minuter and more retiring duties of human life ; much less did he strive to
make some striking excellence atone for some notorious defect. All the
virtues were equally cherished in his heart, and exhibited in his actions ; they
were like the several stones of an arch, which, inseparably connected together,
give stability to each other, and strength and beauty to the whole. Thus, as
a husband, a father, and the head of a family, his conduct was most kind and
conscientious. As a professional man, he was humane and attentive to his
patients, and generous in his conduct to his medical brethren, in the highest
degree. As a subject, his loyalty was eminently conspicuous throughout the
whole of his life, and especially during the last most eventful period of it.
As a magistrate, he was indeed ' a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them
that do well ; ' ever anxious to suppress (and many times at the expense of
great personal obloquy and opposition) whatever he thought militated against
the interests of virtue and religion ; and, on the other hand, eager to give the
powerful support of his talents, and the sanction of his venerated name, to
whatever promised to promote the real interests and prosperity of the com-
munity. Indeed this was a most striking feature in his character; — the per-
sonal fiiend of the celebrated Hoivard, he had early drank deep into his
spirit. But it would be an endless task to instance his various philanthropic
efforts in this town, from the establishment of our excellent Infirmary, of
which he was a founder, and long remained a father, down to the period of
his decease. In a word, religion, taking its rise in his heart, was ever visibly
present and operative in all the minutest ramifications of his conduct ; it was
the leading and animating principle in all his pursuits and enjoyments. It was
this which induced him to dedicate his house, his family, his time, talents,
and influence to the service of God ; which inspired him with that striking
reverence for the name and word of the Deity, which he ever evinced. His
Christian profession was that of the Church of England; and in this part of
his character we hold him forth as worthy of all imitation. Notwithstanding
the number and pressing nature of his professional avocations, lie was con-
stant in his attendance on her sacred ordinances; a warm and enlightened
advocate of her impressive services; indefatigable in promoting her honour
and interest by every means in his power ; and the firm and successful
champion of her rights, in opposition to the attempts made to destroy her
pre-eminence, by what was called Catholic Emancipation. The Bible Society
was Ins favourite institution: its establishment he hailed with emotions of
the highest delight, and its progress and prospects, he was often heard to say,
shed the brightest ray of pleasure on the path of his declining days. "Mark
the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."
Seized with a disorder, which we understand he took in attending to the
humane duties of his profession, he sunk, full of comfort and peace, sur-
rounded by his affectionate family, into the arms of that Saviour, whom
S
274 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Allen, which hangs in the Board-room of the Leeds Infirmary);
Parsons' History of Leeds; the Christian Observer for August,
1822; Darling's Cyclopaedia Bibliographia ; the Appendix to
Gorton's Biographical Dictionary ; Lowndes's Bibliographer's
Manual, &c. For his pedigree, &c, see Thoresby's Ducatus
Leodiensis, p. 4; Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. 198, &c. ; for
his portrait, &c, see the Appendix to Whitaker's History of
Leeds, p. 32, &c.
1745-1819.
MR. MATTHEW TALBOT,
Upwards of thirty-three years the faithful and indefatigable
secretary of the Leeds General Infirmary, died, after a very
short illness, December 231x1, 1819, aged seventy-five years.
His mind was richly stored with Biblical knowledge; he had
made several translations of the Holy Scriptures from the
with ardent soul he had long adored, and whose footsteps he had humbly
followed, at the advanced age of eighty -three ; but, up to the time of his last
illness, in possession of his bodily faculties, even that of sight, to an aston-
ishing degree, and with a mind, which, in the last period of its earthly
existence, demonstrated, to all who had the honour of his acquaintance, the
imperishable nature of the human soul. Our readers, and especially the
younger part of them, will, we trust, be impressed with this sacred truth, so
often manifested, but seldom more powerfully than on the present occasion,
that ' godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life thai,
now is, and of that which is to come.'"
TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM HEY, ESQ.
" How swiftly death mows down the ranks of men !
Soul follows soul, as quickly as the breast
Heaves the convulsive sigh, by grief opprest.
Scarce does the eye beam tranquilly again,
Ere the disturbed glance betrays another wound ; —
Each mortal arrow pierces many hearts,
Besides the one whence flutt'ring life departs.
Hear, o'er the just man's tomb, the mingled sound
Of lamentations, which survivors raise,
The voice of weeping, with the hymn of praise.
Few of death's shafts have wider sorrow spread,
Few have been felt so far, or wrought such woe,
As that which number' d Him amongst the dead,
And laid our venerated townsman low.
Words are faint praise, — they vanquish' d lie;
Sorrow's own eloquence which nature gave,
The touching language of tli' unbidden sigh,
Is mem'ry's offering to the good man's grave.
Whilst virtue pays the tributary tear,
And piety, unnerv'd, weeps for her loss severe,
And droops a moment o'er the Christian's bier."
— For a long Elegy on the death of William Hey, Esq., F.R.S., see the Leeds
Intelligencer, for April, 1819; and for a much longer account of Mr. Hey,
abridged from Pearson's Life, see the Intelligencer for February and March,
1822, &c.
FIRST EARL OF HAREWOOD. 275
original Hebrew and Greek languages; and was the author of a
work of vast labour and of great utility, entitled an Analysis of
the Holy Bible* quarto, published in 1800 (an elaborate work,
which displays an uncommon degree of perseverance and appli-
cation, and which must prove an invaluable acquisition to those
who make frequent references to the Holy Scriptures), as well
as of some unpublished works. His daughter Charlotte was
married to Edward Baines, Esq., M.P., and thus became the
mother of the Right Hon. Matthew Talbot Baines, M.P., who
died in 18 GO, and of Edward Baines, jun., Esq., M.P., &c. For
an account of his son, John Talbot, who was on the editorial
staff of the Leeds Mercury, and who died in 1839, see that paper
for March 30th, 1839, &c.
1740— 1820.t
FIRST EARL OF HAREWOOD,
Formerly Edward Lascelles, Esq., was born in Barbadoes,
January 7th, 1 710. This gentleman represented Northallerton
in several parliaments, and was elevated to the peerage in June,
1796, by the title of Baron Harewood of Harewood, near
Leeds. His lordship married, in May, 1761, Anne, daughter
of William Chaloner, Esq., of G-uisborough, by whom (who died
in February, 1805) he had issue — 1, Edward, born in 1761,
who died unmarried in June, 1814; 2, Henry, born December
25th, 1767, who succeeded him as second earl; and two
daughters, Lady Frances Douglas, and Lady Mary Anne Yorke.
His lordship was advanced to a viscounty and earldom in
* This Analysis has been recently republished by Dr. Eadie, r who,£injhis
remarks thereon, speaks of the work in very commendatory terms. The
above Sketch has been kindly corrected by Mr. Baines, jun. :
•j- — 1820. Mr. Thomas Smales, better known by the name of "The Hors-
forih Poet,'' died February 8th, 1820. This hardy veteran had attained to the
eighty-eighth year of his age ; upwards of fifty years of which he had spent
in the bloodless sendee of his country— in the humble but useful capacity of
a letter-carrier between Leeds and Guiseley —
"The herald of a noisy world,
News from all nations lumbering at his back."
No weather arrested his daily labours; and to ill health, till" within a few of
the last years of his life, he was almost a stranger. He had travelled, on an
average, for fifty successive years, twenty miles a day; and, without extending
his journey more than fifteen miles from the same spot, had walked, within
that period, a distance equal to fifteen times the circumference of the earth! tip
firm were his stamina, that he continued to perform his accustomed duties till
within about four years of his death; and he left behind him a race of
descendants, consisting of seven children, thirty-four grand-children, and
twenty-four great-grand-children.
" Honour and shame from no condition rise:
Act well your part; there all the honour lies."
276 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
September, 1812, by the titles of Viscount Lascelles, and Earl
of Harewood. With the prince and the peasant the noble earl
evinced that complacency and equanimity which commanded
universal respect and veneration. His establishments were
always in the true style of old English hospitality; his charities
were most extensive, and his religion was sincere but unosten-
tatious. He entered the army in early life, and bore the
standard of the Blues at the battle of Minden. In 1798, when
the country was threatened by a foreign invader, he subscribed
the munificent sum of £4,000 towards the defence of the king-
dom. His lordship died at his house in Harewood Place,
Hanover Square, London, April 3rd, 1820, in his eighty-first
year, having survived his eldest son Edward six years, and being
succeeded by his second and only son, Henry. His remains were
brought from London, and interred in the family mausoleum at
Harewood church, near Leeds. An immense train of relatives,
carriages, and friends followed in the funeral procession, as the
last mark of respect due to his rank and exalted virtues. "Few
noblemen," it was said at the time, "will be more sincerely
lamented, and there are few whose loss will be more acutely
felt by the poor residing on or near his noble domain. To all
his domestics he has been liberal, and has provided amply for
the future comfort of those of longer servitude." To those to
whom this nobleman was known, it is needless to panegyrize Iris
virtues; and to those to whom he was a stranger, all our praises
will fall short of his merits.* — For a further account, see Jones's
History of Harewood; the Peerages by Burke, Collins, Debrett,
Lodge, &c. ; the Gentleman's Magazine; the New Monthly
Magazine, vol. xiii., p. 750. For long extracts from his will,t
see the New Monthly Magazine, vol. xiv., p. 113, &c. See also
the first Lord Harewood, who died in 1795, p. 204, &c.
* His younger brother, Francis Lascelles, also born in Barbadoes, in Novem-
ber, 1744, who died, unmarried, in September, 1799, and was buried at Rich-
mond, in Surrey, was appointed ensign in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards,
February, 1761; captain in the 17th Dragoons, December, 1761 ; major in the
8th Dragoons, June, 1764 ; lieutenant-colonel in the 8th Dragoons, May, 1768 ;
colonel in the army, August, 1777; lieutenant-colonel in the King's Own
Dragoons, May, 1780; major-general in the army, November, 1782; colonel
of the 8th Dragoons, March, 1789; and appointed Groom of his Majesty's
Bedchamber, 1779. The Gentleman's Magazine says— "No man was more
respected by his brother officers, and no man passed through life with more
easy dignity, manliness, and unobtrusive good sense."
+ The personal estate of the late Earl of Harewood was sworn under
£250,000. He left £10,000 to Lord Lascelles; £40,000 to the children of
Lady Frances Douglas. To his daughter, Lady Mary Ann Yorke, £1000 per
annum for life, one half of which to be devoted to the support and main-
tenance of her children ; to whom also was given the sum of £20,000, in
equal shares, on their arrival at twenty-one, or marriage.
THE VERY REV. ISAAC MILNER, D.D., F.R.S. 277
1750-1820.
THE VEEY EEY. ISAAC MILNEE, D.D., F.E.S.,
Dean of Carlisle, president of Queen's College, and professor of
mathematics in the University of Cambridge, by his talents and
industry made his way from the humblest ranks of life to the
first honours of one of the first universities in the world. He
was born in Mabgate, Leeds, January 11th, 1750.* In his
youth he was a weaver; but availing himself of his leisure
hours in acquiring a knowledge of the classics and mathematics,
he made such progress as to become assistant to his brother
Joseph at the Hull Grammar School.t He was then nineteen
years of age, and had been accustomed to work at the loom
with a Tacitus by his side. The prospects of this young man
were soon turned towards the church; and, after assisting his
brother for some time as an usher, he removed to Queen's Col-
lege, Cambridge, where he was entered as a sizar. + For his
* That the father of the young Milners was a man of strong sense and
extraordinary industry and self-denial there is abundant evidence. Having
experienced, in his own case, the want of a good education, he early resolved
that, at whatever inconvenience to himself or his family, his children should
possess that advantage ; and this resolution he kept, although at the cost of
many personal sacrifices, till his sudden death; an event which took place
soon after his son Isaac had attained his tenth year. An outline of Dr. Milner's
childhood has been thus traced by his own hand: — "Isaac, when a little boy
of six years old, began to accompany bis brother Joseph every day to the
Leeds Grammar School; and at ten years of age could construe Ovid and
Sallust into tolerable English, and was then beginning to learn the rudiments
of the Greek language. The premature death of their father ruined all the
prospects of Isaac's advancement in learning. His mother was obliged to
abandon the prosecution of her husband's plan ; and, that her son might
acquire a livelihood by honest industry, she wisely employed him in learning
several branches of the woollen manufacture at Leeds." His turn for
mathematical studies also exhibited itself very early. He frequently, towards
the close of his life, spoke of a sun-dial which he had constructed at the age
of eight years; and said, that during one of his visits to Leeds, after he
became dean of Carlisle, he had earnestly endeavoured to discover the marks
of it upon a wall near the house in which he was born.
+ The affection which bound these brothers to each other was, perhaps, as
strong as ever subsisted in that relation of life. It began in childhood ; was
cemented in youth, by more than ordinary fraternal kindness on the one part,
and by cordial gratitude on the other; and, far from suffering interruption or
abatement in after life, it increased in fervour, till the death of the elder
brother separated these tenderly-attached relatives. "Never," says the sur-
vivor, "was separation more bitter or afflicting."
J Isaac Milner happening one day, while engaged in the execution of his
duties as a sizar, to overturn upon the floor of the hall a tureen of soup,
intended for the Fellows' table, is said to have exclaimed, in reply to some
tart rebuke, "When T get into power, ' will abolish this nuisance." This
expression of the unpolished Yorkshire lad, " When I get into power," occa-
sioned, as it is said, much merriment among tin- Fellows, who, of course, did
not detect, under the rough exterior of the sizar, the future president of their
college.
278 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
new station Mr. Isaac Milner was admirably fitted; and, before
be went to tbe university, be was allowed to bave attained a
senior optime's knowledge in algebra and mathematics. Pos-
sessed of useful ambition, be now aimed at tbe first honours of
his college, and had talents and perseverance sufficient to obtain
them. Accordingly, in the year 1774, he became "senior
wrangler," and gained the first mathematical prize (Smith's),
with the honourable distinction of " incomparabilis."* He was
ordained deacon, December 17th, 1775, in the chapel of Trmity
College, Cambridge, by the Lord Bishop of Peterborough. In
January, 1776, he was elected a Fellow of Queen's College; and
in the following year he proceeded to the degree of M.A., and
was soon afterwards appointed tutor of his college, in which
capacity he acquired a distinguished reputation. In June, 1780,
he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, having contri-
buted several papers to their Transactions during the three
preceding years. In 1782 he served the office of proctor, in the
following year was chosen Jacksonian professor of natural and
experimental philosophy, and in 1792 was honoured with
the vice-chancellorship. Intense study, however, had secretly
laid the foundation of a nervous disorder, which under-
mined the sources of existence, and occasionally embittered
the remainder of his life.t While at Cambridge, Mr. Isaac
* His superiority above all liis competitors was so strongly marked on
this occasion that, contrary to the usual practice, it was deemed necessary by
the examiners to interpose a blank space between him and those who followed
him on the list ; and he was honoured with the designation of incomparahilis.
A similar distinction, it is said, has only once been conferred since that time ;
namely, in the year 1819, when Mr. Joshua King, of the same college
(Queen's), took his degree as senior wrangler, with the same acknowledged
superiority over every competitor. He, too, afterwards became president of
Queen's College, and alsoLucasian professor of mathematics in the University
of Cambridge.
+ While an undergraduate, Mr. Milner became acquainted with the late
celebrated William Hey, Esq., F.R.S., of Leeds, having occasion to consult
him for a complaint partly produced by intense application to study. His
superior talents and attainments were quickly discerned and justly appre-
ciated by Mr. Hey, who invited him to his house, and put him, as Dr. Milner
aftei-wards said, "upon a completely new system of habits." He remained
during several weeks the guest of Mr. Hey ; and the acquaintance thus com-
menced ripened into a friendship which suffered neither diminution nor inter-
ruption till the friends were separated by death. The state of Dean Miluer's
health, when about fifty years of age, induced him to recur to the advice of
his friend, the late Wm. Hey, Esq., of Leeds, whose letters exhibit eminent
piety and friendly regard, as well as professional skill. In a letter, dated
February l'Jth, 1800, this gentleman writes, — " I will endeavour to dispose of
the liberal supply you have sent me, in comforting many distressed persons."
This passage refers to a sum of money sent at stated times by Dr. Milner to
Mr. Hey, to be by him distributed among such of his poor patients as might
be unable to procure for themselves the comforts which their circumstances
THE VERY REV. ISAAC MILNER, D.D., F.R.S. 279
Milner became acquainted with Mr. "Wilberforce, who cordially
and conscientiously embraced the scriptural principles of that
gentleman on religious subjects. After a short acquaintance,
the two friends proceeded on a tour to the continent, accom-
panied by Mr. Pitt; but had not travelled far before the last of
these gentlemen was recalled, in consequence of some political
changes, which afterwards elevated him to the premiership.
The others accompanied him on his return, and an intimacy
ensued, which continued for life. This occurred in 1788, in
which year Mr. Milner was elected president of Queen's College.*
required. It would ill become the biographer of Dean Milner to publish the
deeds of Christian liberality which were done by him in secret ; but it may
be allowable to say that, amid his many acts of benevolence, to strangers as
well as to his own poor relatives, he was ever ready to allow the peculiar claims
of his indigent fellow-townsmen of Leeds ; with respect to them in particular it
might be truly said, that "the blessing of him that was ready to perish came
upon" him; and he "caused the widow's heart to sing for joy." In the
early part of 1808, Dr. Milner' s spirit (to use an expression of his own) was
refreshed by a short visit to Queen's College, Cambridge, from his friend
Mr. Hey, of Leeds; a man of whom he was accustomed to say, that "con-
scientiousness and consistency" were the "distinguishing features of his
character." The dean, in 1819, on hearing of the death of Mr. Hey, wrote
a veiy eulogistic letter of condolence to his son, "William Hey, Esq. (jun.),
of Leeds.
* "As president of a college," says the author of a slight biographical
sketch of the life and character of Dr. Milner, "his constant aim was to
encourage learned men that belong to his own foundation, as well as to intro-
duce improvements which might tend to the happiness of the students, and
to the advancement of the university at large." Previous to his election,
this venerable asylum of Erasmus had greatly decreased in reputation, but
it began then to re-assume its ancient consequence, by the repletion of
its numbers, &c. He was twice elected vice-chancellor, in 1792 and afterwards
in 1809. It has been recorded that the first time the dean arrived at
Cambridge, he and his brother Joseph walked up from Leeds, with occa-
sional lifts in a waggon; and the writer believes that it came from the
dean himself, No man, certainly, ever acted more constantly in the spirit
of Dr. Johnson's observation, "If I am in company with a shoemaker, I
talk to him about the making of shoes." And this he did whether he desired
to learn or to teach. Some slight anecdotes, lately communicated, cannot, per-
haps, be better introduced than in this place. "I once travelled with the
dean," writes the Rev, Thomas (Dikes, or) Dykes, LL.B., of Hull, "from
Carlisle to Leeds. We sjient a few hours at Ripon, and walked out among
the people on the market-day. He accosted a razor-grinder employed in his
work, and gave hirn to understand that he had not properly learned his trade,
and surprised the man by the knowledge which he showed on the subject.
We then went into a carpenter's shop, where a well-looking youth was
(diligently employed ; the dean for some time looked attentively on, and then
earnestly said to him, ' What a shameful thing it is, that a young man like
you should use such antiquated tools ; you can never turn any good work out
of your hands till you furnish yourself with better implements.' The dean
understood the shoeing of a horse, and could tell the blacksmith how it waa
that the horse's foot was so often injured. The dean's comprehensive mind
could grasp every subject, from the highest to the lowest. 1 have often seen
hire shake hands with some of his old companions in trade. He was never
ashamed of his former condition." Again, one prominent trait," writes the
280 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
He now commenced some salutary reforms, and, recollecting
that when he was an undergraduate it was the custom of the
sizars to wait beliind the chairs of the Fellows at dinner, he had
spirit and good sense enough to abolish those servile distinctions,
which were coeval with the days of monkish ignorance and
superstition. In 1792 he took out his Doctor's degree, and was
presented with the deaneiy of Carlisle. At Hull he retained
lodgings during the life of his brother. This became a favourite
residence; and here he had a complete workshop, where he was
accustomed to relax his mind daily from the fatigues of study.
He' found manual labour a great source of happiness, and
spared no expense in obtaining the most perfect and expensive
machinery. As a proof of this, his lathe and appendages cost
Rev. James Fawcett, B.D., "in the great mind of Dr. Milner, was the steady-
perseverance with which he pursued any object of inquiry which he had once
started ; he would not let it go till he had made himself master of it. Tt was this
valuable property which made his extraordinary powers tell in every depart-
ment of science ; it was this which, at least, contributed to place him at the
head of the mathematical tripos in the year of his graduating. And as his
honours and preferments were a due homage paid to his attainments, it was
this which seated him in the Lucasian chair, and advanced him to the deaneiy
of Carlisle." In the year 1815, he strenuously exerted his influence in favour
of the Eev. Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Holmes, then a'candidate for the situation
of head-master of the Grammar School at Leeds; and addressed to the
electors, in his behalf, a very strong testimonial, in which he alludes to his
habitual caution on this subject. The latter portion of this powerful testi-
monial — in the course of which the dean alludes to the circumstance that he
had himself, in early life, "laboured for six or seven years as a teacher in a
grammar school," as enabling him the better to form a judgment concerning
the qualifications and attainments requisite for such an office— may with per-
fect propriety be here inserted, and will not be read with indifference. " As
a native of the town of Leeds," writes Dr. Milner, "and one who received all
his early education at the Grammar School, I hope I may be excused in
expressing my most sincere regard for the success of the institutions of that
town, and the prosperity of its inhabitants. My late brother, the Rev.
Joseph Milner, as well as myself, ever retained a most grateful remembrance
of the advantages which we derived from our education in the said school ;
and I have no scruple to own, that both of us, under a kind Providence, have
ever had reason to ascribe all our successes in life to the instructions of the
school of Leeds, and the liberality of the town and neighbourhood. The
experience of almost fifty years in this university has convinced me, that a
youth properly trained and exercised in a good country school may be full as
well prepared "for what are called 'the learned professions' as any other per-
sons, be they who they may; and in regard to the useful qualifications of
merchants and men of business, or even the ornamental accomplishments of
the higher classes of society, it is well known that the country schools have,
in many instances, been observed to merit a decided preference. My sincere
attachment to my native town and to its school, must be my apology for saying
so much. — Isaac Milnee, Dean of Carlisle, and President of Queen's College,
Cambridge." To Dr. Holmes himself, who, although at this time unsuccessful
in his application, was subsequently elected to the situation of head-master of
the Leeds Grammar School, Dean Milner addressed some admirable " Hints
for the conducting of a Grammar School."
THE VERY REV. ISAAC MILNER, D.D., F.R.S. 281
him no less than 1 40 guineas. On the death of Dr. "Waring, in
1798, Dr. Milner was nominated Lucasian professor of mathe-
matics, an office worth about ,£350 a year, and which had been
filled by Isaac Barrow, Isaac Newton, &c. Dr. Milner wrote
against Marsh, in favour of the Bible Society; and contributed
many excellent papers on chemistry and natural philosophy to
the Philosophical Transactions* On Saturday, April 1st, 1820,
at the house of his esteemed friend, William Wilberforce, Esq.,
M.P., at Kensington Gore, London, and in the seventy-first year
of his age, died this venerable scholar and exemplary Christian ;+
and the final close of such a life must not be mentioned without
a farewell tribute, however trifling, to his memoiy. He was
in every respect an extraordinary man. In early life he rose
superior to difficulties with which few could have successfully
contended; and his academical career was eminently distin-
guished. By the splendour of his reputation, while in the
vigour of life, and by uncommon zeal and activity in the cause
of science, he gave a strong impulse to the study of mathe-
matical and philosophical learning in the university .% — For a
* Dr. Milner frequently turned his researches towards chemistry, and found
therein a proper scene for the adventurous expansion of his vast talents. The
French are generally thought to have availed themselves of his discovery
concerning the composition of nitre, so as to provide, without foreign assist-
ance, the vast consumption of that article, requisite in the manufacture of gun-
powder. As an author, Dr. Milner is known to the public by his papers commu-
nicated, between the years 1777 and 1800, to the Eoyal Society, and published
in the Transactions of that learned body, — by his Life of the Rev. Joseph
Milner, published in the year 1800 : an exquisitely beautiful and touching piece
of biography, and a permanent memorial of an instance of pure and fervent
fraternal affection, — by his Animadversions on the Ecclesiastical History of
Dr. Haweis, — by his powerful work in defence of the Bible Society (viz.,
Strictures on some of the Publications of the Rev. Herbert Marsh), published
in the year 1813, — and by his able and elaborate continuation of The History
of the Church of Christ : an undertaking designed and begun by his hrother,
and one that will assuredly perpetuate the name of Milner. The above-
mentioned works, with some other less important performances, were pub-
lished by the dean himself. Since his death, two volumes of his Ser,
have been given to the public, and also an Essay on the subject of Human
Liberty. Of the Sermons it has been justly observed, that an extraordinary
"vigour of conception, a striking exhibition of the essential truths of
Christianity, and a constant and most forcible appeal to the heart and con-
science, characterize them throughout." Of the Essay on Human Liberty,
an original thinker and an accomplished judge of composition thus writes: —
"The great abilities of the writer are visible in every page; and from the
perusal of such a production people may learn how to think on the difficult
subject of which it treats." — See also Darling's Cyclopaedia BibUographia ;
Lowndes's Bil>/;<i!ir>i/>lici J s Manual, &c.
+ Being unmanned, his remains were deposited in the largo vault under the
chapel of Queen's College, to which he bequeathed his valuable library.
J With him, indeed, the season of vigour and activity was not of long
duration ; a morbid constitution of body, acted upon by a mind wounded by
282 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
long, full, and particular account, see the Life, of Dean Milner
(with a fine portrait,* from a picture by Opie, in the possession
severe domestic affliction, deprived the world of his exertions at a period
when they were the most valuable. The latter part of his life, and that a
very considerable portion of the whole, he passed in retirement ; but it was
the" retirement of a man of talents and of learning. The range of his inquiries
was surprisingly extensive : abstract science ; philosophy, theoretical and
experimental; ancient literature; history; theology; by turns occupied his
attention. The loss which society and his friends have sustained by his
death may, in some measure, be estimated by all who have heard the name of
this distinguished character, as they cannot fail to have heard also of his
commanding talent, his extensive erudition, and his valuable labours. In
him that superiority of intellect, which always procures to its possessor the
homage of mankind, was neither the sole nor the highest ground of admira-
tion. To men who esteem the qualities of the heart above those of the
understanding, it will appear but a small part of his praise that he stood
unrivalled in mathematics and natural philosophy, and unequalled as an
historian of the Church. It may safely be affirmed that, in the estimation
of those who knew him intimately, these extraordinary endowments acquired
their chief lustre and value from the superior qualities of piety, candour,
sincerity, and affection, which so eminently marked his character. In their
view, the man of genius was almost lost in the liberal benefactor, the prudent
counsellor, the undisguised friend, the engaging and instructive companion.
Much is it to be regretted that his bodily infirmities, under the pressure of
which he for many years ceased not to labour both in writing and preaching,
towards the close of his life so increased as to suspend the continuation of
that history in which, taking up the pen of a deceased brother, he has trans-
mitted to posterity an immortal, though, alas ! unfinished, monument both
of his fraternal affection and of his Christian piety.
* Dean Milner's personal appearance was exceedingly distinguished. He
was above the usual height, admirably proportioned, and of a commanding
presence. His features were regular and handsome, and his fine countenance
was as remarkable for the benevolence as for the high talent which it
expressed. Of animal spirits he possessed, throughout his life, an abundant
flow; and his constitution was doubtless, originally, unusually robust. In
short, no man was ever more profusely gifted with the best and most valuable
of natural endowments. By his friends he was regarded with a degree of
admiration and reverent affection which falls to the lot of few. One who
knew him well, and than whom few persons are better qualified to form a
correct estimate of the powers of a truly great mind, thus writes:— "Dr.
Milner was, beyond compare, the greatest and ablest man with whom, in the
course of a somewhat checkered life, it has been my fortune to hold personal
converse; and I never think of him without an accompanying feeling, that
for anything which 1 may possess in the way of mental plenishing, 1 am
indebted to him. I have often been struck with the resemblance between his
conversations and those reported of Napoleon, whom all men must admit to
have been an extraordinary specimen of mental power. There was the same
freedom, the same neglect of conventional forms, and the same rapid transi-
tion from one subject to another ; sometimes leaving behind all guesses as to
the nature of the connection. There was also an utter carelessness about
announcing facts whicli might seem to bear hard upon himself, and which a
man of less consciousness of mental superiority would have withheld." The
fulness and variety of Dean Milner's conversational powers were felt by all
who had the privilege of holding intercourse with him. When engaged in
the discussion of any interesting topic, as a point of natural philosophy,
metaphysics, history, or theology, the abundance of the knowledge which he
poured forth was only equalled by the force and originality of his expression.
His complete acquaintance with his subject, his ample stores* of illustration.
JAMES (LANE) FOX, ESQ., M.P. 283
of the president and fellows of Queen's College, Cambridge), by
his niece, Mrs. Mary Milner, 1842; his Life, in Edgar's Foot-
prints of Famous Men; the Gentleman's Magazine; the various
Biographical Dictionaries ; the European Magazine for April,
1820, pp. 291-296 (with a good portrait, engraved by J.
Thomson, from an original drawing by J. Jackson, first pub-
lished in the contemporary British Portraits); the Christian
Observer for May, 1820, pp. 289-300; the Monthly Magazine
for May, 1820, pp. 328-332 ; the Annual Biography and
Obituary for 1821; the Life of Wilberforce; the New Monthly
Magazine, vol. xiii., p. 113, &c. See also his brother, the
Kev. Joseph Milner, M.A., who died in 1797, p. 205, &c.
1756-1821.*
JAMES (LANE) FOX, ESQ., M.P.,
Died in the sixty-fifth year of his age, April 7th, 1821, at his
seat, Bramham Park, near Leeds, after only a week's illness, but
and his conclusive reasoning, rendered his conversation, on such occasions, an
intellectual feast. At the same time he was completely free from a fault often
observable in persons remarkable for their conversational talents : there was
in him no assumption of superiority ; he did not make those who less under-
stood the subject feel their inferiority; he rather spoke as if he and the
friends around him were mutually and on equal terms discussing the point in
hand. There was a dignified simplicity about him, which, without abating
the respect, won the affections of those who were in his company. In con-
junction, however, with an unaffected frankness of manner, there was in all
bis statements a force and decision which announced a clearness of conception
and an authority of intellect rarely equalled. He possessed a mind sufficiently
comprehensive and vigorous to embrace the widest range of inquiry ; and his
industry and perseverance being equal to his ability, his acquirements were
not confined within the limits of a few branches of science, but extended over
almost the whole field of knowledge. His memory, although he himself con-
sidered it inferior to that with which his brother Joseph had been gifted,
was such as to enable him effectually to retain the stores of learning which
he had amassed; and he possessed, in an extraordinary degree, the useful
faculty — not always attendant even upon the most powerful memory — of being
able, at any moment, to call all his powers into full action. Whatever subject
might be proposed, he was always able to seize at once upon its main points,
and to bring his varied resources immediately to bear upon it.
* —1821. Kev. Thomas Morgan, LL.D., died at the library, founded by the
Kev. Dr. Daniel WUliams, in Ked Cross Street, London, July 21st, 1821, in his
sixty-ninth year. He was born in the year 1752, and was the only son of the
Rev. Thomas Morgan, minister to a congregation of Protestant Dissenters in
Caermarthenshire, who afterwards removed with his family into England,
and settled first at Delf, in Yorkshire, and then at Morley, near Leeds, where
he died, highly respected and esteemed. < a > He was a man of considerable
ability and learning, and a liberal contributor to the Gentleman's Mcujazinc.
The son was brought up to the same profession as the father, and received the
advantages of a classical education at the grammar schools in Batloy and
Leeds. When he had attained his fifteenth year, he was entered a student m
the college at Hoxton, near London. This seminary was undor the direction
of the Rov. Drs. Savage, Kippis, and Kecs, gentlemen eminently qualified to
284 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
many yeai's' suffering from declining health. His fine principles ;
his honourable feelings; his excellent disposition; in short, his
qualities, rarely equalled, were too numerous to admit of an
attempt to name them; his generosity and extensive charities
can never be calculated, for they were not ostentatious. He
was, perhaps, the most accomplished man of his day — the best
linguist, and the best historian possible ; his manners were those
of the highest bred and most fashionable gentleman, and, we
may venture to assert, nobody ever saw him otherwise. He was
a most agreeable man in society when in good spirits, being
veiy quick in bon mots, and full of anecdotes of the great men
of his day, particularly of the celebrated Mr. Pitt, with whom
he lived a good deal, as long as his health permitted; when that
grew worse he retired from the world, and lived almost entirely
fill the several departments of theology, the belles-lettres, and mathematics,
to which they were appointed by the trustees of the late Mr. Coward, who at
that time supported two institutions for the education of young men devoted
to the Christian ministry. Under the able tuition of the professors in that
college, Mr. Morgan continued six years. Leaving the college with ample
testimonials of his proficiency and good conduct, he was chosen the assistant-
preacher to a congregation at Abingdon, in Berkshire, then under the ministry
of the Rev. Mr. Moore. The resignation of that gentleman, occasioned by
age and infirmities, following soon after his settlement, he was unanimously
invited to succeed him. His union with tliis society did not, however, con-
tinue longer than two or three years, for, on the death of Dr. Prior, in 1768,
the aged minister to the Presbyterian chapel in Goodman's Fields, Mr. Morgan
was appointed to his pidpit, and he filled it with acceptance and usefulness
till the lease of the place expired, and the congregation was consequently
dissolved. During the latter period of his connection with this society, he
officiated as one of the Sunday evening lecturers at Salter's Hall ; and in the
year 1783 became a member of the late Dr. Williams's trust, in Red Cross
Street. He held the office of trustee till the year 1804, when he was chosen
librarian. No man coidd have been a more proper person to fill this honourable
and important situation than himself. He was well acquainted with general
literature, had a good knowledge of books, and was regular and punctual in
his habits. In the year 1819 he was presented with the diploma of Doctor of
Laws by the University of Aberdeen, and certainly few persons have better
deserved the rank which was conferred on him by that learned body ; but his
life was drawing to its close, and with it his enjoyment of the honour so
deservedly bestowed. Dr. Morgan was a man of liberal sentiments in religion ;
a Protestant Dissenter on principle, yet without bigotry ; and in his relations
and character as a man and a Christian, was distinguished for the love of
order and peace, which he connected with independence of mind and high
sense of honour. As an author, he is before the public in two separate
Discourses; and in a Collection of' Hymns for Public Worship, which include
several original compositions, and in which Dr. Kippis, Dr. Rees, and Mr.
Jervis, were concerned as well as himself; but he may be referred to on a
larger scale in his reviews of foreign and domestic literature in the New
Annual Register; and in a work of considerable value and great interest, The
General Biography, which was first begun by Dr. Enfield, and afterwards
carried on by Dr. Aikin and others. The lives which he wrote, and to which he
has added the initial of Ms surname, will show with what care and judgment
he collected, examined, and arranged his materials. Such was Dr. Morgan;
JAMES (LANE) FOX, ESQ., M.P. 285
at Bramliara Park, occasionally going to a seat he had in Rut-
land, and to London for a very short time every year.* He
was bom in the south, and was reared by his uncle, George Fox
(Lane), Lord Bingley of Bingley, in this county. He resided
for many years in Italy and France, and had travelled a great
deal on the continent. About this time he was a member of
the House of Commons as M.P. for Horsham, and moved in
the most fashionable circles in London, himself residing in
Bingley House, Cavendish Square. Late in life he inherited a
very considerable property in Ireland, from his maternal grand-
mother, the daughter of George Lane, Viscount Lanesborough.
He married, in July, 1789, the Hon. Marcia Pitt,t daughter of
George, Lord Rivers, by whom he had — 1, George Lane, a
member of parliament;^ 2, William Augustus, married to Lady
and the 'writer who offers this impartial and jvist tribute, hopes he may he
allowed to close his account in the words of a Roman poet : —
" Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
Tarn cari capitis ?
Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit."
His body was deposited in Bunhill Fields, in the vault belonging to the late
Dr. Williams, the founder of the library in Red Cross Street, London. — For a
longer account, see the Leeds Mercury, kc, for July, 1821; and also the
Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1821, p. 181; the Monthly Magazine, voL
lii., pp. 86, 277; the New Monthly Magazine for October, 1821, p. 535, kc.
< a ' His father, the Rev. Thomas Morgan, who was minister of the Presby-
terian chapel at Morley during thirty -six years, and distinguished himself for
learning and piety, by his excellent sermons, by his writings in the Gentleman's
Maga I i n e, and by his able reply to the doctrines of the Trinity and Atonement
advocated by Dr. Priestley, died July 2nd, 1799, in his eightieth year. His
immediate predecessor was the Rev. Mr. Aldred, who held the appointment
fifty-four years, and during that long period was not once prevented by illness
from discharging his ministerial duties. Mr. Aldred's predecessor was the
Rev. Joseph Dawson, who was ejected from Thornton chapel, under the act
of uniformity, aDd appointed to the Presbyterian chapel at Morley, near
Leeds, in 1688. — See the Annals of Leeds, &c.
* As a gentleman, Mr. (Fox Lane or) Lane Fox was highly distinguished
for the politeness of his manners, and for the extreme kindness and liberality
of bis disposition; and he was not less esteemed and valued in the extensive
circle of his friends, than revered and respected by his numerous tenantry
and dependents.
+ The Hon. Mrs. Lane Fox, widow of the late James Lane Fox, Esq. , of Bram-
ham Park, near Leeds, died at her house in Albemarle Street, London, Aug. 5th,
1822, aged sixty-six. Mrs. Fox was the second daughter of the first, and sister
to the second, Lord Rivers. She was born in March, 1756, and married to Mr.
Lane Fox, July 23, 1789. By the lamented death <>f this lady, we understand
that property of from £8,000 to £10,000 a year will devolve on the younger
branches of this noble family. Her remains were brought from London to be
interred in the family vaults at Bramham, near Leeds.
J George Lane Fox, Esq., of Bramham Park, near Leeds, married, Septem-
ber 20th, 1814, Georgiana Henrietta, only daughter of Edward Percy Buckley,
Esq., by the Lady Georgiana West, his wife, daughter of John, second Earl
of Delawarr, and had issue: — 1, the present George Lane Fox, Esq., of Brain-
286 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Caroline, niece of the Earl of Hai*ewood, and sister to the Earl
of Morton; 3, Sackville Walter, an officer in the Guards, M.P.,
who married, in June, 1826, Lady Charlotte Osborne, only
daughter of George, sixth Duke of Leeds, their eldest son being
now Lord Conyers ; 4, Thomas Henry, in holy orders ; and
Marcia Bridget, married, August 5th, 1815, to the Hon. Edward
Marmaduke Stourton, brother of Lord Stourton, who assumed
the surname and arms of Vavasour, of Haslewood, and was
created a baronet; Lady Vavasour died in 1829. — For further
particulars, see the Leeds Intelligencer ; the Gentleman's Maga-
zine ; the Neio Monthly Magazine for June, 1821, p. 313;
Burke's Landed Gentry, &c. See also George (Lane Fox), Lord
Bingley, who died in 1772, p. 173, &c
1759—1821.
THE EEV. T. D. WHITAKEE, LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A.,
An exemplary divine and able topographer, author of Loidis
and LJlmete, or a History of Leeds, &c, and editor of a splendid
edition of Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, 1816, with engravings
(to both of which works reference is very frequently made in
this volume),* was born June 8th, 1759, in the parsonage-house
ham Park (for whom the Duke of York and the Duchess of Rutland stood
sponsors, married, November 17th, 1837, Katherine, daughter of John Stein,
Esq., formerly M.P. for Bletchingley, and has issue, George Sackville, James
Thomas, Richard, Marcia, &c. ) ; 2, Georgiana Marcia ; 3, Frederica Elizabeth.
Mr. Lane Fox, -who succeeded his father in 1821, represented Beverley and
Pontefract successively in parliament ; and was major of the Yorkshire
Yeomanry Cavalry, and a deputy-lieutenant in the North-Riding. He died
in 1848. — See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
* The following are the titles and dates of Dr. Whitaker's principal works : —
1. A Sermon for the Benefit of the Leeds General Iufirmary, 1796, 8vo. (see
Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxvii., p. 139). 2. A History of the Original Parish
of "WTialley and Manor of Clitheroe, in the Counties of Lancaster and York,
with plates and maps, 1801, 4to. ; third edition, 1818. 3. History and Anti-
quities of the Deanery of Craven, in the County of York ; London, 1805, folio ;
1812, royal 4to. 4. A Sermon, 1807, 8vo. 5. De Motu per Britanniam Civico,
annis 1745 et 1746, Liber Unicus, London, 1809, 18mo. 6. The Life and
Original Correspondence of Sir George Radcliffe, Knight, 1810, 4to. 7. The
Sermons of Dr. Edward Sandys, formerly Archbishop of York ; with a Life
of the Author, 1812, 8vo. 8. The Vision of William concerning "Piers
Ploughman," &c. ; London, 1813, 4to. 9. A Sermon, 1814, 4to. 10. A New
Edition of Thoresby's ' ' Ducatus Leodiensis ;" or, ' ' The Topography of Leeds,"
folio, 1816. 11. "Loidis and Elmete;" or, An Attempt to Hlustrate the Dis-
tricts described in those words by Bede, and supposed to embrace the lower
portions of Airedale and AVharfedale, together with the entire vale of Calder,
folio, 1816. 12. Substance of a Speech at Blackburn, February 20th, 1817.
13. The History of Yorkshire, folio, 1821. The MSS. for "Richmondshire"
and "Lunedale" were completed by Dr. ^Tiitaker previous to his lamented
death. — Seethe Gentleman's Magazine; Nichols's Illustrations of Literature,
vol. iv., p. 880; the Annual Biography and Obituary for 1823; Darling's
Cyclopaedia Bibliographia ; Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual, &c.
THE REV. T. D. WHITAKER, LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A. 2S7
of Rainham, Norfolk, which is the subject of a singular story
recorded by Sir Henry Spelmau (for which see the Annual
Biography and Obituary for 1823). In November, 1766, he
was placed under the care of the Rev. John Shaw, of Rochdale,
an excellent grammarian and instructor. In 1771 he fell into
such an ill state of health as rendered him incapable of any
steady attention to books until 1774, when he was placed in the
family of the Rev. William Sheepshanks, at Grassington, in
Craven. In November of that year he was admitted of St.
John's College, Cambridge, where he went to reside October
3rd, 1775. In November, 1780, he took the degree of LL.B.,
intending to pursue the profession of the civil law, whicli he
studied for two years with great attention. But in June, 1782,
his father having died after a week's illness, he settled upon his
paternal estate, which for upwards of thirty years he continued
to improve and adorn by successive plantations. In August,
1785, he was ordained deacon at Rosecastle, by Dr. John Law,
Bishop of Clonfert; and in July of the following year received
the order of priesthood from the same prelate — both without a
title. In 1788, having previously recovered, by a donation of
£400, the patronage of the chapel at Holme, which had been
founded by one of his ancestors, with the aid of some liberal
subscriptions he rebuilt it, the old edifice being mean and dilapi-
dated. In 1797 he was licensed to the perpetual curacy of
Holme, upon his own nomination. In the month of July, 1799,
he qualified as a magistrate for the county of Lancaster, and the
next year but one for the West-Riding of Yorkshire. At the
Cambridge commencement in 1801, he completed the degree of
LL.D.; and in the month of January, 1809, was presented by
the Archbishop of Canterbury to the vicarage of Whalley, the
great object of his wishes. For this favour, besides his Grace's
own generous disposition to reward a stranger who had written
a history of the parish, he was also indebted to the recom-
mendation of that learned and excellent prelate, Dr. Cleaver,
formerly his diocesan, and at that time Bishop of Bangor, to
whose many instances of friendly attention Dr. Whitaker lias
frequently alluded in his writings with gratitude and respect.
In 1818 he was presented with the valuable living of Black-
burn, in Lancashire. He married Lucy, daughter of Thomas
Thoresby, Esq., of Leeds, a kinsman to the celebrated antiquary
of that name, who survived him, and by whom he left three
sons and one daughter, having lost a daughter in 1816, and bis
eldest son (the Rev. Thomas Thoresby Whitaker, MA.) the
288 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
subsequent year, in consequence of a fall from his horse.* The
doctor is said never to have recovered the shock occasioned by
this unfortunate catastrophe. This able and excellent man died
at the vicarage, Blackburn, December 18th, 1821, in the sixty-
third year of his age, and was buried in the family vault at
Holme on the 24th; the attendance at his grave bearing ample
testimony to the veneration his character had commanded where
his influence was more immediately felt. The following character
of Dr. Whitaker is from the pen of a gentleman to whom he
was intimately known : — As a literary man, in which character
he is most generally, though perhaps not most deservedly known,
he was distinguished not less for industry and acuteness in
research, accuracy of reasoning, and extent of knowledge, than
warmth of imagination and vigour of style. To the study of
English antiquities, which the lovers of Greek and Roman lore
too often affect to despise as barbarous and uninteresting, he
brought a rich store of classical information, and, what is of
much rarer occurrence, a correct and classical taste; and when
to these we add the knowledge of such modern languages as
throw most light on the subject, an intimate acquaintance with
the Anglo-Saxon and Gothic dialects, on which our own is
chiefly founded, and the habit of close attention to those nume-
rous traces they have left in the rude tongue of the people
around Mm, it may be admitted that few champions have
appeared in the arena of antiquarian warfare more completely
armed for the field. He must, indeed, be considered as having
mainly contributed to the revival of a school in topography,
which had well-nigh become extinct. In the days of Leland
and Camden, the fathers of this delightful study, it was thought
no sin for an antiquary to be a man of genius and letters, and
we find this ground occupied by the very first scholars of the
* The Rev. Thomas Thoresby Whitaker, M.A., curate of Colne and Acering-
ton, was horn December 31st, 1785; married, March 26th, 1810, Jane, eldest
daughter of James Hordern, Esq., of Wolverhampton, and had an only son,
the present Thomas Hordern Whitaker, Esq., J.P., F.S.A., of The Holme,
near Burnley, Lancashire, born December 2nd, 1814; married, first, in 1848,
Mary, daughter of James B. Garforth, Esq., of Coniston, which lady died
without issue; and, secondly, November 18th, 1851, Margaret Nowell,
youngest daughter of the Rev. J. Robinson, rector of Alresford, Essex, by his
wife, Mrs. Nowell, of Netherside and Linton, in Craven, and has a daughter,
Mary Charlotte, &c— See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c. His second son, the
Rev. Robert Nowell Whitaker, M.A., at present succeeds him in the vicarage
of Whalley : a preferment which would have afforded his father the greatest
satisfaction. His grandson, T. H. Whitaker, Esq., B.A., F.S.A. (who has
kindly revised the above Sketch), also succeeds him in the family estate at
Holme, and in the duties of a magistrate, which, " in those troublous times,"
shortened the latter days of his ancestor.
THE REV. T. D. WHITAKEE, LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A. 289
age; but in succeeding times the race had greatly degenerated,
and a fell array of county and local historians might be pro-
duced, the heaviness of whose matter is only exceeded by the
dulness of their manner, and whose dense folios will be found
to contain little beside transcripts of parish registers, title-deeds,
public records, and monumental inscriptions, not often possessing
even the merit of accurately representing their originals. Did
an erratic antiquary now and then forsake the beaten track,
making ever so slight pretensions to brilliancy of imagination
or warmth of feeling, he was looked upon by his brethren as
one whose levity was altogether inconsistent with the gravity of
the corps, and whose light weapons were calculated to injure
rather than benefit the cause; like a young divine who should
exhibit symptoms of wit before the convocation, or a knight-
errant who would break the ranks of a regular army to tilt and
be slain for the honour of his lady. The natural consequence
was, that the dulness of the whole brotherhood became pro-
verbial ; they were supposed to occupy the humblest place in the
scale of literary existence — a step, perhaps, above the penmen
of the counting-house, but very far below the lowest pretenders
to literature in any other department. The possible utility of
their pursuits in the illustration of history, manners, and the
arts, was quite overlooked by themselves and others. If they
were ever praised, it was for patience and industry; but even
this scanty tribute was often withheld by those who did not
hesitate to profit by their pains. From this degraded state it is
not too much to say that the historian of "Whalley, Craven, and
Pdchmondshire, has redeemed his favourite study; and to him
we are chiefly indebted, if it has in modern times been dis-
covered that topography may be united with the keenest relish
for natural beauty, with the most devoted attachment to the fine
arts, with the grave contemplation of the moralist, the edifying
labours of the biographer, and the loftiest flights of the bard.
Nor will this merit be denied him, though the advocates of the
old system may now and then triumph in a trifling inaccuracy,
or raise the luxe and cry against the inordinate ambition that
would pant after higher honours than that of having compiled
an index to a record office — that would aspire to the distinction
of being read, and be but ill-content with the immortality of
resting in a libi-ary, to be produced only on the transfer of a
manor, the proof of a pedigree, or the sale of an advowson.
But topography, though the favourite, was yet by no means
the only station he occupied ; and in addition to the acknow-
ledged works by which these minor claims on public regard
290 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
are supported, the Quarterly Review owed some of its most
distinguished articles to his pen ; and his speech on the public
distresses, delivered at a meeting in Blackburn, may be
instanced as a specimen of sound reasoning calculated long to
.survive the particular occasion that called it forth. (See it
printed in the Gentlemarfs Magazine, vol. lxxxvii, p. 213.) In
the fields of verse he never rambled, though no man could
better appreciate the merits of poetry, or more readily trans-
fuse its chief graces into his own compositions. His style was
nervous, yet elegant; concise, yet fluent; averse to the modern
barbarisms and affectation which degrade the English tongue,
but never hesitating to naturalize a foreign word, so it were of
respectable origin, and would conform to the usages of its
adopted country. In the use of simile and quotation he was
remarkably happy; but, above all, excelled in the faculty of
painting (if it may be so called) the object before him — of
seizing at once the chief features, whether of scenery, architec-
ture, or human character; and by a few well-chosen epithets, or
by one masterly stroke, conveying a rapid but finished picture
to the mind. In this respect he strongly resembled Camden;
and, had the custom of publishing in a learned language pre-
vailed now, as it did in the Elizabethan age, we have reason to
suppose, from his little work, De Motu per Britanniam Cimco v
&c, that he would not have fallen short of that great master in
his Latin style. To his characteristic warmth, however, the
defects as well as the merits of his works may be mainly
ascribed: nor is it to be w T ondered, that though for the most
part no less accui'ate than vivid in his ideas, his rapidity should
now and then have overlooked an object worthy of notice, or
represented it in a manner wdiich a second glance would infal-
libly have corrected; that in his opposition to principle, he
should occasionally have appeared somewhat too unsparing of
persons; and that his zeal, when counteracted by those with
whom reason and authority had about equal weight, should
sometimes have defeated its own object, where partial conces-
sion, and a more conciliatory tone, might have prevailed. His
theological works were confined to the publication of occasional
Sermons; but he had the enviable art of making every literary
undertaking subservient to the great interests of religion and
morality, without violating the proprieties of the subject in
hand ;* an object wdrich certainly no clergyman should ever
* In this character, indeed, Dr. Whitaker was most exemplary. Placed in
situations which gave him a sort of episcopal superintendence over a district
no less than thirty miles in extreme length, nearly the same in breadth, con-
THE REV. T. D. WHITAKER, LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A. 291
suffer to escape his view, whatever be the lighter studies or
amusements he may think proper to indulge. His discourses
partook largely of the peculiarities already noticed in his other
works : they had the same fire, the same strength and fluency of
language, the same acuteness of reasoning and originality of
illustration, the same happy use of ornament ; but they were
also so perfectly simple, and intelligible to the humblest of his
auditors, and delivered with eloquence so natural and impres-
sive, that, though far from courting popularity, he never failed
to attract overflowing congregations. But the principles which
regulated his whole conduct as a clergyman cannot be better
expressed than in his own words : " The dispensation of the
Gospel has been committed to me within a certain district, and
under certain forms and limitations. I owe, under the most
solemn obligations, obedience to my immediate superiors in the
church, and conformity to all its established rules : here I have
no option; I eat my bread on that condition; if I transgress it,
I am a dishonest man. I see, indeed, the genuine doctrines of
my own church entirely neglected by some of its ministers; and
mingled with fanaticism, democracy, and other poisonous com-
binations, by others; nevertheless, I know them to be the word
of truth. I will, by God's grace, not reject, but separate them
from these admixtures; preach them boldly, yet rationally; and
if in so doing my motives are mistaken, my principles decried,
and myself am classed with a sect to which I do not belong, I
will bear my cross in patience." These observations occur in a
note to the History of Whalley, p. 389, the whole of which is
well deserving the attention of all friends of the Establishment,
and merits a more general circulation than the particular object
of the work is likely to afford. It has seldom happened that
men so gifted for the pulpit and the press have as successfully
interchanged the retirement of the study for the more active
walks of life; but with all the aversion to minute calculation,
and the detail of mechanical arrangement, which the most
taining twenty-four dependent chapelries, and occupied by more than 100,000
inhabitants, he exercised this important influence in a manner which might
well hare become a still wider sphere of labour. In his appointments to the
chapels which came under his own immediate patronage, he was ever actuated
by the purest and most disinterested motives; nor could any practicable
scheme foi promoting the temporal or spiritual welfare of his parishioners
be proposed to him, which did not meet his ready concurrence and active
co-operation. More frequently, indeed, these plans originated with himself ;
and while he was thus enabled to placj around him a body of zealous and
useful clergy, his own conduct in the discharge of his more personal functions
furnished an escellenl model to all. To th "f his character ample
justice was done during his lifetime, in that depository for ancient lore— the
Gentleman's M'i'ji.-.tiii, vol. sc, p. 402, &c.
292 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
abstracted student could have expressed, no man could more
practically weigh the merits of an extended plan; and with
nerves that shrunk at the very shadow of trivial and imaginary
clanger, none could more firmly encounter its real form when
duty led the way. Composition, also, with him required little
or no effort ; and while he could dictate his most finished
descriptions on the spot, or lay up in the solitude of a morning-
walk abundant employment for the too tardy pen, many a track
was recovered from the encroachments of time, which his activity
never allowed to remain long uncultured. Hence he was no less
busily employed in the preservation of old and the erection of
new churches throughout his parishes, than in providing for the
furtherance of the great objects to which they Avere dedicated;
nor could the trustees of the parliamentary fund, lately applied
to those purposes, have selected a more active and useful
associate. Blessed early in life with the possession of a patri-
monial estate, to which he was ever enthusiastically attached,
he became a planter and improver on no narrow scale; and in
this profitable and patriotic pursuit received the gold medal of
the Society of Arts, while more than half a million of trees,
rising gradually beneath his hand, gave grace and dignity to the
rugged sceneiy around him. To watch their growth and beauty
was the frequent solace of his lighter hours; and when at his
last visit to the Holme, declining health admonished him that
he should see them no more, he calmly selected one of the
comeliest of his own planting to be the depositary of his mortal
remains.* Adorned with these accomplishments as an author,
a clergyman, a subject, and a man, and endowed by nature and
age with a commanding person, a venerable and expressive coun-
tenance, and a peculiarly animated eye, he seemed to possess the
* In a district where the non-residence or extinction of the ancient gentry
had much weakened the civilizing influence of polished manners on the
humbler classes of society, and even the restraints of law were but feebly
exerted, the office of a magistrate, for which his education and pursuits had
so well qualified him, was accepted as a duty, and, at Holme, might have
been exercised with unmixed pleasure to himself, and advantage to others;
but, transplanted into the midst of a manufacturing population, at a time
when sedition and blasphemy were unusually prevalent, and the poison of a
system, whose evils he had from the first foretold and resisted, was fer-
menting to its utmost height of malignity, the conscientious discharge of his
duty, rewarded as it was by the approbation of his sovereign, and the warm
thanks of his neighbours and countrymen, was attended with sacrifices which
his friends and the lovers of literature may be excused for thinking almost
too great, even in the best of causes — the suspension of those calmer studies
in which he delighted; and, as it may be feared, the introduction of that
distressing disorder to which he fell a victim. A magnificent service of plate
was given to him by the inhabitants of Blackburn, in testimony of their
gratitude and respect, on the 23rd of April, 1821.
THE REV. T. D. WHITAKER, LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A. 293
faculty of impressing Ms own image on the mind no less vividly
than the features of landscape were depicted by his pen — an
image which no one who has once beheld him in the pulpit,
amidst the trophies of antiquity, or in the peaceful seclusion of
domestic life, will ever be able to efface from recollection. To
this faithful account (originally communicated to the Gentleman s
Magazine by the Kev. S. J. Allen) may be added a character of
Dr. Whitaker which first appeared in the Leeds Intelligencer,
under the signature of " P. W." : — " Having read in your Intel-
ligencer the death of Dr. Whitaker, I fully expected that you
would have given, in a subsequent paper, a more copious
obituary of that profound and learned divine. Though I detest
gross panegyric, or posthumous undeserved praise, I think that
a just and honourable remembrance of the abilities and virtuous
exertions of those who have gone before us, tends to stimulate
the survivors. I have been more particularly disappointed by
this silence, knowing that the doctor resided some time in the
parish of Leeds. On that account I concluded that some of
his learned acquaintance resident there, who had enjoyed his
conversation, and had been instructed by his ecclesiastical
labours, or by the numerous productions of his pen in divinity,
in politics, in history, and in antiquities, would have favoured
your readers with a more detailed account. Not only his own
parish, but probably the whole kingdom, is in some measure
indebted to his exertions, through Providence, for the peace,
domestic comforts, and national security, which we now have
the happiness to enjoy. Though possessing a delicate frame,
no violence of the Jacobinical mob, however malignant; no
threatenings, however diabolical, excited his fears, or prevented
him from discharging the most laborious and the most dangerous
office of a magistrate in the disaffected district of Lancashire,
where he resided. Among strangers he was silent and reserved.
His eloquence was rarely exerted on political occasions. A
friend of mine expressed his utmost astonishment when Dr.
Whitaker addressed the meeting at Blackburn, convened by the
magistrates, in order to support the arm of government, and to
check the nefarious designs of the lower ranks. The hall was
crowded to excess, particularly by the Radicals. When the
doctor unexpectedly rose to address the meeting, he instantly
poured forth such a torrent of eloquence that the higher ranks
were completely electrified, and the disaffected sneaked out one
by one, overpowered by his arguments or convicted by their
consciences.'' He was sometimes accused of severity. But
morose, indeed, must he be who will not make allowance for
294 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
delicate health and a highly nervous constitution, which times
of insubordination, of turbulence, and disaffection, constantly
kept in a state of irritation. Piety and modest worth ever
found in him a protector and a friend. The vanity of ignorance,
or the presumption of the upstart, he held in equal contempt.
If he were severe, he was, to use his own words, " Sola in vitia
asper." In the company of a few select friends, his conversation
was of a very superior cast ; full of acute remarks, of argument,
or of anecdote; — "Modo tristi, scepe jocoso." To affectation, to
disguise, or to hypocrisy, his heart was an utter stranger. His
knowledge of the Scriptures, of the Fathers, of history, and of
antiquities, was most profound. His extempore eloquence in
the pulpit was rapid, energetic, and impressive. His language
was so terse, so correct, and, at the same time, so elegant, that
the most learned and polished audience could not but admire
it ; — " Nee fecundia deserit hunc, nee lucidus ordo." — For further
particulars, see Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xcii., p. 312, &c. ;
Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. iv., p. 871, &c., with por-
trait and facsimile of his autograph; the Annual Biography
and Obituary for 1823, p. 211; the Dictionary of Living
Authors; the New Monthly Magazine for March, 1822, p. 136;
Knight's Biographical Cyclopaedia, &c. See also a fine portrait
of Dr. Whitaker, set. 56, from a painting by J. Northcote,
R.A., in his Loidis and Elmete, &c.
1753-1825.
SIR JAMES GEAHAM, BART.,
M.P. for Carlisle, of Kirkstall, near Leeds, died in Portland
Place, London, in April, 1825, in his seventy-second year.
There had been a visible decline in his health for a year before
his decease ; but a relaxation from his usual attendance on
public business, and the renovating breezes of Brighton, were
thought to have operated so far favourably as to allay all appre-
hension of immediate danger. This, we believe, was also his
own opinion, as in a letter written from Brighton he expressed
himself with great cheerfulness, and described his health as
much improved. The character of Sir James Graham, public or
private, was as much above the compass of hasty panegyric as
it was above selfishness and hypocrisy. He was an active and
useful public man in forwarding all the improvements of the
country; honest and frank, and at all times ready to promote
the well-being of the community. Though occupying a station
which often (we had nearly said necessarily) calls forth the ran-
cour of pai-ty hostility, yet he had not, perhaps, a real enemy.
SIR JAMES GRAHAM, BART., M.P. 295
In every relation of life lie was exemplary. As a public ser-
vant, discharging the duties of a voluntary and honorary trust,
he was ever ready with advice and assistance. He never
stopped to inquire to what party the applicant belonged ; to
require his aid in a just cause was to obtain it. Every improve-
ment of the city of Carlisle received his commendation, and
called forth his pecuniary aid ; the public charities liberally par-
took of his bounty; he neglected nothing calculated to promote
the welfare of his native county. Sir James was the second
son of Thomas Graham, Esq., of Edmond Castle, near Carlisle,
and was born on the 18th of November, 1753. He was created
a baronet in October, 1808.* In June, 1781, he married Anne,t
only daughter of the Rev. Thomas Moore, of Kirkstall, near
Leeds (sole heiress of her only brother, Major Thomas Moore,
of the 4th Regiment of Cavalry, who died, unmarried, in 1784),
heir-general of the family of Arthington,^ of Arthington, near
Leeds, and also one of the co-heiresses of the family of Sandford
(a veiy ancient family, who may be traced to the reign of King
John, and who were formerly of Sandford-upon-Eden, in the
county of Westmoreland), &c, by whom he had issue three sons
and two daughters, of whom one son and one daughter alone
survived him, viz., Sandfoi"d,§ who succeeded to the title, &c,
* Sir James Graham was, in June, 1802, from the personal friendship and
powerful interest of Sir William Lowther, of Swillington, near Leeds, after-
wards Earl of Lonsdale, &c, chosen member for the borough of Cocker-
mouth, in the county of Cumberland, which he continued to represent until
1812 (except for a year, when he was chosen for the district boroughs in
Galloway), when he was elected member for the city of Carlisle. He was
Master of Arts, F.A.S., and F.L.S., and hereditary member of the British
Institution, &c.
+ Anne Moore was the daughter of Thomas Moore, Esq., who married, in
1742, Ann, daughter of Thomas Sawer, Esq., twice mayor of Leeds, in 1726
and 1740; took deacons' orders in 1744; became curate of Headingley, and
died December 10th, 1764. The male branches of the several families of
Moore, rector of Guiseley (of Redcote and of Kirkstall Forge); of the
Arthingtons, Hickes, and Hardcastles, all formerly of this neighbourhood,
are now extinct; but dame Anne, the wife of Sir James Graham, Bart., was
the lineal descendant and sole heir-general of the Moores, Arthingtons, and
Hickes, and co-heir of the Hardcastles, &c. ; and they were (as such heir-
general) in the possession of the several mills and other property in Kirkstall,
Armley, Bramley, Headingley, and Moore- Allerton, formerly of the Moores,
Arthingtons, and Hickes.
J For a short account of the Arthingtons, see Note on p. 163 of this volume ;
and for a longer account, with twoengra\ bags of the ancient nunnery at Arth-
ington, see Jones's History of Harewood, pp. 218, 231, &c.
§ Sir Sandford I rraham, Bart., E.S.A.,was born March 10th, 1788 ; married,
April 22nd, 1819, Caroline, third daughter of the late John Haughton Lane
ston, Esq., of Sarsden House, Oxfordshire, and by her bad issue 1. Kami-
ford, the present baronet; 2, Lumley, lieutenant-colonel, l'Jth regiment;
born 1828; married, January 1st, 1856, Augusta, eldest daughter of Join)
29G
BIOGEAPHIA leodiensis.
and the lady of Colonel Dalrymple, ' late M.P. for Appleby, <fee.
Lady Graham died about three years ago (1822).— See the
Leeds Papers; the New Monthly Magazine for May, 1825,
p,232; the Annual Biography and Obituary for 1826, p. 430;
Whitaker's Thoresby, vol. i.,p. 8; Burke's Peerage and Baronet-
age, etc,
1769-1825.
WALTEB RAMSDEN FAWKES, ESQ.,
M.P., of Farnley Hall, near Leeds, was born March 2nd, 1769,
and died at his house in Baker Street, Portman Square, London,
October 25th, 1825, aged fifty-six. He was the eldest son of
Walter Ramsden Beaumont Hawksworth, Esq., of Hawksworth,
in this county, who assumed the surname and arms of Fawkes,
pursuant to the will of his cousin, Francis Fawkes, Esq., of
Farnley Hall, near Leeds, who, owing to the death of an only
son and heir-apparent, left his estate to Mr. Hawksworth in 1786.
This circumstance may suffice to show the incorrectness of a state-
ment which appeared in some of the London papers, that Mr.
Fawkes was a descendant of the celebrated conspirator, Guy
Fawkes, and prided himself on that connection. Mr. Fawkes' s
relationship to the ancient family whose surname he bore was
remote and maternal ; his grandfather, Walter Eamsden, Esq.,
having assumed the surname and arms of Hawksworth, pur-
suant to the will of his grandfather, Sir Walter Hawksworth,
which Sir Walter Hawksworth had married a daughter of John
Ayscough, Esq., who was allied on the female side to the
Fawkeses, of Farnley. Mr. Walter Fawkes was a gentleman
gifted with more than ordinary talents, and during a great part
of his life took an active share in the public concerns of the
country, and more particularly of his native county. During
the dearth in 1795, employment being scarce and bread dear, he
distributed weekly twenty loads of wheat amongst the poor on
his estate and neighbourhood; at the same time he used the
Raymond Barker, Esq., of Fairford Park, Gloucestershire; 3, Cyril Clerke,
born in 1834; and two daughters —1, Caroline, married, May 27th, 1852, to
the Rev. Henry John Morant, third son of John Morant, Esq., of Farn-
horough; 2, Mary, married, May 3rd, 1854, the Rev. Adolphus Leighton
A\ lute, second son of the late Vice- Admiral Sir J. C. White, K.C.B., &c.
The present Sir Sandford Graham, Bart., of Kirkstall, near Leeds, was born
February 21st, 1821 ; married, February 4th, 1847, Eleonora Caroline, eldest
daughter of the present Marquis of Anglesey, which lady died November
17th, 1848. Sir Sandford succeeded as third baronet at the decease of his
father, in 1852. Their motto is "Fideliter et dih'genter"— Faithfully and
diligently, &c. The late Sir Sandford Graham, in February, 1826, gave the
munificent sum of £500 towards the erection of a church at Kirkstall, near
Leeds.— See the Peerages and Baronetages, &c.
WALTER RAMSDEN FAWKES, ESQ., M.P. 297
most rigid economy in his own house, and his benevolent
example so affected the neighbouring millers, that they offered
to grind for the poor gratis. He was colonel of the 4th West
York Militia in 1797-8, and until it was disbanded in 1799.
At the great county meeting in 1803, on the renewal of hos-
tilities with France, Mr. Fawkes made a celebrated speech in
support of that measure, and displayed a force of eloquence the
effect of which was long afterwards remembered. His cordial
co-operation against the enemies of his countiy at that period
was also further evinced by his heading the Wharfedale Volun-
teers, who were then raised in defence of the nation. Dui-ing
the short administration of "the talents," in 1806, he was one
of the representatives for Yorkshire. In 1823 he was high-
sheriff of the county. Mr. Fawkes's politics were supposed to
be most nearly allied to those of the Whigs; but on this sub-
ject, from his course of public conduct, it is difficult to speak
with accuracy. His accomplishments were many, and of the
highest order. He was a lover and practise* of the refinements
of social life, a munificent patron of the fine arts, and possessed
of a varied and cultivated taste. His collection of pictures at
Farnley Hall was extensive and of great value, and contained
more specimens of the celebrated Turner's best paintings and
drawings than any other gallery in the kingdom. He was also
a warm friend to the Northern Society established in Leeds,
and several times lent some of his best pictures to enrich their
exhibitions. To say that Mr. Fawkes had failings, is only to
observe that he partook of the common lot of humanity. He
is now, however, no more; and whatever slight blemishes may
have been in his character or conduct are lost, and will be for-
gotten in the many splendid and endearing qualities which
rendered him an ornament to his countiy, and made his death a
deep affliction to his family and a vast circle of old and attached
friends. His generosity and urbanity were almost proverbial —
his integrity unquestionable ; in all the relations of life he was
respected and beloved; and the loss of his kindness was long
deplored by those who had been accustomed to experience it.*
Mr. Fawkes was the last of three brothers — Francis Hawks-
* According to the Gentleman's Magazine, Mr. Fawkes was a gentleman
universally esteemed for his urbanity, and most desei-vedly sustained the
character of an excellent landlord, as well as a kind master. In his public
career he was a firm supporter of the Whig interest, and a strong advocate
for parliamentary reform. He was a great admirer of the fine arts, and had
some plates of local views engraved at his own expense. He was the author,
also, of two political pamphlets, and of a Ckronoloyy of the History of
Modern Europe, 4to., 1810.
298 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
worth, Esq., the late registrar ; the Rev. Ayscough Hawks-
worth, of Leathley Hall, near Leeds; and himself, the head of
the family, Avho, in the short space of six months, were con-
signed to the grave. He was married twice; first, to Maria,
(laughter of Richard Grimston, Esq., of Neswick, who died in
December, 1823, and by whom he had eleven children, ten of
whom survived him;* and, secondly, in January, 1826, to the
Hon. Mrs. Butler, relict of the Hon. and Rev. Pierce Butler,
third son of the Earl of Carrick, by whom he had no issue.
— See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for October, 1825. Eor his
portrait, pedigree, &c, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 173 ;
Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. 194, &c. ; and for further
information, see Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
1765-1826.
ME. MATTHEW MUEEAY,
A celebrated engineer (according to Smiles's Industrial Bio-
graphy),t was born at Stockton-on-Tees,:}; in the year 1763.§
His parents were of the working class, and Matthew, like the
other members of the family, was brought up with the ordinary
career of labour before him. When of due age his father
apprenticed him to the trade of a blacksmith, || in which he very
soon acquired considerable expertness. He married before his
term had expired ; after which, trade being slack at Stockton.
hie IVuind it necessary to look for work elsewhere. Leaving his
wife behind him, he set out for Leeds with his bundle on his
back, and after a long journey on foot he reached that town
with not enough money left in his pocket to pay for a bed at
the Bay Horse Inn, where he put up; but, telling the landlord
*He was succeeded by liis eldest son, the present Francis Hawksworth
Fawkes, Esq. (who has kindly revised the above Sketch), of Farnley Hall,
near Leeds, who married, April 6th, 1825, Elizabeth Anne, only daughter
of the Hon. and Rev. Pierce Butler, younger son of Henry Thomas, second
Earl of Carrick, &c.— See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
+ The following Notes, in correction of, and "in addition to, Dr. Smiles's
interesting account, have been kindly contributed by Mr. J. O. March, one of
the senior aldermen of Leeds, and an eminent machine-maker, who married
one of Mr. Matthew Murray's daughters; his late partner, Mr. Charles Gas-
coigne Maclea, having married another.
! \\ e believe he was born in or near Newcastle, where he also served his
apprenticeship, and afterwards for a year or two worked in a mechanics' shop
at Stockton. Mrs. Murray's family lived at Wickham, near Newcastle, where
lie became acquainted with her.
§ Mr. Murray died in February, 1826, in his sixty -first year, and was, there-
fore, born in 1765.
II A blacksmith is one who shoes horses, &c, which Murray never did. He
should have been failed an engine-smith, or a machine-smith, or simply a
smith ; any of which would have been better than the designation given.
MR. MATTHEW MURRAY. 299
that he expected work at Marshall's, and seeming to be a
respectable young man, the landlord trusted him.; and he was
so fortunate as to obtain the job which he sought at Mr. Mar-
shall's, who was then beginning the manufacture of flax, for
which the firm has since become so famous. Mr. Marshall was
at that time engaged in improving the method of manufacture,
and the young mechanic was so fortunate, or rather so dex-
terous, as to be able to suggest several improvements in the
machineiy* which secured the approval of his employer, who
made him a present of £20, and very shortly promoted him to
be the first mechanic in the workshop. On this stroke of good
fortune Murray took a house at the neighbouring village of
Beeston,t sent to Stockton for his wife, who speedily joined
him, and he now felt himself fairly started in the world. He
remained with Mr. Marshall for about twelve years, during
which he introduced numerous improvements in the machineiy
for spinning flax, and obtained the reputation of being a first-
rate mechanic. This induced Mr. James Fenton and Mr. David
Wood to offer to join him in the establishment of an engineering
and machine-making factory at Leeds, which he agreed to, and
operations were commenced at Holbeck in the year 1795. As
Mr. Murray had obtained considerable practical knowledge of
the steam-engine while working at Mr. Marshall's, he took the
principal charge of the engine-building department, while his
partner (Wood) drrected the machine-making. In the branch
of engine-building Mr. Murray very shortly established a high
reputation, treading close upon the heels of Boulton and Watt
— so close, indeed, that that firm became very jealous of him,
and purchased a large piece of ground close to his works with
the object of preventing their extension. % His additions to the
* He went to Scotland Mill, near Meanwood, to work for Mr. Marshall, in
1789, and at that age (twenty-four) made several valuable improvements
in flax-machinery ; for which he was rewarded by a present of £20. But for
his improvements at that time, it is nearly certain that flax-spinning in this
neighbourhood would have ceased to exist, as all those embarked in it had
lost the greater part of their capital without any success. Its establishment
in Leeds was mainly due to his skill and ingenuity.
t While at Scotland Mill, near Meanwood, Mr/ Murray lived at Blackmoor,
which is in the neighbourhood. They never lived at Beeston. Their first
mechanics' shop was at Mill Green, in Wbrtley Lane, in the suburbs of Hol-
beck, but they soon removed to Water Lane, the site of the present Rounfl.
Found ry.
$ The purchase of this large piece of ground, known as Camp Field, had
the effect of "plugging up" Matthew Murray for a time; and it remained
disused, except for the deposit of dead dogs and other rubbish, for more than
half a century. It has been partially enclosed during the last two years, and
now forms part of the works of Messrs. Smith, Beacock, and Taunett, the
eminent tool-makers.
300 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENS1S.
steam-engine were of great practical value: one of which, the
self-acting apparatus attached to the boiler for the purpose of
regulating the intensity of fire under it, and consequently the
production of steam, is still in general use. This was invented
by him as early as 1799.'"" He also subsequently invented the
D slide-valve, or at least greatly improved it, while he added to
the power of the air-pump, and gave a new arrangement to the
other parts, with a view to the simplification of the powers of
the engine. To make the D valve work efficiently, it was found
necessary to form two perfectly plain surfaces, to produce- which
he invented his planing-machine. He was also the first to
adopt the practice of placing the piston in a horizontal position
in the common condensing-engine. Among his other modifica-
tions in the steam-engine was his improvement of the locomotive
as invented by Trevithick; and it ought to be remembered to
his honour that he made the first locomotive that regularly
* In the construction and improvement of some of the parts of engines,
much was done by Mr. Murray. These improvements were made the sub-
jects of patents ; and though it appeared that some of them had been used
before, they did not become publicly known till Mr. Murray obtained patents
for them. In his patent of 1799, in order to save fuel, Mr. Murray proposed
to place a small cylinder with a piston on the top of the boiler, connected by
a chain to the damper on the chimney, by means of which the force of the
steam within the boiler had the effect of increasing or decreasing the draught
of the fire, so as to keep up a regular degree of elastic force in the steam.
Mr. Murray also thought some advantage would be gained by placing the
steam-cylinder in a horizontal instead of a vertical position, with a view of
rendering the engine more compact than the usual construction; he also
adopted a new method of connecting the reciprocating motion of the piston-
rod to a rotatory one of equal power, by means of a property of the rolling-
circle, and showed how to fix the wheels for producing motion alternately in
perpendicular and horizontal directions. The slide-valve was first applied to the
steam-engine by Mr. Murray in 1799, which answered the purpose of opening
and closing four steam-passages, to use Dr. Robinson's words, "in a beautiful
and simple manner," and he may be fairly considered the inventor. Mi-. Murray
invented a very ingenious mechanism for adjusting the supply of air to the
boiler-furnace, so as to diminish the quantity of smoke. This self-acting
apparatus is described in the London Journal for 1821. Next in importance
to Mr. Watt's improvements on the steam-engine may be reckoned those of
Mr. Murray ; besides the invention of the apparatus for regulating the
intensity of the fire, and the introduction of the slide-valve with great
improvements, lie gave a new arrangement to some of the other portions, and
greatly improved the air-pump, as well as many other parts in the beautiful
engines which were constructed at his manufactory. Fenton and Murray
were the manufacturers of the most established reputation after Messrs.
Boulton and Watt ; the engines they sent out could not be excelled in beauty
and perfection of workmanship. Their extensive manufactory was provided
witli every convenience for making all the parts of the engine in the best
manner, and with the least labour. They had the reputation of employing a
greater quantity of tools, and of better and more ingenious construction, than
any house in the trade. Mr. Murray was, indeed, a man of distinguished
original genius.
MR. MATTHEW MURRAY. 301
worked upon any railway. This was the engine erected by him
for Blenkinsop, to work the Middleton Colliery Railway near
Leeds, on which it began to run in 1812, and continued in
regular use for many years. In this engine he introduced the
double cylinder, the defects of which were supplemented by the
addition of a fly-wheel to carry the crank over the dead points.
But Matthew Murray's most important inventions, considered
in their effects on manufacturing industry, were those connected
with the machinery for heckling and spinning flax,* which he
very greatly improved. His heckling-machine obtained for him
the prize of the gold medal of the Society of Arts; and this, as
well as his machine for wet flax-spinning by means of sponge
weights, proved of the greatest practical value. At the time
when these inventions were made, the flax trade was on the
point of expiring, the spinners being unable to produce yarn to
a profit; and their almost immediate effect was to reduce the
cost of production, to improve immensely the quality of the
manufacture, and to establish the British linen trade on a solid
foundation. The production of flax machinery became an
important branch of manufacture at Leeds, large quantities
being made for use at home as well as for exportation,
giving employment to an increased number of highly-skilled
mechanics. t Mr. Murray's faculty for organizing work, per-
fected by experience, enabled him also to introduce many valu-
able improvements in the mechanics of manufacturing. His
pre-eminent skill in mill-gearing J became generally acknow-
* Mr. Murray invented his heckling-machine in 1S05, and accomplished
what was then thought a most difficult task — to the trade it was all-im-
portant. The machine was very ingenious, and Mr. March has in his posses-
sion the original model, which was exhibited to the Royal Society, at which
time the Duke of Sussex 2)resented Mr. Murray with the gold medal, which
his grandson, Mr. George March, still retains as an heirlooni. "While naming
this, it may also be stated that he constructed a large amount of engine and
mill work for the Russian Government, and had the honour of receiving
from the Emperor a most valuable diamond ring. For works done for
Sweden, he had also presented to him a gold snuff-box by the King of
Sweden.
+ Among more recent improvers of flax-machinery, the late Sir Peter Fair-
bairn, of Leeds, is entitled to high merit : the work turned out by him being
of first-rate excellence, embodying numerous inventions and improvements of
great value and importance.
J At his commencement, mill-gearing was in a very rude state ; he left it in
nearly the state it is at present. The large framings for the first motions of
mills are to this day models of elegance, possessing everything requisite for
strength and durability. He touched nothing that did not come out of his
hands a new thing. Considering that he was no mathematician, it was truly sur-
prising that the sketches of drawings which he wanted making were remark-
ably proportionate ; showing the strengths very nearly accurate when they
were reckoned out. Mr. Murray possessed in a very high degree the common
302 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
ledged, and the effects of his labours are felt to this day in the
extensive and still thriving branches of industry, which his
ingenuity and ability mainly contributed to establish. All the
machine tools used in his establishment were designed by him-
self, and he was most careful in the personal superintendence of
all the details of their construction. Mr. Murray died at Leeds,
February 20th, 1826, in his sixty-first year. — See Grier's
Mechanics' Dictionary ; Newton's London Journal -of Arts;
the Mechanics Magazine; Smiles's Industrial Biography, <fec.
1772—1826.*
WILLIAM BARNES EHODES, ESQ.,
Author, &c, of Bedford Street, Bedford Square, London, died
November 1st, 1826, after a severe illness of a few weeks, aged
fifty-four years. He was born on Christmas day, 1772, and was
the second son of Richard and Mercy Rhodes, of Leeds. His
education is said to have been on rather a limited scale, and
intended for mercantile pursuits, commencing his career in the
attribute of real genius— a truly liberal mind; nothing pleased bim more
than to exhibit the great stores of his rich mechanical mind to a kindred spirit.
For clever tools and implements, and especially for the forgings of beat-iron
work, such as parallel motions and the like, he was far in advance of others.
A memorable instance of his liberality was shown by the invitation he gave
to Mr. Murdoch, the managing partner of Mr. "Watt, to stop a week at Steam
Hall, — Mr. Murray having built a very handsome house, which was called
Steam Hall, because it was heated entirely by steam. Mr. Murdock accepted
the invitation, and had free access to every pari of the works, and every
attention was shown to him. For this kindness Mr. Murray received a most
ungenerous return, for, immediately afterwards, Messrs. Boulton and Watt
bought a large field near his works, for the express purpose of preventing
their extension. Nor was this the only source of complaint. On his way
from London Mi*. Murray called at Birmingham for the purpose of looking
over the Soho Works, and enjoying a treat in examining the tools of Mr.
Watt's establishment. He was received politely, together with Mrs. Murray,
who accompanied him, and both were invited to dine ; Mr. Murdock, how-
ever, hoped they would excuse him declining to show him the works, as their
rule was not to show them to any persons in the trade. It need hardly be
added that Mr. Murray was greatly affronted, and at once declined the offered
dinner. Mr. Murray lighted this town with gas at a very early period in the
history of gas manufacture ; introducing many improvements in the construc-
tion of the retorts, the condensers, and the various other parts of the
apparatus.
* —1826. Charles Johx Brandling. Esq., M.P. for Northumberland, of
Middleton Hall, near Leeds, died, after a few hours' illness, of inflammation,
February 1 st, 182G, at Gosforth House, near Xewcastle-upon-Tyne. He was de-
scended from an ancient family in that county (see Surtees's Durham, vol. i., pp.
90-93) ; and was the eldest son of Charles Brandling, Esq., an eminent banker in
Newcastle, and M.P. for that town in three parliaments, from 17S4 to 1797.
On his father accepting the Chiltern Hundreds in the latter year, the son
succeeded in the representation, and was returned at the four next general
elections. In 1812 he retired, but at the general election in 1820 was chosen
for Northumberland. He seldom spoke in the House but on local questions.
AVILLIAM BARNES RHODES, ESQ. 303
humble department of writer in an attorney's office. "Whether
the bias of his mind was to "pen a stanza when he should
engross," is not absolutely certain, although the seductive wiles
of literature, and particularly the drama, not being discouraged
by his father, occasioned his becoming an enthusiast upon the
latter subject, and finally distinguished, some years after, as the
fortunate possessor of a large and curious collection of theatrical
pieces. About the year 1799 he obtained a permanent situation
as a clerk in the Bank of England, where his strict attention,
assiduity, and integrity, led to the not more fortunate than
honourable appointment by the govern ors, unsolicited, about
three years ago (in 1823), to the situation of a chief-teller. His
duty at the bank daily afforded a very few hours of leisure, of
which his persevering zeal made due advantage. At the Rox-
burghe sale in June, 1812, he is supposed to have first materially
enlarged his collection, and in April, 1825, — a period not exceed-
ing thirteen years, — upon the sale of his own library by Mr.
Sotheby, he had accumulated no less than 2,918 lots (or nearly
5,000 pieces), relative to the drama. An account of that sale,
which lasted ten days, wdth the prices produced by the fifty-five
most rare and curious articles, was given in the Gentleman! s
Magazine for May, 1825. As an author, his fancy indulged in
a playful revelry of satire and burlesque humour. He published,
with his name, Epigrams, in two books, in 1803, and some
Eccentric Tales, in Verse, by Cornelius Crambo, in 1808. But
his most popular and well-known production was the ludicrous
Burlesque Tragic Opera, Bombastes Furioso, first performed at
the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, August 7th, 1810. After being
often surreptitiously printed in London, Dubbin, and New York,
the author in 1822 was induced to sanction a publication of
Mr. Brandling married Frances Elizabeth, daughter of "William Hawksworth
of Hawksworth, Esq., in the county of York, but had no children. His next
brother was the Rev. Ralph Henry Brandling, vicar of Eothwell, near Leeds.
Two of his sisters, both now deceased, were married to Rowland Burdon,
Esq., formerly 31. P. for the county of Durham, and to Thomas Creevey, Esq.,
late M.P. for Appleby, &c. The grand-daughter of Sir Ferdinand Leigh, of
Middleton (for a Sketch of whom see p. 90, &c), married Ralph Brandling,
Esq., of Tilling, in the county of Durham, in whose family the manor of
Middleton [has] continued for more than a century. There are scarcely any
-ins to be discovered of the old manor-house of the Leighs (or Leghs).
The modern mansion, erected by the Brandling family, stands on a fine eleva-
tion, commanding extensive prospects of Leeds and the neighbouring country,
and is surrounded by tine oak woods, which contain several pleasant walks
and drives. Charles John Brandling, Esq., also married Henrietta, younger
daughter of Sir George Armytage (who died in 1836), of Kirklees Hall, in
this county.— See the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1826; Whitaker's
Thoresby, &c.
304 BIOGUAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
this whimsical trifle with his name. He left one or two other
dramatic pieces, never acted or printed, which it was con-
templated to publish with his other works in one volume, to
assist his young widow and a posthumous daughter, whom the
nature of his situation left in rather indifferent circumstances.
See the Gentleman's Magazine for November, 1826, &c.
1743—1826.
SIR JOHN BECKETT, FIRST BARONET,
Died at his seat, Gledhow, near Leeds, September 18th, 1826, in
the eighty-fourth year of his age. He was born April 30th, 1743,
and was "the grandson of Gervase Beckett, Esq., of Barnsley.*
He married, March 3rd, 1774, Mary, third daughter of the Right
Reverend Christopher Wilson, Bishop of Bristol (and aunt to
Richard Fountayne Wilson, Esq., late M.P. for Yorkshire), and
had by her eight sons and three daughters— 1, John, the second
baronet, born 1775; 2, Christopher, born 1777; 3, Thomas,
third baronet, born 1779; 4, Richard, a captain in the Guards,
slain at Talavera, in 1809; 5, William, M.P., late a banker at
Leeds, born in 1784, who married Frances Adelina, sister of
Hugo Meynell Ingram, Esq., of Temple Newsam, near Leeds;
6, Edmund, late M.P. for the West-Riding of Yorkshire, born
1787, married, in December, 1814, Maria, daughter of William
Beverley, Esq., and great niece of the wife of Sir Thomas
Denison, Knt., Judge of the Common Pleas, and has issue
Edmund Beckett Denison, M.A., Q.C., and William Beckett
Denison, banker, of Leeds. The father assumed the surname
and arms of Denison in 1811. Sir John was created a baronet
in November, 1813; was twice mayor of Leeds, in 1775 and
1797, and both as chief magistrate of the borough, and one of
the justices of the peace for the West-Riding, was distinguished
for his legal knowledge, his firm but impartial administration of
the laws, and his successful exertions in times of difficulty in
preserving tranquillity, and enforcing the duties of good subjects
to the government of the country. Without ever appearing
very prominent as a iwlitical roan, Sir John was a profound
politician. No man better understood how to adapt the means
to the end, and his influence was frequently felt where he was
* He was the son of John Beckett, Esq., by his second wife, Elizabeth,
daughter of Joseph Wilson, Esq. Joseph Beckett, Esq., of Barnsley, one of
Sir John's younger brothers, married, in June, 1785, Mary, daughter and
co-heir of John Staniforth, Esq., of Hull, and by her had (with five daughters,
one of whom, Caroline, was married, in 1825, to Sir Thomas Beckett, Bart.)
one son, the present John Staniforth Beckett, Esq., of The Knoll, Torquay,
and late of Barnsley, born in April, 1794, &c. — See Burke's Landed Gentry.
MR. JOHX LUCCOCK. 305
not seen. Few men have been more blessed in their family, and
it is only justice to say that they owe much of their prosperity
to the lessons of moral virtue and commercial integrity set by
their revered parent. Besides the property which Sir John
inherited, he was during a long course of years principal partner
in the Leeds Bank (of Beckett, Blayds, & Co. ), and in that capacity
rendered at all times the most essential services to the trade
and inhabitants, not only of Leeds but of its vicinity, to a con-
siderable extent. It has indeed been the peculiar characteristic
of this establishment, that however sudden or trying the vicissi-
tudes of the commercial world, its stability has never been sus-
pected; but, on the contrary, it has always at such emergencies
been the refuge of honest men, and the liberal supporter of the
mercantile and manufacturing interests. For some years Sir
John had not taken an active part in business, but had chiefly
resided in the bosom of his numerous and affectionate family. To
his memory and that of Lady Beckett, there is a tablet erected
on the north-east side of the interior of the Leeds parish church.*
He was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, the late Bight
Hon. Sir John Beckett, M.P., F.B.S., &c, who married, in
1816, Lady Anne Lowther, third daughter of the Earl of Lons-
dale, K.G. — For further information, see the Leeds Papers; the
Peerages and Baronetages ; the Gentleman's Magazine for 1826.
For his pedigree, &c, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 4.
1770— 1826.+
MB. JOHN LUCCOCK,
Merchant and woolstapler, of Leeds, died May 5th, 1826, aged
* On the 23rd of September the remains of the deceased were interred in
the family vault in the parish church of St. John's, Leeds, attended thither
by four mourning coaches, two family carriages, and the private carriages of
the following gentlemen : — R. F. "Wilson, Esq. , M. P. ; Christopher "Wilson,
Esq.; General Marriott (son-in-law of Sir John Beckett); Major Norcliffe;
John Blayds, Esq.; John Blayds, jun., Esq.; Joseph Beckett, Esq.; Thomas
Beckett, Esq.; Thomas Benyon, Esq.; Martin Hind, Esq.; Thomas Chorley,
Esq.; Rev. G. Lewthwaite; Benjamin Gott, Esq.; T. B. Pease, Esq.; and
"W. Hey, Esq. Some of the members of the Corporation of Leeds, including
the excellent chief magistrate, were also in attendance; and, as the funeral
approached its destination, great crowds of people of all classes joined it as a
mark of respect to the memory of the honourable baronet, who, when living,
had been the object of their highest esteem and veneration. On entering the
churchyard, the coffin was followed by the Bight Hon. Sir John Beckett, and
five other of the late Sir John Beckett's sons, as chief mourners; his brother,
Joseph Beckett. Esq., of Barnsley; his relations, General Marriott; R. F.
Wilson, Esq.,M.P.; Christopher Wilson, Esq. ; and a long train of gentlemen
of the first respectability.— See the Leeds Papers, and also the Gentleman's
Magazine ioT October, 1826, p. 372, &c.
f — 1826. 8m THOMAS Vavasoi B, Babt., .lied January 27th, 1826, at Hazle-
wood Hall, near Leeds, aged eighty years. He was originally intended for the
U
30 G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
fifty-six years. The Leeds Mechanics' Institute sustained in
his death a very severe loss; he was one of the vice-presidents,
and devoted much of his time to the promotion of its interests.
He was also an active and efficient member of the Leeds
Literary and Philosophical Society. Mr. Luccock was the
author of a treatise on The Nature and Properties of Wool,
illustrated, with Description of the English Fleece, 12mo., Leeds,
180;") — a work containing much new and original information,
and which concentrates into one view all that was before known
upon this interesting subject ; and also of a valuable work
entitled Notes on Rio de Janeiro and the Southern Parts of
Brazil, taken during a Residence of Ten Years in that country,
from 1808 to 1818, with Maps, &c, 4to., 1820, published at
£2 1 2s. 6d. This brief Sketch has been kindly revised by his
son, John Darnton Luccock, Esq., the present mayor of Leeds,
&c. — See the Leeds Mercury, &c, for May, 1826.
1782—1827.*
MR CHARLES COPE,
Artist and drawing-master, of Park Scpiare, Leeds, died on
Saturday, November 24th, 1827, in the forty-sixth year of his
age, to the inexpressible grief of his family and a large circle of
Leeds business, and was apprenticed with one of the most respectable houses
in the town; but family circumstances prevented the intention from being
carried into effect, and previously to the death of his brother (in 1802),
he lived chiefly on the continent. He was born about 1746 ; was the seventh
baronet, and was never married ; the baronetcy, therefore, becoming extinct.
The present Sir Henry Mervyn Vavasour, third baronet, born in 1814 ; suc-
ceeded, 1838 ; married Louisa Anne, daughter of third Lord Braybrooke ; is
descended maternally from the very ancient family of Vavasour, of Spalding-
ton and Hazlewood, and is senior baronet of the united kingdom. The
present Sir Edward Vavasour, second baronet, was born in 1815, and suc-
ceeded in 1847. The first baronet (the Hon. Edward Marmaduke Stourton,
who married Marcia, daughter of James Lane Fox, Esq., of Bramham Park)
was a younger son of the sixteenth Lord Stourton, who assumed the name
of Vavasour on succeeding to the Hazlewood estates. Heir-presumptive, his
brother William, who was born in 1822, and married, in 1846, Mary Con-
stantia, daughter of the seventh Lord Clifford, &c.— For a longer Sketch, see
the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xcvi., pp. 272, 574, &c. ; the Monthly Maya-
zinc for April, 1826, p. 428, &c. ; the Peerages and Baronetages, &c.
* —1827. Granville Hastings Wheleu, Esq., F.S.A., of Ledstone Lodge,
near Leeds, &c, died February 3rd, 1827, aged forty-six years. He was pos-
sessed of considerable estates in Yorkshire, under the will of the excellent
and pious Lady Elizabeth Hastings. His eldest sister, Elizabeth, married
Thomas Medhurst, Esq., of Kippax Hall, near Leeds, J. P. and D.L. ; and
died in 1783, leaving issue an only son, Granville William Hastings Medhurst,
Esq., of Kippax Hall, who married Sarah Anne, daughter of the Rev.
William Jennings, of Blackheath, and died April 4th, 1840, leaving issue — 1,
William Granville Hastings Medhurst, Esq., of Kippax Hall, born in 1789;
major in the army; served with the 27th regiment in the Peninsula, Egypt,
COLONEL THOMAS LLOYD. 307
friends. His death was occasioned by the overthrow of the
" True Blue" coach, which ran between Leeds and "Wakefield,
at Belle Hill, near Leeds, on Thursday, November 22nd, 1827.
(For a long account of which, see the Leeds Papers, &c, of that
date.) " One of the sufferers, the late Mr. Cope, of this town,
was a gentleman of great respectability in private life, and of
very considerable professional talents as an artist. He had been
a resident of Leeds for upwards of twenty years, and enjoyed
the friendship as well as patronage of nearly all the first families
in this part of the West-Riding. We have, indeed," said the
Leeds Intelligencer, " seldom heard the untimely fate of any one
more generally or sincerely lamented than the sudden and dis-
tressing death of Mr. Cope, by all who had the pleasure of his
accpiaintance. He was, we believe, a native of London, and fell
a victim to negligence, we may say, in the prime of life, and
in the midst of prospects not less honourably acquired than
gratifying in their future aspect." — See the Leeds Papers, &c,
for November, 1827.
1751-1828.*
COLONEL THOMAS LLOYD,
Commandant of the Leeds Volunteer Infantry, and a deputy-
lieutenant for the West-Riding, youngest son of the late George
and Italy ; died in October, 1835, leaving issue the present Francis Hastings
Medhurst, Esq., of Kippax Hall, &c. ; 2, the present Rev. Charles Wheler, of
Otterden Place, Kent, and Ledstone Hall, near Leeds, born in 1795 ; married,
in 1831, Anne, daughter of the Rev. James Landon, B.D., vicar of Aberford,
near Leeds, and has issue, Charles "Wheler, Esq., born November 17th,
1834, &c. — For a much longer Sketch, see the Gentleman's Magazine, &c, for
February, 1827, p. 180, &c. ; Burke's Landed Gentry, &c. For a description
and engraving of Otterden Place, Kent, where there is a fine portrait of
Lady Elizabeth Hastings, formerly of Ledstone Hall, &c, see the Gentleman's
Magazine for May, 1832, pp. 393-398; and for June, 1832, p. 498, &c.
* —1828. Sir Johx Trevelyan, Bart., born at Esholt, near Leeds, February
Otb, 1734-5; married Louisa Marianna, daughter and co-heiress of Peter
Symond, Esq. , a merchant of London ; died April 8th, 1828, at his residence
in Great Pulteney Street, Bath, aged ninety-three years— a gentleman be-
loved and revered in every domestic and social relation. He was the only
son of Sir George, the third baronet, by Julia, only daughter of Sir Walter
Calverley, Bart., of Calverley, near Leeds, and eventually heiress, in 1777,
of her brother, Sir "Walter Calverley, who had assumed the name of Blackett,
in compliance with the testamentary injunction of his cousin, Sir William
Blackett, Bart., who died in 1723. He was a member of New College,
Oxford, where he was created M.A. in July, 1757. On the 28th of December,
! 7« 18, he succeeded his father in the title and estates, which he had conse-
quently enjoyed for nearly sixty years. He first entered parliament in 1777,
"ii the death of his uncle, Sir Walter Blackett, as member for Newcastle, &c.
The present representative of this family is Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan,
Bart., born in 1797, &.c. Their motto, in English, is, "Time trieth troth."
—For a longer Sketch, see the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1828, p. 4G9,
&c. ; the Peerages and Baronetages, &c. See also this volume, p. 102, &c.
308 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Lloyd, Esq., F.R.S.,* of Barrowby Hall, Horsforth, near Leeds,
by 'Susannah, daughter of the late Sir William Horton, of
Chadderton, Bart., died in April, 1828, at Kingthorpe House,
* George Lloyd, Esq., F.R.S., D.L., only child of Gamaliel Lloyd, of Man-
chester, merchant and manufacturer, died at Barrowby, near Leeds, December
4th, 1783. " l > He married, first, Eleanor, elder daughter of Henry Wright, Esq. ,
of Otferton, in Cheshire, and by her had an only child, John Lloyd, Esq.,
F.R.S., of Snitterton, in the county of "Warwick, who married Anne,
daughter and heir of James Hibbins, M.D., and had issue— 1, George, of
Welcombe House, Warwick, born in March, 1768; high-sheriff in 1806;
died, unmarried, in July, 1831; 2, John Gamaliel, of Welcombe House,
bencher of the Middle Temple, high-sheriff of Warwickshire in 1832; died,
unmarried, in 1837 ; 3, Charlotte, who married the Rev. Thomas Warde, and
had a son, Charles Thomas Warde, Esq., J. P., born in 1813, high-sheriff in
1846, now of Welcombe House, &c, Warwickshire. Mr. Lloyd married,
secondly, Susannah, daughter of Thomas Horton, Esq., of Chadderton, in
Lancashire (some time governor of the Isle of Man, under the Earl of Derby,
and father of Sir William Horton, Bart.), by Ms wife, Anne, daughter and
co-heiress of Eichard Mostyu, of London, and had issue — I. Gamaliel Lloyd,
Esq., alderman of Leeds, and mayor in 1799, died in Great Ormonde Street,
London, August 31st, 1817. He married Elizabeth, daughter of James
Attwood, Esq., and had issue— 1, Wdliam Horton Lloyd, Esq., F.L.S., pos-
sessor of estates in the counties of York, Lancaster, and Derby, born
February 10th, 1784, who married, April 13th, 1826, Mary, fourth and
youngest daughter of George Whitelocke, Esq., of Seymour Place, Bryan-
stone Square, London, and had issue — Gamaliel, born in June, 1827, died in
November, 1830, and George Whitelocke, born May 30th, 1830; 2, Mary
Horton, married to Stephen John Winthrop, M.D. ; 3, Anne Susannah, mar-
ried to Leonard Horner, Esq., F.R.S., &c. II. George Lloyd, Esq., barrister-
at-law, long resident in Manchester, and afterwards at York, married Elizabeth,
daughter of Jeremiah Naylor, of Wakefield, merchant, and had issue, the late
George Lloyd, Esq., of Stockton Hall, Acombe, near York, born in May, 1787 ;
died in 1863 ; married, in 1810, Alicia Maria, daughter of John Greame, Esq. ,
of Sowerby House, Yorkshire, and had issue — 1, George John, born in July,
1811, who, in 1857, assumed the surname of Yarburgh, after his mother's
grandfather, Charles Yarburgh, Esq. , of Heslington Hall, near York ;
2, Yarburgh Gamaliel, born in 1813, in holy orders ; 3, Henry, born in
December, 1815, late rector of Yarburgh, in Lincolnshire ; 4, Edward, born
in May, 1823; and Alicia Maria, &c. III. Thomas Lloyd, Esq., of Horsforth
Hall, lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Leeds Volunteers, died at King-
thorpe House, near Pickering, April 7th, 1828. He married Anne, daughter
of Walter Wade, Esq., of New Grange, near Leeds, and had issue — 1, George
Lloyd, Esq., of Coweshy Hall, Northallerton, born in May, 1786. He married,
first, in 1820, Marian Christina, fifth daughter of Alexander Maclean, Esq., of
Argyleshire, by whom he had no issue. He married, secondly, June 7th,
1825, Elizabeth, second daughter of William Rookes Leeds Serjeantson, Esq.,
of Camp Hill, near Ripon, and has issue — 1, Thomas William; 2, George
Walter; 3, John George; Caroline Anne; and Marianne Jane, &c. — For a
longer account, see Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
( a ) There is in Svrillington church, near Leeds, a monument with the following
inscriptions: — "To the memory of George Lloyd, Esq., F.R.S., formerly of
the Holme, in the county of Lancaster, late of Barrowby (near Leeds), in the
county of York, who died the 4th of December, 1783, aged seventy-five. The
love of knowledge early marked his character ; and a clear, vigorous, compre-
hensive mind, aided by much industrious application, and much familiar
intercourse with men of letters, carried him to eminent attainments ; which
rendered his conversation agrecahle and instructive, and qualified him for
that real usefulness in life to which his disposition prompted him. In the
COLONEL THOMAS LLOYD. 309
near Pickering, in the seventy -eighth year of his age.* In the
early part of his life he was engaged in business as a merchant
at Leeds; but soon after the death of his father he gave it up,
and retired into the neighbourhood — not indeed to a life of
inactivity; for, ever active and patriotic as he was, he sought to
make himself useful to his country as a volunteer officer. He
had previously served as lieutenant in a corps of Leeds volun-
teer Infantry, under the command of the late Colonel Dixon, of
Gledhow, during the American war. In 1794, the year after
the breaking out of the war with France, a new corps of volun-
teer infantry, about 300 strong, was embodied at Leeds, of
which he was selected to take the command; and few persons
were better qualified, either by nature or circumstances, for such
an office. At the termination of that war the corps was dis-
banded; but on the renewal of hostilities after the peace of
Amiens, another corps was raised, consisting of two battalions
exercise of magistracy, wise, upright, and assiduous, he approved himself a
faithful guardian of the public interests. The profession of medicine, to
which he had been bred, having no need to practise it for himself, he exer-
cised solely for the benefit of others — of the poor, and those who had none to
help them. In every relation and all Christian duties, he was such as, in
dying, to have left to his numerous family, and to many friends, great com-
fort as well as great affliction." Also, " In memory of Susanna, relict of
George Lloyd, Esq., daughter of Thomas Horton, Esq., and sister of the late
Sir William Horton, of Chadderton, in the county of Lancaster, Bart. In
her was combined all that was amiable and praiseworthy ; she was an affec-
tionate wife, a most kind and tender parent, a sincere friend, and pious Chris-
tian ; she was charitable and' liberal without ostentation, and in domestic
affairs united economy with plenty ; cheerful in health and patient in sick-
ness, beloved and respected by all who knew her. She departed this life
March 16th, 1797, aged seventy-eight years. She left three sons and three
daughters to lament their loss, who have erected this monument in remem-
brance of one of the best of mothers."
* "The death of such an uncompromising patriotic Briton," according to
the heeds Intettifft net r, " cannot be passed over without expressing the deepest
sensation of individual and (as far as the town of Leeds is concerned) of uni-
versal regret : we mean with reference not only more peculiarly to those who
lived and personally acted with him so long as thirty years ago (1798), but
also to those who have, without that personal knowledge, witnessed his
unalterable and unceasing benevolence to many private individuals, as well as
to almost all our public institutions. Let us go back to the period of the
French Revolution. Colonel Lloyd then stood forward — a Volunteer; the
offer quickly spread through the land, and animated a loyal people; and, by
his example, a patriot-hand was instantaneously cemented, which, in spite of
faction, most essentially and happily tended to maintain the independence
and integrity of the British empire. Our humble efforts coidd give no
expression to the sincere regard of those who, fired with simultaneous liritish
rigs, served under his patriotic banner. Many a one, who has seen their
feelings publicly evinced, must give us credit for declining the attempt. "We
knew the departed well; and sincerely are we convinced that, as a patriotic,
truly sincere, and disinterestedly charitable individual, —
" ' We ne'er shall look upon his like again.' "
310 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of 700 each, at the head of which he was unanimously placet!,
and which he continued to command till 1807, when he retired
from public life. He was particularly happy in combining the
strict discipline of the soldier with the urbanity and hospitality
of the country gentleman; and perhaps no one was ever more
fenerally beloved, or more promptly and cheerfully obeyed.
lis disposition was kind, generous, and friendly, and his
manners were peculiarly adapted to win the affections — beiug
open, frank, manly, and decisive. From the highest to the
lowest ranks in his corps he was regarded with the feeling of a
brother, and this feeling spread among all classes with a spirit
approaching to enthusiasm. Of the value in which his public
services and private worth were held, some estimation may be
formed from the following testimonies borne to them : — On the
4th of June, 1795,* the Corporation of Leeds (John Blayds,
Esq., mayor) presented him with a handsome sword, "as a
token of their approbation of his military services, and of his
conduct in the patriotic cause in which he was engaged." On
the 4th of June, 179G, the non-commissioned officei's and
privates of the Leeds Volunteer Infantry presented him with
a large and handsome cup (silver-gilt), "as a grateful acknow-
ledgment for his unremitted and affectionate attention to
them as brethren-in-arms, enrolled for the defence of the king,
the constitution, and the laws." In 1799 an offer was made
him by Government to raise a regiment to serve in any part
of Europe, all the commissions of which should be at his dis-
posal; and on his declining it, he was desired to name any
friend to whom the offer might be acceptable. In 1802 a full-
length portrait of him by Russell was presented to Mrs. Lloyd,
his wife, by the corps of Leeds Volunteers. In 1807 the non-
* On the 29th of September, 1794, the Leeds Corporation passed a vote of
thanks to the volunteer corps of this borough, for their readiness in enrolling
themselves for its defence, and also ordered an elegant sword to be purchased
and presented by the mayor, in the name of the corporation, "to Thomas
Lloyd, Esq., colonel-commandant of the said volunteers." The cost of the
sword was £84. A vote of thanks was also given by the corporation, under
their common seal, on the 11th of February, 1807, to Thomas Lloyd, Esquire,
for his great and essential services as colonel-commandant of the Volunteer
Corps of Infantry within this borough, when, owing to his declining state of
health, he resigned that office, in the following words: — "Resolved unani-
mously, that this court learn with deep regret that Thomas Lloyd, Esq., from
the precarious state of his health, has found himself obliged to resign the situa-
tion of lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Leeds Volunteer Infantry. That
this court, sensible of the value of Lieutenant-Colonel Lloyd's past services,
and impressed with the great importance of the example which he has given
of disinterested patriotism during a crisis of unparalleled difficulty and
danger, request that lie will accept the tribute of their sincere and cordial
thanks."— See WardeU's Municipal History of Leeds, &c.
JOHN ATKINSON, ESQ., F.L.S. 311
commissioned officers and privates of the two battalions of Leeds
Volunteer Infantry presented him with a gold snuff-box, "as a
token of their respect for him their late colonel." In 1828, on
his death, a public meeting was held at Leeds (Thomas Blayds,
Esq., mayor, in the chair), when it was resolved, " That as a due
mark of respect for the invaluable services of the late Colonel
Lloyd to this town and neighbourhood, a monument be erected
to his memory by subscription in the parish church;" and a
subscription was immediately entered into for that purpose. A
monument, executed by J. Gott, Esq., to his memory, was
erected in the Leeds parish church, in March, 1834. It is con-
structed of beautiful white marble, and the inscription, of
which the following is a copy, is surmounted by an admirable
bust of the deceased: — "To the Memory of Thomas Lloyd,
Esquire. In his character were eminently displayed loyalty to
the king, zeal for his country, and all the social virtues which
mark the EngHsh gentleman. He was twice called by the
general voice of the inhabitants of this borough to the important
trust of lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Leeds Volun-
teer Infantry. First, in the year 1794, for the protection of
their property, endangered by the spread of anti-social and
revolutionary principles; secondly, in the year 1803, for the
preservation of their homes and liberties under the menace of
foreign invasion. By military ardour and firmness, tempered
with discretion, and by kind offices of friendship and hospitality,
he won the affection of his corps, and was honoured with
several valuable tokens of their esteem, as well as with other
testimonies of public approbation. He contributed greatly to
rouse that spirit of loyalty and patriotic devotion which secured
domestic order, and finally achieved the country's triumph over
her foreign foes. He died at Kingthorpe House, near Pickering,
the 7th day of April, 1828, aged seventy-seven years. Eor a
memorial of their high regard, and to hand down his bright
example to future ages, some of his surviving volunteers and
friends have erected this monument." Colonel Lloyd married
Anne, daughter of Walter Wade, Esq., of New Grange, Leeds
(by whom he had one son and one daughter), whose pedigree
and arms may be seen in Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 154;
Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. 354, &c. See also the Gentle-
man's Magazine, &c, for May, 1828, p. 472, &c.
1787—1828.
JOHN ATKINSON, ESQ., F.L.S.,
Surgeon, of Leeds, born May 29th, 1787, was the sixth son of
312 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
the late Rev. Miles Atkinson, B.A., vicar of Kippax and
incumbent of St. Paul's, Leeds. He received liis education at
the Grammar School of Leeds, and, at the age of fourteen,
became a pupil of that eminent surgeon, the late Mr. Hey.
Under such a preceptor, and aided by his own enthusiastic
devotion to his profession, he could not fail in acquiring that
eminence to which he subsequently attained. But it was as a
naturalist that Mr. Atkinson was known to the world. It is
interesting to trace the apparently accidental circuinstances by
which the mind is directed to pursuits for which it appears to
have been peculiarly formed. A severe illness took Mr. Atkin-
son from Leeds to the retired village of Kippax, his father's
vicarage; here, an admirer of the beauties of nature, his atten-
tion was attracted to her details; and he became engaged in
the study of the kindred sciences of botany and entomology,
with that ardour which characterized all his pm-suits. For
some time he laboured with no other book than Berkenhout's
Syno2Jsis, and acquired an intimate knowledge of plants from
studying them as presented by the hand of nature. On his
removal to London to attend the course of lectures required for
examination in his profession, he made an acquaintance with
sevei^al eminent naturalists. He devoted the summer recesses
to the cultivation of his favourite pursuits, and acquired an
extended and correct knowledge of botany and entomology.
At a later period Mr. Atkinson devoted his attention to orni-
thology and zoology in general : the study of these sciences was,
in a considerable degree, occasioned by his connection with the
Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, of which he was one
of the earliest members, and whose museum he founded by
many munificent presents in every department of natural
liistory. His office of curator, to which the whole of not only
the days but the nights he could spare from an extensive prac-
tice were devoted, prevented his taking any pi-oniinent part in
the public proceedings of the society; the journals, however,
contain several valuable communications. The chief merit of
originating the Yorkshire Horticultural Society belongs to Mr.
Atkinson. In the year 1820, he and several of his supporters
held the first meetings at the Star and Garter Hotel, Kirkstall,
and for some years, as its treasurer, the society was much
indebted to him for its existence. He lived long enough to
enrol amongst its members many of the first and leading names
of the county, and to witness the great improvement in horti-
culture it has occasioned. Nor were his exertions confined to
the diffusion of scientific knowledge; his was a more enlarged
MR. SAMUEL HICK. 313
philanthropy. He was, in the support of every liberal institu-
tion and society, feelingly alive to the calls of suffering and
poverty. In his great practice, many were the sacrifices he
made to the wants of the more indigent patients. It was to him
the town of Leeds was indebted for that valuable institution
the Lying-in Hospital; with him the proposal originated, and
from him it received its most zealous support. Besides many
communications to the scientific journals, Mr. Atkinson wrote
a Compendium of the Ornithology of Great Britain, with a Refer-
ence to the Anatomy and Physiology of Birds, 8vo., 1820; of
which, during the melancholy illness that terminated in his death,
he was preparing a second edition, with lithographic plates. He
communicated the valuable account of plants growing within
twenty miles of Leeds to Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete; and
during his last illness, in addition to his work on ornithology,
had prepared an account of the natural history of the neigh-
bourhood of Askern. But great as was the public spirit by
which he was distinguished, it w^as in private life that the
value of his character shone with pre-eminent brilliancy. To
those who were admitted to the delightful society of his social
circle, the pleasure with which he communicated his extensive
knowledge, the winning manner in which he encouraged the
beginner in the paths of science, the valuable assistance he so
liberally afforded, will long endear his memoiy. But Mr. Atkin-
son possessed a still higher character — he was a Christian; and
although walking in the highest paths of science, he remained
undazzled by the splendid scenes around him, and through
nature, with humility, he looked to nature's God. He was a
Fellow of the Linnsean Society ; honorary curator of the Leeds
Philosophical and Literary Society; treasurer to the Yorkshire
Horticultural Society ; honorary member of the Bristol, York-
shire, and Hull Philosophical Societies; and surgeon to the
Leeds Lying-in Hospital. He died October 3rd, 1828, in his
forty-second year. — See the Leeds Papers, &c, for October,
1828. The greater part of the above Sketch has been kindly
contributed by his pupil and son-in-law, H. Miles Atkinson,
Esq., surgeon, of Leeds, who has in his possession two small
portraits of the deceased.
1758—1829.
MR. SAMUEL HICK,
Well known as "The Village Blacksmith," and a popular
itinerant Wesleyan preacher, was bom at Aberford, near Leeds,
Si ptember 20th, 1758, and was one of thirteen children. His
311 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
parents were very poor and could not afford to give him an
education, so that he grew up to manhood without being able
to read or write. At the age of fourteen he was bound appren-
tice to Edward Derby, of Heulaugh, near Tadcaster, to learn
the trade of a blacksmith. During his apprenticeship he was
frequently impressed with religious feelings, especially by the
addresses of Richard Burdsall, whom he followed from place to
place, ti-avellmg many scores of miles, and never hearing him
without being blessed under his preaching. Just before the
expiration of his time, Samuel fell in love with his master's
daughter, or, rather, she fell in love with him. Mr. Derby,
coming down stairs one morning sooner than usual, found the
girl seated on Samuel's knee. Without saying a word, he went
to consult his wife as to what should be done to stop the affair,
saying, " I believe she is as fond of the lad as ever cow was of
a calf." The upshot of the matter was, that with a good deal
of angry feeling the master ordered Samuel to leave his house
and service. Samuel did not stick fast, — to use his own nar-
ration, — "When I was one-and-twenty years of age, there was
a shop at liberty at Mickletield, and my father took it for me. I
here began business for myself, and when I had paid for my
tools, I was left without a penny in my pocket or a bit of bread
to eat; but I was strong, in good health, and laboured hard, and
that God who sent the ravens to feed his servant, fed me. One
day, while at work, a man came into my shop, who told me that
his wife had fed the pig so fat as to render it useless to the
family, and that he would sell me the one half of it very cheap.
I told him that I wished it were in my power to make the pur-
chase — that I was much in need — but that I was without
money. He replied, he would trust me, and I agreed to take
it. I mentioned the circumstance to a neighbour, who offered to
lend me five pounds, which I accepted; and out of this I paid
the man for what I had bought. I continued to labour hard,
and the Lord in his abundant goodness supplied all my wants."
After being established in business eighteen months, he observes
— " The Lord saw that I wanted a helpmeet; knew the character
that would suit me best, and was so kind as to furnish me with
one of his own choosing." He soon unbosomed his feelings,
was accepted, and finally united in holy matrimony in Spofforth
church. The union proved a long and happy one; his wife was
about five years his senior, and survived him three years. On
leaving the church, after the marriage, a number of poor widows
pressed around him to solicit alms; his heart was touched. "I
began the world," said he to himself, " without money, and I
MR. SAMUEL HICK. 315
will again begin it straight." He thereupon emptied his pocket
of all the money he possessed. After marriage (his frugal wife,
Martha, looking after the cash) he prospered. He used to say,
"The Lord gave me a good wife, and I have never wanted
money since." He says " That for some time after marriage,
both he and his wife were strangers to saving grace; that he
was converted through a vision which appeared to him in his
sleep." His mother-in-law, who had been a member of the
Wesleyan Connexion, died, and he dreamed that she appeared
to him arrayed in Avhite, took him by the hand, and affection-
ately warned him "to flee from the wrath to come." "My
eyes," said he, "were opened — I saw all the sins I had com-
mitted through the whole course of my life — I was like the
Psalmist — I cried out like the gaoler — I said my prayers as I
never did before." From that time till his death he followed a
career of Christian usefulness, always exhibiting a strictly moral
conduct. He became a joined Methodist, and soon after made
up his mind to preach. " I know that the Lord," says he, " has
given me one talent, and I am resolved to use it. He has given
friend Dawson ten; but I am determined that he shall never run
away with my one." About the year 1797, Mr. Dawson says
that Samuel was actively engaged as a prayer-leader and exhorter
hi the villages of Garforth, Barwick, Kippax, Micklefield, &c;
and, having a horse at command, he could go to the most dis-
tant places without difficulty. He was subsequently (about
1803) on both the Selby and Pontefract plans as a local
preacher. " In person he was tall and bony, rising to the
height of about six feet. Hard labour and the nature of
his employment gave a roundness to the upper pai*t of
his back, and a slight elevation to his right shoulder. His
hair was naturally light, his complexion fair, his face full, but
more inclined to the oval than the round, and his general
features small, with a soft, quick, blue-gray, twinkhng eye."
His mind was peculiarly constructed. There was no system
about his sei'mons; his thoughts seemed broken into fragments.
His mode of expression — half solemn, half comic — would cause
his hearers one moment to smile, the next they would be in
tears: such was his sudden transition from one train of thoughts
to another. There was no polish about his speech. His lan-
guage was of the broadest West-Yorkshire dialect ; but to
thousands of the poor and others as unlettered as himself, " the
village blacksmith" was of essential service. His zeal was not
a mere crackling blaze in the pulpit. His workshop was his
chapel, and many were the homilies which he delivered over the
316 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
tiivil and over the vice, to both poor and rich.* He says: " In
those days there were not many noble, not many rich, called.
For my own part, I have travelled many scores of miles, and
neither tasted meat nor drink till I got home in the evening.
I have very often had snowballs thrown at me, and been abused
by the enemies of the cross of Christ. I have been turned out
of places where I have been preaching, by the clergy and the
magistrates ; but, bless the Lord, I have lived to see better days."
Through the exertions of Samuel, a Methodist chapel was erected
at Aberford, his native place, towards winch he gave £20. Mr.
Dawson says: "Samuel Hick laid the first stone; and, as he
offered the first prayer upon the first stone that was laid, so in
the pulpit of the same chapel he preached his last sermon, and
] loured forth his last public prayer for the prosperity of Zion."
His charity was unbounded — indeed his wife had now and then
to stop the supplies, or he would have been a poor man all his
life. " His heart always melted at the sight, or on hearing the
tale of woe. He could not hear of persons in distress but he
wept over them; and if they were within his reach, he relieved
them according to his ability." One day, as he was returning
from the pit with a load of coals, a little girl seeing him pass,
asked him for a piece of coal, stating that her mother was con-
fined, and the family without fire. He went with the girl home,
found the story correct, brought the cart to the door, and poured
down the load free of cost. Another time, some soldiers on a
forced mai-ch halted at Micklefield early in the morning. A
thrill of loyalty and sympathy filled Samuel's bosom. He soon
placed before the men the whole contents of the butteiy, pantry,
and cellar — bread, cheese, milk, butter, meat, and beer, speedily
went. When his wife came down stairs, she proceeded to the
buttery to skim the milk for breakfast. To her astonishment
all had disappeared. Inquiry was made, and when she found
* " I remember Lord Mexborough calling at my shop, one day," says he,
"to get his horse shod. The horse was a fine animal. I had to back him
int.) the smithy. I told his lordship that he was more highly favoured than
our Saviour, for He had only an ass to ride on, when He was upon earth."
The earl, suspecting that Samuel was not very well instructed in natural his-
tory, replied, " In the country where our Saviour was born the people had
l-arely anything but asses to ride upon ; and many of them were among the
finest animals under heaven, standing from sixteen to seventeen hands high."
This information was new; and as grateful, apparently, for the improved con-
dition r,f his divine Master, as for an increase of knowledge, Samuel ex-
claimed, "Bless the Lord ! I am glad to hear that. I thought they were bike
isses in our own country," &c— See The Village Blacksmith; or, Piety
n„'l Usefulness Exemplified, in a Memoir of the Life of Samuel Hick, of
Micklefield, by James Everett, 1863, p. 99, &c.
MR. SA3IUEL HICK. 317
Low the things had been disposed of, she chided him, saying,
" You might have taken the cream off before you gave it them."
Samuel replied, " Bless thee, barn, it would do them more good
with the cream on it." He once visited a poor aged widow, and
gave her sixpence, all the money he had with him. The widow-
was overpowered with gratitude, and Samuel was greatly affected
by it, saying to himself, " Bless me ! can sixpence make a poor
creature happy? How many sixpences have I spent on this
mouth of mine, in feeding it with tobacco ! I will never take
another pipe whilst I live; I will give to the poor whatever I
save from it." Soon after this Samuel was ill, and his medical
attendant said it was in some measure caused by his suddenly
breaking off the use of the pipe. The following dialogue
occurred: — Physician: "You must resume the use of the
pipe, Mr. Hick." Samuel: "Never more, sir, while I live."
Physician: " It is essential to your restoration to health, and I
cannot be answerable for consequences should you reject the
advice given." Samuel: "Let come what will, I'll never take
another pipe ; I've told my Lord so, and I'll abide by it."
Physician: " You will in all probability die, then." Samuel:
" Glory be to God for that! I shall go to heaven. I have made
a vow, and I'll keep it." To illustrate Samuel's faith in the
efficacy of prayer, we will give the following anecdotes: — In
the course of a summer of excessive drought, some years back,
when the grain suffered greatly, and many of the cattle,
especially in Lincolnshire, died, Samuel was much affected. He
visited Knaresbro', at which place he preached on the Lord's
day. Remaining in the town and neighbourhood over the Sab-
bath, he appeared extremely restless in the house in which he
resided during the whole of Monday. His restlessness and
singularity of manners attracted the attention of the famdy so
much, that they asked if anything was the matter with him.
" Bless you, barns" was his reply, " do you not recollect that I
was praying for rain last night in the pulpit ? and what will the
infidels at Knaresbro' think if it do not come — if my Lord
should fail me, and not stand by me? But it must have time;
it cannot be here yet. It has to come from the sea. Neither
can it be seen at first : the prophet only saw a bit of cloud like
a man's hand; by-and-by it spread along the sky. I am looking
for an answer to my prayer; but it must have time." " Towards
evening the sky became overcast, and the clouds dropped the
fatness of a shower upon the earth." In 1817 Samuel was
about to hold a lovefeast at Micklefield, and had invited persons
from Knottingley and other places. He had promised that two
318 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
loads of corn should be ground for the occasion. The day fixed
for the lovefeast drew near; there was no flour in the house,
and the windmills, in consequence of a long calm, stretched out
their arms in vain to catch the rising breeze. In the midst of
this death-like quiet, Samuel carried his corn to the mill nearest
his own residence, and requested the miller to unfurl his sails.
The miller objected, stating that there was " no wind." Samuel,
on the other hand, contimied to urge his request, saving, " I
will go and pray while you spread the cloth." The miller
stretched his canvas, and, to his utter astonishment, a fine
breeze sprung up — the fans whirled round — the corn was con-
verted into meal — and Samuel returned with his burthen,
rejoicing, and had every thing in readiness for the festival. A
neighbour who had seen the fans in vigorous motion, took also
some corn to be ground; but the wind had dropped, and the
miller remarked to him, "You must send for Samuel Hick to
pray for the wind to blow again." At the beginning of 1826,
he had made sufficient money to enable him to retire from busi-
ness. He then entered upon a wider sphere of usefulness,
preaching in several circuits in Yorkshire and Lancashire, and
travelling entirely at his own expense. His addresses in the
pulpit rarely exceeded half an hour. He continued until the
very year of his death, preaching, travelling, and visiting the
sick. In September of 1829, hearing that a niece of his, who
resided at Grassington, was very ill, he took the coach for
Skipton. The day was exceedingly wet, and being on the out-
side, his clothes were drenched with rain. He arrived a few
days before his niece died, but received his own death-stroke
from the journey; for he caught a severe cold, which settled
upon his lungs, and from which he never fully recovered. On
his return home he was only able to preach a few times, and
attend two missionary meetings. He now began to sink fast,
though not confined to bed till a short time before he died. He
died on Monday, November 9th, 1829, in the seventy -first year of
his age. Such was the esteem in which he was held, that his
remains were followed to Aberford by about a thousand people.
In Samuel Hick was an amazing amount of simple, pure,
unsophisticated nature, combined with the strictest moral con-
duct and the most fervid zeal. He was remarkable for great
openness of disposition and unbounded generosity, as well as
faith and prayer; and by his one talent yielded a greater har-
vest of good to the Christian church than many with their ten.
— For a likeness of him, and other particulars, see his Memoirs,
by Everett (to which the compiler is chiefly indebted for this
SECOND EARL OF MEXBOROUGH. 319
Sketch), which passed through twelve editions in about as many
vears, embracing between twenty and thirty thousand copies. —
See also Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c.
1761-1830.
SECOND EARL OF MEXBOROUGH,
Died, deeply lamented, February 3rd, 1830, at Methley Park,
near Leeds. The following particulars relative to his lordship's
family may not be unacceptable to some of our readers : — John
Savile, second Earl of Mexborough, Viscount Pollington, and
Baron Pollington, of Longford, was born the 8th of April,
1761 ; succeeded his father, John, the first earl, on the 27th of
February, 1778; married, 25th September, 1782, Elizabeth,
daughter and sole heiress of John Stephenson, Esq., of East
Burnham, Bucks, and had issue — 1, John, Viscount Pollington
(third Earl of Mexborough), born 3rd of July, 1783, who
married, 29th August, 1807, Lady Anne Yorke, eldest daughter
of Philip, third Earl of Hardwicke, and had issue six sons and
one daughter; 2, Lady Sarah Elizabeth, born 4th February,
1786, who was married, 30th October, 1807, to John George,
fourth Lord Monson, and by him had an only child, afterwards
Lord Monson, and was, secondly, married, 21st October, 1816,
to Henry Richard, afterwards third Earl of Warwick, and had
issue one child, Viscount Brooke ; 3, Lady Elizabeth, who
died at the age of five, in 1794. The late earl had two
brothers, who died, Charles in 1807, and Henry in 1828. The
title and estates have devolved on John, Viscount Pollington,
now third Earl of Mexborough, his lordship's only son. We
may safely say, that few men in any rank of society have
passed a life more distinguished for amiability in the exalted
circle in which he was accustomed to move, for generosity and
kindness to his tenantry and dependents, or for sincere charity
to the poor and necessitous. The family of Savile appears to
have been seated in Yorkshire as early as the 12th century;
and two branches of it were, at different periods, elevated to
the peerage of England, by the titles of Earl of Sussex and
Marquis of Halifax, of which the former became extinct on the
death of John, second earl, in 1672, and the latter on the
death of George, second marquis, in 1700; a third branch of
the family was seated at Methley, near Leeds, of which was
Sir John Savile, one of the barons of the Exchequer in the
reigns of Elizabeth and James I. His eldest son, Sir Henry,
was created a baronet in 1611, but dying, without surviving
issue, the title became extinct, but the estates devolved to his
320 BIOGRArHIA LEODIENSIS.
brother, John Savile, whose grandson, Charles Savile, Esq., of
Methley, born 167G, married Aletheia, co-heiress of Gilbert
Millington, Esq., of Felley Abbey, Nottinghamshire, and died
5th June, 1741, leaving issue by her (who died 24th June,
1759), an only son, John, installed K.B. 23rd June, 1749,
created Baron Pollington, of Longford, 8th November, 1753,
ami advanced to the dignities of Viscount Pollington and Earl
of Mexborongh 11th February, 17G6. His lordship married,
30th January, 1760, Sarah, sister of John, Lord Delaval. The
remains of the earl were interred in the family vault of the
Saviles at Methley, near Leeds. His lordship, by will executed
some years ago, bequeathed the whole of his real and personal
property, with some slight exceptions, to his only son and suc-
cessor, the third Earl Mexborough, who died in 1860. — See
the Leeds Papers; the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1830.
For pedigree, &c, see Whitaker's Loidis and fflmete, p. 272;
Hunter's South Yorkshire, &c. ; and also the Peerages of Burke,
Collins, Debrett, Lodge, &c. See also the first Earl of Mex-
borough, in this volume, with Note, p. 177, &c.
1801—1830.
EDWARD S. GEORGE, ESQ., F.L.S.,
Honorary curator of the Leeds Philosophical Hall, &c, died,
February 9th, 1830, at his house in Park Square, Leeds, aged
twenty-nine. The decease of this gentleman must not be per-
mitted to pass without notice, because of the general feeling that
the town of Leeds has lost one of the most valuable friends of
science. At a very early period of life, the late Mr. Edward
Sanderson George exhibited an ardent thirst after scientific
knowledge, which he pursued with steady and unwearied perse-
verance. His attainments in chemistry contributed in a high
degree to the prosperity of the respectable firm of Messrs.
Thomas George and Sons, of which he was an active and enlight-
ened partner". The Philosophical Hall, in Leeds, exhibits many
memorials of his knowledge in geology, ornithology, and various
other departments of science. Mr. E. S. George, as honorary
curator of that institution, followed out and extended the plans
of his friend and predecessor, the lamented Mr. John Atkinson ;
and the museum, particularly in its scientific arrangement, bears
decisive evidence of the judgment and diligence of these two
companions in science. The peculiar characteristic of Mr.
George's mind was that of rapidly discovering the most simple
mode of producing effect, so that in science and in his general
operations he had frequently, without apparent effort or display,
THE REV. GEORGE WALKER, M.A. 321
produced the desired result whilst others were meditating on
the plan of procedure. He wag also honorary secretary to the
Leeds and Yorkshire Horticultural Society, and laboured dili-
gently to advance its interests. Our duty is particularly to
point to the late Mr. George as an example to the young. He
had no scientific tutor at any period of life, and owed the high
station he occupied solely to his diligent pursuit of knowledge,
and the beneficial habit of examining everything around him as
an object of inquiry. It is a common error with scientific
minds to neglect everything as trivial but their favourite pur-
suits. Not so with Mr. George. He felt that science was
secondary to religion ; and accordingly was found exhibiting the
Christian character, and pre-eminently amiable in all the rela-
tions of private life. He left a widow, to whom he was devoutly
attached, an infant daughter, and a large circle of relatives and
friends to deplore their own and the public loss. — Chiefly from
the Leeds Intelligencer for February, 1830. See also the account
in the Leeds Mercury, which, though differently expressed, is
equally as full and eulogistic; and also the Reports of the Leeds
Philosophical and Literary Society. The above Sketch has been
kindly revised by his brother, Alderman T. W. George, of Leeds.
1793—1830.
THE EEV. GEOEGE WALKEE, M.A.,
Head-master of the Leeds Free Grammar School, and officiating
minister of Trinity church, in this town; late Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge, and rector of Papworth-Everard, in the
same county, died at his residence in Leeds, May 15th, 1830,
in the thirty-seventh year of his age.""' The death of this excel-
lent and highly gifted man was a severe loss to the town of
Leeds, and to society at large. Mr. Walker, though not pos-
MONODT ON THE LAMENTED DEATH OF THE REV. G. WALKER, M.A.
" Fuit in illo ingenium, ratio, memoria, liters, cura, cogitatio, diligentia."— Cicero.
" Weep, genius, weep ! Gush, every fount of woe !
From every source, ye streams of sorrow, flow ;
"Weep, virtue, weep ! and let a cloud appear
To dim the brightness of thine hemisphere ;
Let every balm of life — the parent, friend —
Unite in grief, in lamentation blend :
Each pay the tribute of affliction's tear;
Each wave the yew o'er Walker's honoured bier !
" Walker I oh, say what minstrels' soothest strings
Excite the music that thy memory brings?
Hail, honoured shade ! where every power combin'd
To grace the bosom, and adorn the mind;
"Where wisdom, virtue, piety, and grace,
X
322 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEJTSIS.
sessed of shining talents, was possessed of qualities far more
valuable to society in a solid and perspicacious judgment, sound
and extensive learning, and the power of communicating the
knowledge he possessed; and to these intellectual attainments
he added moral qualities even more distinguished — an ardent
love of truth, with energy and directness in pursuing it — high
and unbending principles of rectitude — a strong, lively, and
experimental sense of religion, and a diffusive and active bene-
volence. As a teacher of youth, Mr. Walker was eminently
successful; he was appointed to the situation of head-master of
the Leeds Free Grammar School, on the resignation of the
Rev. G. P. Richards, M.A., in the year 1818; and, during the
twelve years of his superintendence, the Leeds School obtained
Had each supreme, but modestly a place ;
Meek and retiring, as the blushing rose
That droops unconscious what its leaves disclose :
Name most revered ! whose fate shall prompt the sigh,
And call the tear to many a tearless eye.
" No more ! no more wilt thou the page unfold,
Where faith and peace their sweet communion hold ;
No more, in sacerdotal garb, thine hand
"Will point to heaven's divine, eternal land.
Oh ! say how oft the sinner's heart has joy'd,
"When thou thy pious eloquence employ'd?
And while conviction from thine accents fell,
Saw every joy of heaven — each woe of hell.
Kindly severe and sternly meek thy tongue,
Upon whose words persuasion's empire hung,
Gently reprov'd and 'chid each dull delay,'
■Whilst thou to heaven 'allur'd and led the way.'
" No longei-, now, shall lowly faith sincere
Mingle with thine her last, her dying tear ;
No more shall ' parting lif e ' confess thy power
To cheer her spirit in that drooping hour
"When earth recedes, and forth the spirit soars
To ever calm, or — ever boisterous shores.
"No more ! no more shall learning's classic page
Thy modest doubt, or kind esteem engage ;
No longer youth shall glow with virtuous aim,
As when thy smile its ardour did inflame ;
When thou did'st prune each weed that check'd the growth
Of wisdom's excellence, or sacred truth ;
As when thy praise in cheering radiance shoDe,
And rais'd luxuriant what it beam'd upon.
" Oh, weep not ye ! But say, who fails to weep
When in the sepulchre belov'd ones sleep?
When lips that once imparted joy and peace —
Such fond endearments — now must ever cease !
When hearts, that once responded sighs to ours,
Are chill and motionless by death's stern powers ;
When each bland sympathy leaves its sad token
In hopes destroy'd, in hearts— for ever broken !
THE REV. GEORGE WALKER, M.A. 323
a very high character among the public schools of the king-
dom — its numbers greatly increased, and many of the pupils
sained distinguished honours in the Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge. As a minister of religion, Mr. Walker was con-
scientious, zealous, and laborious ; his views were decidedly
evangelical, and he preached the Gospel with boldness and
fidelity. He was an active and powerful supporter of most of
the religious and charitable associations in the town. As a
speaker he was clear, convincing, and impressive, without pos-
sessing the charms of a brilliant imagination or an oratorical
manner; his candour and remarkable seriousness always pro-
duced a favourable effect on his audience. He was a decided
friend to the diffusion of knowledge in every department; he
not only took an active interest in the affairs of the Leeds
Library, but was also the prudent and persevering supporter of
the Mechanics' Institution. In private life he was greatly
esteemed and beloved. A survey of his whole character, and
of the varied and important functions he so ably performed,
justifies us in saying that in the death of Mr. Walker the town
" Wherefore to weep? Each tear and sigh, away !
Let joy her fairest countenance display.
Wherefore to weep? say, shall the servile earth
Enchain the spirit of celestial worth ?
Arise, each note of joy ! Hark ! how the string
Of cherubs' harp resounds its murmuring ;
Behold yon orb that gilds the joyous sky,
Proclaiming heaven's angelic jubilee !
Oh, mercy infinite ! to feel that death
Can but congeal life's weary, fleeting breath ;
That soon, in odorous incense, it shall rise
To swell the raptures of the exulting skies.
" Adieu ! endear* d and ever honour'd name,
Thou need'st not me to sound thy heavenly fame ;
Ear nobler lyres their loudest notes shall raise
To sound thy worth — perpetuate thy praise.
Weak is my lyre, but thou hast strung each chord ;
Its classic theme, ere this, thou did'st afford :
Weak is my lyre — yet, oh ! its strains sincere ;
No sadder heart than mine shall mourn thy bier." — TRISTIS.
From the Leeds Intelligencer of May 22nd, 1830; and for nine Verses,
written on occasion of the funeral of the Rev. George "Walker, A.M. (of
which the following is a specimen), see the Leeds Intelligencer for May 29th,
1830 :—
" And if his honours were not of the sword,
His triumphs won not in the tented field,
Not less with us shall Walla r be deploy d,
Not less instruction his example vield.
His name shall be upon our trembling lips
Whene'er we speak of piety and worth,
As one of those bright stars in whose eclipse
We feel, indeed, the darkness of our earth:" &c.
324 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of Leeds lost one of its best public characters, and one of its
truest ornaments. Possessed of abilities of no ordinary cast,
his character combined with them a rare degree of simplicity of
mind. The respect which he commanded was not homage
exacted by an ostentatious display of superiority, but the
willing tribute of those with whom he associated, to his com-
prehensive and highly-cultivated mind. He published Select
Specimens of English Poetry, and Select Specimens of English
Prose, from the Reign of Elizabeth to the Present Time, with
Introductions, 1827; and a work on Elements of Arithmetic,
third edition, 1827, for the special use of the Grammar School,
Leeds, &c. ; also A Copious Latin Grammar, translated from
the German, 2 vols., 30s., &c. The remains of this much
respected and venerated gentleman were entombed in one of
the vaults of St. Paul's church, by the side of those of his
first wife and child. His funeral took place on Friday,
May 21st, and was attended by nearly the whole of the cor-
poration, and a great number of the clergy and the most respect-
able inhabitants. Funeral sermons were preached at St. Paul's
and Holy Trinity churches, by the Pev. Miles Jackson, and the
Pev. Charles Musgrave, vicar of Halifax and Whitkirk, &c.
He was succeeded, on the 28th of July following, by the Rev.
Joseph Holmes, M.A., late Fellow and tutor of Queen's College,
Cambridge. — Chiefly from the Leeds Mercury of May 22nd,
1830. See also the account in the Leeds Intelligencer, which,
though not quite so full, is even still more laudatory. The
above Sketch has been kindly revised and approved of by the
Ven. Archdeacon Musgrave, D.D., who was also elected a Fellow
of Trinity College, Cambridge, in the same year, with the
deceased.
1755—1830.
THE EEV. SAMUEL CLAPHAM, M.A.,
Vicar of Christchurch, Hampshire; of Great Ouseburn, York-
shire ; and rector of Gussage St. Michael, Dorsetshire, was born
at Leeds in 1755, and died at Sidmouth, June 1st, 1830, in the
seventy-sixth year of his age. He was educated by his father
in his native town (Leeds), and at Clare Hall, Cambridge, where
he took his B.A. in 1778, and proceeded M.A. in 1784. In
the year 1790 he undertook the curacy of Yarm, in Yorkshire;
he was presented to Ouseburn, in 1797, by Lord Chancellor
Loughborough; to Christchurch, in 1802, by the dean and
chapter of Winchester (through the influence of Bishop Prety-
man); and to Gussage, in 1806, by W. Long, Esq. For the
THE REV. SAMUEL CLAPHAM, M.A. 325
greatest part of twenty-five years, and whilst his health per-
mitted, he was an able, active, and upright magistrate for the
county of Hants. For fifty-two years, as a Christian minister,
he was a faithful and diligent labourer in his Master's vineyard.
During this period he published many works bearing his own
name ; three large volumes of Selected Family Sermons; Prety-
man's Elements of Theology, abridged ; Massillou's Charges,
translated ; Jeremy Taylor's Prayers; with several occasional
Discourses, &c. ; but he was also the author of three volumes of
useful and popular Sermons, which have been held in great
repute, under the title of " Theophilus St. John, LL.B." Some of
these were composed before he was twenty-four years old; and
it was from self-diffidence alone that he ushered them into the
world under a fictitious name. It is believed that he was an
incidental contributor to the pages of the Gentleman 's Magazine
— at least it is known that he was an admirer and lover of it,
on account of the religious and political piinciples which it has
always espoused, especially at that memorable era, or perilous
crisis, when there were so many machinations with which our
unrivalled Establishment in Chui-ch and State had to contend.
For these principles and their advocates he was a most strenuous
champion — indeed the sternness of his orthodoxy was a pro-
minent feature in his character ; and as all mortals have their
failings, one of his perhaps was the vehemence with which he
was accustomed to defend his favourite loyal and clerical tenets.
If to hate a Whig was, in the opinion of Dr. Johnson, to be a
good hater, Mr. Clapham might well aspire to that honourable
appellation, by his antipathy to all the enemies of our excellent
Church, whether within or without its pale. In one of St.
John's (Mr. Clapham's) sermons on our Saviour's answer to
Nicodemus, he triumphantly exposes and refutes the erroneous
Calvinistic doctrine of regeneration, which was lately so much
inculcated by a certain class of teachers among ourselves. Mr.
Clapham's social qualities, his inflexible integrity and good nature,
endeared him to a numerous and respectable acquaintance. He
kept up a constant intercourse with many eminent preachers
and literary men of talent, such as the late Bishop of Win-
chester, Mr. Rose, M.P., &c. He was especially in habits of
strict intimacy with the aged and venerable Dr. Scott, so many
years rector of a valuable living in the north, since divided into
six — one who will be known to posterity by his Sermons, as
well as by his letters signed "Anti-Sej antes." What he did not
publish of the former, he bequeathed to the subject of this
memoir. Mr. Clapham was not less cautious in forming his pri-
326 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
vatc attachments, than he was fervent and steady in adhering
to thern when formed. With a slight publication which met
his eye in 1795, he was so much pleased that he commenced and
carried on a familiar and friendly correspondence with its author
for more than ten years before they ever saw each other; after-
wards, by a congeniality of sentiment on passing events and
professional exertions, for the remaining twenty-five years it
was never interrupted. Having taken this concise view of Mr.
Clapham's principles and conduct, supported consistently through
life, it must now be added that towards the dose of his career
his constitution began to be much impaired. He was unable to
share any more with an assistant in the parochial functions of
his ministry, and in quitting his vicarage of Christchurch,
where he had so long resided, he was advised by the faculty to
repair to Sidmouth for the benefit of its salubrious air; but
here, although incompetent to any service either in the desk or
pulpit, his attention was ever on the alert, and his pen was not
idle in his beloved Master's cause. He dedicated his time and
talents to a revisal and improvement, by more French trans-
lations, of a new edition, which was called for, of his Family
Sermons. He happily lived long enough to complete this work,
and see it make its appearance. After this he wholly resigned
himself to pious meditations and devotional exercises. He had
been long " setting his house in order," so as to be ready to quit
it on a summons for that awful journey which we must all take
that we may enter into our rest; and a few weeks previous to
his dissolution, after humorously describing his feeble and help-
less state before he was confined to his bed, he wrote as follows
to the author of this scanty and imperfect tribute to his
memory: — "I am living with eternity ever in my view — not
without that dread which every thinking man as a fallen crea-
ture must feel at so awful a contemplation ; but soothed by hope
and comfort, which I am willing to believe is directed from
above." Under the impression of these sentiments it is natural
to expect that his last end must be like that of the righteous;
and, in fact, so easy and gentle was his exit from this world,
that he may be said almost literally to have slept himself into
another; there to receive, through a Redeemer's merits (for in
these alone he placed his trust), the rewards of an industrious,
well-spent, Christian life. Mr. Clapham had only one son, James
Murray, who died on board his Majesty's ship Pandora, April
28th, 1809, in his eighteenth year, and has a monumental tablet
in the church of Upper Deal. He left three amiable unmar-
ried daughters, who were truly exemplary and unremitting in
MR. JOHN BLENKINSOP. 327
filial attentions to their revered parent. — See the Gentleman's
Magazine, vol. a, part 1, p. 646, &c. ; Darling's Cyclopaedia
Bibliographia ; Lowndes's Bibliographer 's Manual, &c.
1783—1831.
MR. JOHN BLENKINSOP,
Manager of the Middleton Collieries, near Leeds, in 1811 took
out a patent for a locomotive steam-engine, and placed his
designs for execution in the hands of Messrs. Fenton, Murray,
and Wood, at that time an eminent firm of mechanical
engineers in Leeds. This was the first locomotive engine in
which two cylinders were employed, and in that respect was a
great improvement upon the earlier attempts of Trevithick
and others ; the cylinders were placed vertically, and were
immersed for more than half their length in the steam space
of the boiler. The boiler was of cast-iron of the plain cylin-
drical kind with one flue — the fire being at one end, and the
chimney at the other. It was supported upon a carriage, resting,
without springs, directly upon two pairs of wheels and axles
which were unconnected with the working parts, and served
merely to carry the engine upon the rails — the progress being
effected by a cog-wheel working into a toothed-rack cast upon
the side of one of the rails. Mr. Blenkinsop's engine began run-
ning on the railway extending from the Middleton Collieries to
the town of Leeds, a distance of about three miles and a half,
on the 12th of August, 1812. This engine was set to work two
years before George Stephenson started his earliest locomotive,
and was undoubtedly "the first commercially successful engine
employed upon any railway!'* In the year 1816 the Grand
Duke Nicholas (afterwards Emperor) of Russia, observed the
working of Blenkinsop's locomotive with curious interest, and
expressions of no slight admiration. An engine dragged behind
it as many as thirty coal waggons, at a speed of about three
miles and a cpiarter per horn*. Mr. Blenkinsop was for many
years principal agent to the Brandling family at Middleton, near
* At a conversazione of the Leeds Philosophical Society, held in December,
1863, a model of Blenkinsop's engine, as made by the late Matthew Murray,
was exhibited and explained by Mr. Manning. In order to commemorate the
fiftieth anniversary (September 2nd, 1863) of Stephenson's visit to Leeds to
see the engine (rork,M< rs. Manning, Wardle, and Co., engineers, had the
model photographed and mounted, with explanatory notes; and as a suitable
memorial of the event, .Air. Manning (who baa been kind enough tore-write
the first part of the above Sketch), presented a copy to be hung in the Leeds
Philosophical Hall.— For a longer description of the above engine, with an
illustration, see the Leeds Mercury for July 18th, 1812, &c.
328 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Leeds.* As a man of science and benefactor to his country, his
name will be handed down to future generations among the
foremost in this enlightened age, by his invention of the steam-
engine for conveying coals from the Middleton pits to Leeds,
which at once gave the general idea of the superior utility of
the locomotive steam-engine. He died on Saturday, January
22nd, 1831, after a tedious illness, aged forty-eight years. As a
generous and disinterested friend, his memory was long cherished
by a numerous circle of acquaintance; in his station as agent he
commanded the entire confidence and esteem of his employers,
and also lived highly respected among the working classes, and
died sincerely lamented by all who in any way were connected
with him. — See the Leeds Papers for 1831, &c
1752-1831.
THE EEV. JAMES FAWCETT, B.D.
The following memoir must necessarily be a brief one ; since
it is not here intended to compose the abstract history of a
Christian philosopher ; and the quiet disposition, the unassuming
habits, the unambitious views, and bodily infirmities of the
individual under consideration, all conspired to withdraw him
from an extensive intercourse with the world, and from any
emulous competition with the candidates for its favours; his
virtues, talents, and acquirements, however, were duly appre-
ciated by a more confined circle of friends and acquaintance, to
whom he was an object of love and respect in no ordinary
degree. James Fawcett was born at Leeds in the year 1752,
and received his education at the Free Grammar School of that
town. He was brother to the Rev. Richard Fawcett, M.A.,
vicar of Leeds. On his mother's side he was descended from a
very respectable family, of the name of Allen ; and his father
was minister of one of those chapels which were attached to the
vicarage, and at the disposal of the vicar. At his very entrance
into this checkered scene of existence, it appeared that bodily
infirmities were to be contrasted in him with mental endow-
ments ; as if to exhibit the edifying example of a patient,
philosophic, and Christian spirit, triumphing over the accidental
evils of our mortal state. He was born with a weakly consti-
tution ; and owing to that disease, so formidable to the infantile
frame, which is called the rickets, he became dreadfully deformed
in both his legs ; he had also the additional misfortune to break
•Robert William Brandling, Esq., took out a patent in April, 1825, for
improvements in railroads and carriages. — For a description of which, see
Newton's London Journal of Arts, &c, for 1826.
THE REV. JAMES FAWCETT, B.D. 329
a thigh in early youth ; so that his personal appearance "was
calculated to excite commiseration, until it was known that no
afflictions of this kind were able to disturb the serenity of his
temper and the benevolence of his mind, or to withdraw him
from those intellectual studies which are peculiarly adapted to
alleviate the calamities of human life. Such a disposition did
this amiable man bring to the place of his academical education ;
having been entered at St. John's College, Cambridge, March
26th, 1770, under Mr. Chevallier, who was then tutor, and
afterwards head of that house. He came to reside in the month
of October following, and very soon distinguished himself in
the race of emulation with his contemporaries. The public
examinations at this college, lately set on foot by its zealous
and accomplished master, were then completely organized ; and
when young Fawcett underwent the ordeal, at the end of his
first term of residence, a veiy high encomium was passed on
his performance by Dr. Powell, who, though a severe censor of
academical delinquencies, was a great encourager of youthful
merit. At his second trial in June, when prizes of books were
adjudged to such as had twice obtained places in the first class,
his name was mentioned with distinction among the foremost of
those that were so rewarded : nor does he appear at any subse-
quent examination to have lost ground, though he had to contest
it with a set of competitors who entitled themselves to particular
commendation from the master. His success on this arena may
probably be attributed more to a proficiency in classical litera-
ture than to skill in the mathematics ; for when he came to
take his first degree of A.B. in January, 1774, his name did
not appear higher than fifth among the senior optimes; a respect-
able place indeed, but one which denotes no great eminence in
scientific attainments. He cultivated Latin prose composition
with distinguished success. The letter which he wrote to the
electors, when he was candidate for a scholarship in college, is
said to have strongly recommended him to the notice and favour
of Dr. Powell ; but his pnfficiency in this accomplishment
appeared to much greater advantage in 1776, when he gained
the first of those annual prizes which are given by the repre-
sentatives of the university for the two best Latin essays. In
1777 Mr. Fawcett took his degree of A.M., and in the same
year was elected Fellow of his college, on the foundation of Sir
Marmaduke Constable. In 1782 he was also elected into the
office of Lady Margaret's preacher, which, though a sinecure,
probably directed his attention to the university pulpit, and
induced him to compose the admirable discourses which are
330 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
now re-published for the benefit of this and future generations.
They were all delivered in St. Mary's church, and appear worked
up with a minute attention both to style and argument, worthy
of the audience to which they were addressed. It cannot be
said that these compositions are adapted to a parochial congre-
gation, in which the middle and lower classes of society pre-
dominate, though in peculiar times and seasons they might be
turned generally to good account ; they contain no flights of
imagination, no display of pathetic sentiment, no vehement
declamation to excite the passions : nor do the subjects treated
of require such aid. The greater number of them are employed
in establishing the truth of revelation on a sure and solid basis ;
whilst the rest are directed to the sifting of some doctrinal
point in religion, or some case in moral casuistry. Their great
aim being to convince men's understanding, and to secure the
assent of their reason, nothing is omitted which is necessary for
the argument, nothing introduced by which it might be encum-
bered or weakened ; but the whole is conducted on the princi-
ples of sound logic ; the most lucid order being preserved, and
the most apposite illustrations collected from Holy Writ; more-
over, scriptural texts are clearly explained when obscured by
difficulties, or perplexed by seeming contradictions ; and the
strongest objections of the infidel, or sceptic, are boldly met,
and unanswerably refuted. With regard to the style, it may
be pronounced easy though terse, full though sententious ; its
periods are very harmoniously constructed, every word appear-
ing to fall into its right place, to be used in its right sense, and
to be used so, that a better could rarely be substituted in its
stead. Meanwhile, it must not be supposed that more awaken-
ing topics are never introduced ; or that occasions are never
taken to search into the secret state of the soul, to rouse the
sinner's conscience, and second the efforts of returning peni-
tence ; to display those awful truths which are connected with
eternity, and point out to man the true means whereby he may
secure the blessings of redemption : but, in fact, such topics
were, at that peculiar time, of minor consideration. The very
proofs of Christianity had been long and vehemently attacked
by the disciples of French infidelity; and scepticism was
gradually insinuating itself into our own more happy country :
these proofs, therefore, were to be corroborated, and placed in
a proper light, before a large assembly of academic youth, of
which the appointed ministers and defenders of the faith itself
would be selected. A more important task could scarcely be
committed to a man; and it is not too much to say that it
THE EEV. JAMES FAWCETT, B.D. 331
■was executed with vigour and effect. On these admirable
compositions, few as they are, Professor Fawcett's fame, in all
probability, must ultimately rest : but nothing can be more
unjust than to estimate the excellence of an author by the
number and dimensions of his works ; for if quality be taken
into account, how many bulky volumes must yield the palm to
his small but condensed one ! " Had his own modesty, or the
respect which was thought due to his memory by surviving
friends, not stood in the way, few authors of the present age
could have furnished larger stores for the press ; since he was
in the habit of composing his own discourses for the pulpit, and
had, by constant reading, deep reflection, and unremitted dili-
gence in writing, acquired such a facility of composition, that
he could, without premeditation, cast off a sermon, or an essay,
which needed no revision or correction : this, as I am assured
by several of his friends, he was in the habit of doing ; and I
have the best authority for asserting, that the excellent lectures
which he delivered as Norrisian professor were so composed,
and never afterwards materially altered. Let not, however,
the young student deceive himself by viewing this practice in
a fallacious light : he did not follow it, until he had acquired
the right of so doing by intense study and laborious exercise.
No style is generally less pleasing than the unstudied effusions
even of a talented author ; whilst that which is in the highest
degree artificial, provided care be taken to conceal the art, is
most delightful to the common reader, as well as to the severe
critic : this is in fact the style which both excites and eludes the
hope of successful imitation in the unpractised and inexpert."
In 1785 Mi-. Fawcett proceeded to the degree of B.D., and in
1795 he was elected Norrisian professor of divinity (succeeding
the Eev. Dr. John Hey, also a Leeds man), one year after the
publication of his Sermons, which no doubt paved the way to
that appointment, by satisfying the electors of his high qualifi-
cation for it. Truth, however, requires us to confess that this
qualification did not extend far beyond his intellectual endow-
ments and his literary attainments : for a certain thickness in
his speech, an awkwardness of manner in a crowd, a want of
energy, and an easiness of temper, little calculated to curb the
sallies of a large assembly of young men constrained to sit out
a lecture of an hour in length, certainly found a contrast to the
dignified manner, the ready delivery, and the adroit manage-
ment, by which his learned successor secured the attention and
respect, whilst he conciliated the good-will of his hearers.
Some of the natural imperfections above mentioned contributed
332 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
also to render Professor Fawcett's preaching at the Round
church in Cambridge (to the vicarage of which he was presented
by the parishioners) less efficient than might have been expected
from the soundness of his doctrine, the beautiful style of his
discourses, and the exemplary tenour of his life. He failed in
drawing together large congregations ; though many members
of the univei'sity, both graduates and under-graduates, had the
good taste, as well as good sense, to frequent his church, where
they had opportunities of listening to what might be considered
models of composition for a divine of the Church of EDgland.
Occupied with his clerical duties and those of his professorship,
Mr. Fawcett chiefly resided in college, until he was presented by
the society, in 1801, to the united rectories of Thursford and
Great Snoring, in Norfolk : he afterwards divided his time
between his parsonage and the university, being permitted to
retain rooms in college on account of his lectures. He was not
fond of entering there into mixed company; though he greatly
enjoyed that of his more intimate friends, and was very partial
to a small, but social meeting, held by a few fellows of the
college on Sunday evenings, at the rooms of each in rotation,
where theological subjects were generally discussed, and where
he was distinguished by the ready, clear, and satisfactory man-
ner, in which he was accustomed to answer objections, and to
solve difficulties. In 1815 Mr. Fawcett vacated the Norrisian
professorship, which, by the terms of its foundation, cannot be
held beyond a certain number of years ; in 1822 he also resigned
his vicarage in Cambridge, and resided thenceforward solely on
his rectory in Norfolk ; there he lived on terms of great amity
with his parishioners and the neighbouring families, keeping up
genuine hospitality among the latter, contributing liberally to
the wants of his poorer brethren, and exercising the duties of
his sacred profession with integrity and fidelity. At the festive
season of Christmas, he generally made his appearance among
his old friends and associates in college, where his presence was
always hailed with joy and gladness. He died on Sunday,
April 10th, 1831, in his eightieth year, at the rectory house,
Great Snoring, Norfolk, of which parish he had been incumbent
thirty years. His learning entitled him. to a high rank among
scholars, while his unassuming manners, his sincere piety, his
cheerful patience under severe and increasing infirmities, and
the genuine kindness of his heart, secured Mm the love and
esteem of his friends and relatives, and his benevolent attention
to his parishioners merited their respectful attachment. " Since
the great dearth of information respecting this excellent person
ROGER HOLT LEIGH, ESQ. 333
prevents me from enlai'ging the imperfect Sketch of his life and
character here given, I shall conclude with two observations,
which are earnestly recommended to the consideration of any
young person who may be subject to similar infirmities of body ;
first, that an admirable counterpoise to such evils may be found
in the cultivation of the mind ; secondly, that weakness of
natural constitution may often be counteracted, to a surprising
degree, by strict habits of temperance, by a cheerful disposition,
and by a patient resignation to the will of Providence. James
Fawcett, who was born with a constitution so frail that it
seemed impossible for him to survive the years of childhood,
not only attained to a high degree of literary excellence, but
reached the extreme limit assigned by Holy "Writ to the strength
of mortal man."' — Chiefly from Divines of the Church of England,
by the Rev. T. S. Hughes, B.D., and the Leeds Intelligencer, &c.
See also Darling's Cyclopaedia Bibliographia, &c.
1779-1831.
ROGER HOLT LEIGH, ESQ.,
So well known to thousands for his public spirit, his benevo-
lence, his unwearied attention to the welfare of our public
institutions, his more than zeal in all cases wherein he could be
of assistance, by purse or by personal exertion, to the cause of
his country or of suffering humanity, left Leeds on the 3rd of
May, 1831, to give his vote as a freeman of the borough of
Wigan ; and in the exercise of that duty on the 4th, was so
maltreated by the mob that he died on the 13th, in consequence
of the injuries received, to the great affliction of his family and
numerous friends in Lancashire. In Leeds the occurrence was
the subject of general conversation, and of deep and unfeigned
regret. "What a loss we have sustained!" was the universal
remark. " How kind, how useful, how accessible he was to all
ranks !" " The champion and unflinching defender of what he
conscientiously held to be the first interest of his country — the
integrity of the British constitution." Mr. Leigh's heart was
not only warm, it was in the right place. He was at all times
ready to obey the call of patriotism, principle, and consistency,
and often laboured while others slept ; but his physical powers,
though considerable, were unequal to the fearful odds of a fierce
and misguided rabble, clamouring for the overthrow of those
institutions which were in his estimation dearer than life itself.
He was a senior common-councilman of this borough, having
been elected to that office on the 1st of September, 1803. He
was also one of the patrons of the vicarage of Leeds ; a governor
334 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of the Leeds Free Grammar School; a trustee of the Charity
of Pious Uses ; and president of the committee of the Leeds
Public Library. He likewise strenuously supported almost
every charitable institution in the town; and to him is justly
due the honour of the great success and advantage, which have
attended the various schools established in this extensive town-
ship in connection with the Established Church. In addition
11 this, he was a principal promoter of the building of the
various new churches which were erected in this parish, during
the ten years preceding his death. In short, his public devotion
was unbounded, and his good qualities more than we have space
to enumerate. Mr. Leigh was descended from the ancient and
honourable family of the Leighs of Adlington, in the county of
Cheshire, whence also descended the Barons Leigh. A subscrip-
tion-monument, executed by Mr. Westmacott, jun., about a
year and a half after his death, was put up in the choir of the
Leeds parish church (in October, 1832). The design consists of
a delicately-white marble five-feet statue of the deceased, in a
sitting posture, in his civic robe, having an open volume in his
hand, inscribed " 1688." The likeness, considering that the
artist had to work from a miniature and a pencil-drawing, the
former taken many years ago, is good ; but there is tqp much
hair on the head, and the countenance is more juvenile than
that of the departed. All that depended on Mr. Westmacott
has been most ably performed. On the tablet, beneath the
statue, is this inscription : — " Sacred to the Memory of Roger
Holt Leigh, Esquire, twenty-seven years a member of the cor-
poration, and a strenuous supporter of the institutions of the
borough of Leeds. He was a warm advocate of the Established
Church, an uncompromising defender of the glorious constitu-
tion of 1688, a consistent patriot, and a faithful friend. During
the general election in the year 1831, whilst engaged in the
exercise of his franchise as a burgess of Wigan, his native
place, he was so severely injured by an excited populace that
he died at Hindley Hall, the seat of his eldest and only surviv-
ing brother, Sir Robert Holt Leigh, Bart., May 13th, 1831,
aged fifty -two years. As a memorial of their esteem and adini-
on of his inflexible public integrity and private worth, his
numerous friends have caused this monument to be erected.
Mi-. Leigh's remains were interred in the family vault at Up-
Holland Abbey church, near Wigan, in the county of Lancaster."
— See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for May, 1831; the Gentle-
ni.ua 's Magazine; Burke's Extinct Baronetage, &c.
LIEUTENAXT-GEXERAL COCKELL. 335
—1831.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL COCKELL,
A native of Leeds, who distinguished himself in the army, and
died June 6th, 1831, at Sandleford Lodge, near Newbury,
Berks. An early predilection for the profession of arms induced
him to leave school, and enter the army during the American
war. His first commission was obtained for him by Sir George
Saville, and he successively rose to the rank of lieutenant-
general. Previous to obtaining his commission in the 31st
Regiment, he quitted school unknown to bis friends, who
opposed his entering the army, and accompanied the 33rd
Regiment in 17 70 to America, where he served until sent home
by Lord Cornwallis, at the request of Ins friends. He was
present at the taking of Long Island, New York, and Phila-
delphia ; the battles of Whiteplains, Germantown, and Mon-
mouth ; besides various skirmishes in New Jersey. Upon his
return to England, in 1780, he served eighteen months as ensign
in the 1st West York Militia. William Cockell was appointed
ensign in the 31st Regiment, July 12th, 1782, and the same
year was removed to the 2nd Foot, with which regiment he
served six years at Gibraltar ; he was appointed lieutenant
April 25th, 1792*; captain, March 29th, 1793, in the 95th
Regiment; major, April 18th, 1794, in the 105th Regiment,
and lieutenant-colonel, September 16th, 1795. On the reduc-
tion of his regiment he was placed on half-pay, and shortly
afterwards appointed assistant-adjutant-general in Zealand ; he
was appointed to the 46th Regiment on the 7th July, 1800;
and on the 8th of October, 1802, was removed to the 5th Foot.
In August, 1802, he was appointed inspector of an Irish
recruiting district; brevet-colonel, September 25th, 1803;
brigadier-general, August 24th, 1804, on the staff at Guernsey,
where he served till the 24th of June, 1806. He was
appointed brigadier-general at the Cape, October 26th, 1810,
with a brigade under his orders, consisting of a detachment of
the Royal Artillery, the 72nd and 87th Regiments, to co-ope-
rate with a force sent from India, under the command of
Lieutenant-General Abercrombie, for the reduction of the
Mauritius. After the capture of the island he returned to
the Cape, leaving the troops he had taken with him ; he was
appointed major-general, July 25th, 1810; and lieutenant-
general, June 4th, 1814. — For further information, see the
United Service Journal for 1831 ; the Royal Military Calendar ;
the old Army Lists, and Military Obituary, &c.
33G BI06RAPIIIA LEODIENSIS.
1754-1831.*
THE EEV. JOSEPH SWAIN, B.D.,
Incumbent of Beeston, near Leeds, died November 18th, 1831,
a^ed seventy-seven years. His clerical ministrations in this
town, extending through the long period of fifty-four years, as
curate of Holy Trinity and the parish churches, as incumbent
of Farnley, and latterly of Beeston, were ever faithfully and
punctually performed. As second-master of the Free Grammar
School at Leeds, for a term of more than thirty years, he
proved himself an able and successful instructor of youth. Of
the public charities he was a steady and liberal supporter. As
treasurer and secretary of the West-Riding Charity for the
benefit of widows of the clergy, he laboured for its interests
with an ardour and devotedness unsubdued by mental care or
bodily fatigue. His exertions may truly be said to have caused
many a widow's heart to sing for joy. — See the Leeds Papers,
&c, for November, 1831.
* — 1831. Benjamin Hiku, Esq., M.D., physician to the Leeds General
Infirmary, died, greatly respected, March llth, 1831, at his house in Park
Row, Leeds, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. Dr. Hird published a
Tribute to the Memory of Dr. Fothergill, which may be found in the fifth
volume of Miscellaneous Tracts, 4to. (Leeds Library). If e was for twenty years
physician to the Leeds General Infirmary ; and though he had a short time
before his death retired from public life, his professional eminence and
kindness and benevolence to the poor, were long remembered. — See the Leeds
Papers, &c.
— 1831. Mr. C. F. Hasse, organist to the church of the United Brethren
at Fulneck, near Leeds, died very suddenly on Sunday morning, May 1st,
1831. Christian Frederic Hasse was born March 3rd, 1771, at Sarepta, a
settlement of the United Brethren in Russia. At an early age he was sent to
the Moravian establishment at Niesky, in Prussia, and afterwards finished his
education at Barby, near Magdeburg. He was originally intended for the
church ; but his musical talents early developing themselves, he followed the
bent of his genius. His earliest musical work was a sacred cantata, while he
was a teacher in the college at Uhyst, the concluding chorus of which is
published in his second volume of Selections. At the beginning of the present
century he removed to Fulneck, as professor of music to the institution and
organist of the church. Here he devoted himself to classic sacred music, and
for many years laboured indefatigably for the advancement of this divine art.
Through his instrumentality music received a decided impulse for good, and
the musicians of Yorkshire were broiight into contact with many of the
great ecclesiastical works of modern German composers, which undoubtedly
assisted much to develop the musical taste of the West-Riding — for in
every town the name of Hasse was revered and beloved by the musicians.
His talents, particularly in that department to which he was more ex-
pressly called to devote his attention, were of a very eminent order, and his
knowledge both of musical authors, and of the theory of the art, such as is
but rarely acquired. His personal qualities were such as to endear him to
an extensive circle of warmly-attached friends, by whom his loss was severely
felt, as it was also long and deservedly regretted by the society of which he
was so consistent and so valuable a member. — See the Leeds Papers, &c. The
greater part of the particulars in the above Sketch have been kindly supplied
by my friend, Mr. Edward Sewell, master of Fulneck school, near Leeds.
EDWARD MARKLAND, ESQ. 337
1749—1832.
EDWARD MARKLAND, ESQ.,
Mayor of Leeds in 1790 and 1807, was born in 1749, and was
the descendant of an ancient and respectable family in Lanca-
shire. On his return from Spain, in 1775, where he had been
for some years engaged in commerce, he settled in Leeds, and
having been elected a member of its corporation, he served the
office of mayor of that borough in 1790 and 1807. He was
also a deputy-lieutenant of the West-Riding of Yorkshire.
Having removed to London in 1810, Mr. Markland was in the
following year appointed one of the police magistrates at Queen
Square, Westminster — an office which advancing age and
increasing infirmities induced him to resign in 1827, when he
selected Bath as his residence. Well versed in the criminal
law, and uniting great acuteness of observation with soundness
of judgment, Mr. Markland proved himself an active and most
useful magistrate; and both in the ordinary routine of duty, as
well as in times of emergency, his conduct was uniformly zealous,
firm, and judicious. In politics he was a consistent Tory. His
religious creed was that of the Established Church of England,
to the communion of which he steadily and piously adhered
through life. His habitual cheerfulness and vivacity imparted
a charm to his social qualities, and irresistibly attached to him
a large body of friends, by whom his memory was cherished
with feelings of affectionate regard ; but far higher praise is due
to one who, tried — how hardly tried ! — in the school of adversity,
maintained an unshaken spirit of fortitude and of patient endur-
ance with the higher principles of moral rectitude. Founded as
these virtues were on the basis of true religion, they evinced the
sincerity of his faith, and proved him to be a conscientious and
practical Christian. Mr. Markland married, in 1774, Elizabeth
Sophia, daughter and co-heiress of Josiah Hardy, Esq., at that
time the British consul at Cadiz — a family highly distinguished
in the naval annals of this country, and by whom he left three
sons and two daughters. He died March 17th, 1832, at his
residence in St. James's Square, Bath, in his eighty-fourth year.
— For further particulars, see the Gentleman; 's Magazine for
April, 1832, p. 371, &c. ; the Annual Biography and Obituary
for 1833, p. 437, &c.
1766—1832.
DANIEL SYKES, ESQ., M.A., M.P., F.R.S.,
Barrister-at law, late recorder of Hull, representative of that
town in parliament from 1820 to 1830, and in the next parlia-
Y
338 BlOGRAPIlIA LEOBIENSIS.
inent M.P. for Beverley, died, January 24th, 1832, at Raywell-,
near Hull, after a painful and lingering illness, aged sixty-six.
Mr. Sykes (born November 12th, 1766) was the youngest son
of a merchant at Leeds,'"' and having received a liberal education,
was elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, where he
graduated B.A. in 1788, as fourteenth wrangler, and M.A. in
1791. He was shortly after called to the bar, but the state of
his health compelled him to reside in the country, relinquishing
all the hopes of his profession (which he principally continued
for the benefit of his provincial neighbours), and joining in the
commercial pursuits of his family, which, under the firm of
Joseph Sykes, Sons, & Co., for more than thirty years were nearly
* Thoresby, in his Ducatus Leodiensis, gives a long pedigree of the Sykeses,,
many of whom rose to eminence. The following, perhaps, are some of the
most worthy: — One William Sykes, a younger son of Richard Sykes, of
Sykes Dyke, near Carlisle, came into these more popidous and trading parts,
where he improved himself considerably by the clothing trade ; his grandson,
Richard, was chief alderman of Leeds when first incorporated (1629 and
1036), one of the most eminent merchants in these parts, and lord of the
manor (which manor of Leeds he purchased of the Crown in 1625) ; who
married, in 1593, Elizabeth Mawson, and died in 1645, leaving issue four sons
and four daughters. Of this gentleman, it is said by Thoresby, the antiquary
and historian, that he left, " besides vast estates to his sons, £10,000 a-piece
to his daughters, from whom four knights' and baronets' families are
descended." 2, Henry, of Hunslet Hall, near Leeds, who married Mary,
daughter of Sir John Wood, of Beeston, and died in 1656. 3, William, lord
of tbe manor of Leeds; married Grace, daughter and co-heir of Josias;
Jenkinson, Esq., of Leeds, and by her he left, at his decease, in 1652, besides
daughters, five sons — Richard, of Ledsham Hall, near Leeds, who married
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Scott, Esq., and left four daughters, his
co-heirs, one of whom, Anna, married Ralph Thoresby, F.R.S., the historian
of Leeds. 4, Daniel, born in 1632, was mayor of Hull, and a merchant of
eminence there, where he died in 1693, leaving, by Deborah, his wife,
daughter of William Oates, Esq., mayor of Pontefract, one surviving son,
Richard Sykes, Esq., born in 1078; a merchaut of Hull, in the High church
of which town there is a monument to his memory. He married, first, Mary,
daughter and co-heir of Mark Kirkby, Esq., of Sledmere, and had by her,
Richard, high-sheriff of York in 1752 ; and Mark, of whom presently. Mr.
Sykes married, secondly, Martha, daughter of William Donkin, gent., by
whom, at his death, in 1726, he left one surviving son, Joseph Sykes, Esq,,
twice mayor of Hull, and a deputy-lieutenant for the East-Riding, born in
1723, and died in 1805; his fifth son, Daniel Sykes, Esq., F.R.S., represented
Hull and Beverley in parliament. The present head of this branch is Richard
Sykes, of West Ella, in this county. Mr. Sykes was succeeded by his eldest
son by his first wife, the Rev. Sir Mark Sykes, D.D., rector of Roos, in this
county, born in 1711; created a baronet in March, 1783, and died in Sep-
tember of that year, leaving an only son, Sir Christopher Sykes, D.C.L.,
born in 1749; M.P. for Beverley. He married Elizabeth, daughter of
William Tatton, of Withenshaw, in Cheshire, by whom he left, at his decease,
in 1801 — I. Mark, third baronet, of whom presently; II. Tatton, who suc-
ceeded his brother as fourth baronet; III. Christopher, in holy orders,
rector of Roos; born in 1774; who married Lucy Dorothea, daughter and
co-heir of Henry Langford, Esq., of Stockport, and had — 1, Lucy Elizabeth,
married, first, in 1827, to the Hon. and Rev. Henry Duncombe; and, secondly,
DANIEL SYKES, ESQ., M.A., M.P., F.K.S. 339
the sole importers, at Hull, of Swedish iron,* for the use of the
cutlers at Sheffield. He was, however, in consequence of his legal
acquirements, elected recorder of Hull, which office he retained
until within six months of his decease. Mr. Sykes's father left
him a large fortune and a share in the commerce, which also
occupied some of his time ; and his leisure he employed in pro-
moting the views of the Whig party, of w r hich his family had
long been supporters. He was one of the first establishes of
the Rockingham weekly paper, which, for many years, under the
able editing of the Rev. George Lee, had great influence in that
part of the kingdom. Thus he spent the earlier part of his life,
until in 1820, as one of the representatives of the town of Hull
— for which situation his extensive practical accpiaintance with
trade, and with the principles which govern it, peculiarly
fitted him; combining, as he did, the precise knowledge and
habits of close investigation given by a legal education, with the
expanded views of a legislator, and the business-like talent of a
merchant. Mr. Sykes's speech in recommendation of Mr.
Henry (afterwards Lord) Brougham, as the fittest person to be
called on to represent the county, at a meeting of Whigs at
York prior to the general election of 1830, had a powerful effect
in deciding the meeting in his favour. At a subsequent period
the freeholders of the West-Riding were desirous of raising
Mr. Sykes himself to the seat vacated by the elevation of
Mr. Brougham to the woolsack; and he would in all probability
in 1837, to the Rev. Charles Hotham; 2, Penelope, married, in 1837, to
Edward York, Esq., of Wighill Park, near Leeds, &e. The eldest son, Sir
Mark Sykes, married, first, Henrietta, daughter and heir of Henry Master-
man, Esq. , of Settrington Hall, near York, but she dying, without issue, in
July, 1813, he married, secondly, in August, 1814, Mary Elizabeth, sister of
Wilbraham Egerton, Esq., but died, without issue, in February, 1823. Sir
Mark was M.P. for York from 1807 to 1820, and was succeeded by his brother,
Sir Tatton Sykes, of Sledmere, born in 1772; married, in 1822, Mary Anne,
daughter of the late Sir W. Fowlis, Bart., of Ingleby Manor, and had issue
— 1, the present Sir Tatton Sykes, born in March, 1826; 2, Christopher, born
in 1831, &c. Sir Francis "VVilliani Sykes, Bart., of Basildon, in Berkshire, is
also descended from this family. — For a much longer and more particular
account, see Whitaker's Thorcsbii ; Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, kc.
* Some of the ancestors of Mr. Sykes had for many generations been
settled at Hull, in the pursuit of extensive commercial engagements. Mr.
Sykes's great-grandfather had such a connection with the Baltic trade that,
on the occasion of a severe famine in Sweden, he freighted several vessels
with provisions, and sent them thither for gratuitous distribution among the
poor; for this act the Swedish government in gratitude gave him the lease of
some iron mines, which eventually swelled the patrimony of his descendants
so as to enable them to withdraw from all other speculations. On his death
he bequeathed this property to one of his sons; and his landed estates to the
other, from whom descended the celebrated collector and patron of literature,
the late Sir Mark Sykes, of Sledmere, Bart., &c.
340 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
have been member for Yorkshire had not his own reluctance,
arising from too true a feeling of his sinking health, prevented
it. The following eulogy on his character was at that period
circulated by his friends : — "In Daniel Sykes, Esq., the present
member for Beverley, they saw a member in every way answer-
ing to their wishes. Himself connected with trade, being con-
cerned in a mercantile house in Hull — of mercantile descent
and connections, being the son of a Leeds merchant, whose
family has long been of high respectability in this town —
thoroughly versed both in the details and principles of commerce
— attached to the utmost freedom of industry — so independent
and disinterested that he sacrificed the representation of Hull
because he would not support the claims of the shipping inte-
rests to a re-imposition of the old restrictions on navigation —
favourable to freedom of trade in corn and freedom of trade to
the East — a staunch, consistent, and enlightened friend to a
thorough reform of the House of Commons — the constant
advocate of economy and retrenchment, which he supported on
all occasions — most regular in his attendance at the House and
in committees — a cool, clear-headed, patient man of business,
the very apostle of anti-slavery, having visited the whole East-
Riding to stir up the people to petition for the emancipation of
the slave — and, above all, of the most inflexible integrity and
unstained purity of character: such are the high and varied
claims of Mr. Sykes to the confidence of the freeholders of
Yorkshire." At the dissolution in 1830, Mr. Sykes declined
offering himself again for Hull, but was returned for Beverley,
and had the satisfaction of voting for the Reform Bill; but his
health compelled him to retire from public life at the dissolution
of parliament, and his constitution soon afterwards broke up.
Mr. Sykes' s funeral took place on Monday, January 30th, at
Ivirkella church, in the presence of a large number of friends,
and many of the inhabitants of Hull and the neighbouring
places. The funeral retinue left the family residence at Ray well
soon after nine in the morning, and proceeded in the following
r : — Five mourning coaches and four, containing the members
of the family; the hearse and four; a very long train of indi-
viduals, walking two abreast, comprising personal friends of
Mr. Sykes, merchants, professional gentlemen, members of the
Mechanics' Institute, &e. ; thirty carriages and coaches, and
about the same number of gigs and vehicles of other classes;
and between one and two hundred horsemen.* A splendid
* On Sunday, February 5th, a funeral sermon was preached in the Holy
Trinity church, Hull, by the E,ev. H. Venn, M.A., of Drypool. His text
DANIEL SYKES, ESQ., M.A., M.P., F.R.S. 341
monument was afterwards erected in Kirkella church to the late
Daniel Sykes, Esq., M.P., by his widow, with a long Latin
inscription, for which see Gentleman's Magazine, vol. cii., part 2,
p. 659, &c. — For a more particular account, see the Gentleman's
Magazine for February, 1832, p. 178, &c. ; the Annual Biography
and Obituary for 1833, p. 294, &c. And for a pedigree of the
Sykeses, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, pp. 3, 36, &c.
was taken from Ezekid xx. 35, which the preacher thus applied to the case of
the departed: "At the time when his political associates were advanced to
the direction of public affairs, — wheu the measures in which he had long
taken a deep interest were brought into discussion, and political zeal amongst
all parties was kindled to an unusual pitch, — when a fair and promising
opportunity was open before him of succeeding to the representation of the
county of Yoi-k, a post of not less distinguished honour than overwhelming
toil — at that time the fatal disease seized upon his frame with too sure a
grasp, and seemed to whisper in his ear, ' Come thou aside, and turn thy
thoughts to other things ; ' the hand of God brought him into ' the wilder-
ness,' into a state of suffering and retirement, to meditate upon death and
eternity, to hold converse with his God, and prepare for his immediate
presence." After some other prefatory remarks, Mr. Venn thus dilated on
Mr. Sykes's character: " He was a man formed to take the lead in society.
He was gifted with fine natural abilities, which were cultivated by mental
exercise, by extensive reading, and by intercourse with men of kindred
talents and attainments. He was distinguished by a cool and independent
judgment, united with great acuteness and clearness of apprehension. Good
sense was also one of the most striking features of his mind — sound, prac-
tical, good sense. These great and valuable qualities rendered him, in an
eminent degree, a useful member of the senate, and enabled him to command
attention whenever he rose to deliver his opinion. These qualities enabled
him to discharge the high judicial functions which he sustained in this town
with great dignity and advantage to the public. These qualities attracted
the esteem and confidence of an unusually large circle of friends, and, it may
be added, of all who had the opportunity of knowing him. The master-
principle of his character was benevolence, an enlarged benevolence, mani-
festing itself in acts of noble generosity, and disinterested zeal for the happi-
ness and welfare of his fellow-creatures. As a member of the legislature,
the questions in which he took the deepest interest and the most active part,
were such as he conceived to bear most directly on the happiness and comfort
of his countrymen, or any class of his fellow-creatures. Though identified
with one of the leading parties of the state, in his general view of politics he
still more cordially united with those of any party whom he believed to be
actuated by a desire of doing good. There was not one of the numerous
associations for purposes of benevolence in this district of the county, of
which he was not a liberal patron. But this is but an insignificant part of
his praise : it was not merely his money — his time, his ready and patient
attention, his talents were at the command of any one who came upon a
message of mercy. In the retirement of his country -seat, scarcely a day
passed in which he did not receive applications from persons in difficulty or
distress, to whom he liberally gave the benefit of legal advice, or such other
relief as their cases required : scarcely a day passed in which he was not
engaged in some act of kindness or bounty to his dependents and the neigh-
bouring poor, for the great object of his life was to make everybody around
him happy. Never did a public character better succeed in concealing the
extent of his Ixnevolence. In him there seemed a perfect abhorrence of
ostentation, and hence much of his charity was exercised in ways which it
was hardly possible for strangers to appreciate, or for friends to reveal during
342 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1807—1832.
CHARLES FREDERICK EDGAR, ESQ.,
Poet, &c, died at Potteraewton, near Leeds, July 6th, 1832,
aged twenty-five years, mucli respected and regretted.* Mr.
his life. A large and fixed portion of his income was devoted to charity, and
this besides occasional princely gifts to those connected with him by ties of
friendship and kindred. The part also which a father performs for the sake
of his children he undertook for the sake of those who had not that claim
upon him. For one proof of this, a circumstance may be mentioned, which,
in a commercial town, cannot but be duly appreciated. He continued to
engage in mercantile cares and risks for the benefit of others. After having
long since fixed upon a certain amount, beyond which he would not allow his
property to accumulate, he had the firmness to abide by this decision, when
the power and temptation to depart from it arose, and the resolute charity to
give away the increase. Let the well-known fact be borne in mind, that the
desire of increasing wealth in the human breast enlarges with the power of
doing so, and with the actual possession of it ; and that it would be as easy
for persons in lower ranks of life to make the same noble determination, not
to exceed the limits which their birth and station naturally assign, and it will
be seen how rare is such an absence of the love of money as our friend
exhibited. His integrity manifested itself in a nice sense of honour in all
his dealings with others, and a scrupulous fulfilment of promises. Had he
raised expectations in the minds of any, he regarded their fulfilment as sacred
as a promise, and would as readily recognize an equitable claim as though he
were bound by a formal obligation. The style of his conversation, though
partaking of all the polish which acquaintance with the world can impart,
had nothing of that hollow compliment of fashionable dissimulation, too
commonly contracted in the same school : simplicity and the tone of truth
were its characteristics. No arrogance was ever seen in him, no ambition to
appear as a great or rich man, no grasping at honours ; on the contrary, there
was an evident disinclination to assume the importance to which his station
and talents, as well as the respect of his friends, fairly entitled him, and an
amiable deference to the opinions of others, though in every respect his
inferiors. It was this moderation in his habits and personal expenses which
enabled him to be generous to the extent we have described. It was this
which made him so easy of access, that the poor and friendless came to him,
not only as to a powerful patron, but to a confidential friend." In youth,
Mr. Sykes was remarkably handsome, as is recorded in Miss Seward's Letters:
and in his advanced years he maintained the same animated expression of coun-
tenance. He married, early in life, one of whom it is sufficient to say that
he boasted often they had not been, for many years, a single day apart from
each other, and, " b) r God's will, they never more should be!" The bulk of
his property, which was allowed to increase of itself, only as a prudent man
would have acquired, he left righteously disposed among his nephews, accord-
ing to their circumstances.
* ON THE LAMENTED DEATH OF CHARLES FREDERICK EDGAR.
Died July 6th, 1832. Aged twenty-five years.
" As echo from a stricken lyre
Sinks to the heart's remotest core,
There came a breath, as from that wire,
Which whisper'd, ' Edgar is no more ! '
" And death at last has claim'd his boon,
And laid thy rising genius low :
Snatch'd from our hopes, alas ! too soon ;
For thee ten thousand tears shall flow.
CHARLES FREDERICK EDGAR, ESQ. 343
Edgar was well known in this county, and to a large circle of
persons of literary taste, as the author of various poems, and as
editor of the Yorkshire Literary Annual, the first volume of
which came out in 1831, and met with a gratifying public
reception, though a limited impression prevented him from
reaping any fruit from his well-applied labours. Latterly, his
life was one continued course of decline and pain. Having
served in the navy, in the pestilential climate of Java, and other
parts of the East, he returned to his domestic hearth with a
broken constitution. Medical skill and personal care were alike
unavailing; he sank gradually towards the grave; but he kept
up his spirits in a wonderful manner to the end, and breathed
his last breath, not in the agony that usually accompanies death,
but like " exhausted nature seeking sweet repose." As a writer,
Mr. Edgar possessed fancy and facility of expression; his prin-
cipal defect was a want of that power which is the result of
deep and mature thought. His personal disposition was such
as to make friends wherever he made acquaintances. He left
several unpublished pieces, chiefly relating to that "bourne" to
which he felt conscious he was about to journey, and from
whence "no traveller returns." We subjoin one of them,
written in August, 1831 : —
SCENES OF MY CHILDHOOD.
" Ye scenes of my childhood, I bid you farewell,
"With smiles that my anguish conceal;
But the heart's secret pain, sighs unbidden tell —
These tears its reluctance reveal.
" All who with thee, 'mid youthful fears,
Drank at the pure Aonian wave,
Bring flowers, wet with affection's tears,
To deck, sweet bard, thy early grave.
" At duty's call, on foreign strand
The patriot-youth his health resigu'd,
Nor could his own dear native land
Restore the blessing left behind.
" But, as the mortal frame decay'd,
To him a sun-bright hope was given ;
The muses lent their kindly aid,
With visions pure and bright from heaven.
" O gentle youth ! relentless death
Has sear'd those hopes we built on thee';
But thou hast gain'd a heavenly wreath,
Which blooms through all eternity !
" No bust, in grief's sad mantle drest,
Need o'er thy tomb be sorrowing bent ;
For, O ! in every feeling breast
Thou'st rear'd a lasting monument."
From the Leeds Mercury for July 21, 1832 ; and for some interesting Stanzas " To the
Leeds Literati," see the Leedt Li'' lligeruxr for January 27th, 1881.
344 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
" Farewell, the sweet scene of my juvenile hours !
Thy pleasures recede from my view ;
To thy grass-cover'd meads, embroider'd with flow'rs,
I bid a reluctant adieu.
" I view thy green glades as the land of my youth.
Ere sorrow this heart did invade;
Ere yet I had prov'd the too sorrowful truth,
Life's landscape is chequer'd with shade.
" How sweet to reflection now rises each hour,
Spent tinder the shade of thy trees ;
The past seizes on me with syren-like pow'r,
Forbidding the present to please.
" To fancy, how bright are the days that are flown !
All sorrow from them is effae'd ;
O'er them what illusions remembrance has thrown ;
Past years with what colours are grae'd !
" Oh ! rnem'ry, thy magic beguilements give o'er,
For sick'niug to truth I return ;
She tells me of those, time nor place can restore,
Who sleep 'neath the cold marble urn.
" Yet dear to my heart are the friends that are left,
Nor few to my bosom are given ;
Of those that are gone, though now I'm bereft,
Faith. whispers I meet them in heaven."
Leeds, 1831. C. F. E.
Peace to poor Edgar's ashes! He his last sleep hath taken.
May he 'waken to a joyful immortality! A second volume of
Original Poems, &c, by G. F. Edgar, was published just after
his death, by Mr. Bingley, of Leeds. — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
1795—1833.
CHAKLES TURNEE THACKEAH, ESQ.,
A surgeon, of this town, who was distinguished by an ardent
and anxious zeal in his profession, to which he devoted his mind
with unremitting assiduity; and gifted with a sound judgment
to weigh accurately the results of laborious and patient investi-
gation; was born at Leeds, in May, 1795, and was at an early
age placed under the tuition of the Rev. Thomas Harrison, of
Bardsey, near Leeds. His next preceptor was the Rev. Ham-
mond Roberson, of Heald's Hall, Liversedge, where, we are
told, he Avas distinguished above his schoolfellows by a spirit of
enterprise and undaunted resolution of purpose. The wishes of
his mother having devoted him to the Church, he was sent to
read divinity with the Rev. James Knight, of Halifax. But
to his active disposition the clerical profession presented few
attractions; when he ought to have been reading Grotius, &c. t
he was studying fortification among the hills, and, fortunately
for the cause of science, he was finally destined for the medical
CHARLES TURNER THACKRAH, ESQ. 345
profession. Though a mere youth, he had already evinced a
taste for literature, and composed the outline of an ingenious
tale of fiction. In 181 1 he entered the surgery of Mr. O. Brooke,
of Leeds, and from this period his devotion to study was unre-
mitting. In 1812 he seems to have commenced a diary in
Latin ; and during this year, whilst he performed the laborious
duties of an apprentice in an exemplary manner, he found time
to read thoroughly twenty-five works on medicine, history, and
general knowledge, and partially studied thirty-eight. In 1813
he remarks, that although during this year he was far more
engaged with professional duties, yet he had surpassed the exer-
tions of 1812. He closely studied forty -three works, and par-
tially eighteen, besides committing to memory 1600 lines of
Latin and English verse, and practising himself daily in com-
position. In 1814 he entered himself as a pupil to the Leeds
Infirmary. His course of reading that year was not less exten-
sive than in 1813, but the works he studied were almost exclu-
sively on professional subjects. Amongst his resolutions in 1815
were " to consume in sleep not more than eight hours in twenty-
four, unless in case of sickness or disturbed rest, and to make
himself acquainted each day with the nature and treatment of
some disease." About this period he began to keep records of
medical cases — a practice which he constantly adopted in after
life. He spent the winter of 1815-16 in London, and attended
the lectures at Guy's Hospital, where he was distinguished by
Sir Astley Cooper. " There it was," says his biographer, that
"he experienced the first attack of that visceral affection from
which he suffered occasionally during the remainder of his
existence. Close study and long confinement in the dissecting
rooms, with accidental exposure to cold and wet, induced a
serious disease of the mucous coat of the intestines, and his
health declined rapidly under the effects of pain and profuse
diarrhcea." Still he applied to his studies, early and late, and,
amid much suffering, his chief anxiety was "lest he should lose
opportunities of gaining improvement." In 1816 he passed his
examination at Apothecaries' Hall and the College of Surgeons,
and his Essay on Diabetes was rewarded by the Physical
Society's prize of several valuable medical works. Soon after
his return to Leeds, in 1817, he commenced practice on his own
account, though labouring under ill health. This, with the
worldly disappointments common to almost every condition of
life, gave a melancholy tone to his feelings. At first his profes-
sional prospects were unpromising; but having been appointed
town's surgeon, they brightened. During 1817 he applied him-
:UG B10GRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
self diligently to the study of the various branches of his pro-
fession, but particularly to the nature and properties of the
blood, though then unaware that Sir A. Cooper had determined
to give annual prizes to his pupils for the best dissertations on
that subject. In August, 1818, his essay gained the prize. Sir
Astley's approbation led him to further investigations. In 1819
the first edition of the Inquiry''' made its appearance, which at
once established his character. In the same year, at the request
of the Leeds "Workhouse Board, he drew up an able report of
the horrible state of the lower classes of lodging-houses in the
town, which excited deserved attention, and led to some very
beneficial regulations. This circumstance materially advanced
his professional reputation and interests. In 1820 he associated
himself with other members of the faculty in giving lectures to
medical students, for whose welfare he always evinced the most
lively interest. In April, 1822, he delivered an eloquent intro-
ductory discourse on the opening of the Leeds Philosophical
and Literary Society, which Discourse was printed at the
request of the members, and increased his reputation. But his
health continued to sink, and he wrote to a friend about this
time that, " after all, he feared he should be obliged to leave his
* A new and enlarged edition of the late Mr. Thackrak's well-known and
valuable work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Properties of the Blood in
Health and in Disease, was arranged and revised by Thomas G. Wright, M.D.,
of Wakefield, in 1833, who also prefixed an interesting Biographical Memoir
of the deceased author, and an explanatory Preface. The Essay was ori-
ginally dedicated to Sir Astley Cooper, under whose auspices it originated,
"and to whose encouragement it was first indebted for publicity." "And in
accordance with the grateful wishes of his widow, and with a sentiment of
high professional esteem from the editor, this new impression of the work is
respectfully dedicated." We copy these passages because they are important
to the character of the book, and indicate individual feelings which should be
cherished. He thus closes his Preface: — "His indefatigable professional
labour, his acute observation, his patient researches, are now ended. May
their results, in the following pages, gratify the philosopher, and contribute
to the advancement of medical science." This aspiration will be accomplished,
because the talents of the deceased were such as to command the attention of
the profession. The Biographical Memoir is from the kindly pen of Dr.
Whytehead, and occupies eleven octavo pages. It begins by an observation
that superior mental qualifications are too frequently conjoined to a delicate
frame of body, and that these superior energies, generally speaking, however
well directed, "have rather benefited the world at large than their unfortu-
nate possessor." We admit the fact; but we cannot agree with the applica-
tion of the epithet " unfortunate." The results of genius necessarily are for
mankind, and not for individuals ; and it is in the nature of things that an
active spirit should speedily escape from a frail tenement. Dr. Whytehead
admits that the "picture has its lights as well as its shadows;" yet is scarcely
inclined to allow "that the transient delights of sanguine anticipation out-
weigh the calmer and more durable pleasures of reality." In this we agree
with him ; but it hardly forms a part of the question. — See the Leeds Intel-
ligencer, &c, for December, 1834.
CHARLES TURNER THACKRAH, ESQ. 347
native place and settle in some distant town ; perhaps," said he,
" my remains will ultimately be deposited in a foreign land. I
may lie on my death-bed, without a friend or relative to close
my eyes; but I shall have one satisfaction, at least, that my
remembrance will not perish." In July of the same year, he
delivered a popular course of lectures at the Philosophical Hall ;
in the autumn he was elected a member of the "Societe de
Medecine de Pratique" of Paris; in February, 1823, he delivered
a second course of physiological lectures; and in 1824 a portion
of them were published under the title of Lectures on Digestion
and Diet. His practice had now so much increased that he felt
comfortable in his pecuniary circumstances. In the spring of
1824, Mr. Thackrah married Henrietta, daughter of Mr. J.
Scott, of Wakefield, who survived the union only four years;
and in the following year he sustained a further loss in the death
of his mother and an only daughter. In March, 1830, he mar-
ried Grace, daughter of A. Greenwood, Esq., of Dewsbury; and
found in the renewal of the wedded state a diminution of that
irritability which had so long rendered life burthensome. But
his general health was not improved. He allowed himself no
relaxation, pursuing his studies and professional avocations with
unabated zeal. In 1831 he assisted in the formation of the
Leeds School of Medicine, and delivered lectures before it on
aflatomy, physiology, pathology, and surgery. In 1832 he pub-
lished his well-known volume on The Effects of Arts, Trades,
and Professions on Health and Longevity ; and when England
was visited by the cholera, he repaired to Newcastle and Gates-
head to study its character, and on his return gave the public a
pamphlet on the subject. We are now arriving at the "last
scene of all." A pulmonary affection having been added to his
old visceral complaint, he declined rapidly, and died on the 23rd
of May, 1833, in the prime of life (aged thirty-eight yeai*s), easy
in his circumstances, and with the prospect before him of great
professional eminence. He was long deeply lamented by the
numerous individuals who, from experience of his talents, were
best able to appreciate them. The enthusiasm of his chai'acter,
joined with patience of research, had long promised vigorous
efforts in behalf of science. Without pretence to scholarship,
he was not unacquainted with the ancient authors. He had
read much, but his reading, especially in his youth, had been
desultory. He rarely employed his energies on a branch of
knowledge which he did not master with comparative ease, or his
pen on a subject which he did not improve or elucidate. The
strength of his social affections has been before noticed. He was a
348 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
kind master, an affectionate father, a devoted husband, and a sin-
cere friend. But ambition, his ruling passion, goaded on by a
sense of superior talent, was all-powerful — and to this his life was
sacrificed. His own views and feelings are strikingly depicted
in the following extract from one of his unpublished lectures: —
" How can } 7 ou employ your energies 1 Is the fervour of youth
to be wholly expended in the accumulation of wealth 1 Where
will you seek your happiness ? In the cold respect which mere
property acquh*es 1 In the toils of traffic, or the honours of the
miser 1 Are there no noble objects for your ambition 1 Why
should you not be Harveys, Hallers, and Hunters? In the
present enlightened day you have better prospects of success
than these men, who, without the aid of collateral science, made
themselves immortal in the page of physiology. Why not emu-
late the examples of Hewson, Desault, and Bichat 1 Soaring
above their professional associates, deriding the attacks of envy,
unbroken by anxiety and toil, they held on their course of
glory. They all died at an early age; but their youthful studies
bought an honour which the maturer efforts of their envious
competitors could never attain. Their names are engraven in
the temple of fame." Such was Mr. Thackrah. In saying that
ambition was his ruling passion, Dr. Whytehead has given a
key to his life. His abilities and acquirements were first-rate;
but the state of his health kept him down. Unquestionably his
death was a public loss; and his " remembrance will not perish."
— For additional information, see Dr. Whytehead's Biograpltical
Memoir, previously alluded to in a Note; the Leeds Papers, &c.
1758—1833.
THE REV. EDWARD PARSONS
Was for forty-eight years the pastor of the Independent church
assembling in Salem chapel, Leeds, whom he served with
eminent fidelity. He occupied a very distinguished station as
a minister of the Gospel, and was honoured with extensive use-
fulness in promoting the interests of religion. He died on
Thursday, August 29th, 1833, at Douglas, Isle of Man, in the
seventy-fifth year of his age. He had preached with much
animation on the morning of the previous Sabbath, and died
after an illness of only a few hours. His death was justly the
subject of deep and general regret.* He was succeeded by the
Rev. John Ely. — See the Leeds Papers, &c, for September, 1833.
* "We feel called upon (said the Leeds Mercury) to add a few lines to this
brief notice of the death of a minister so extensively known and esteemed in
this town and in the kingdom. Mr. Parsons had an open and generous heart,
TH01IAS TENNANT, ESQ. 349
1764—1833.
THOMAS TENANT, ESQ.,
A worthy alderman of Leeds, thrice mayor, who died December
25th, 1833, aged sixty-nine years. A tablet in memory of the
deceased is placed in the Leeds parish church, and bears the
following inscription : — " In this chancel are interred the
remains of Thomas Tennant, Esq., a senior alderman, and for
thirty-nine years a member of the corporation ; three times
mayor (1808, 1823), and in 1832, the returning officer at the
first election of members of parliament for the borough of
Leeds. By energy and impartiality as a magistrate, integrity
in the discharge of public trusts, soundness of judgment and
affability of manners, he gained the general respect of his
fellow-townsmen. An affectionate husband, an indulgent
father, a conscientious member of the Established Church, and
a sincere Christian : he was justly endeared to his family and
friends. Born in London, 8th October, 17GL died at Leeds,
25th December, 1833."* As a further memorial, near the
above is a beautiful stained-glass window, in the same church,
and was, in every sense of the word, liberal-minded. Living in times when
every man was called upon to express an opinion on national affairs, he, with
his characteristic decision and soundness of judgment, espoused the cause of
civil and religious liberty, to which he firmly adhered through life, and which
he occasionally supported by his pen, though he never went beyond the line
which the proprieties of ministerial character prescribed. He was a lover of
peace, and his influence was always used as a peacemaker. His disposition
was lively and cheerful, and his conversational powers great; a vein of quiet
humour gave piquancy to his conversation, and contributed, with his vivacity,
shrewdness, and amiableness, to make him a delightful companion. His
prudence and conciliating temper, combined with his talents and the dignity
of his ministerial character, to secure for him the respect of all sects and
parties in this town ; and, perhaps, few ministers were so extensively known,
and so much venerated and loved throughout the kingdom." — A small
portrait of the Rev. Edward Parsons, of Leeds, engraved by Parker, from a
painting by Wildman, was published in May, 1S27, by Westley and Davis, of
i oners' Court, London.
* On Saturday evening, about seven o'clock, January 26th, 1833, as Thomas
Tennant, Esq., the mayor of Leeds (who had just arrived in the town from
an excursion into a neighbouring county), was proceeding up Bank Street to
-i'knce in Albion Street, he was attacked by four villains, who seized
him behind, stopped his mouth, and throw him down. They took from him
a small portable writing-desk, in which were thirty-seven five-pound notes, of
the Boston and Lincolnshire banks, &c, besides some thirty sovereigns and
half-sovereigns, making together £215, and various letters, memoranda, &c.
Tie y also rifled his pockets of an antique silver snuff-box, a pair of tortoise-
shell spectacles, and a gold watch and chain, the seals of which were broken
off during the struggle. By the activity of the police, nine sovereigns and
three of the notes were traced to the possession of Elizabeth Brown, to v.
had been sent by the robbers. The writing-case was found early on
lay morning in a field near Brunswick chapel; Its appareni contents were
- buf the thieves had overlooked one of the parcels of notes, value £100.
The snuff-box and spectacles were found near the same place, and the watch
350 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
by O'Connor, of London, representing the descent from the
cross, under which are the words :— " Behold the Lamb of
God!" The incredulity of Thomas, with the words: — "My
Lord and my God !" The re-appearance of Christ to Mary,
where she says : " Rabboni 1" The upper part has a figure
representing the Ascension. The window was erected by his
surviving children in the year 1853. — The above Sketch has been
kindly revised by his sons, Thomas and Joseph Mason Tennant,
Esquires, of Leeds.
1748—1833.
THE REV. THOMAS JERVIS,
Minister of Mill Hill chapel, Leeds, from 1808 to 1818, died
at his house in Brompton Grove, London, August 31st, 1833,
in his eighty-sixth year. " Erat in illo viro comitate condita
gravitas ; nee senectus mores mutaverat." " Est enim quiete et
pure atque eleganter actse setatis placida ac lenis senectus." The
subject of this notice, to whom Cicero's description of a green
and virtuous old age was strikingly applicable, was born on the
13th of January (o.s.), 1748. On completing the term of his
education at the academy at Hoxton, he was in 1770 chosen to
the important office of classical and mathematical tutor to the
Dissenting Academy at Exeter. About the same time he
was also elected minister of the congregation assembling at
Lympston, and soon afterwards joint minister at Lympston and
Topsham with the Rev. J. Bartlett. In 1772, an application
from the Earl of Shelburne, afterwards first Marquis of Lans-
downe, induced Mr. Jervis to resign his charges in Devonshire,
and to remove, in October of that year, to Bowood, to under-
take the education of the two sons of that nobleman by his first
marriage. Here he remained in the enjoyment of highly culti-
vated society, greatly respected in the faithful discharge of his
important trust during a period of eleven years; and continued
was subsequently recovered. William Rollinson, John Pickersgill, Joseph
Teale, and Elizabeth Brown were committed to York for perpetrating or being
implicated in the robbery. They were tried on the 7th of March. The jury
found llollinson and Pickersgill guilty of the robbery, and Teale and Brown
not guilty, but said in their opinion the latter were guilty of receiving the
money, knowing it to have been stolen. Mr. Baron Gurney, in ordering
judgment of death to be recorded against Rollinson and Pickersgill, said :
" Prisoners, you have been convicted of a capital offence, and your lives are
forfeited to the offended laws of your country. If I should be induced to
spare your lives, it is the utmost mercy that can be shown ; and if they should
be spared, let the remainder of them be spent (as they must be spent in a
distant country, and in a very miserable condition), in endeavouring to atone
for the wickedness of which you have been guilty." Teale and Brown were
afterwards tried for, .receiving the stolen property, and each transported for
seven years. — See Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c.
THE REV. THOMAS JERVIS. 351
to be honoured with the kind attention and friendship of the
marquis until the time of that nobleman's decease. Lord Pitz-
maurice, the elder of his pupils, completed his education for the
university under his instruction. The younger, the Hon. Win.
Granville Petty, died at an early age, to the deep regret of all
who knew him. According to the testimony of Dr. Priestley,
then librarian to the marquis, and resident in the neighbour-
hood, this noble youth had "made attainments in piety and
knowledge beyond anything he had observed in life" — a circum-
stance which may also be considered as an evidence of the
knowledge and piety of his instructor. In 1783, on the com-
pletion of this engagement, Mr. Jervis accepted the appointment
of minister to the Presbyterian congregation at St. Thomas's,
in the borough of Southwark, which he retained until the death
of Dr. Kippis in 1795, to whom he was chosen immediate suc-
cessor as minister at Prince's Street chapel, Westminster, since
removed in consequence of the local improvements. In 1808
he quitted the metropolis in consequence of receiving a unani-
mous invitation to succeed his friend, the Rev. William Wood,
as pastor of the highly respectable congregation at Mill Hill
chapel, in Leeds. He resigned his connection with this society in
1818, and never afterwards engaged in any stated ministerial
duties; although he continued occasionally, for several years, to
assist his friends in the services of the pulpit. He preserved lo
the last, in a very remarkable degree, the vigour, energy, and
cheerfulness of his mind, with few and slight interruptions to
his bodily health. He married Prances Mary, daughter of the
late Rev. Dr. Disney, of the Hyde, in Essex, his intimate
friend, and near whom his remains now repose in the adjacent
churchyard of Pryerning. Mr. Jervis was himself so peculiarly
happy in delineating the characters of his deceased friends — as
is testified by his numerous contributions to the Gentleman's
Magazine and the Monthly Repository, and his funeral sermons,
many of which have been published — that the writer of this
article is especially anxions, in a few words, to do similar justice
to the distinguishing features of his own. Notwithstanding the
habitual tranquillity of his mind, Mr. Jervis's attachment to the
cause of civil and religious freedom was ardent and unshaken ;
and his devotional feelings were of the most animated descrip-
tion, as appears from the hymns he contributed to the collection
which beai's his name, in conjunction with those of his friends
Kippis, Rees, and Morgan. It is probable this Sketch will meet
the eye of some to whom he was well known, moi-e particularly
in the north and in the west of England, who will bear the
352 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
tribute of a sigli to the warmth, the sincerity, and the fidelity
of his friendships. His affectionate attention to the instruction
of the poor was warmly testified by the members of his congre-
gation at Leeds, while his discourses* were remarkably calcu-
lated to interest and impress the higher classes, as coming from
one who carried a pure and high tone of morality into the
social circle of the cultivated and polite, and rendered virtue
attractive by the charms of mildness and urbanity. With him,
to use an expression of his own, "courtesy was the law of
social life." By example as well as by precept, he recommended
and illustrated the "moral beauty of virtue." See Sermons
fifteen and seventeen, in a volume published in 1811. — For
further information, see the Gentleman's Magazine for October,
1833, p. 376, kc; the Annual Biography and Obituary for
1834, p. 441, &c.
1768-1834.
THE EEV. WILLIAM VINT,
President of Airedale College, &c, died on the evening of the
13th of March, 1834, at Idle, near Leeds, aged sixty-six. He
closed an honourable life, after a long and painful illness, in
peace. He had held the pastorate of the Independent church
and congregation in that village nearly forty-four years, and
united with it the presidency of Airedale College from its
foundation in 1800. Such a biography as his character deserves
and demands cannot be comprised in a work of this nature.
His was an intellect capable of the most varied efforts — acute
in judgment, bold in imagining, refined in taste. It would be
difficult to decide between the respective styles of his erudition,
his claim to mastery in what was profound and polite. Well
versed in classical scholarship, he was little infeiior in his
acquaintance with the modern languages. His acquirements
could only be measured by those who determined to elicit them.
Plain in his manners, they who knew him in the confidence of
his friendship were alone able to appreciate the refinement of
his sentiments and the delicacy of his feelings. Artless and
unaffected, he was to be compelled before he unfolded his stores.
* His printed Discourses possess a general correctness, an even and sustained
excellence, together with an application, sometimes remarkably felicitous, of
the stores which a taste for classical literature furnishes, and which well
adapt them to excite the attention of the cultivated classes of the com-
munity. While their appeals to the common feelings of our nature, and the
ce of nil disguise of the religious sentiments of the author, without,
however, entering into controversial discussions, relieve him from the imputa-
tion of preaching to the rich another Gospel than that which will console the
griefs and restrain the vices of the poor.
COLONEL SIR MICHAEL MX'KEAGH. .353
Gentle, lie never offended; but sensitive, he deeply felt ingrati-
tude and wrong. His generosity was unbounded, even to a
fault: nor was lie merely liberal in pecuniary dispositions; he
was self-devoting in every office of kindness and benevolent zeal.
He was a niggard in nothing, but in his economy of time. He
lived for others. Too often did he consume the night hi study ;
too often did he exhaust the day with labour. If a reserve did
ever disguise him, it was only from a superficial order of mind;
and a little proof of him revealed the simplest, kindest, truest
heart. He has closed a career, than which few have been more
signally useful ; none have been more greatly pursued. — See the
Leeds Mercury, etc., for March, 1834.
178G— 1834.*
COLONEL SIR MICHAEL M'CEEAGH,
Knight Commander of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic order,
Commander of the Bath, Knight of the Tower and Sword, &c,
and inspecting field-officer of the Leeds recruiting district, died
in a fit of apoplexy, on Sunday, August 31st, 1834, at his
residence in Rockingham Street, Leeds, in the forty-ninth year
of his age. Sir Michael was a highly distinguished officer, and
there were few who had seen more service. He was much
beloved and respected for his great suavity of manner to all
under his command; and indeed universally esteemed by those
who had the honour of knowing him. His loss was deeply felt
by the officers of the staff", and the non-commissioned officers and
privates of the district— for they had ever looked up to him as
a most honourable and just commanding-officer, as well as a
most kind and benevolent friend. The mortal remains of the
gallant colonel were interred on the Thursday following in the
mausoleum under St. Paul's church, Leeds. All the military
in the town attended the ceremonial, and the body was conveyed
to the church on an artillery ammunition-tumbrel drawn by four
horses. The church was crowded to excess by persons anxious
to witness the solemn and interesting proceedings. According
to the United Service Journal for October, 1834 (which see for
a much longer Sketch), " Sir Michael was universally beloved
* —1834. Mr. William Butterwortu, of Headingley, near Leeds, formerly
an engraver in this town, died October 3rd, 1834, in the sixty-sixth year of
his age. Few men lived more respected, or died more regretted. Mr.
Butterworth, in early life, had travelled and seen much of the world, as his
Adventures of a Minor proved; his social and friendly disposition endeared
him to all who knew him ; his loyalty to his king and attachment to the
constitution of his country were such as proved him to have been a genuine
Englishman, — See the Leeds Papers, &c, for October, 1834.
z
354 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
by those who served under him — adored by his soldiers, who
regarded him not only as their chief, but as their tried and
trusty friend. His talents were of the highest order — his
acquirements vast and extensive: he possessed an accurate
knowledge of almost every European language, was a good
classical scholar, and a poet of no ordinary description. In
private life he was admired and esteemed by those who had the
good fortune to possess his friendship and acquaintance." — For
a more extensive Sketch, see the Leeds Papers, &c, for September,
1834; the Annual Biography and Obituary; the Gentleman's
Magazine for January, 1835, &c.
1780—1835.
MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, ESQ., M.P., F.R.S.,
A name as familiar in the mouths of the public as household
words, and one that will go down to posterity associated with
glories more ennobling, 'more enduring, more gratifying, than
those which attend upon the paths of power and conquest.
His political motto was, the " greatest happiness of the greatest
number." In his private capacity he was always ready to prac-
tise what he preached. "With feelings of sorrow as deep as
we have ever experienced," observes the Standard newspaper, in
communicating to the public the decease of Mr. Sadler, "feelings
which we are sure will extend throughout the British empire,
we announce the death of one of the best and greatest men who
ever did honour to the name of Englishman. What can we say
of a man whose bright and spotless character affords no shade
to set in relief the most brilliant virtues of which human nature
is capable — the most splendid talents that have ever adorned
our species] By the confession of an opponent, but a very
competent judge (Lord Plunket), Mr. Sadler was the most
accomplished orator heard in the House of Commons by the
present generation. But who does not forget his eloquence in
the memory of that enthusiasm of benevolence perfectly without
example in the history of the world! As Mr. Burke said of
Howard, Mr. Sadler's philanthropy had as much of genius as of
virtue. It was a love of his fellow-creatures, upon so great a
scale that none but a great mind could have conceived it; and,
oh ! how far was it from that benevolence which is ever sus-
pended in absti-action ! It was our happiness and our greatest
pride to enjoy his acquaintance; and we can truly say, that
whatever he sought for, and wished for, in behalf of the whole
human race, he no less earnestly and vigilantly conferred, by
manners and conduct, upon all within his sphere. Without
MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, ESQ., M.P., F.E.S. 355
pretending to any extraordinary sensibility, we declare it too
painful to pursue our recollection of the unrivalled charm of
Mr. Sadler's society. He has had his best earthly reward — he
has 'died the death of the righteous;' and, almost without pre-
sumption, we may anticipate that he has realized what a friend
predicted of him, on that day when he was led into Manchester
by 30,000 loving and rejoicing infants: — ' Sadler will witness
but one more such scene as this, and that will be when he shall
receive his reward in the resurrection of the just.' " Mr. Sadler
was born at Snelstone, a village in the south of Derbyshire, in
January, 1780. He was descended on the father's side from the
celebrated Sir Ralph Sadler, one of Queen Elizabeth's ministers,
and an important instrument in bringing about the Reformation.
His mother's family were French refugees at the revocation of
the edict of Nantes.* He was educated principally at home,
* He was the youngest son of Mr. James Sadler, who appeal's to have heen,
at the time of his birth, residing upon and cultivating a small estate in the
adjoining parishes of Snelstone and Doveridge, in Derbyshire. By his will he
bequeathed all his freehold and copyhold estate in Doveridge to his son,
Joseph Sadler; and all his freehold estate in Marston-Montgomery, to his
sons, Benjamin and Michael Thomas Sadler. Their father married, in 1766,
Frances, the daughter of the Rev. Michael Ferrebee, rector of Rolleston, in
Staffordshire. Mr. Ferrebee was the son of an eminent French Huguenot and
refugee, who settled in London shortly after the revocation of the edict of
Nantes, and there acquired considerable property. Michael Ferrebee was
entered at Christ Church, Oxford, where he greatly distinguished himself,
and acquired the friendship of Swift and the chief literati of that day. His
wife was a daughter of Henry Wrigley, Esq., of Langley Hall, near Middle-
ton, in Lancashire, whose family had resided on that property ever since the
Conquest. This estate was entailed on her daughter, Frances, and thence to
her children, the sons of Mr. James Sadler. Michael Thomas was born
on the 3rd of January, 1780, and his faculties seem to have developed them-
selves at an early age. A taste both for drawing and music manifested itself
before he had reached his fifth year; and he acquired from an able school-
master, at Doveridge, a good knowledge of Latin, Greek, and French, with
the rudiments of Italian and German; and it is stated that, " by the time he
had completed his eleventh year, he had gone through Saunderson's A Igebra,
calculated eclipses, found logarithms, and become conversant with the most
abstruse problems in pure and practical geometry." It is also added, that
" at this period he became a correspondent of the chief scientific periodical
of that day, answering most of the mathematical problems proposed, through
that channel." After leaving school he passed two or three years at home
before any plan was settled for his future pursuits ; but, happily, Ins father
possessed a large library of English, Greek, and Latin authors, which had
been bequeathed to him by a relation of his wife's (the Rev. Henry Wrigley,
tutor of St. John's College, Cambridge), in which Michael revelled, formed
his taste, and acquired a good stuck of information. He began to indulge in
a poetic vein to a considerable extent; and one of his favourite pursuits
through life was to versifythe inspired Psalms : a copy of which in our Bible
on, and another in the I'rayer-Book, bound up together, he usually
earned about with him in after life. He also produced a Poem in Spenserian
verse, descriptive of the scenery of the river Dove. For some Stanzas on the
Banks of the Dove (" written on leaving my native place in early youth"), by
35() BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENS1S.
and exhibited extraordinary powers of mind in very early youth,
having mastered the higher branches of mathematics and astro-
nomv by the time he Avas eleven years of age. His father
intended him for one of the learned professions ; but, when
about eighteen years old, he was induced to join his brother in
business at Leeds,* where he continued engaged in mercantile
pursuits, but not to the exclusion of more congenial literary
labours, until he was called into public life by the ministerial
proposal of the Catholic Relief Bill. On a vacancy occurring
for the borough of Newark-iipon-Trent, in March, 1829, a
deputation of the electors waited upon Mr. Sadler, at Leeds,
and invited him to become a caudidate. He immediately com-
plied, and triumphantly conducted an arduous contest, though
opposed by Mr. Serjeant Wilde, one of the most able and ener-
getic members of the bar. Mr. Sadler immediately distinguished
himself by a very long and eloquent speech against the Roman
Catholic claims, delivered in the House of Commons on the 17th
of the same month; and during the continuance of the discus-
sion he was a prominent champion of the Protestant cause. At
the general election of 1S30, lie was again chosen for Newark,
and in 1831 for Aldborough, in Yorkshire. At the election of
Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq., M.P., see the Leeds Intelligencer for October,
1820; from The Amulet: or, Christian and Literary Remembrancer for 1830.
In his childhood the TVesleyan Methodists established themselves in Dove-
ridge ; and his mother, though -without severing herself from the Church of
England, attended their services, and her family followed her ; but whether
in her family is included her husband is not stated. The Methodists were
outrageously persecuted; and even Michael, a child of twelve years of age,
came in for a share of the popular malevolence ; for on one occasion a
profligate fellow seized him and suspended him over the parapet of the
bridge, where the Dove is very dee}), swearing that he would instantly drop
him into the water if he did not curse the Methodists ; but the spirited and
conscientious boy replied, "Never; you may kill me, if you choose, but I
never will ! " The man held him for several minutes, continuing his threaten-
in gs and imprecations : but finding them useless, his fears of the conse-
quences prevailed, and he released him ; and, dreading a prosecution, left the
neighbourhood.
* Here he exchanged moral enjoyments and literary leisure for the applica-
tion and turmoil of trade, which was not, however, congenial to his tastes.
In the year 1810, he and his brother Benjamin (who was twice mayor of
Leeds, in 1822 and 1833), became partners in an extensive establishment for
the importation of Irish linens, with which he continued connected till his
death. He relieved what to him was the wearisomeness of the counting-
house, by frequently writing for the Leeds Intelligencer, the chief Tory
newspaper of the north of England; by taking command of a company of
volunteers; and, what to him was the most beloved of occupations, the
discharge of works of piety and philanthropy. He was an active visitor of
the sick and afflicted in connection with the Strangers' Friend Society ; he was
for several years the superintendent of one of the largest Sunday schools in
Leeds, and was a most useful member of the board for the management of
the poor, and filled the office of treasurer zealously and gratuitously.
MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, ESQ., M.P., F.R.S. -j.j7
1832, his late borough being disfranchised, he was a candidate
for the new borough of Leeds; but though highly esteemed by
a large number of his townsmen, his reputation as an anti-
reformer preponderated against his less equivocal merits, and at
the termination of the poll the numbers were — for John Marshall,
Esq., 2,012; T. B. Macaulay, Esq., 1,984; M. T. Sadler, Esq.,
1,596.* In his public career, Mr. Sadler was generally associated
with the old constitutional Tories. We have already mentioned
his opposition to the Roman Catholic Relief Bill. To the
policy of free trade he was also most decidedly hostile, from the
thorough conviction that it was exclusively calculated to benefit
foreign countries to the grievous injury of the labouring classes
in our own; nor was he less unfriendly to the settlement of the
currency question, winch he always stigmatized — carried into
effect as it was without any attempt at equitable adjustment—
as an act of the grossest and most wanton injustice. He spoke
very strongly in the House against any government or parochial
plan of emigration ; and by his persevering opposition he con-
tributed greatly to the discomfiture of that proposition. Mr.
Sadler was likewise very adverse to the Reform Bill, and
recorded his objections to it in a masterly speech when second-
ing General Gascoigne's motion, for the carrying of which par-
liament was dissolved. But while Mr. Sadler, as a member of
the legislature, was the enemv of all those innovations, no
matter how popular, which he regarded as dangerous to our
venerated institutions, he was the determined advocate of every
measure which he believed would contribute to the happiness of
the mass of the people, whose real interests he considered the
main concern of every good government; and both in and out
of parliament he ever spoke with great indignation of those
pretended patriots, who sought popularity by extending mei'e
political privileges to the lower orders, while they resisted every
proposition for substantially bettering their condition. Under
the influence of these feelings, he took very little share in par-
liament in any mere party measures, but was chiefly occupied in
supporting whatever he thought wo id d advance the happiness of
the mass of society; and his political views for ameliorating the
condition of the lower orders were indeed most extensive, and
the measures which he himself introduced into the legislature
* Though, in fact, actually entertaining views of very extensive reform,
Mr. Sadler had conscientiously opposed himself to the swell of vulgar
clamour; and because la: had refused to become the pledged partisan, the
unbending and unflinching "reformer," the nick-name of a party, his social
and practical reforms were either misunderstood or disregarded by the advo-
cates of "the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill."
35S BI0GKAFH1A LEODIENSIS.
for tliis benevolent object most comprehensive and important.
He brought a bill into parliament to provide agricultural
parishes with the funds for allotting small portions of ground
to their deserving poor, which, although it did not become a
legislative enactment, was extensively circulated, and has been
acted upon in several parishes with the happiest results; in one
large parish not only to the greatly increased comfort of the
poor, but to the almost complete extinction of the poor-rates.
For Ireland he always expressed the deepest interest and sym-
pathy, and twice introduced, enforced by the most impassioned
and touching eloquence, the important measure of a poor law
for that country into parliament, on the last occasion losing his
px*oposition by a nominal majority only. Of this humane mea-
sure he was in public and private the powerful and unwearied
advocate, and, undismayed by the general opposition it provoked,
brought the cause of those who had "none to plead for them"
again and again before the British public. During the last
session he sat in parliament Mr. Sadler was almost wholly
occupied in prosecuting a bill he had brought before the legis-
lature for the protection of children employed in manufactories
— the Ten-hour Bill, as it is familiarly called. This measure
was referred to a select committee, of which Mr. Sadler was
chosen chairman; and the toil and responsibility thus imposed
upon him of collecting the vast mass of evidence contained in
their report, probably laid the foundation of his long and fatal
illness. Neither did he, after all, succeed in passing this mea-
sure of mercy, although the voice of public opinion compelled
his reluctant opponents, in a subsequent session, to bring one
forward professedly similar. Mr. Sadler was elected a Fellow
of the Boyal Society, and was the atithor of several highly
esteemed works, the most important of which are Ireland, its
Evils and their Remedies — a work deservedly popular, and which
must endear the memory of the author to every friend of
humanity ; and an elaborate essay on the Law of Population, in
2 vols., 8vo., written principally with a view to controvert the
opinions of Malthus. A third volume, completing this scientific
and admirable work, has unfortunately never been finished; but
we understand Mr. Sadler was diligently occupied in preparing
materials for it while health was continued to him.* His death
* Besides the works above spoken of, on Ireland and the Law of Popula-
tion, Mr. Sadler published a great vaiiety of able pamphlets — a reply to the
late Walter Fawkes, Esq., on the question of parliamentary reform — papers
read before the Leeds Philosophical Society; and several of his splendid
speeches are in print, having had the benefit of his own revision. In the
MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, ESQ., M.P., F.R.S. 359
took place at New Lodge, near Belfast, on the 29th of July,
1835, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.* Mr. Sadler was mar-
ried, in 1816, to the eldest daughter of the late Samuel Fenton,
Esq., of Leeds, who, and a family of seven children, were left
to lament his irreparable loss. In private life his virtues
endeared him to a large and admiring circle of friends : he was
affectionate, generous, affable, accessible, and an utter stranger
to pride. His appearance was remarkably that of a man of
genius; and there was an enthusiasm and energy in his manner
strikingly characteristic of an elevated and powerful mind.
His social qualities were of the highest order, and his conversa-
tion was eminently brilliant and instructive. It was said by
Lord Bacon, at the close of life, " the poor have been ever pre-
cious in mine eyes;" and no man could more fully adopt this
Christian sentiment than Mr. Sadler. Public men have been
called public property, but he ever felt himself emphatically the
property of the poor ; his charity to them was unfailing, scarcely
measured by his means, and he not merely gave the solicited
alms, but made the sorrows and sufferings of the afflicted his
own, and "wept with those that wept:" their wrongs, their
sufferings, their privations, were his constant conversation; and
his days and his nights, and finally his life itself, were sacrificed
to his intense and unwearied exertions to redress the grievances
of unfriendly poverty.t As a statesman, his parliamentary career
walks of lighter literature Mr. Sadler was a more voluminous author than is
generally supposed. Many of his poetical pieces are in print ; a larger poem,
entitled Alfred, had long been ready for the press ; and we have seen speci-
mens of a metrical version of the Psalms from his pen, that unite with a
high poetical polish a devotional fervour wliich can only be the offspring of
genuine piety. Mr. Sadler added to his numerous accomplishments a taste
for music, and considerable proficiency in that delightful science.
* Mr. Sadler's disease appears to have been an incurable affection of the
heart, brought on by severe study and great anxiety. They who anxiously
watched the progress of his decline, cannot doubt that he fell a sacrifice to
the exertions in parliament with which he burdened himself, in addition to
the enormous labour and anxiety bestowed on his 'great works upon Popula-
tion and the Factory System. He was accustomed to verify the most minute
ami apparently unimportant fact employed in the course of his arguments;
and his deep regret during his illness referred to the incompleteness of his
work on Population — an incompleteness that lost to the poor the advantage
that a full confirmation of his s} - stem by the receut censuses would have
conferred on them. Mr. Sadler died full of the hope of a blessed immor-
tality, in perfect reliance upon the merits of the Eedeemer.
t STANZAS TO MICHAEL THOMAS BADLEB, ESQ., M.P. (WHO DIED IN 1835).
BY AN "OPERATlVi:."'
From the Leeds Intelligencer for November, 1881.
" I sing not the praises that fashion
Which thousands have sung of before;
3G0 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENS1S,
was invariably characterized by integrity, honour, benevolence*,
sound judgment, and genuine independence of mind. In depth
of reasoning, in perspicuity of argument, in extensive informa-
tion, in aptitude of reply, in commanding eloquence, he had
scarcely a competitor in the British House of Commons. Rich
in science, replete with historic lore, Mr. Sadler's mind was a
perfect treasury of sterling literature — a storehouse, as it were,
of interesting facts; and such was the charm of his diction,
such his pleasing facility of communicating knowledge, that it
was impossible for any man of clear intellect to cultivate his
society without deriving the most valuable information and the
purest delight from his conversation. Persuasion dwelt upon
his tongue ; truth, candour, philanthropy, and virtue were the
treasured inmates of his heart.* But to all these estimable and
Nor worship the titles ambition allows,
Which flattery loves to adore.
" The glory of heroes must fall to decay,
The votaries of pleasure decline ;
The high and the might}', who gild the glad way,
Fall victims at folly's dark shrine.
" Their deeds and gay trophies soon drop to the dust,
The marble speaks coldly each name;
The laurels that flatter the conqueror's bust
Are dy'd in the blood of the slain.
" I sing not of these— far nobler's my song;
To him who can sympathy feel —
A name more endearing than all the vain throng,
Who live without charity's zeal.
" Pursue the good work which thou hast begun,
The footsteps of virtue are sure ;
Thy deeds shall be echo'd by every tongue —
' The friend of the lowly and poor.'
" We give thee the title, resplendent with glory,
Everlasting — enduring as fame;
And hist'ry, proud hist'ry, shall weave in her story
A wreath roiind her own Sadlcr's'nume."
* No man ever appealed to him in vain, if the means of performance were
his. Of his bounty — at any rate, of his desire to be bountiful — we may truly
say—
" There was no winter in't ; an autumn 'twas,
That grew the more by reaping."
We regret to state (said the Albion) that Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq. ,— whose
unwearied exertions, as a zealous and practical philanthropist, both in and out
of parliament, have given him so strong a claim on the gratitude of the
humbler classes, and the admiration of all— died at Belfast, &c. We have
(said the York Chronicle) the painful task of recording the death of Michael
Thomas Sadler, Esq., formerly of Leeds, but lately of Belfast. We cannot,
however, reconcile to our feelings to pass over this melancholy event -with
such brief notice, knowing Mr. Sadler intimately— having had the honour of
his confidential friendship whilst we lived in the same town, and keeping up
MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, ESQ., M.P., F.E.S. 301
endearing qualities Mr. Sadler added a far higher and more
important distinction — lie was a Christian ■ his mind was
imbued with the deepest reverence for the will of God, and his
works abundantly testify that His Word was "his meditation
day and night;" and in his long and dreary illness, when "the
days of darkness" — and they were many — came upon him, his
soid was sustained and comforted with the hopes and promises
of the Gospel, with the presence and blessing of his God, and
his end was — peace. On the 4th of August Mr. Sadler's
remains were interred in Ballylesson churchyard. The gentry,
and an immense number of the respectable inhabitants of Belfast
and the adjacent country, evinced their respect for his memory
by accompanying him to the grave. On the 13th of August a
numerous and respectable meeting was held at the Court-house,
Leeds, for the purpose of considering the best mode of honouring
the memory of this lamented gentleman; and the subscriptions
for the purpose soon amounted to a considerable sum. A statue
of the deceased, executed by Park, of London, was placed in
the Leeds parish church, bearing the following inscription: —
"Michael Thomas Sadler, F.R.S., born at Doveridge, in the
county of Derby, from early youth an inhabitant of this town.
Endowed with great natural talents, a fervid imagination, a
a correspondence with him for some years, when distance separated us — we
can speak as to the qualities both of his head and heart; and whilst his
talents raised him far above most of his contemporaries, his urbanity of
manners and unbounded benevolence of disposition gained him the love and
esteem of those who had the felicity of his acquaintance. In religion, he was
a firm and consistent member of the Church ; in politics, as firm a supporter
of the constitution ; but he quarrelled with no man for either his religion or
politics : all were to him as brothers, and especially the poor found in him an
undeviating, an active, and a persevering friend. Indeed, to his efforts ; in
their cause, to the intense study and labour devoted to those works begun and
carried on with a view to the ultimate improvement of the condition of those
whose labour is their wealth, he i >wed that disease which cut short his valu-
able life. In him the people have lost a friend, in the truest sense of the
word; the king, a loyal subject; the church, an ornament; and society, a
bright example of sterling English worth and patriotism. It will be long
before we " look upon his like again." Even according to the York Courant,
"the friend of the poor factory child, the champion of the oppressed
wherever trampled upon, the sincere commiserator with the sufferings of the
poor, was Michael Thomas Sadler. At his decease, the spirit of political
partisanship must- be sunk in the outpouring of undissembled grief, and
whilst philanthropy drops the tear, the noise of party must be hushed
to mute attention. In paying a hasty and deserved tribute to departed
anxiety to soothe the troubled breast, to pour a few drops of sweet in the
bitter cup of human misery, and to render pleasanter the weary pilgrimage of
life to all, the flag of political distinction is furled : all meet on neutral
ground; and while each laments the chasm thus made in the phalanx of
philanthropy, let each retire, asking his own breast how can he best supply
the deficiency, and seek that a double portion of the spirit of the milk of
human kindness may henceforth manifest itself in his conduct.''
362 DiOUltAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
feeling heart, and an inquiring mind, he cultivated with success,
amidst the distractions of trade, the elegances of polite litera-
ture, and the severer study of political and social economy, as
exhibited in his works on Ireland and the Law of Population.
The display on various occasions of a copious eloquence, pecu-
liarly his own, in defence of the Protestant faith, of the rights of
humanity, and of the British constitution, secured him, unsought
for, a seat in the House of Commons, and he represented the
boroughs of Newark and Aldborough in three successive parlia-
ments. He distinguished himself in the senate as the bold
defender of the institutions of his country, by strenuously
advocating measures to secure a legal provision for the poor of
Ireland, and for ameliorating the condition of the factory
children. He died at Belfast, July 29th, 1835, aged fifty-five
yeai's. His remains rest in Ballylesson churchyard. By his
numerous private and political friends this monument has been
erected, to hand down to posterity the- name of a scholar, a
patriot, and a practical philanthropist." At the time of his
death Mr. Sadler was the leading partner of the respectable
firm of Sadler, Fenton, and Co., of Belfast, who embarked
a very large capital in the linen trade, and, from the great
extent of their dealings, were eminently useful in the country.
In the vestibule of the Leeds Philosophical Hall, there is also
a fine statue of the late M. T. Sadler, Esq., M.P., modelled by
Pai'ke, of London. — For additional particulars, see Memoirs of
tlie Life and Writings of Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq., M.P.,
F.R.S., &c, with a fine portrait and facsimile of his auto-
graph, London, 1842. A similar por trait, on a larger scale,
was engraved by T. Lupton, from a painting by "W. Bobinson,
of Leeds. See also the Leeds Papers, especially the Intel-
ligencer ; the Yorkshire Gazette; the Belfast Guardian; the
Gentleman's Magazine for October, 1835; the Annual Biography
and Obituary for 1836; the Christian Observer for June, 1842;
Lives of Illustrious Men; Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of
Universal Biography. For poetry on Our Sadler's Name, see
the Leeds Intelligencer for August 5th, 1 830 ; for a long
Monody on the late lamented death of M. T. Sadler, Esq., see
the Intelligencer for September 12th, 1835; and for some
beautiful Lines on the same, see the Intelligencer for January
16th, 1836, &c. The above Sketch has been kindly examined
and approved by his nephew (who for some time lived under his
roof), Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq., now of Barnsley. His son,
the Rev. Michael Ferrebee Sadler, M.A., is now vicar of Bridg-
water, Somersetshire.
RICHARD HEY, ESQ., LL.L>. 363
1745-1835.
EICHAED HEY, ESQ., LED.,
Was the younger brother of the late Eev. John Hey, D.D.,
and of William Hey, Esq., F.R.S., and was bora in the same
house at Pudsey, near Leeds, on the 22nd of August, 1745.
He was educated at Cambridge, and when twenty-two years of
age took his degree of B.A. as third wrangler of Magdalene
College, obtaining also the chancellor's first gold medal and the
Smith's prize ; three years afterwards he took his M.A. of
Sidney Sussex College, and in November of the same year
(1771) he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple; and
(with a view to the practice of Doctors' Commons) he took the
degree of LL.D., in December, 1778, of Sidney Sussex Col-
lege ; and he obtained in the same year the fiat of the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury for his admission into Doctors' Commons.
As a barrister, however, he did not succeed, so he retired from
the bar. He was a Fellow and tutor of Sidney Sussex Col-
lege till 1778; and afterwards of Magdalene College from 1782
to 1796. He was also elected one of the Esquire Bedells. In
the year 1782, some gentleman, convinced of the evils arising
from gambling, offered, anonymously, through the University of
Cambridge, to give a prize of fifty guineas for the best Disser-
tation on the, Pernicious Effects of Gaming. Eichard Hey,
amongst others, wrote on the subject, and he obtained the prize
of fifty guineas. The work was published in 1783; a second
edition was published a few years afterwards, and in 1812 a
third edition came out. The same anonymous gentleman again
offered a similar sum of fifty guineas, in the year following, for
the best Dissertation on Duelling ; this too was obtained by Dr.
Eichard Hey, and it was published in 1784, again in 1801, and
a third edition in 1812. For the third time, a prize of fifty
guineas was offered for the best Dissertation on Suicide — a
somewhat singular subject; but still more singularly the third
prize was again won by Dr. E. Hey. The dissertation was
published in 1785, and a second edition in 1812, when the three
dissertations were published in one volume. He afterwards
published a pamphlet on Civil Liberty; and in the year 1792
he wrote an excellent and judicious Answer to Paine 's Mights of
Man, in which he demonstrates the system of that arch-theorist
to be a system of despotism and tyranny. He entitled this
useful publication Uappiness and Rights. In 1796 Dr. Hey
published Edington, in 2 vols., duodecimo; and he also wrote
several papers in the Philosophical Transactions, &c. He mar-
364 BIOGRAI'HIA LEODIENSIS.
ried the daughter of Thomas Brown, Esq., of Hatfield, Herts,
garter-principal king-at-arms, who died several years ago without
issue. He died on Monday, December 7th, 1835, at Herting-
fordbury, near Hertford, in the ninety-first year of his age —
being the last surviving brother of the late William Hey, Esq.,
F.R.S., of Leeds. — For other particulars, see Literary Memoirs
of Living Authors, published in 1798; the Leeds Papers, &c,
for December, 1835 ; Darling's Cyclopaedia Bibliographia ;
Lowndes's Bibliograp)her 's Manual, &c.
1797—1836.
JOHN MARSHALL, JUN., ESQ., M.R,
An eminent flax-spinner, of Holbeck, near Leeds, and one of the
first representatives of that borough in parliament, died at his
father's house, in Grosvenor Street, London, October 31st,
183G, in his thirty-ninth year. His death caused universal
and profound regret in the town. Mr. John Marshall was the
second son of John Marshall, Esq. * late M.P. for Yorkshire.
* John Marshall, Esq., of Headingley, near Leeds, M.P. for York-
shire, bom July 27th, 1765, the only son of Mr. "William Marshall, who
was a younger son of John Marshall, of Yeadon Low Hall, near Leeds,
acquired great wealth by his successful introduction of mechanical improve-
ments into a branch of the lineu manufacture, the spinning of flax, in.
which he formed extensive establishments at Holbeck, Leeds, and also at
Shrewsbury. He married, August 5th, 1795, Jane, fifth daughter of William
Pollard, Esq., of Halifax, and had issue — I. William Marshall, of Patterdale
Hall, in Westmoreland, M.P. for East Cumberland, born, May 26th, 1796;
married, June 17th, 1828, Georgiana Christiana, seventh daughter of the late
George Hibbert, Esq., of Munden, Hertfordshire, and has issue. II. The
above John Marshall, late M.P. for Leeds, born December 28th, 1797;
married, November 18th, 1828, Mary, eldest daughter of the late Joseph
Dykes Ballantine Dykes, Esq., of Dovenby Hall, Cumberland, and died
October 31st, 1836, leaving issue — 1, Reginald Dykes ; 2, Herbert John ;
3, Julian; 1, Janet Mary; 2, Catherine Alice. Mrs. Marshall married,
secondly, P. O'Callaghan, Esq., late 11th Hussars, and has by him a son,
Desmond Dykes Tynte O'Callaghan, Royal Artillery. III. James Garth
Marshall, sometime also M.P. for Leeds, of Monk Coniston Park, Amble-
side, and Headingley, Leeds, J. P. and D.L., born February 20th, 1802;
married, February 9th, 1841, the Hon. Mary Alice Pery Spring-Rice, daughter
of Thomas Spring-Rice, Lord Monteagle, and has issue— 1, Victor Alexander
Garth, born November 16th, 1841 ; 2, James Aubrey Garth, born June 11th,
1844; 1, Julia Mary Garth; 2, Constance Eleanor, who died in 1853. IV.
Henry Cowper Marshall, of Weetwood Hall, near Leeds, born March 8th, 1808 ;
married, June 27th, 1837, the Hon. Catharine Anne Lucy, second daughter of
Thomas, Lord Monteagle, and lias issue. V. Arthur Marshall, Esq. , and the
following daughters:— I. Mary Anne, married, April 13th, 1841, to Thomas,
Lord Monteagle. H. Cordelia, married, in 1841, the Rev. William Whewell,
D.D., F.R.S., master of Trinity College, Cambridge. III. Jane Dorothea,
married, June 29th, 1828, to John, second son of Sir Grenville Temple, Bart.,
and has issue. IV. Ellen. V. Julia Anne, married, October 31st, 1833, to
the Rev. Henry Venn Elliott, of Brighton, and has issue. VI. Susan Harriet,
married in March, 1842, to the Rev. Frederick Myers, Keswick, and has issue.
See Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
JOHX MARSHALL, JUN., ESQ., M.P. 3G5
He began to take part in public affairs soon after bis father's
election as member for the county of York, in 1826. His
education and training, and especially tbe example of bis
father, bad led him to acquire that solid information on affairs
of national importance, and tbose habits of sound and inde-
pendent thinking, which constitute the most valuable qualities
of a public man. He had carefully studied the principles of
political economy, especially in reference to trade, in which his
practical experience combined with his knowledge of just prin-
ciples to give correctness to his conclusions. His attainments
in science were respectable; and he invariably devoted himself
to those branches of knowledge which were of the greatest
practical application and usefulness. He was a steady and per-
severing friend of education, especially for the humbler classes ;
and whatever tended to promote that admirable object received
bis ready attention and his generous support. He was a plain,
and not a fluent, speaker, but he was always listened to with
respect, as his opinions had evidently been well weighed. In
his moral as well as his mental constitution, he was thoroughly
independent. He avowed his sentiments without either fear or
forwardness. He practised a large benevolence ; his temper was
calm and even; and he had no passion for honour or popularity.
The high honour he obtained of being chosen one of the first
representatives of Leeds in parliament was not sought by him,
but was imposed upon him by the earnest solicitations of his
fellow-townsmen, from the general conviction that he deserved
it, and that he would ably and faithfully discharge the duties of
a legislator. He amply justified the expectations formed of
him. During the first session of the reformed parliament, his
diligence was so great that we apprehend a fatal inroad was
then made upon his constitution; and though his complaint was
of much older origin, it was greatly aggravated by the late
hours, irregularity, and confinement of parliamentary life, which
thus prematurely cut short the political career of one of the
most useful and efficient members sent to the first reformed
parliament by a great commercial constituency. On the dis-
solution of parliament by Sir Robert Peel, Mr. John Marshall
was compelled by the state of his health to retire from public
life; and from that time to his death he was able to take
little part in business of any kind, though he continued to the
last to manifest an anxious interest in the affairs of Leeds and of
Yorkshire. He had realized an ample fortune in one of the most
important of our local manufactures, that of linen yarn, which
he extended and improved by his great practical knowledge and
;\QC) BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
mechanical talents; and some years ago, on the sale of the pi*o-
perty of Greenwich Hospital in Cumberland, he purchased one
of the most picturesque and beautiful estates in England,
namely, that of the former Earls of Derwentwater, on the hike
of that name, including the lordship of the manor of Keswick,
and other manors. He lately built, at his own expense, a new
church at Keswick, which was scarcely completed when he
died; and if he had lived, it was his intention to build a man-
sion for himself on the borders of the lake. Mr. John Marshall
married the daughter of J. D. Ballantine Dykes, Esq., of
Dovenby Hall, Cumberland, by whom he had three sons and
two daughters — the youngest an infant of a few months old.* —
See the Gentleman's Magazine, &c, for December, 1836.
1767—1837.
THE EEV. WILLIAM MAKGETSON HEALD, M.A.,
Late vicar of Birstal, near Leeds, died January 11th, 1837, aged
seventy yeai*s. Mr. Heald was born within two miles of the
place in which he followed his ministerial labours for thirty-
eight years. He was a native of Dewsbury Moor, and fellow
student with the Rev. Dr. JSTaylor, of Wakefield, at the Batley
Grammar School, at that time under the able management of
the Rev. Mr. Hargreaves. Mr. Heald was primarily destined
for the medical profession, and for that purpose was articled to
a Mr. Floyd, of Leeds ; he afterwards attended lectures in
Edinburgh and in London, and was one of the' class of the
celebrated John Hunter during the last course of lectures given
by that excellent lecturer. Mr. Heald then commenced prac-
tice as a surgeon and apothecary at Wakefield, but after a very
short time he became so dissatisfied with the profession that he
determined to abandon it. He then went to Cambridge, where
his friend Mr. Nay lor was studying, and entered at Catharine
Hall. He graduated B.A. in 1794, and M.A. in 1798. Having
entered holy orders, he obtained a curacy in the neighbourhood
of Cambiidge,t which he held for some time, and also became
tutor to some young men in the university. Shortly after this
* On the Gth of February, 1833, John Marshall, jun., Esq., M.P. for Leeds,
seconded the address in answer to the royal speech. The above Sketch has
been kindly examined and approved by P. O'Callaghan, Esq., LL.D., late of
Cookridge Hall, near Leeds, now of Leamington, &c.
+ He was ordained as curate to the Rev. Dr. Ramsden, then governor of
the Charter-house, and rector of Balsham, in Cambridgeshire. His principal
pupil at that time was Mr. Henry Wiles, who accompanied him when he came
to Birstal, and completed his education there, and was afterwards fourth
wrangler (in 1803), Fellow of Trinity College, and vicar of Hitchin, Herts.
CHARLES MILNER, ESQ. 367
he was appointed curate of Birstal on the death of the Rev. R.
Ogden, to which place he removed with his pupils. Three
years after, in 1801, upon the death of the incumbent, Mr.
Heald obtained the vicarage, which he faithfully served to
within a few months of his death. In the month of July, 1836,
having been seized with an attack of paralysis, he resigned the
vicarage, and the Archbishop of York, in the most handsome
manner, immediately presented the living to the Rev. Wm. M.
Heald, jun., M.A., than whom no man more richly deserved it.
Amongst Mr. Heald's earliest pupils were the present venerable
Archdeacon Musgrave, vicar of Halifax, and his elder brother,
the Rev. Thomas Musgrave, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cam-
bridge.* During Mr. Heald's medical studies, and while he was
in Edinburgh, he published a poem, The Brunoniad, of con-
siderable spirit, attacking the doctrine of Brown, t who, at that
period, was contending for the palm of pre-eminence with
Cullen. Mr. Heald's other publications have been of a different
nature, but all displaying a mind very highly polished and
judiciously managed. In politics Mr. Heald was a consistent
Liberal, and was never deterred from freely and fearlessly
avowing his principles. No man ever enjoyed more general
respect in a parish of such extent and density — the population
exceeding 25,000. As a proof of this, we might refer to the
very handsome testimonials presented to him on the resignation
of the vicarage by both the Churchmen and Dissenters of the
parish. — See the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1837; the
Leeds Papers, &c.
1790—1837.
CHARLES MILNER, ESQ.,
Barrister-at-law and recorder of Leeds, died in the Temple,
London, January 21st, 1837, aged forty-seven years. He was
the son of the Rev. James Milner, for some time perpetual
curate of Hunslet, near Leeds, and was called to the bar at the
* Afterwards Archbishop of York, whose entire education was received from
Mr. Heald, with the exception of one year before he entered at Trinity
College, which, by Mr. Heald's advice, lie passed at Richmond, in Yorkshire,
with the Rev. James Tate, the eminent Greek scholar. Another of his
pupils was a clergyman well known in Leeds, the Rev. Charles Clapham, late
incumbent of Armley, and eleventh wrangler in 1815.
t This expression is thought to be incorrecl ; for in a favourable review of
the Poem in a periodical called the Critical Review, for February, 1790, it is
remarked that " the poet is evidently a friend of the Brunonian system," and
such his son (who has kindly revised the above Sketch), thinks must have
been the case, from what he has heard his father say in Ins early years. Dr.
Cullen, his antagonist, making a more free use of the lancet than Mr. Heald
thought advisable.
3G8 BIOGKAPHIA LEOMENSIS.
Middle Temple, April 29th, 1814. A severe attack of influenza
(the then prevailing epidemic) operating on a weakened system
was the proximate cause of death. With a peculiarly sound
and extensive knowledge of law, he combined great patience
and great sagacity in the investigation of truth, and no man
could possibly hold the scales of criminal justice with a more
steady and impartial hand. As a professional man, his character
and conduct were always honourable in the highest degree.
He was fair and candid towards those who came most immedi-
ately into competition with himself, harbouring no petty spites,
no jealous antipathies. To his juniors in the profession he was
always so kind and accessible as to win for him not only esteem,
but the strongest personal regard. It is well known that his
reputation as a lawyer stood very high. There was about him
a clearness of head, as well as an extensive and accurate
acquaintance with legal lore, which made his opinions peculiarly
valuable. In private life Mr. Milner was greatly beloved by
those who had the best opportunities of knowing him. He was
not a man to make an enemy of anybody. Though most
decided and uncompromising as a politician (of the old Tory
school), he never obtruded his opinions so as to give personal
offence, and, above all, never did he suffer them to impaii; the
slightest or most transitory hue. to his administration of public
justice. Mr. Milner, according to the Leeds Intelligencer, was
a man of high honour and inflexible independence of character,
possessing, in an eminent degree, that moral courage which
peculiarly fitted him for his public duties ; as a lawyer, few men
in the profession knew more, and, as a judge, humanly speaking,
he was without fault. All who knew him esteemed him, and
entertained for him a deep and sincere regard. The death of a
good man is a public loss, and such we consider his to be. As a
son, a brother, and a friend, his conduct was most exemplary;
in the memory of his friends he will live while they live. He
was succeeded in the recordership of Leeds by Robert Baynes
Armstrong, Esq., recorder of Hull, who only held the office for
two years, and was then succeeded by Thomas Flower Ellis, Esq.
The first part of the above Sketch is sujrposed to have been
written by the late Eight Hon. M. T. Babies, of Leeds.
1760—1837.
THE EEV. EICHAED FAWCETT, M.A.,
Who was elected vicar of Leeds, March 26th, 1815, was the
youngest son of the late Eev. Richard Fawcett, minister of St.
John's church, and like many of his predecessors, a native of
THE REV. RICHARD FAWCETT, M.A. 369
the town of Leeds. He was of St. John's College, Cambridge;
B.A., 1781; M. A., 1784. In 1783 he commenced his clerical
duties as clerk-in-orders at the parish church, and in 1791 he
was presented with the curacy of Arrnley, which he retained
till 1815, when he was elected vicar of Leeds. He died,
January 22nd, 1837, of the influenza, which was then very
prevalent in Leeds, after a few days' illness, at the vicarage,
Park Place, in the seventy-eighth year of his age — having thus
held the pastoral charge of this populous and important parish
for nearly twenty-two years. He was the last surviving issue
of the Rev. Richard Fawcett, M. A., who was appointed minister
of St. John's church, in Leeds, October 7th, 1768, and died in
June, 1783, aged eighty, and respecting whom Dr. Whitaker,
in his Loidis and Elmete, says: — "To him St. John's church,
and his successors, were deeply indebted for having, at an
advanced period of life, filed a bill in Chancery against the
trustees, who conceived themselves entitled to withhold from
the ministers all the increased profits above <£80, which was
eight-ninths of the original income, and by a decree in his
favour entitled himself to a full proportion of the rents. Mr.
Fawcett, senior, was a native of the chapelry of Dent, in the
parish of Sedberg, and scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge ;
a very acute man, and master of a neat, clear, controversial
style, which he twice displayed in public — once in defence of
his friend, Dr. Kirshaw, from the statement of the disappointed
candidate for the vicarage of Leeds; and again in an ironical
letter to the Rev. John Wesley, under the name of certain
illiterate preachers in his connexion, who professed to be scan-
dalized at his requirement of human learning in all its branches,
as the necessary qualification of a minister of the Gospel." This
Mr. Fawcett, besides the late (Richard Fawcett) vicar of Leeds,
had two other sons, the late Joseph Fawcett, Esq., an eminent
cai*pet manufacturer in this town, and the late Rev. James
Fawcett, B.D., a man of high talent and exemplary piety;
for many years Norrisian professor of divinity in the Uni-
versity of Cambridge, and rector of Great Snoring, in the
county of Norfolk. If the late vicar did not take his posi-
tion in the front rank as to composition and oratory, he was
endowed with qualities which gave him a more confident hope
in that happy rest to which he 1ms doubtless been called: his
sound Christian doctrine was enforced with sincerity and ear
nestness, and was practically evinced by his brotherly love,* his
* According to the Gentleman's Magazine, Mr. Fawcett was an active and
benevolent minister of religion, and was much beloved by the principal
A A
370 BIOGRAPIIIA LEODIENSIS.
unostentatious demeanour, his extensive charity, and his uni-
versal benevolence. His remains were interred near the altar-
table in the Leeds parish church.* A tablet is erected to the
memory of the deceased within the altar-rails of the parish
church, on the north-east side, which bears the following inscrip-
tion: — "To the memory of the late Rev. Richard Fawcett,
M.A., vicar of this parish, in which the whole of his ministerial
labours had been spent — having been seven years cm-ate of this
church, twenty-three years incumbent of Armley, and upwards
of twenty years vicar of this parish ; a man of genuine liberality,
tirm in principle, in his manners courteous, who died, January
22nd, 1837, aged seventy-seven, beloved by his family, valued
by his friends, and esteemed and respected by all his pai-ishioners."
He was succeeded by the Rev. Walter Farquhar Hook, M.A.,
afterwards D.D., and Dean of Chichester, &c. — See the Leeds
Intelligencer, &c, for January, 1837.
1784-1837.
JOHN ENTWISLE, ESQ., M.P.,
Born August 21st, 1784, was the eldest son and heir of John
Markland, Esq., mayor of Leeds in 1786 (who assumed the name
inhabitants of Leeds, who testified their respect to his memory by attending
his remains to the grave. The right of presentation to this valuable vicarage
is vested in twenty-five trustees.
* The funeral procession left the vicarage about half-past ten, and proceeded
in the following order :—
Four Inspectors of Police.
The Chief Officer and Superintendent of Police.
The Sergeant at Mace (robed, but without the mace).
The Mayor and the late Mayor.
Eighteen Aldermen, Councillors, and Magistrates.
The Churchwardens.
The Choristers and Beadles of the Parish Church.
The Clergy of the Parish, in their robes.
The Domestics of the late Vicar's establishment.
The Hearse, drawn by four black horses.
Four Mourning Coaches.
Seven Private Carriages, &c.
'the body was met at the church-gates by the Trustees of the Advowson,
wearing black scarfs, the clerk-in-orders, and the curate of the parish church,
the latter of whom officiated. The morning and funeral services were read by
the Rev. Robert Taylor, the curate, in the course of which an appropriate
:mthem was sung by the choir. The church was crowded to excess during
the solemn services. The shops along the line of the procession (though on a
Saturday), were closed during the passing of the cavalcade, and the crowds
of spectators which filled the streets and upper windows marked the respect
in which the deceased vicar was held by all classes of his parishioners. The
most perfect order and decorum were observed during the whole of the
solemn ceremonial; and the company, amounting to several thousands,
separated at the church, and the procession returned in a similar manner to
the Court-house, and there dispersed.
JOHN HEY, ESQ., F.L.S., F.G.S. 371
of Entwisle in 1787, on the death of his consin, Robert Entwisle,
Esq.),'" by Ellen, daughter of Hugh Lyle, Esq., of Coleraine. He
served the office of high-sheriff of Lancashire in 1824. At the
first election for the new borough of Rochdale, in December,
1832, he became a candidate, but was unsuccessful, the numbers
being — for John Fenton, Esq., 277; John Entwisle, Esq., 246.
In 1835 he defeated his former competitor by forty-three, polling
369 votes, and Mr. Fenton 326. Mr. Entwisle was a Conser-
vative in politics, and became president of the South Lancashire
Conservative Association on its formation. He married, in
May, 1812, Ellen, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Smith, Esq.,
of Castleton Hall, by whom he had issue one son, John Smith
Entwisle, Esq.,t born in 1815, and two daughters, Ellen
Matilda, married to Sir Alexander Ramsay, Bart., and
Augusta, married, in 1842, to L. B. Mackinnon, Esq. The
above John Entwisle, Esq., of Foxholes, in the county of Lan-
caster, and of York Terrace, Regent's Park, M.P. for Rochdale,
a magistrate for Lancashire and the West-Riding of Yorkshire,
(bed, April 5th, 1837, in his fifty-third year. — See the Gentle-
man's Magazine for June, 1837, p. 655, &c.
1802—1837.
JOHN HEY, ESQ., F.L.S., F.G.S.,
Surgeon, second son of William Hey, Esq., of Leeds, died at his
residence, Albion Place, December 11th, 1837, in the thirty-
sixth year of his age. Mr. John Hey was no less distinguished
for the qualities of his heart than for those of his mind, and his
loss was deeply felt in a very extensive circle. His professional
attainments were first-rate ; he was a proficient in various
branches of science, and his studies embraced the whole range
* Robert Entwisle, Esq., of Foxholes, Lancashire, bom in 1735; justice of
the peace; died, unmarried, in 1787, when the estates passed to his kinsman,
John Markland, Esq., bom August 21st, 1744, son of John Markland, Esq.,
of Manchester and Leeds, and grandson of John Markland, Esq., of Wigan,
by Ellen Entwisle, his wife, whose father, Bertie Entwisle, vice-chancellor of
the Duchy of Lancaster, was second son of John Entwisle, Esq., of Foxholes,
a barrister of the Middle Temple, living in 1GG5. Mr. Markland assumed, iu
consequence, the surname and arms of Entwisle. He married, October 9th,
1782, Ellen, daughter of Hugh Lyle, Esq., of Coleraine, colonel of the Roch-
dale volunteers, and had issue— John, Ids heir; and Elizabeth, married in
1805, to Robert Feel, Esq., of Manchester, kc.
+ The present John Smith Entwisle, Esq. (who has been kind enough to
revise the above Sketch), of Foxholes and Castleton Hall, in the county of
Lancaster, J.P. and D.L., born September 18th, 1815; high-sheriff in 1849;
married, May 18th, 18415, Caroline, second daughter of Robert J. J. Norreys,
Esq., of Davy Hulme Hall, in the county of Lancaster, and has issue — 1,
< 'aroline Dorothea ; 2, Mary Ellen ; 3, Isabella Margaret ; 4, John Bertie
Xorreys, born December, 1856, kc. — See Burke's Landed Gentry, kc.
372 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of polite literature, while the " one thing needful" was not for-
gotten. Locally his death was severely felt in the Leeds School
of Medicine, of which he was an active and efficient member;
he was also for seven years curator and librarian of the Leeds
Literary and Philosophical Society. His two able predecessors
in that post had bequeathed a fame so high and worthy, that it
was no small difficulty to take their place and complete their
succession. Enjoying the advantage of an honoured name, he
felt that great exertion alone could sustain his title to the
patronymic inheritance. His mind, naturally quick and pene-
trating, was richly cultivated by education, and amply stored by
science. It was eminently constituted for analytic research.
In the philosophy of natural history lay pei'haps his readiest
faculty and chief delight. His favourite sections of this large
field were botany and geology. During a long indisposition,
compelling protracted remission of professional duty and absence
from home, he little abated his love and pursuit of knowledge.
Amidst the flowers of the field and the rocks of the coast, he
still found his interesting study, and a pure gratification. His
amiable temper shed a pleasant lustre over his superior talents
and rare attainments, &c. — For further information, see the
Leeds Papers, and also the Minutes and Reports of the Leeds
Philosophical Society, &c.
1752—1837.
THE EEV. THOMAS SISSON, M.A.,
Vicar of Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire, and rector of Wal-
lington, for many years chairman of the Hertfordshire Quarter
Sessions, died December 31st, 1837, aged eighty-five years.
Mr. Sisson was a native of Leeds, and was educated at the
Leeds Grammar School, where he was soon distinguished for his
ability and acquirements. For more than half a century he
was an active magistrate of the county of Hertford, and for
nearly the same lengthened period rector of Wallington, having
been appointed to that benefice in 1788, by Emmanuel College,
Cambridge, of which society he was a Fellow and tutor. He
was uncle to the Pev. Joseph Lawson Sisson,* D.D., formerly
of Leeds and Wakefield, now incumbent of Coleford, Glouces-
tershire, author of an Anglo-Saxon Grammar, published at
Leeds, and an Historic Sketch of the Parish Church of Wakefield,
&c. — See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for January, 1838.
* The Rev. "William Lawson, M.A. (1757-1841), formerly a Fellow and
Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge, vicar of Masham, Yorkshire, and for
many years bead-master of the Wolverhampton Grammar School, was also a
THE SIXTH DUKE OF LEEDS, K.G. 373
1775—1838.
THE SIXTH DUKE OF LEEDS, KG.,
George William Frederick Osborne, died in London, July 10th,
1838, aged nearly sixty-three. His grace was born July 21st,
177-3, the elder son of Francis Godolphin, the fifth duke, by his
first wife, the Right Honourable Lady Ameha D'Ai-cy, Baroness
Conyers, only daughter and heiress of Robert, fourth and last
Earl of Holderness. His mother (whose marriage was dissolved
by act of parbament, in 1779) died during his minority,
January 26th, 1784 ; and on his coming of age, he presented a
petition to the House of Lords, claiming the barony of Conyers
in right of his maternal descent. On the 27th of April, 1798,
the House resolved and adjudged that the petitioner, George
AVilliam Frederick, Marquis of Carmarthen, had made out his
claim to the title, honour, and dignity of Baron Conyers ; and
he immediately received his writ of summons accordingly. He
never, however, took much interest in politics, and when a
young man spent a considerable length of time in Italy. He
usually gave his vote in parliament with the Tory party. On
the 31st of January, 1799, he succeeded his father in the duke-
dom, and in the same year he was appointed lord-lieutenant
of the North-Riding of Yorkshire. On the 4th of May, 1827,
he was appointed master of the horse, and on the 10th of the
same month he was sworn a privy councillor. On the latter
day also he was elected a knight of the order of the garter. He
resigned the office of master of the horse with the Duke of
Wellington's administration, in November, 1830. At the
ceremony of the coronation of King Wilbam IV., September
8th, 1831, the Duke of Leeds was one of the four knights of
the garter who held over the king's head the pall of gold at
the ceremony of anointing. As a supporter of the turf no one
was more respected. He was, in fact, admitted to be a pattern
for everything upright and honourable. It should be borne in
mind that to the northern turf he was essentially devoted, for
he seldom sent horses south of Doncaster. The influence of his
character was great in the best sense of the word ; for in Ins
own neighbourhood he was truly "the fine old English gentle-
native of Leeds. He was for many years a deten u in France, where he was
seized by Napoleon as he was travelling for the benefit of his health, and
only returned home at the peace. He died in 1841, bty-four years,
outhwell, in Nottinghamshire, and was buried in the collegiate church of
that place. Be was also uncle to the Rev. J. Lawson Sisson, D.D.,whowas
also educated at the Leeds Grammar Scl I, and by whom these brief
Sketches have been kindly revised. - See the Leeds Papers, &c.
37 I BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
man," and sought not to be great from home. In 1811 his
grace pulled down the ancient mansion-house at Kiveton, which
up to that time had been the principal residence of the family
from the reign of James the First (see Hunter's History of
South Yorkshire, vol. i., p. 142). It was quitted for the more
magnificent castle of Hornby, in the same county, the seat of
his mother's family, the Barons Conyers, and Earls of Holder-
ness. His grace was present at the coronation of the Queen,
though his duchess was prevented from attending by serious
illness. He was taken ill only three days before his death.
His body was interred, on the 16th of July, under Trinity
church, Osnaburgh Street, Regent's Park. He married, August
17th, 1797, Lady Charlotte Townshend, sixth daughter of
George, first Marquis Townshend, and aunt to the second
marquis; and had issue two sons and one daughter: 1, the
Most Noble Francis Godolphin D'Arcy, seventh Duke of Leeds,
born in 1798 ; 2, Lady Charlotte Mary Anne Georgiana, married
in May, 1826, to Sackville Lane Fox, Esq., of Bramham Park,
near Leeds, and died in 1836 ; and, 3, Lord Conyers George
Thomas William Osborne, who was accidentally killed in
wrestling with a young friend, when a member of Christ Church,
Oxford, February 19th, 1831. The seventh duke formerly sat
in parliament (as Marquis of Carmarthen) for Helston ; but
was not a member of the House of Commons after the passing
of the Reform Act. At the coronation of her present Majesty
he was (only a few days befoi'e his father's death) called up to
the House of Peers in the barony of Osborne. He married,
April 24th, 1828, Louisa Catherine, third daughter of Richard
Caton, of Maryland, Esq., widow of Sir Felton E. Bathurst
Hervey, Bart., and sister to the Marchioness of Wellesley. By
that lady he had no issue ; and the heir presumptive to the
dukedom was Lord Godolphin, the late duke's only brother,
who succeeded as eighth Duke of Leeds in 1859.* See the
Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1838 ; the Peerages of Burke,
Collins, Debrett, Lodge, &c. ; and also a Sketch of the first
Duke of Leedsf (with Notes), who died in 1712, p. 121, &c.
* The splendid mansion in St. James's Square, purchased by the Duke of
Leeds from the Dowager Countess of Hardwicke, was bequeathed by his
grace to his son-in-law, Mr. Sackville Lane Fox, together with the whole of
his personal property ; and it was said that, in consequence, the seventh duke
would be obliged to sell Hornby Castle, the only unentailed portion of the
family estates.— See Gentleman's Magazine for December, 1838, &c.
t For a much longer account of Thomas Osborne, the first Duke of Leeds,
who died in 1712, with a fine portrait, engraved from the painting by V. Vaart
(1712), in the collection of his Grace the Duke of Leeds, at Hornby Castle, in
this county, see Lodge's Portraits of Illustrious Personages (Bohn's edition),
vol. vii., p. 19, &c.
LIEUT. -GENERAL SIR JOHN ELLEV, K.C.B. 375
—1839.
LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR JOHN ELLEY, K.C.B., &c,
Governor of Galway, and Colonel of tlie 7tli Lancers, died at
his seat, Cholderton Lodge, near Arnesbury, January 23rd,
1839.""' This distinguished officer, formerly a tanner's boy at
Meanwood, near Leeds,t commenced his military career as a
private trooper in the Blues, in which he soon obtained the
post of quartermaster; and in 1791 he obtained a cornetcy in
the same regiment. He served the campaigns, 1793-1795, in
Flanders, and -was present at most of the battles fought during
that period, and at the siege of Valenciennes, &c. The 28th
of January. 1796, he obtained a lieutenancy in his regiment;
in October, 1799, a troop ; in 1804, a majority; and in March,
180G, a lieutenant-colonelcy. He served as assistant adjutant-
general to the cavalry in Spain in the campaigns of 1808 and
1809, and was present in the affairs of Sahagun, Majorca,
Benevente, and Lugo, and in the battle of Coruima. He also
served in the same capacity in Spain and Portugal during the
following years : was at the battle of Talavera ; had the com-
mand of the rear-guard of cavalry which covered the advance
corps of the army when it retired over the Alberche ; was in
the battles of Fuentes d'Onor, Salamanca, Vittoria, Orthes,
and Toulouse, and finally served in the Netherlands, and at
Waterloo. For his services on these occasions he was appointed
a K.C.B., and received a cross and two clasps. He was
appointed also a knight of the Austrian Order of Maria
Theresa, and a knight of the 4th class of the Russian Order
of St. George. He received the rank of colonel in the army,
in March, 1813; of major-general, August, 1819; and of
lieutenant-general, January, 1837. He was previously (in
November, 1829) appointed colonel of the 17th Lancers. He
* On the 4th of February, the remains of the late Sir John Elley were
removed from his residence, West Cholderton, near Andover, for interment
in the Chapel Royal, at "Windsor. At the request of the gallant general, the
funeral was private, and eight of his brother officers of the Blues bore the
pall.— See the Gentleman' s Magazine for December, 1839, p. 669, &c.
+ Sir John was born in London (and not in Leeds, as is generally supposed),
his father kept an eating-bouse, in Furnival's Inn Cellars, Holborn. He was
in the service of Mr. John Gelderd, tanner, of Meanwood, and had often, on
a wet Sunday, to meet Mrs. Gelderd, at Headingley church, with an umbrella
or a pair of pattens. Elley was engaged to marry Ann Gelderd, the daughter
of his master, but she died, and he attended her funeral, at Armley chapel,
in great grief. Elley had a desire, after a short service, to leave the arm}-,
but was induced by the Rev. John Smithson, incumbent of Headingley, to
remain. The above statement was made to Henry Stooks Smith, Esq., of
Headingley (who has kindly revised the above Sketch), by the Lev. Mr.
Smithson, who died in 1835.
376 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
had served on the staff in the sonth of Ireland, and represented
Windsor in Sir Robert Peel's parliament, of whose party and
politics he was an active supporter. It is recorded of Sir John
Elley, in Scott's Letters to his Kinsfolk, that there were found
on the field of Waterloo more than one of Napoleon's Cuiras-
siers cleft to the chine by the stalwart arm of this gallant
officer. Sir John Elley's will was proved by the executors, John
Burton, Esq., Henry Knyvett, Esq., Charles Hopkinson, Esq.,
and Jane Carter, spinster. The personal estate was sworn to
be under £25,000. Among various legacies .£300 was left to the
lieutenant-genei'al who should succeed to the command of his
regiment, to purchase plate for the use of the mess ; and the
like sum for the same purpose to the colonel of the 17th
Lancers. Also the following charitable bequests : — To the
Magdalen Asylum in the London Road, ,£300 ; to the Female
Orphan Asylum, £300 ; to the Westminster Lying-in Hospital,
£300 ; to the Bethnal Lunatic Asylum, £500 ; to the Refuge
for the Destitute, £200 ; to the Institution for the cure of
Cancer, in the Kent Road, £250 ; to the Corporation of
Windsor, £100, to apply the interest among poor decayed
householders. The will is dated 6tb of March, 1838. — See the
Gentleman, 's Magazine for April, 1839, &c.
1758-1839.
GEORGE SCHOLEY, ESQ.,
Formerly of Leeds, afterwards alderman and lord mayor of
London, of Clapham Common, and Hutton Hall, Essex, for
thirty-four years an alderman of London for the ward of Dow-
gate, died at Clapham, October 4th, 1839, aged eighty-one.
Alderman Scholey was a native of Sandal, near Wakefield, in
which parish several relations of his are now residing. He
commenced life as the junior clerk in the bank of Messrs.
Beckett, Blayds, and Co., of Leeds. Having acquitted himself
with ability and fidelity for several years with them, he was
enabled to obtain a confidential situation in the house of
Messrs. Stephenson and Co., hop merchants, London, by whom
he was subseqxxently taken into partnership. His career
through life affords a striking example of what may be accom-
plished by diligence and propriety of conduct. He served the
office of sheriff of London and Middlesex in 1804, was elected
alderman of Dowgate ward in 1805, and was lord mayor in
1812. He was an alderman of the old school, — industrious,
ise, affluent, hospitable, and a Tory. He was always
attentive to his official duties, and, indeed, frequently took upon
BENJAMIN GOTT, ESQ. 377
himself the performance of the duties of his junior brethren.
In the magisterial chair he was ever on the side of leniency.
He was remarkable for the neatness of his person, and often
appeared well mounted on the Clapham road. He had an
attack of dropsy about three months before his death, and he
very calmly assured some of his friends that his last hour was
approaching. To the surprise of the citizens of London,
Alderman Scholey is said to have died worth no more than
£120,000. He had retired from business many years, and was
reported to have stated, at the period of his retirement, that he
was worth a plum and a half, and the calculation was that his
property amounted to £500,000, as he was a very economical
liver. His executors were Alderman Thompson, Mr. Atkinson
(formerly Alderman Scholey's partner), and Mr. Fr'eshfield.
The disposition of Ins property, it was said, was rather extraoi*-
dinary. To his son, who was forty-eight years of age, he left
the interest upon £40,000 in the Three per Cents, for his life,
but without permission to touch a farthing of the principal ; to
Mrs. Bellamy, his daughter, he left the interest upon £20,000,
but with the principal she had no more to do than her brother
had. Upon the death of son and daughter the principal
devolves to others. To an old woman, who lived as an upper
servant in his house for thirty-eight years, he left £500, and to
each of his other servants he left £100. By Ins will he also
directed a large sum to be invested for the purpose of founding
a charity at Sandal, near Wakefield. — For a longer Sketch,
see the Gentleman's Magazine for Decembei', 1839, &c.
1762—1840.
BENJAMIN GOTT, ESQ.,
Merchant, of Armley House, near Leeds, died February 14th,
1840, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He was born on
the 24th of June, 1762, and was the son of a man who, by bis
energy and talents, raised himself to eminence as a civil
engineer. He was educated at Bingley School, and in early
life his abilities and amiable disposition endeared him to his
school-fellows and friends. He entered, and afterwards became
a partner of, the firm of Wormald and Fountaine, woollen
manufacturers and merchants, which, by the retirement of the
other partners, became eventually the establishment alone of
Mr. Gott and his sons.* Thus placed in a commanding situa-
; By liis tulent, intelligence, and activity, lie realized a large fortune. No
one in the West-Biding stood higher as a man of business. Be possessed
large stores of information, a vigorous intellect, remarkable decision of
37b BI0GRAPH1A LEODIENSIS.
tion, Mr. Gott's superior qualities acquired an ample field for
their development. Untiring energy, an enlarged intelligence,
and an enterprising spirit, soon raised the subject of this Memoir
to the head of the woollen manufacture of Yorkshire. During
the war his establishments were on so lai-ge a scale, that at one
period £1,000 a week in wages were paid by his house.
Wealth thus acquired was nobly dispensed. Mr. Gott was the
active supporter of every charitable institution ; a patron
of the fine arts ; and a firm and enlightened upholder of our
constitution in Church and State, from a conscientious conviction
of its excellence. He was one of the founders of the Leeds
Philosophical and Literary Society, and of the Leeds Mechanics'
Institution, to both of which he gave large donations. To the
poor he was a most bountiful benefactor, both at Leeds and at
Armley ; and to the numerous persons in his employment he
was a generous and kind master, many of them having spent a
lifetime in his service, and not a few having received liberal
pensions on their superannuation. Mr. Gott's health had
lately somewhat declined ; but on the Sunday preceding his
death he was well enough to attend St. James's church, on the
occasion of the Bishop of Bipon (now the Archbishop of
Canterbury) preaching for a charitable purpose. That evening,
however, he became ill, and a spasmodic attack ensuing, he sunk
under its effects on the Friday following. His funeral on the
21st presented a scene which evinced a melancholy but gratifying
evidence of the universal esteem in which his character was
held. The principal gentry attended, amongst whom were the
Messrs. Christopher and William Beckett, Dr. Hook (vicar of
Leeds), Mr. J. Blayds, and Mr. W. Hey, &c. All the manu-
facturers at Armley suspended their works; the shops were
closed, and Armley church was filled by a large and respectable
company, dressed in mourning. One of the most affecting
incidents was the appearance of the twelve inmates of the
character, and a fine taste. He also possessed munificent liberality, great
public spirit, perfect uprightness and independence, and an amiable disposi-
tion. No man was ever more regarded or esteemed in his circle than Mr.
Gott ; and no man ever more truly deserved the love and esteem of his fellow-
men. As a husband, father, friend, and neighbour, his conduct was an
example to all around him ; his numerous workpeople especially lamented his
death, for to them he was always a liberal master. A warm friend to Church
and State, his munificence on all public occasions kept pace with his ample
means ; and in him the Conservatives of the borough of Leeds, and of the
West-Riding generally, lost a man who was on all occasions ready to prove
the sincerity of his professions by pecuniary contributions, princely in their
amount, but given, nevertheless, without ostentation, without wishing to be
deemed either patron or leader. —See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c. , for Feb. , 1840.
BENJAMIN GOTT, ESQ. 379
almshouses, endowed a few years before by the munificence of
the deceased. We have only sketched a faint outline of the
qualities which adorned the life of this estimable man. His
understanding was vigorous ; his mind, either in the study of
books or men, was ever acquiring fresh stores of knowledge.
His mansion at Armley, and his collection of pictures and
books, testified his taste and pursuits. He was well known to
the most enlightened men of his day, and ranked amongst his
friends, Rennie, Watt, and Chantrey. In domestic life he
sustained all its relations with undeviating kindness and
integrity. Mr. Gott left two sons and six daughters, all of
whom, except one, have been married, but two are widows.
He was also mayor of Leeds in 1799 ; and his death was deeply
and universally deplored. In the church dedicated to St.
Bartholomew, at Armley, there is a beautiful piece of statuary
erected in memory of the deceased, executed by Joseph Gott,
Esq., of Rome. It represents the deceased gentleman (life size)
reclining on a mattress, in a posture of deep meditation. At
the basement is the following inscription : — " This monument
is erected in memory of Benjamin Gott, Esq., of Armley
House. Endowed with talents to dignify every relation of life,
he maintained, with inflexible uprightness, the character of a
merchant ; with impartial justice, the office of a magistrate ;
and with unshaken confidence, the warmth of friendship.
Always ready to promote the welfare of Leeds, and the advo-
cate of its literary, scientific, and charitable institutions, which
found in him a judicious adviser and generous patron. Under
the gifts of health and prosperity, and length of days, he
exhibited the powers of divine grace in the pure benevolence
and holy principles by which he sought to shape his conduct ;
and relying for salvation only on the merits of his Redeemer,
he calmly resigned his soul into the hands of a merciful
Creator, on the 14th of February, 1840, in the seventy-eighth
year of his age."* His bust, in beautiful marble, placed upon a
pedestal, executed by Mr. J. Gott, of Rome, was presented to
the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, in May, 1856,
* ON THE DEATH OF BENJAMIN GOTT, ESQ.
"Why do ye weep?
Because the righteous dead
His heavenly rest hath won?
Is it well done
That ye should sigh and mourn,
When, like the ripen' d ear of fruitful com,
The stalk hath wither'd, and the fruit is found
Safely transplanted to immortal ground?
380 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
by his sons, John and "William Gott, Esqs., to commemorate the
great interest which was taken by the deceased gentleman in
the early foundation and subsequent success of the society. —
See the Gentleman's Magazine for March, 1840, p. 323 ; the
Leeds Papers; Schroeder's and Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c.
1763-1840.
GEOEGE BEIDGES, ESQ., M.P.,
Formerly of Leeds, afterwards sheriff, alderman, and lord
mayor of London, and also one of the members of parliament
for the city, died at Brighton, March 13th, 1840, in his seventy-
eighth year. The celebrity of the city of London naturally
confers a distinction and an eminence upon all those to whom
are intrusted the conservation of her privileges and the adminis-
tration of her laws; and the public attention and regard are
consequently in a peculiar degree attracted to the chief officer
of the first city in the world. The gentleman whose Sketch is
here given, for many years, both as a merchant and a magistrate,
sustained the respectability and advanced the interests of the
great metropolis ; and we feel much pleasure in adding his
name to the long list of those whom this book contains, as
deserving the gratitude and honoured with the confidence of
their fellow-citizens. Alderman Bridges, whose immediate
"For the blest, holy dead
Sorrow ye not ;
A goodly heritage,
A favour'd lot
Was his, while living ; for his God had spread
Earth's treasures at his feet ; yet more, had shed
His holier, brighter gifts around his soul,
Earnests of glory ere he reached the goal.
"Ye may not weep ;
Gird up your loins, and run
Your glorious race :
The crown that he hath won
Waits for each conqu'ror of the world and sin,
Oh ! beautiful and blest abode : ' Within
My Father's house are many mansions,' said
Our Life, the Resurrection from the dead.
"Burn not your hearts?
JDo not your souls aspire
After all holy things ?
Shall covetous desire
Clog and retard our progress to the skies ?
Oh ! Thou who did'st obtain the mighty prize
For fallen man, into our souls distil
Such bright transforming grace, that every will
In meek submission may to Thine be boVd ! "
—From the Leeds Intelligencer for March, 1840.
GEORGE BRIDGES, ESQ., M.P. 381
ancestors were more distinguished for worthiness of character
than for extent of property, passed the earlier years of his life
under the tuition of the Eev. William Downhani, at Salua
(Salton), in Yorkshire, whence he was removed to Bipon, and
afterwards finished his education during a more lengthened
stay at Leeds.'"" On Mr. Bridges' arrival in London, he had
the hope of getting a situation in the public employment; but
his expectation not being realized, he soon afterwards entered
into the counting-house of Messrs. "Watson and Rashleigh
(afterwards Sir Brook Watson, commissary-general), where he
continued until he went into business on Ins own account, with
the marked approbation of his employers — thus becoming the
architect of his own fame and fortune, and laying with his own
hands the foundation of that eminence which he afterwards so
worthily acquired. On the resignation of William Jacob, Esq.,
as alderman of Lime Street ward, in 1811, Mi*. Bridges was
chosen his successor; and in 1816-17 served the office of sheriff
of London and Middlesex, in conjunction with Robert Kirby,
Esq., during the second mayoralty of Mr. Alderman Wood, when
their excellent conduct in the shrievalty was rewarded with the
unanimous votes of thanks of the Courts of Aldermen and
Common Council, and of the livery in Common Hall. On his
regular succession to the civic chair, in 1819, Mr. Bridges'
election to the high station of lord mayor was opposed, in the
same manner that Aldermen C. Smith and Atkins had been in
the two years preceding. A poll, however, was demanded,
which continued open during the usual time, when he was
returned didy elected by the vast majority of 964, over the
highest opposition candidate. A dissolution of parliament
occiuTing on the accession of George IV., during the early part
of Mr. Bridges' mayoralty, his lordship, at the earnest sugges-
tion of his friends, became a candidate for the city, when, after
a most severe struggle, he was elected one of the four sitting
members; as, though comparatively unknown in public, the
excellence of his private character proved superior to all the
political partisanship which opposed him; and from the second
day's poll until the close, he kept considerably above his more
immediate opponent.
"The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation."— Shakspbabb,
The ancient hospitality of the city of London was never more
* According to the Leeds Intelligencer, he was a native of Leeds, who,
much to his honour, elevated himself from a very humble to a very exalted
rank in society.
382 BIOGBAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
liberally sustained than by Lord Mayor Bridges; and it will be a
sufficient memorial to distinguish his lordship's exertions for the
public good, to state that the "Refuge for the Houseless and
Destitute," in the winter of 1819, was planned, perfected, and
carried into effect, principally through the prompt benevolence
and active and munificent assistance of Alderman Bridges.'"'
His lordship retired from his high office, followed by the ju-ayers
and blessings of the poor whom he had relieved and succoured,
accompanied by the gratitude of all who could duly appreciate
his valuable services, attended by the friendship of those whose
friendship was most desirable; and, what was far more gratifying
than even all these, rewarded with the approving plaudit of
that "still small voice" which told him from his own bosom
that he had done Ins duty. The worthy alderman married Miss
Delamaine, of East Acton, by whom he had two sons. In
taking leave of him, it may be added that in the hist of her
worthiest chief magistrates, the city of London must ever record
the name of Bridges. — See the Leeds Papers; the Gentleman's
Magazine, &c. ; and for a portrait, &c, of the Bight Hon. George
Bridges, M.B., &c, lord mayor of London, 1819-20, engraved
by J. Thomson, from an original painting by Samuel Drurn-
mond, Esq., A.R.A., see the European Magazine for November,
1820, p. 385, &c.
1769—1841.
CHAELES CAKE, ESQ., M.D.,
Succeeded Dr. Davison, in the year 1810, as physician to the
Leeds General Infirmary, and the same year was elected
physician of the House of Recovery, in this town. After
* In a mayoralty, however, during which party spirit unfortunately ran so
high, and in which such unexpected and important events agitated the public
mind, it was impossible that any conduct on the part of any chief magistrate
eoidd be alike gratifying to all classes of his constituents ; but while secure of
the suffrages of the wise, the loyal, and the good; while discharging his
numerous duties with impartiality and uprightness, the opinion of others is
of comparatively trifling importance; and while claiming for Lord Mayor
Bridges the proud distinction of having acted thus — of having maintained the
honour of his sovereign, promoted the welfare of his fellow-subjects, and
supported the fame and interests of our great metropolis — we are satisfied
that all would concede to him the merit of having been swayed only hy the
dictates of his conscience, and having been governed by no motives save those
which God and nature have implanted in every honest heart. The well-
deserved vote of thanks, indeed, from the gentlemen of his lordship's house-
hold, presented at the farewell dinner on the 8th of November, 1820, spoke
infinitely more than any eulogy ; the more especially from its being a compli-
ment so perfectly unprecedented, except in the solitary instances of Alderman
Kirmersley and Sir James Shaw, and as proceeding from those who were so
well able to appreciate that kindness, hospitality, and benevolence, for which
they thus recorded their acknowledgments and their esteem.
T. S. B. KEADE, ESQ. 383
faithfully discharging the important duties of these institutions
for a period of fifteen years, Dr. Carr was compelled, by delicacy
of health, to retire from the active engagements of his profes-
sion. Few persons quitted the scene of their public labours
more universally regretted. To the poor he was uniformly kind
and affable — ever ready to lend a patient ear to their complaints;
and whilst his sympathizing manner won their affections, the
skilful exercise of a hisrhlv cultivated mind alleviated their
pains. His private life was equally estimable, and in him was
truly exemplified the Christian gentleman. He died on Satur-
day, January 9 th, 1841, aged seventy-two years, at his residence,
Knowsthorpe House, near Leeds. Mrs. Carr, his widow, at her
death, left legacies to the Leeds Infirmary, £500; the Leeds
Public Dispensary, £100; the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel, £100; the Leeds District Christian Knowledge Associa-
tion, £100; St. Peters Parochial Sunday Schools, £100; St,
Peter's (Bank) School, £100; National Schools, Leeds, £100;
the Leeds House of Recovery, £100. — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
1777—1841.
T. S. B. READE, ESQ.,
A pious author, who died on Monday, April 12th, 1841, at his
house in Park Place, Leeds, in his sixty-fifth year. For the
consolation of his many friends, who deeply mourned his loss,
he gave, during his last illness, the following brief record of his
Christian experience: — "I enjoy communion and fellowship
with God, and with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who hath
forgiven me all my trespasses,, and sealed me to his eternal
kingdom and glory. How delightful is a full assurance /" He
died, as he lived, in perfect charity with all men, and at peace
with God. " Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright,
for the end of that man is peace."* Mr. Beade was the author
* The following tribute to the memory of this very estimable gentleman
was inserted among the minutes of the Leeds Auxiliary Bible Society : —
" The committee of the Leeds Auxiliary Bible Society, at their first monthly
meeting since the decease of their late excellent colleague, T. S. B. lleade,
Esq., while they desire to bow in humble resignation to the divine will,
cannot refrain from the expression and record of their deep and sincere
regret, tinder a sense of the loss which they, and the society on whose behalf
they act, have sustained by his lamented removal. From the formation of
this society, in which he took an active part, on the 25th October, 1809,
down to the latest period of his existence, their beloved friend has maiiit; ined
a steady and consistent adherence to the comprehensive basis and liberal
principles on which the British and Foreign Bible Society, and its numerous
auxiliaries, are founded; and amidst all the defections from its ranks which
that society has had to deplore, and all the unprovoked and undeserved
obloquy and hostility it has had to encounter, his attachment to it has never
;',S [ BI0GRAPH1A LEODIENSIS.
of two excellent works, entitled Christian Retirement and
Christian Experience; and there was published soon after his
death Christian Meditations ; or, The Believer's Companion in
Solitude. — See the Leeds Papers, &c., for April, 1841.
1773—1841.
MR WILLIAM DAWSON,
A celebrated local preacher amongst the Wesleyans, commonly
called " the Yorkshire farmer," and deemed the Shakspeare of
the Wesleyan pulpit, died July 4th, 1841, aged sixty-eight years.
He was born on the 30th of March, 1773, at Garforth, near
Leeds, and was the eldest child of Luke and Ann Dawson.
His father was a small farmer, and colliery-steward to Sir
Thomas Gascoigne.* He was blessed with a pious mother, from
been shaken, nor has he ever shrunk from the candid and open, the gentle
yet firm and uncompromising avowal of it. The spirit of that divine book
which he loved so well and laboured so assiduously to disseminate, was emi-
nently and beautifully manifested throughout the life of their late estimable
associate, and its consolations and supports were graciously afforded to cheer
the Christian retirement and the closing scenes of his hallowed and much-
honoured course. Mr. Reade was one of the ten gentlemen, of various Chris-
tian denominations, who formed the first committee of this Auxiliary Society.
He has continued in the same relation during all the yeai*s which have suc-
ceeded, rarely absent from its meetings and ever alive to its interests. While
in the office of Bible secretary, he has with most exemplary punctuality ami
fidelity contributed greatly to the efficiency and usefulness of the institution.
"With a mournful pleasure this committee cherish the memory of his many
Christian excellences and invaluable services. May his bright example
stimulate the friends of the Bible Society to similar zeal and devotedness for
the attainment of those great and glorious objects which it is so laudably
prosecuting, and which so powerfully commended themselves to his truly
pious and enlightened mind. Committee-room of the Leeds Auxiliary Bible
Society, May 5th, 1841." — See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c.
* The family of Gascoigne is one of great antiquity (in this part of the
country ), and acquired the estate of Gawthorp at a very early period, iu mar-
riage with the daughter and co-heir of John de Gawthorp. The senior line,
derived from Sir William Gascoigne, the celebrated chief-justice of the reign
of Henry IV. (for a Sketch of whom see p. 70, &c), terminated in an heiress,
Margaret, wife of Thomas Went worth, Esq., of Wentworth Wood House,
grandfather of Thomas, first Earl of Strafford. The next branch, the Gas-
coignes, of Thorpe-on-the-Hill, near Leeds, sprung from a second son of
the Gawthorp family. The co-heiresses were Margery, wife of Henry
Proctor, Esq., of New Hall, near Otley, and Eleanor, wife of Arthur Ingram,
Esq. (of Temple Newsam, near Leeds), groom of the privy chamber to Charles
II. The Gascoignes, of Parlington, near Leeds, derived their descent from
Nicholas Gascoigne, of Lasingcroft, younger brother of the chief -justice, and
were raised to the baronetcy of Scotland by King Charles I. , in the person
of Sir John Gascoigne, of Parlington. (See Burke's Extinct Baronetage;
Jones's History of Harewood, &c. ) The last baronet, Sir Thomas Gascoigne,
married Mary, daughter of James Shuttleworth, Esq., of Forcet, and widow
of Sir Charles Turner, Bart., of Kirkleatham, in the county of York, by
whom he had an only child, Thomas, who died October 20th, 1809. Sir
Thomas died February 11th, 1810, and leaving no issue, devised his estates
in trust for Mr. and Mrs. Oliver (his step-daughter), for their lives, with
MR. WILLIAM DAWSON. 385
whom he received his first religious impressions. From his ear-
liest youth up to the age of twenty, he regularly attended the
church at Barwick-in-Elmet, under the ministry of the Rev.
Thomas Dykes, of Hull, and the Rev. John Graham, of York,
both of whom officiated at Barwick in early life; and although
he for some time continued to attend the services of the Church,
he gradually got in with the Wesleyans, until at length he
became a local preacher amongst them. At the beginning of
the nineteenth century he had fairly entered upon his work of
preaching. In addition to his arduous secular avocations as a
farmer, he was most laborious in performing his religious duties.
It was not unusual for him to be sowing seed, stacking corn,
clipping sheep, &c, on the same day that he was opening a
chapel, and attending missionary meetings. He was entered on
the Wesleyan plan for the year 1801. From the first he was
an attractive preacher, and in much requisition both at Leeds
and other places in Yorkshire. He preached in 1825 the
opening services of Brunswick chapel, Leeds. The anxiety to
gain the services of Mr. Dawson became very great; wherever
he preached the places of worship were crowded to excess, so
that at times he had to preach in the open air, so as to accom-
modate those who could not gain access to the chapel. In
February, 1836, a pi'oject was started in Brunswick chapel for
raising by voluntary subscriptions an annuity for Mr. Dawson,
so that he might devote the whole of his time to the Wesleyan
missions; ultimately £2,000 were raised, with which an annuity
of £150, and £30 to his brother in case he should survive, was
provided, the condition being that he was to devote six months
of the year to the missionary cause, leaving him to employ the
remainder to their sons (of whom two were born before Sir Thomas's death),
and then to their daughters in tail. Under this settlement, Mr. Oliver, who
was eldest son of the Right Hon. Silver Oliver, of Castle Oliver, in the county
of Limerick, assumed the surname and arms of Gascoigne, and became
Richard Oliver Gascoigne, Esq., of Partington, near Leeds. He married Miss
Turner, daughter of Sir Charles Turner, Bart. , of Kirkleatham, by Mary, his
wife, daughter of James Shuttleworth, Esq., and subsequently wife of the
above Sir Thomas Gascoigne, Bart., and by her, who died about the year
1815, had issue— Thomas Oliver, died, unmarried, April 24th, 1842; Richard
Silver, died, unmarried, December 25th, 1842; Mary Isabella Oliver, and
Elizabeth Oliver, now of Partington. Mr. R. O. Gascoigne, who served as
high-sheriff of Yorkshire about the year 1831, died April 14th, 1843, and was
succeeded by his two (laughters as co-heiresses. The elder, Mary Isabella Oliver
Gascoigne, married, January lGth, 1850, Frederick Charles Trench, Esq., who
assumed, on his marriage, the additional surname and arms of Gascoigno,
now (1864-5) high-sheriff of Yorkshire and colonel of the Leeds volunteer
engineers, and has a son and heir, born July 4th, 1851. The younger,
Elizabeth, married, February 10th, 1852, Frederick Mason, Lord Ashtown,
&c. — See Burke's Landed Gentry; the Gentleman's Magazine, &c.
B B
38G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENS1S.
other six as he might think fit. He then gave up his farm, and
came to reside at No. 6, Springfield Terrace, Burmantofts,
Leeds. On the 30th of March, 1840, he left Leeds for Liver-
pool, and set sail for Ireland on April 1st, to exercise his mis-
sionary labours. On his return he travelled in the south of
England, but was not permitted much longer to prosecute his
religious work. On the 3rd of July, 1841, he left Leeds for
Colne, in Lancashire, where he died very suddenly about two
o'clock on the following morning, in the sixty-ninth year of his
age. He was intei-red at Barwick-in-Elmet. As a preacher he
was most impressive, " eccentric in a high degree, and when he
preached, strong convulsions rocked alike the pulpit and the
pew. A wonderful variety of cadences; alternately rolling with
the thunder, and flashing with the lightning ; exhibiting the
lion and the lamb in the same discourse," being the last who
spoke in the strain of " olden times" in Methodism. In 1854
a very neat tablet in memory of the deceased, erected by
Mr. Dennis Lee, was placed in St. Peter's Wesleyan chapel, Leeds,
with an appropriate inscription.* — For additional information,
see the Life of William Dawson, by James Everett, published
in 1842; the Leeds Papers, &c.
* Mr. Dawson belonged to that valuable class of men, the strength and glory
of our land, the yeomanry of England, and in his character he was a fine
specimen of its heart-of-oak-like strength and steadiness, its high sense
of honour, and its fearless independence. He had likewise a heart formed
for wami and lasting attachments, which were fixed on the enduring basis of
Christian principle and feeling — few men, indeed, within the limits of our
sea-girt isle, could boast of as numerous a circle of firmly attached friends.
As a preacher of the Gospel, there was a remarkable correspondence between
his situation in life and the character of his truly original and effective min-
istry. In early life he had some thoughts of taking holy orders in the Estab-
lished Church, of which he always spoke in kindly and respectful terms, and
in which sphere he could not have failed to have occupied a useful and
distinguished place ; looking, however, at his peculiar turn of mind and of
talent, in choosing to become a local preacher in the Methodist Connexion the
great probability is that he followed the leadings of that Providence, the
guiding-hand of which was likewise apparent in the sphere of action which
was provided for him in Leeds and the neighbourhood. The congregations
which were thus supplied to him, both in respect of members and character,
being admirably suited to his peculiar talents. His theological style was
quite of the John Bunyan order, yet he was no servile imitator — his mind
and genius were strongly marked out by their own peculiar features. His
theology itself was at once richly evangelical and solidly discriminating, so
that the excursions of his imagination were, for the most part, directed into
right and profitable channels ; it might, indeed, occasionally put forth a
luxuriance which well-informed and judicious hearers could not entirely
approve ; but his pulpit materials, copious and striking as they were, would
be generally recognized as conformable in their leading mould to scriptural
principle and taste ; while his preaching, thus distinguished, was ofttimes a
chosen instrument for the signal manifestations of the power of God in
accomplishing the great objects of the Christian ministry. The system of
WILLIAM ROBINSON, ESQ. 387
1799-1839.
WILLIAM ROBINSON, ESQ.,
Artist, was bom at Leeds, in 1799. His first years were passed
at school, where he was found a most refractoiy pupil ; and to
the annoyance of his tutor, he always preferred the pencil to his
books or pen; constantly bargaining with the boys to draw
pictures, while they worked his sums. All means being found
ineffectual to deter Lini from his favourite study, at an early
age he was removed froni school only to meet greater difficulties
in the pursuit of the art he loved. His father, being a stern
man of decidedly practical views, saw nothing in his son's taste
that was likely to conduce to his future advancement, and deter-
mined to annihilate every effort contrary to his wishes. Things
now began to wear a desperate aspect, when young Robinson,
with that energy and self-reliance ever the characteristics
of genius, determined to throw aside all paternal authority, and
stand upon his own responsibility ; accordingly he set out to
seek a master, and at length found a clock-dial enameller, to
whom his father very reluctantly bound him apprentice. He
now worked early and late to procure pocket-money to purchase
materials for drawing; these he stealthily conveyed to his garret,
and secreted in an old band-box. After the household had
retired to rest, a thick tallow candle was produced from its
hiding-place; and then, to use Etty's words, " he Lit his lamp at
both ends of the day," and laboured through the long midnight,
with untiring zeal. The term of his apprenticeship over, Mr.
Robinson left his master, and received lessons in landscape
missionary meetings also, which arose in his days, had for many years the
advantage of his vigorous and effective exertions, and some of his addresses
on those occasions were long remembered as exhibiting, in a high degree,
originality of conception and strength of native genius. It is not surprising,
therefore, that he was much devoted to this description of service during the
last years of his honoured and useful life. In his death, therefore, the great
Wesleyan body felt that they had sustained a loss which might not soon be
repaired, and that " a prince and a great man had fallen in their Israel." The
duty of consigning his mortal remains to the tomb was performed by the
Rev". "W. H. Eathurst, the rector, at the parish church of the village where he
formerly resided, in the presence of an immense concourse of people, princi-
pally connected with the religious society of which he was so distinguished a
member. The funeral procession was composed of ministers and office-
bearers in the Methodist Society, walking six abreast ; gentlemen on horse-
back; the hearse; three mourning coaches; followed by (it was computed)
sixty-eight carriages of different descriptions, all of which were filled by
parties anxious to manifest their high respect for the memory of the deceased.
In addition to the numbers already enumerated, several thousand individuals
followed, the procession for a considerable distance, who would gladly have
been witnesses of the funeral ceremony if it had taken place within a shorter
distance of his residence. —See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for July, 1841.
3§g BIOGRArHIA LEODIENSIS.
painting from Mr. Rhodes, sen., of Leeds (who died in 1855);
but feeling this branch of art was not the one in which his
peculiar excellence lay, he commenced portrait painting, making
use of every facility his native town afforded for improvement.
By strict economy he was shortly in possession of a sufficient
sum to take him to London, and he set out for the metropolis
in 1820. Introductions had been furnished him to Sir T.
Lawrence, who received him with a kindness that made a
lasting impression on Mr. Robinson, and to which he always
bore testimony with feelings of gratitude. He now became a
pupil of Sir Thomas's, who, with a noble generosity, declined
anv remuneration; and at various times employed Mr. Robinson
to "work upon his own pictures. Sir Thomas Lawrence gave
him an introduction to Mr. Fuseli, who, esteeming his work
sufficiently meritorious, admitted him as a student in the Royal
Academy. The climax of his high aspirings and ambitious
hopes was now realized, and with a zealous heart and willing
hand he laboured with new energy in the mart of his high
calling. In 1823-4, Mr. Robinson had returned to his native
town where his talents soon found him a lucrative practice and
distinguished patronage. His portrait of the late Mr. M. T.
Sadler, M.P., first gained him celebrity, and to Mr. Sadler's
efforts Mr. Robinson owed much of his early practice. Amongst
his first patrons we may name W. Beckett, Esq., M.P., to
whom, we believe, Mr. Robinson was indebted for his introduc-
tion to Lord Grantham, the late Earl de Grey. This noble-
man, from the day of Mr. Robinson's introduction to his death,
manifested great interest in his professional career. Earl de
Grey honoured him by sitting for two portraits — one in his
peer's robes, and the other as colonel of the Yorkshire Hussars.
These pictures were afterwards engraved. At subsequent
periods he painted the whole of Lord de Grey's family, Lady
de Grey excepted; as well as the portrait of the late Earl of
Enniskillen, brother to Lady de Grey. He was also employed
by the noble earl to copy, from various masters, other distin-
guished members of his lordship's family. About this period a
subscription was raised among the members of the United
Service Club for the purpose of procuring portraits of several
distinguished individuals. The committee, through Earl de
Grey's interest, deputed Mr. Robinson to paint four of these
pictures — one a portrait of the late Duke of Wellington. The
duke had been so frequently asked to sit, that the members of
the committee to whom the management was confided did not
feel themselves warranted in requesting such a favour, and it
WILLIAM ROBINSON, ESQ. 389
was resolved that a copy of the head and face, from some
acknowledged portrait by Sir T. Lawrence, should be made, but
that the duke should be respectfully solicited for the use of his
sword, glass, and cloak, &c, so that there might be as much
originality in the picture as possible. A three-quarter portrait
by Lawrence, belonging to the late Mr. Arbuthnot, was lent for
the head, and one of the committee was commissioned to speak
to the duke, and request the use of the appointments alluded to.
When the circumstances were made known to him he assented
immediately, and, with the greatest good-humour, said " he
would give as many sittings as might be necessary to make the
picture an original." This offer was gratefully accepted, and
the picture having been as much advanced as possible, the
duke gave the sittings required.* The other portraits painted
by Mr. Robinson for the United Service Club were one of
Lord Nelson, after Hoppner's picture in Greenwich Hospital;
George III., after Sir W. Beechy; and Sir John Moore, made
into a full-length from a half-length by Lawrence. About this
time Mr. Robinson was introduced, through the late Countess
de Grey's generous influence, to some members of the royal
family, and had the distinguished honour to paint the portrait
* He (the duke) ordered that the cloak should be sent, but the sword was
missing, and nowhere to be found. It was one with a very peculiar sdver
hilt that had been mounted in India, and which he afterwards very generally
wore during the whole of the Peninsular war, and for which he had a parti-
cular value. It had been painted in the picture, by Lawrence, belonging to
Sir R. Peel. A hasty sketch of the sword was made from memory, in order
to convey to the artist some idea of its peculiar shape. As has been men-
tioned above, Mr. Robinson had been occasionally employed by Sir Thomas
Lawrence, and still had some acquaintance with the person who had been his
servant. As this chance (remote as it was) of learning something about the
sword thus offered itself, Mr. Robinson took the pencil-sketch to the man,
who said "there was a large number of swords, canes, whips, parasols, &c,
unreclaimed, which were still collected, and were to be sold with various
effects in a short time." They visited the store, and from the sketch identified
the very sward, which had never been sent back to the duke, who was not
aware of its loss, and totally ignorant of where it was ; and as it had no name,
or cipher, or ticket attached to it, it was utterly unknown and unnoticed, and
would have been sold by auction without comment or observation, in a very
few weeks, had it not been for this fortunate circumstance. Application was
immediately made to the executor, and the sword was returned to the duke,
very much to his surprise and gratification, at his last sitting. — This Sketch
ought properly to have been inserted a little earlier, as well as the following :
—Charles Henry Hchwanf elder, Esq., artist, of East Parade, Leeds, died in
London, July 9th, 1837, in his sixty-fourth year, deeply regretted. His talent
as an animal painter was considerable, aud lie had few, if any, competitors in
his day in that branch of the art. "VVe believe that he regarded tins as his
special and favourite study ; but his genius was, perhaps, more eminently
exemplified in landscape, and his later productions in this department com-
prise many admirable pictures, &c— We should like to see the Leeds Academy
of Arts again revived ; or, at least, the annual exhibitions.
390 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of Her Royal Highness the late Princess Sophia ; he also copied
for the Duchess of Gloucester a portrait of the late Duke of
York. It would be useless to attempt, in a brief Memoir bike
this, any enumeration of Mr. Robinson's numerous works;
neither is it required. It is sufficient to know that he was an
example, out of many, who have risen by their own self-sus-
tained energies through trials and disappointments to a position
which is ever the reward of those who persevere to the end. In
disposition Mr. Robinson was extremely affectionate, and his
maimers were modest and unassuming. He died at his residence,
in Leeds, at the early age of thirty-nine years, of decline, in
August, 1839, leaving a family of young children unprovided
for, but who now hold honourable positions in life; and one of
the daughters practises, with some success, her father's profession.
— See the Art-Journal for January, 1853, &c.
1767—1841.
THE SECOND EARL OF HAREWOOD,
Lord-lieutenant of the West-Riding of Yorkshire, &c, died sud-
denly, when out hunting,* at Bramham, near Leeds, November
24th, 1841, in his seventy-fourth year.t His lordship was born
on Christmas day, 1767, the second son of Edward the first
* The death of this nobleman, who was universally admired and respected
as a splendid specimen of the " fine old English gentleman," took place
under circumstances peculiarly distressing to the family, and which excited
the deepest regret throughout the county. On the day of this melancholy
event, his lordship, who was ardently attached to the pleasures of the chase,
accompanied the hounds, apparently in his usual health, and after a run of
no great duration, he remained on horseback a considerable time, watching
the proceedings of some men who were engaged in drawing a fox that had
"taken to earth." This protracted exposure to cold produced so serious an
effect, by aggravating, in all probability, the symptoms of a very painful
disorder under which he had long suffered, and for wbicb, some time previ-
ously, he had undergone an operation in London, that after leaving the place,
and alighting from his horse at a short distance, he fell to the ground in a
fainting state, and almost immediately expired! The appalling suddenness of
the event, and its occurrence just before the festive season of Christmas,
when it was the custom of the noble earl to be surrounded by a family circle,
including the whole of his grandchildren, diffused a deep gloom throughout
the neighbourhood, and of course put an end to the usual rejoicings.
+ The remains of his lordship, followed by a long train of noblemen and
gentlemen, were borne to Harewood church on the shoulders of a number of
his tenantry, and deposited in the family vault amidst the sincere grief of all
who could appreciate genuine worth. The funeral service was read by the
Rev. Richard Newlove, vicar of Thorn er, his lordship's domestic chaplain.
The day was extremely unfavourable, the rain falling heavily ; but this did
not prevent the attendance of a large number of persons from Leeds and
other places, who, if their object was to witness the pomp and circumstance
that often attend the obsequies of the wealthy and the great, must have been
disappointed, as nothing could be more simple and unostentatious than all the
arrangements on this occasion.
THE SECOND EARL OF HAREWOOD. 391
earl, by Anne, daughter of William Chaloner, Esq. Although
from his early youth strongly attached to a country life, he had,
throughout his long career, taken a prominent part in public
affairs. At the general election of 1796 he succeeded Henry
Duncombe, Esq., as one of the nierabers for Yorkshire; his
elder brother, Edward, Viscount Lascelles, having already a
seat in parliament for Northallerton. He was a frequent
speaker in the House, and in 1802 he seconded the motion for
the election of Mr. Speaker Abbot. He moved, on the 27th
January, 1806, the address for a public funeral of Mr. Pitt;
and a few days after, the grant of .£40,000 to pay the debts of
that illustrious man. He was ever a staunch friend of the Pitt
Club, and presided occasionally at the anniversary dinner. He
had been re-elected for Yorkshire in 1802; but in 1806 it was
judged expedient that he should give way to the Whig candi-
date, Mr. Walter Fawkes. At the general election in the fol-
lowing year occurred the memorable contest for Yorkshire, the
first that had been attempted for sixty-six years. The other
candidates were the late Mr. Wilberforce, in the Tory interest,
and the second Earl Fitzwilliam, then Lord Milton, in that of the
Whig. The struggle lasted for fifteen days, when Mr. Lascelles
was beaten by a small majority; the numbers being — for Mr.
Wilberforce, 11,806; Lord Milton, 11,177; Hon. H. Lascelles,
10,989.* Mr. Lascelles shortly after came into parliament for
the borough of Westbury. In October, 1812, he was elected
for Pontefract. On the 11th of the same month, Mr. Wilber-
force having retired, he was elected for the county of York, by
the unsolicited suffrages of the freeholders, having Lord Milton
for his colleague. He withdrew from the representation of the
county at the general election of 1818, and on the 2nd of June
in that year he was chosen for Northallerton. He succeeded to
the earldom in 1820. His parliamentary services as a commoner
were of the most effective kind; for, independently of Ins just
influence with the Government of the day, his attention to busi-
ness was unremitting, and the soundness of his judgment was
as his industry. He moved in 1814 the congratulatory address
to the Prince Regent on the peace with France. On the death
of his eldest brother, on the 4th of June in that year, he assumed
the title of Viscount Lascelles. In 1819, when the second Earl
Fitzwilliam was deprived of the lord-lieutenancy of the West-
Riding, on account of partisan politics, the Earl of Harewood
* For a long account of this celebrated contest, unparalleled for the excite-
ment and profuse expenditure of money which ii occasioned, &c, see the
Leeds Papers for May, 1807; Mayhall'a AnnaU of Leeds, p. 21<i, &c.
392 BIOGRAPHlA LEODIENSlS,
succeeded to that influential position, and retained it to the'
hour of his death.* As the head of the magistracy of the
Riding he ever mingled political impartiality with personal
kindness, and, so far as he was concerned, the commission of
the peace was kept clear of improper names. He succeeded to
the peerage on the death of his father, April 3rd, 1820. As a
peer of the realm, the noble earl, though firm in his constitu-
tional and Conservative principles, belonged to what may be
termed the middle or moderate party. His sound sense and
extensive practical knowledge, even more than his wealth and
station, gave him great weight in the House of Peers, and with
the Government for the time being. On various occasions he
interposed advice which was deferentially listened to and fol-
lowed — more particularly with reference to the Bill of Pains
and Penalties against Queen Caroline, which was carried by a
majority of nine; but further proceedings were abandoned at
the suggestion of Lord Harewood, whose views were supported
by other noble peers of similar standing and moderation.
During the administrations of Lords Grey and Melbourne, no
attempt was made to deprive him of the lieutenancy, for no
real cause of complaint was given ; though Lord Harewood
never blinked his opinions, and on several occasions originated
proceedings, the effect of which was to attach considerable blame
to certain members of the Government with regard to an irre-
gular appointment of magistrates. In local politics the earl, for
some years preceding his death, took no very prominent part.
In the judgment of some of his friends, he did not take that
lead which in right belonged to him; though, on the other hand,
there was no flinching from principle, as was shown by the eon-
duct of his sons, the Hon. "William S. Lascelles and the Hon.
Edwin Lascelles, who, with regard to three contests for the
* Apart from the office which he held (according to another account) as
lord-lieutenant of the West-Riding, his lordship could scarcely he termed a
public man. His name was not often found in the debates of the Upper
House. The quiet pursuits of a country life, and the discharge of his duties
as a landlord, were far more congenial to his tastes and inclination than the
excitement and fatigue consequent upon the performance of senatorial duties.
Yet he was by no means indifferent to the responsibilities of his station, and
when the public service demanded his energies few men were more prompt in
obeying the call. If we may speak of him as a politician, the soundness of
his judgment and the vigour of his understanding secured for him a high
place in the estimation of his party, whilst his unquestionable honesty and
sincerity exempted him from animosity, and gained for him the respect and
esteem of his opponents. In all the relations of life, whether as a parent, a
landlord, a neighbour, or a friend, his example and his actions shed a greater
lustre upon his name than wealth or titles, however deservedly possessed,
could ever impart.
the second eaiil of harewood. 393
West-Riding, waived family ties and private friendships when
they interfered with public obligations. In all the private
relations of life the late earl was a bright example of a rigid
discharge of " home duties." As a husband, father, magistrate,
landlord, friend, he was truly great, though unostentatious to
simplicity. His charities to the poor were as extensive as his
means were ample; they were gratefully recorded in the hearts
of thousands who survived him, and in the memories of
thousands who went "the way of all flesh" before him. For
many years he maintained, at his sole expense, the Harewood
Hunt in all its ancient reputation and splendour; and he may
be said to Lave died in its service, for he had joined the hounds
on the day of his decease, and when on his return, riding alone,
he had alighted from his horse, his death ensued either by the
rupture of a blood-vessel or from natural exhaustion.* His-
lordship married, September 3rd, 1794, Henrietta, eldest
daughter of the late Lieutenant-General Sir John Saunders
Sebright, Bart., and by that lady, who survived him, he had
issue seven sons and four daughters: — 1, the Right Hon.
Edward Viscount Lascelles, born in 1796; married in 1831,
and died in 1839; 2, the Hon. Henry Lascelles, third Earl of
Harewood, major of the Yorkshire Hussar Yeomanry, who
* Within a few years of Lis death the noble earl was honoured with two
Royal visits. The first was that of her present Majesty, when Princess
Victoria, and her mother, the Duchess of Kent, who arrived at Harewood
House, on Sunday, September 12th, 1835, and remained till the following
Monday. On Sunday morning, the illustrious guests, accompanied by a
number of distinguished visitors, attended divine service at the church, when
the Archbishop of York preached the sermon. A vast concourse of persons
from Leeds, and the surrounding districts, lined the gravel-walk from the
house to the church, and the day being beautifully fine, the scene presented
was, in truth, one of a very attractive kind. The Duchess of Kent walked
with the Earl of Harewood, and immediately behind were the Princess and
Lady Georgiana Harcourt, daughter of the Archbishop of York. They were
followed by the Duke of Northumberland, the members of the Harewood
family, and other personages of distinction. Much curiosity was evinced to
catch a glimpse of the future sovereign, who was then a timid, retiring girl,
unaccustomed to the presence of such vast multitudes as she has since
encountered in her more exalted sphere. At ten o'clock on the following
morning, the royal party left Harewood, and passed through Leeds, on their
way to Wentworth House, the seat of Earl Fitzwilliam. The streets
throughout were so densely thronged (it was computed that more than 80,000
persons lined the streets), that the royal carriage could only proceed at
a very limited pace, and at some points of the route the vehicle was so com-
pletely hemmed in by the crowd as to render it impossible for the postilions
to proceed. The carriage being closed, the royal occupants were, in a great
measure, secured from the public gaze, and the result was that numbers of
persons attempted to get upon the wheels for the purpose of having what
they called a ''right look," and an attempt was made to take the horses from
the carriage and draw it into the town. These proceedings are said to have
given great offence to the duchess, and, in the mind of her illustrious
394 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
married, in 1823, Lady Louisa Thynne, sister to the second
Marquis of Bath, and had a numerous family; 3, the Hon.
William Saunders Sebright Lascelles, late M.P. for Wakefield,*
who married, in 1823, Lady Caroline Georgiana Howard, eldest
daughter of the sixth Earl of Carlisle, by whom he had several
children; 4, the Hon. Edwin Lascelles;t 5, the Hon. Francis,
who died in 1814, in his fifteenth year; 6, the Right Hon.
Harriet, Countess of Sheffield, and a lady of the bedchamber
to the late Queen Adelaide, married, in 1825, to the present
Earl of Sheffield, and has issue; 7, the Hon. Frederick, who
died in 1823, in his twenty-first year; 8, Lady Frances Anne,
married, in March, 1835, to John Thomas Hope, Esq., cousin
to the Earl of Hopetoun, and was left his widow in the month
following; 9, the Hon. Arthur Lascelles, who married, in 1834,
Caroline Frances, fourth daughter of Sir Richard Brooke, Bart.,
and has issue; 10, the Right Hon. Emma, Lady Portman, late
a lady of the Queen's bedchamber, married, in 1827, to Edward
Berkeley Portman, Esq., late M.P. for Dorsetshire and Maryle-
bone, created Lord Portman in 1 837, by whom she had a numerous
family; and, 11, Lady Louisa, born in 1812; married, in 1835,
to the Hon. George Henry Cavendish, late M.P. for North
Derbyshire, brother to the Earl of Burlington (now Duke of
Devonshire), and has issue. The late Earl of Harewood left
thirty-four grandchildren; and one of the most beautiful scenes
that could possibly be contemplated was exhibited at Harewood
daughter, to have excited no small alarm. The cavalcade, however, passed
through the town without the slightest accident, and amidst every manifesta-
tion of loyalty. In the month of August, 1839, her late Majesty, Adelaide,
the Queen Dowager, accompanied by Earl Howe, and her suite, arrived at the
Midland Railway Station, Hunslet Lane, en route for the north. Her Majesty
was escorted as far as Sheepscar Bar by a detachment of dragoons, and from
thence to Harewood House, by a troop of the Yorkshire hussars. She was
received at the entrance by the noble earl and his family, and after a stay of
five or six hours proceeded on her journey. A large number of persons had
assembled in the park, among whom provisions were amply distributed.
* For a long Sketch of the Right Hon. W. S. Lascelles, M.P. (which has
been withheld for want of space), next brother to the third earl of Harewood,
who married the eldest sister of the late Earl of Carlisle, — was M.P. for
Wakefield, and afterwards for Knaresborough ; a deputy-lieutenant of the
West-Riding; comptroller of her Majesty's household, and a privy coun-
cillor ; died in July, 1851 , and was buried at Harewood, near Leeds, — see the
Leeds Papers, &c. ; Jones's History of Haretcood; the Gentlema?i's Magazine
for 1851 ; Burke's Peerage, &c.
t Born at Harewood, December 25th, 1799, and baptized there. He is
unmarried, and is a Fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford, where he graduated
B.C.L., in 1826; D.C.L., in 1831; was called to the bar, at the Inner Temple,
in 1826 ; is a deputy -lieutenant of the county, and chairman of the West-
Riding bench of magistrates. First returned M.P. for Ripon, without a
contest, January, 1846; re-elected, 1852; retired, 1857.
JOHN N. RHODES, ESQ. 395
House every Christmas day, when all the members of the family
assembled to honour his birthday. A portrait of the late earl,
by Jackson, engraved by Page, is in Fisher's National Portrait
Gallery, 8vo., 1830.* — For additional particulars, see the Gentle-
mans Magazine for January, 1842, p. 96, &c. ; Jones's History
of Hareicood, p. 297, &c. ; the Peerages of Burke, Collins,
Debrett, Lodge, &c. ; the Leeds Papers, &c. ; see also the first
Earl of Harewood, who died in 1820, p. 275, &c.
1809—1842.
JOHN N. EHODES, ESQ.,
A promising young artist, of Leeds, died December 3rd, 1842.
His father was also a painter of established repute in Yorkshire.
From his earliest youth Mr. Rhodes showed strong indications
of that taste and application in the arts by which he afterwards
distinguished himself. He was a close and accurate observer,
and an admirable imitator of natural objects, even in his child-
hood. These indications of talent were not, however, encouraged
by his father, who had experienced the up-hill work of a profes-
sional artist's career, and the blighting disappointments arising
from inadequate remuneration for the labours of his pencil.
He therefore endeavoured to direct his attention to some more
lucrative and certain means of obtaining a living; but when the
time of decision came, no persuasion could prevail upon the boy
to be anything but a painter. He was then allowed free scope
with his pencil and crayon (for as yet he had not been allowed
the use of colours), and assisted his father in making lessons for
the use of his pupils in teaching. With his pencil, chalk, or
sepia, he would luxuriate during the long winter's evenings ;
and sketches of wonderful power and beauty floated away from
his fingers in a manner absolutely amazing. But it was his oil-
paintings which estabbshed his fame, and brought out his full
powers of colouring and design. The subjects he usually selected
were from humble life — groups of cattle, with occasional figures
of rustics in their ordinary garb. How he revelled in a green
lane, with its wild weeds, brambles, and creeping plants ! With
what wonderful beauty and fidelity he painted the wild flower
* There is a full-length portrait of his lordship in the dining-room, at the
bottom of which is the following inscription: — "Painted by Sir Thomas
Lawrence, P.R.A. This portrait of the Bight Hon. the Earl of Hai'ewood,
when Viscount Lascelles, was presented to the Countess of Haivwoml by a,
numerous body of the freeholders of the county of York, in testimony of
their deep sense of his public services during the time of his representing
that county in parliament, and as a token of respect for his distinguished
vjorth."
396 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
dangling from the old wall, or perched in the cottage window !
Many of Mr. Rhodes's pictures appeared in the first exhibitions
in the kingdom, and met with deserved encomium. Those of
Ins works which appeared in the London exhibitions were
highly praised by the London press. We believe that his
principal patrons in his native neighbourhood were — Mrs. James
Brown, of Harehills, near Leeds ; Mr. Staniforth Beckett, late
of Barusley ; and Mr. Neale, of Newstead Hall, near Wake-
field, who possess many of his best pictures. His shy and
retired habits, however, rendered him far less known than he
ought to have been. Some years ago Mr. Rhodes removed to
London ; his fame as an artist was rapidly rising, and he was
himself buoyant with aspiring hope of future eminence and
emolument, when, like Girtin, Liverseedge, and Bonington, he
was attacked with inflammation in the eyes, and general bad
health, the consequence of his close study and application in his
art. He returned to Leeds in the hopes that his native air
would revive him. A partial improvement took place, and
several beautiful pictures, painted in the neighbourhood during
his sojourn, though under the most afflicting circumstances,
bear ample testimony to his intense devotion to his art. Like
Girtin, he worked on in spite of his affliction, even to the day
of his death, when an attack of epilepsy overpowered his feeble
constitution, and finished his career at the early age of thirty-
three.* — See the Art-Journal for March, 1843; the Gentleman's
Magazine for May, 1843, p. 541, &c. See also a Sketch of his
father, Mr. Joseph Rhodes, who died in 1855.
1790—1843.
MR. JOHN NICHOLSON,
Commonly called " The Airedale Poet," was born November
29th, 1790, at Weardley, a hamlet in the parish of Harewood,
near Leeds. His father, a worsted manufacturer, having
* AN ARTIST'S EPITAPH.
"Stay but a moment, brother, by this grave,
And shed no tears : — a work is to be done —
I strove to do my part —
Go, faithfully do thine.
"I laboured to make known the beautiful,
Till from my trembling hand the pencil fell :
Though the hand failed, the soul
Still loved her glorious toil.
" Art thou a brother spirit? Shed no tears :
Go and fulfil my purpose to the world ;
And, when the work is done,
Your gladness will be mine!"
MR. JOHN NICHOLSON. 397
married the daughter of a farmer at Eld wick, near Bingley,
removed thither when his son was only a few weeks old. The
first rudiments of education were taught him by his father at
"the wool-sorting board." He "was afterwards sent to a school
on Romald's Moor, known as the shooting house, conducted by
a person named Brigg, who followed besides the business of a
schoolmaster that of besom-maker. After remaining there a
few years, he was sent to the Bingley Free Grammar School, then
under the care of the late amiable and learned Dr. Hartley
(but only remained there about twelve months), who entertained
a favourable opinion of the talents and character of his pupil,
and befriended him on many occasions in after-life. He was
then put to wool-sorting as a preliminary step to business ; but
the pursuits of poetry, his love of reading, and an unsettled
mind, greatly interfered with his duties in the wool warehouse,
and entirely unfitted him for business, so that he remained all
the days of after-life either a journeyman wool-comber or sorter.
He was fond of music, and early in life learned to perform on
the hautboy. He has often been known to travel to Leeds, a
distance of nearly sixteen miles, for the sole purpose of buying
a reed for his instrument. He married before he was twenty
years of age, and his wife died soon after, leaving him a child.
In 1813 he took to himself another wife, named Martha Wild,
of Bingley, whom he familiarly called " Pat," who survived
him, and by whom he had a large family. While working at
Shipley Fields mill, he wrote a satirical piece on a physician at
Bradford, which first brought him into local reputation, in 1818.
He then wrote a piece in three acts, termed The Robber of the
Alps, which was performed at the old theatre, Bradford. It
was so well received that he soon produced and dramatized The
Siege of Bradford, which was acted for the benefit of Mr.
Macauley, one of the players, and yielded the sum of ,£47, but
of which poor Nicholson received nothing. In 1824 he pub-
lished Airedale and other Poems, and a second edition was struck
off in 1825. Unfortunately the publication of this work
induced him to quit his employment, and roam about the
country for the purpose of selling the work. He then con-
tracted inveterate habits of intemperance, which he never
afterwards shook off, and which proved the bane and curse of
his life. In 1827 he published the Lyre of Ebor and other
Poems, and again started as a vendor of his works.* His
* In 1828 was published The Yorkshire Musical Festival, a, Poem, with a
portrait of the author. The following extract is a just compliment both to
398 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
improvident conduct continued to increase, and his wife and
family had in consequence to endure many privations. The
poet was often befriended and helped out of his difficulties by
George Lane Fox, Esq., of Bramham. In October, 1827, Mr.
Fox made him a present of £20, with which (less <£4 he gave
to his wife) and a large stock of his works, he departed for
London. As usual, the money he took with him, and what he
received for the sale of his books, was soon spent. He was
there three weeks, and returned home with only a halfpenny
in his pocket. A laughable incident occurred to the poet while
in London, which got into the daily papers, headed The York-
shire Poet in Trouble. He had there made the acquaintance of
a barrister, and a number of gentlemen of gay habits, who
persuaded him one night to go to the Drury Lane theatre, and
paid for his admission into the chess-boxes. His eccentric con-
duct, and odd dress,- — blue coat, corduroy breeches, and gray
yarn stockings, — soon collected round him a number of swells
of both sexes, determined to be merry at his expense. A great
uproar was the consequence, and the officer on duty at the
theatre took Nicholson, after a severe struggle, to Covent
Garden watch-house. Next day he was brought before Sir
Richard Bernie, who on hearing the case laughed heartily, and
discharged the prisoner. The poet started for home imme-
diately. Believing, however, that the metropolis was the great
mart for his works, after the lapse of a few months he again
visited London, this time accompanied by his wife, who proved
a great check on his excesses. While there he buried a favourite
child. A circumstance now occurred which put an end to his
bookselling journeys. The printer and publisher of his works
became insolvent, and a large stock of the books (Nicholson
having paid for the paper) were put to the hammer, and realized
the powers of our native vocalists, and to the effect produced by the noble
composition alluded to : —
"When Yorkshire's choral sons their pow'rs unite,
Their tones astonish, and their chords delight ;
Healthful and strong, their voices may defy
In strength all singers else beneath the sky.
Yes, when they sung the song which Israel sung,
When on the ocean's shore their harps they strung,
Lost were the viol's trills, the organ's strain,
The chorus hursts — 'The Lord shall ever reign,'
'For ever and for ever He shall reign,'
Re-echoes through each vaulted arch again !
And, as the strains increase, still more and more
We seem transported to the distant shore,
Where Moses, Israel's bard, composed the song,
And ocean's waves the chorus rolled along."
"THE AIREDALE POET.'' 399
about half their value. He was then obliged to earn a liveli-
hood by the laborious and ill-recompensed occupation of wool-
combing. He removed from Bingley to Bradford in 1833, and
remained there during the remainder of his life. His life was
henceforward a checkered scene of labour one day, and reckless
conduct the next. He never gave up the pleasures of composing
poetry, and at intervals wrote A Description of the Zow-Jfoor
Iron Works, A Walk from Knaresborough to Harrogate, The
Poacher, <tc, Arc. On the evening before Good Friday, April
13th, 1843, Nicholson left Bradford for Eldwick, and called at
several places on the road. It was near midnight when he left
Shipley. He proceeded up the bank of the canal in the direc-
tion of Dixon Mill, and at this place, it seems, attempted to
cross the river Aire, by means of the " stepping stones." The
night was dark and stormy, and the river swollen. It is
supposed that he had missed his footing and fallen into the
current — he struggled out, became benumbed and exhausted —
and though found on the bank next morning, while yet warm,
resuscitation was found impossible. On the 18th he was
interred in Bingley churchyard, whei'e a monument was
erected to his memoiy by George Lane Fox, Esq., bearing this
simple inscription :-^-" Here rest the remains of John Nicholson,
of Bradford, the Airedale poet, who was found dead on the
bank of the river Aire, April 14th, 1843, in the fifty-third
year of his age." He left a wife and eight children. In person
he was about five feet ten inches in height, of robust make,
broad shouldered, and rather stooped. He was of a ruddy
complexion, with a dark brown eye, in which fire seemed to
roll at the bottom. His eye and massy overshadowing brow
were the only indexes in his countenance of the intellectual
power he possessed. In disposition he was kind-hearted, frank,
and without deceit. His great and sole vice was intemperance.
During the latter years of his life he was remarkably slovenly
in dress and general appearance. Had Nicholson's powers
been cultivated, there can be no doubt he would have ranked
high as a poet. He possessed all the requisites of a true poet
and noble-minded man. He was ever remarkable for impromptu
verse-making. He was once on the eve of having his furniture
sold by Clarkson, his landlord, for rent in arrear, when his friend
Mr. Fox prevented the sale by discharging the debt. He wrote
on a pane of glass in one of the windows : —
"Oh! Clarkson, Clarkson, with a heart
More hard than Bingley rocks,
Who would have sold the poet up,
But for his friend Lane Fox."
400 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
For farther information, see James's Life of Nicholson; Jones's
History of Harewood ; Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c. For an
Elegy on the death of John Nicholson, the Airedale poet, by
Robert Storey, see the Leeds Mercury for May 13th, 1843.
1794—1843.
ADAM HUNTEE, ESQ., M.D.,
Physician, of Park Place, Leeds, died June 22nd, 1843, at
Brompton, Middlesex, in his forty-ninth year. Dr. Hunter in
early life settled in Leeds, and for many years held the important
offices of physician to the Leeds General Infirmary, House of
Recovery, and Public Dispensary, and also that of lecturer on
the practice of physic in the Leeds School of Medicine ; which
appointments he was compelled by declining health to resign.
He was author of an Essay of considerable merit on " Two
Mineral Springs at Harrogate, and the Springs of Thorp-Arch
and Ilkley," 8vo., 1819. He also took a veiy active part in
the original formation and subsequent support of the Leeds
Philosophical and Literary Society, and the Leeds Mechanics'
Institution.* — See the Leeds Papers, &c, for June, 1843 ; the
Reports of the Leeds Philosophical Hall; the MedicalJournal, &c.
* It is with much regret (said the Leeds Intelligencer) that we record in our
obituary the death of Dr. Adam Hunter, of this town, which took place at
Old Brompton, where he had been sojourning for a short time since he left
Hastings, at which place he had passed many months for the benefit of his
health. By all who had the happiness of knowing Dr. Hunter, and observing
his conduct, whether as a physician in extensive practice, as an active political
colleague, as a constant attendant in his place in the town-council when in
health, or as a warm-hearted private friend, the death of this lamented gen-
tleman would be deeply deplored. Strongly attached to his profession,
which he began at an early age to practise in this town, he was not only
anxious at all times to relieve the sufferings of his fellow-men whom the
providence of God had placed under his care, but to add to the general stock
of professional knowledge ; as such he was amongst the active promoters of
the Leeds School of Medicine, and in times past had filled the offices of
president of the Leeds Mechanics' Institution, and president of the Leeds
Philosophical and Literary Society. On the political stage he was little
known till the passing of the parliamentary and municipal reform acts,
when Dr. Hunter, like many others, deemed it his duty to stand forward to
stem the democratic torrent which those measures had let loose ; and having
once chosen his ground and taken his political course, his earnestness of pur-
pose and warmth of feeling soon brought him into the foremost ranks of the
Conservative cause. As a member of the town-council, he sought with a
singleness of heart, worthy of imitation by his successors, to advance the best
interests of the borough generally, at the same time that he was careful to
protect the pecuniary affairs of the ratepayers. His courtesy in private life
secured him a numerous circle of personal friends, and we exaggerate not
when we say that (though in later times, when politics ran high, he stood firm
to his principles), some of his most endearing friendships existed with political
opponents. He was interred at St. Paul's church, Leeds.
GEORGE WILLIAM WOOD, ESQ., M.P. -101
1767—1843.
THE EEV. JOHN BECK HOLMES,
Bishop of the church of the United Brethren, at Fulneck, near
Leeds, was born at Copenhagen, November 3rd, 1767, and at
thirteen years of age sent to the academy at Uisky, afterwards
to the Moravian Theological Seminary at Barby, where he
made great progress in the sciences, especially in mathematics
and history. In 1791 he received an appointment to be a
teacher in Fulneck school, where he spent near ten years with
signal success ; his talent and energy being conducive in an
eminent degree to a considerable improvement in the school.
In 1799 he entered on his duties as a pastor of the Brethren's
church at Wyke, and, with the exception of a few years, spent
the whole of his remaining days in ministerial duties in York-
shire. During his many years' service in Fulneck, he proved
himself a devoted member of the Moravian church, and his
long and active connection with the various public societies
belonging to various denominations of Christians, was the best
proof of his true catholicity of spirit. As a preacher he was
noted for solemnity and impressiveness, while as a scholar he
deservedly ranked high among his theological friends. As an
author he is known by his History of the Brethren's Church,
and Historical Sketches of the Brethren's Jlissions. He was a
distinguished servant of Christ, an ornament to the Moravian
church, and (what is the highest style of man) a true Christian,
whose memory will long be held in affectionate remembrance
by the. thousands who hung upon his words, and benefited by
his peaceful and exemplary labours. He literally fell asleep in
Jesus on the 3rd of September, 1843, and was interred in the
burying ground, at Fulneck, near Leeds. The above Sketch
has been kindly communicated by Mr. Edward Sewell, of
Fulneck school, near Leeds. — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
1781—1843.
GEORGE WILLIAM WOOD, ESQ., M.P.,
A native of Leeds, Fellow of the Linnsean Society, magistrate
and deputy-lieutenant for the county palatine of Lancaster
and president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce died
suddenly at Manchester, October 3rd, 1843, in his sixty-third
year. He was born at Leeds, 26th of July, 1781, and was the
eldest son of the late Rev. William Wood, F.L.S., minister of
Mill Hill chapel, Leeds (for a Sketch of Avhom, see p. 232, &c.)
by Louisa Anne, daughter of George Oates, Esq., of Newton
Hall, in the county of York. As be publicly said of himself
c C
402 BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
in after life, " it was in the markets of the West-Riding of
Yorkshire that he received his first lessons as a British mer-
chant;"* but, at the age of twenty, he removed to Manchestei-,
and continued steadily to rise until he became one of the
leading merchants of that great commercial town (now a
city), and was partner with Mark Philips, Esq., afterwards
M.P. for Man chester. t At the first election for the southern
division of Lancashire after the passing of the Reform
Bill, he was one of the candidates for the representation
of that division, and was returned at the head of the poll,
which was as follows :• — G. W. Wood, Esq., 5,694 ; Lord
Molyneux, 5,575; Sir T. Hesketh, Bart., 3,082. J But at the
next election, in 1835, the tide of political favour had com-
pletely turned, and his name appeared at the bottom of the
poll, the numbers being: — Lord Francis Egerton, 5,620; Hon.
R. B. Wilbraham, 4,729; Lord Molyneux, 4,629; G. W.
Wood, Esq., 4,394. In 1837 Mr. Wood was invited to stand
for the borough of Kendal, to which he consented, and was then
elected without opposition, as he also was on the succeeding
election in 1841. He professed himself "a Whig of the school
of Chaides James Fox," and consequently a friend of " civil
and religious liberty," which, indeed, he adopted as his family
motto. Mr. Wood died suddenly in the rooms of the Man-
chester Literary and Philosophical Society, of which he was a
vice-president, whilst attending one of their meetings. He
married, 22nd November, 1810, Sarah, the eldest daughter of
the late Joseph Gates, Esq., of Weetwood Hall, near Leeds,
who survived him, with one son, William Rayner Wood, Esq.,
* These words were used at a public dinner to Lord Morpeth and Mr.
Macaulay in the Leeds Cloth-Hall, November 6th, 1833. Mr. Wood was,
during many years after his removal to Manchester, a partner in the house of
Gates, Wood, and Smithson, of Leeds, clotb merchants. He is described as
a man of the most upright character, of enlarged understanding, extensive
knowledge, and excellent business habits.
+ It is stated upon his monument in Upper Brook Street chapel, Man-
chester, that " having early in life engaged in commercial pursuits, and
obtained by them an honourable independence, he quitted the pursuits of
wealth for the nobler objects of public usefulness." After having during
many years taken a leading part in the public business of Manchester, and
been especially instrumental in preventing the circulation of local notes,
which in Yorkshire and many other districts produced such disastrous
consequences in the year 1826, he was elected for Soiith Lancashire.
+ In the first reformed parliament Mr. Wood carried through the House of
Commons a bill for the admission of Dissenters to the English universities,
afterwards rejected by the House of Lords, but remarkable as the first of a
series of measures which have ultimately resulted in opening the doors of the
older universities to members of every religious denomination, though without
admission to the full rights enjoyed by members of the Established Church.
THE EARL OF LONSDALE, K.G. 403
magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for the county palatine of
Lancaster (who has kindly revised the above Sketch), born 26th
of August, 1811, who is married and has issue (George William
Rayner, born in May, 1851). He succeeded his father at his
seat, Singleton Lodge, near Manchester. — See the Gentleman's
Magazine for February, 1844, p. 204; the Leeds Papers;
Burke's Landed Gentry, etc.
1771—1344.
WILLIAM HEY, ESQ., J.P.,
Surgeon, of Leeds, breathed his last on the 13th of March,
1844, in the seventy-third year of his age, than whom few men
have Lived more beloved and respected : his hand and heart
were ever prompt in. every good work of utility, benevolence,
or religion : and his unobtrusive virtues and sterling qualities
of piety and kindliness in private life, endeared him in the
affections and esteem of all who knew him. As a member of
the medical profession, in which the name of his family has long
been distinguished and honoured, Mr. Hey was one of its
brightest ornaments. He was the author of Practical Observa-
tions on Surgery, 1814; and a Treatise on the Puerperal
Fever, 1815. He was for twenty years surgeon of the Leeds
General Infirmary — an institution closely linked with the
memory of his venerated father. He was an aldei'inan of the
borough of Leeds many years previous to the passing of the
Municipal Reform Act, having also filled the office of mayor in
1820 and again in 1831. He was named a magistrate of the
borough in the commission subsecpiently issued by Lord John
Russell, but never qualified. In 1833 he qualified as a magis-
trate of the West-Riding, his name having been on the commis-
sion for some time previously. His remains were interred in
the vaults of St. Paul's church, Leeds. The funeral, though
strictly private in its arrangements, was attended at the church
by a very large assemblage of the most respectable inhabitants
of the town, who wished thus to evince their respect to departed
worth. — See the Leeds Papers, &c, for March, 1844. The above
brief Sketch has been kindly revised by the present William
Hey, Esq., J. P., of Gledhow, near Leeds. — See also p. 267.
1757-1844.
THE EARL OF LONSDALE, KG., &c.
The Right Honourable William Lowther, Earl of Lonsdale,
Viscount and Baron Lowther, K.G., a privy councillor, lord-
lieutenant of the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland,
{0 1 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
lieutenant-colonel in the army, and F.S.A., died March 19th,
1844, at his residence, York House, Twickenham, aged eighty-
six. The Earl of Lonsdale was born December 29th, 1757,
and was the elder son of the Rev. Sir William Lowther, Bart.,
rector of Swillington, near Leeds (for a Sketch of whom, see
p. 186, &c), by Anne, eldest daughter of the Rev. Charles
Zouche, vicar of Sandal. His father was created a baronet in
1764; and the title (which had merged in the peerage) was
revived in 1824 in favour of the earl's only brother, then
Sir John Lowther, Bart., of Swillington, near Leeds. When
Mr. Lowther, his lordship sat in the parliament of 1780-4, as
member for Carlisle ; and he must have been one of the last
survivors of that parliament. We believe he was not in the
parliaments of 1784 and 1790; but at the general election in
1796 he was returned for the county of Rutland. He succeeded
to the title of baronet on the death of his father, June loth,
1788. Sir William Lowther was appointed major in Mac-
namara's regiment of foot, August 22nd, 1794 ; and a lieutenant-
colonel in the army, January 1st, 1800, which rank he subse-
quently retained. He was for many years colonel of the
Cumberland Militia, and resigned the command to his second
son. On the death of his cousin, James, Earl of Lonsdale,
May 24th, 1802, he acceded to the dignities of Yiscount and
Baron Lowther, which had been created by a patent, dated
October 26th, 1797, with remainder to the heirs male of the
body of the late Rev. Sir William Lowther. The dignity of
Earl of Lonsdale, which had been conferred on the same noble-
man in 1784, then became extinct ; but it was revived in favour
of his successor, by patent, elated April 7th, 1807. His lordship
was elected a Knight of the Garter July 18th, 1807, and
installed March 31st, 1812. Lord Lonsdale was the earliest
friend of Mr. Pitt, and his long public life was not less marked
by unimpeachable integrity than by the most unswerving and
consistent devotion to the principles of that eminent man. He
nevertheless numbered among his friends, and most affectionate
admirers, many men of opposite politics to his own. His
manners were of the gentlest kind, and fascinating to a degree
that can only be understood by those who had the happiness
of his acquaintance. His highest pleasure and ambition
centred in conscientiously discharging the duties of a kind and
affectionate parent, a munificent landlord, and a zealous advocate
for the best interests of his country. His princely fortune
enabled him to indulge the most noble trait which can adorn
the human character — an unostentatious benevolence, — his
THE EARL OF LOXSDALE, K.G. 405
generous heart and hand being ever open to the appeals of
distress, or to assist and encourage rising talent ; and many
then kVing had cause to bless the day when Providence kindly
brought them under the notice and patronage of the good old
Earl of Lonsdale. His lordship was a munificent patron of
literature and art, and his high attainments as a classical
scholar threw a tone over the society assembled round his
hospitable board ; and frequently amongst the nobles by whom
he was surrounded might be found a Wordsworth, a Rogers, a
Davy, a Southey, and other eminent literary characters. A
friendship subsisted between his lordship and Mr. Wordsworth,
which was alike honourable to the peer and poet. The Excur-
sion is dedicated to the earl, in one of Wordsworth's best
sonnets. The Earl of Lonsdale married, July 12th, 1781, Lady .
Augusta Pane, eldest daughter of John, ninth Earl of West-
moreland j and by that lady, who died March 6th, 1838, he
had issue two sons and five daughters : — 1, Augusta, who died
an infant in 1789 ; 2, Lady Elizabeth Lowther; 3, Lady Mary,
married, in 1820, to the late Major-General Lord Frederick
Cavendish Bentinck, C.B., and was left his widow in 1828,
with one son ; 4, the Right Honourable William, now Eail of
Lonsdale; 5, Lady Anne, married, in 1817, to the Right
Honourable Sir John Beckett, Bart., of Leeds ; 6, the Honour-
able Henry Cecil Lowther, M.P. for Westmoreland, and colonel
of the Cumberland Militia, who married, in 1817, Lady Lucy
Eleanor Sherald, eldest daughter of Philip, fifth Earl of Har-
borough, and has issue three sons and three daughters ; and, 7,
Lady Caroline, married, in 1815, to Lord William Powlett,
next brother and heir presumptive to the second Duke of
Cleveland, but has no issue. The present earl, William Low-
ther, F.R.S., etc., was born in 1789, educated at Westminster,
and Trinity College, Cambridge, but is unmarried. He is a
privy councillor, and has been postmaster-general, and president
of council. He has sat in parliament as Baron Lowther from
1841. His lordship was appointed to succeed his father as
lord-lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmoreland. The late
earl's remains were removed on the 27th of March, and interred
at Lowther on the 1st of April, attended by the present earl,
the Honourable Colonel Lowther, Sir John Beckett, Lord
William Powlett, Lieutenant Henry Lowther, John H. Low-
ther, Esq., M.P., the Honourable C O'Callaghan, George Ben-
tinck. Esq., the Rev. H. Lowther, Arthur Lowther, Esq., and
Mr. Robertson, &c. — For additional particulars, see the Gentle-
marts Magazine for May, 1844, p. 532, iVc. : the Leeds Papers;
406 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
the Peerages of Burke, Collins, Debrett, Lodge, &c. And for
a fine portrait of the late Earl of Lonsdale, from a painting by-
Sir T. Lawrence, with a Biographical Sketch, see Portraits of
Eminent Conservatives, second series: Virtue, Loudon.
1759-1844.
SIR JOHN LOWTHER, BART., M.P.,
Died at Swillington Hall, near Leeds, his principal residence,
on Monday, the 13th of May, 1844, aged eighty-five. Sir John
Lowther was the only brother of the late Earl of Lonsdale,
K.G., whom he survived for less than two months, and of
whom a short Memoir has just been given. He was born on
the 1st of April, 1759, the younger son of the late Rev. Sir
William Lowther, Bai-t., rector of Swillington (for a Sketch of
whom see p. 186, &c), and Ann, his wife, a descendant of the
ancient family of the Zouches. He was of Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he took the degree of B.A. in 1780; and
he was one of the last survivors of the parliament of 1780, to
which he was returned for the borough of Cockermouth, and
again in 1784. In April, 1786, he accepted the Chiltern
Hundreds, in order to stand for Carlisle ; but on a petition was
declared not duly elected, a committee deciding in favour of
John Christian, Esq. Room was made for him as one of the
members for Haslemere. We do not find him in the parliament
of 1790, but in 1796 he was elected for the county of Cumber-
land, and again in 1802. In 1806 he was returned for both
Cockermouth and the county, but made his election for the
latter in January, 1807. He was re-elected in 1812 and 1818,
and again in 1820. At the last-named election there was a
contest, in which the late Earl of Carlisle (then Lord Morpeth)
was the defeated candidate, and which terminated as follows : —
John Lowther, Esq., 166; J. C. Curwen, Esq., 138; Lord
Morpeth, 91. Sir John Lowther (then a baronet) was re-chosen
for Cumberland in 1826 and 1830, but retired in 1831, at
which election his nephew, Lord Lowther, was defeated. He
was created a baronet by patent dated 1824, thus restoring the
old family title, which had merged in the peerage. Indeed,
two patents of baronetage, dated respectively 1640 and 1764
(the former of Nova Scotia), are vested in the Earl of Lonsdale.
Sir John Lowther was also in the remainder of the dignities of
Viscount Lowther and Baron Lowther, of Whitehaven, con-
ferred on his cousin, James, Earl of Lonsdale. Sir John Low-
tin T strongly resembled the late excellent Earl of Lonsdale,
both in features and personal disposition. He was exemplary
SIR JOHX LOWTHER, BART., M.P. 407
in all the relations of life, and by none was bis death more
sincerely lamented than by his tenantry, and the poor in the
vicinity of his extensive property. Though fond of retirement,
he was not unused to public life, and his constituents ever
found in him a zealous guardian of their local and general
interests. Sir Jolm Lowther married, September 4th, 1790,
Lady Elizabeth Fane, third daughter of John, ninth Earl of
Westmoreland, and sister to Lady Augusta, whom his brother
had previously married in 1781. They had issue three sons
and three daughters: — 1, Elizabeth, unmarried; 2, Sir John
Henry Lowther, who has succeeded to the baronetcy ', 3, George
William, who died in 1805, in his tenth year; 4, Frederica;
who died in 1812, aged thirteen; 5, Louisa, who died in 1816,
aged fifteen ; and, 0, Charles Hugh Lowther, Esq., who married,
in 1834, Isabella, eldest daughter of the late Rev. Robert
Morehead, D.D., and has issue two sons and a daughter. Lady
Elizabeth Lowther had been for some time indisposed, and her
illness having increased after the death of her venerable
husband, she became so unwell that orders were sent to delay
the preparations for the baronet's funeral, as it was feared her
ladyship could not long survive, and it was not desirable to
disturb her repose by the bustle necessarily incident to that
mournful ceremonial. She died on the 19th of May, aged
seventy-four. Their funeral took place on the 25th, at Swill-
ington, near Leeds. The two hearses were followed by a
mourning coach containing the chief mourner, Sir John Henry
Lowther, Bart., M.P., accompanied by his brother, Charles
Hugh Lowther, Esq., General Sir John Woodford, half-brother
of the deceased lady, and the Rev. Henry Fludyer, a nephew
of her ladyship. Five other coaches followed, containing the
pall-bearers of the deceased baronet, namely, the Earl of Mex-
borough, the Honourable Sir Edward M. Vavasour, Bart., the
Honourable and Rev. Philip Yorke Savile, Colonel Markham,
Christopher Beckett, Esq., Thomas Davison Bland, Esq.,""' Henry
* Thomas DAVISON BLAND, Esq., was descended from Sir Thomas Bland,
Knight, who settled at Kippax Park, near Leeds, in the time of Queen Eliza-
beth, and was in the commission of the peace for the county of York, in the
thirty-second year of that reigii. His grandson, Sir Thomas Bland, of Kippax
Park, was created a baronet on the 30th of August, 1642, by King Charles I.,
for his active zeal and devotion in the royal cause, and became ancestor of the
Blands of Kippax, extinct baronets, the last of whom, Sir Hungerford Bland,
eighth baronet, died, unmarried, in 1756, when the title became extinct, while
the estates passed to his cousin, Thomas Davison, Esq., who assumed the
additional surname of Bland, after his maternal grandfather, Sir John Bland,
fifth baronet. His son, the above Thomas Davison Bland, Escp, of Kippax
Park, near Leeds, bom in 1783, married, iu 1812, Apollonia Mary, second
408 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Ramsden, Esq., and Adolplms Woodford, Esq. ; the pall-bearers
of the Lady Elizabeth Lowther, namely, the Honourable Henry
Savile, John Blaycls, Esq., the Rev. Theophilus Barnes, the
Rev. John Bell, Leonard Thompson, Esq., Thomas D. Bland,
jun., Esq., Martin John "West, Esq., and Thomas T. Dibb,
Esq. ; the rector of Swillington, Mr. Ellerton, of Kippax, the
family surgeon, and others. After the mourning coaches
followed several private carnages. The present baronet was
born in 1793; succeeded in 1844; and is unmarried. He was
M.P. for Wigton, 1831-4, and for the city of York, 1835-7.
He is a deputy-lieutenant for the county of York, of which he
was high-sheriff in 1852; is in remainder to the viscounty and
barony of Lowther. Heir presumptive, his brother, Charles
Hugh, born in 1803; married, in 1834, Isabella, daughter of the
late Rev. R. Morehead, D.D., &c, and has issue George, born
in March, 1837; James, born in December, 1840, &c. — See the
Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1844, p. 206, &c. ; the Leeds
Papers; Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, &c. For a fine
engraving of Swillington Hall, with their pedigree, &c, see
Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. 252, &c.
1776—1844.
JAMES MUSGRAYE, ESQ.,
Alderman and magistrate of the borough of Leeds, died May
26th, 1844. A marble monument was subsequently erected in
Oxford Place chapel to the memory of the deceased, bearing
the following inscription : — " Sacred to the memory of James
Musgrave, Esq., alderman and magistrate of the borough of
Leeds ; who was for forty-six years a member of the Wesleyan
Methodist Society in this town; during the greater part of
which period he occupied the offices of local preacher and class-
leader. As a private Christian he was uniformly consistent and
pious, adorning the doctrine of God his Saviour in a humble,
placid, and devotional spirit. As a local preacher, he was plain,
daughter of Charles Philip, sixteenth Lord Stourton, and died, October 6th,
1847, leaving issue :— 1, Thomas Davison Bland, Esq., of Kippax Park, born
in 1812, married, in 1848, Sophy Caroline, daughter of the late John Madocks,
Esq., and has issue, John Davison, born in 1852; Thomas Edward, born in
1854, and Caroline Sophy ; 2, Edward, in holy orders, vicar of Kippax, born in
1813 ; 3, Henry, born in 1814, deceased ; 4, William, Royal Artillery, deceased ;
5, George, married Mary, daughter of J. T. Wharton, Esq., and has a son,
Godfrey, and a daughter, Emily Augusta; 6, Alleyne, R.N. ; 7, Frederick
William; 8, Philip, in holy orders, married Agnes, daughter of Captain
Ritchie, and has issue ; 8, Ralph Milbanke ; and three daughters, 1, Apollonia ;
2, Maiy, married to Charles Weld, Esq. ; 3, Augusta, died young. — See
Burke's Extinct Baronetage and Landed Gentry, &c. ; Thoresby's Ducatus
Leodicnsis, p. 90; Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete] p. 260, &c.
JAMES BISCHOFF, ESQ. 409
practical, and searching. As a class-leader, lie was watchful,
faithful, and affectionate. His truly Christian example com-
manded the respect and esteem of his fellow-townsmen ; while
his domestic virtues and simplicity of manners secured the
affection of his family and friends. In the erection of this
chapel he took a lively and anxious interest, watching over the
cause of God with untiring solicitude. He was a liberal sup-
porter of all Christian institutions, serving and promoting in
every possible way the interests of true religion. The divine
Master, whom he loved and served to the end, suddenly called
him to his eternal rest (on his way to this house of prayer), on
Sunday evening, May the 26th, 1844, in the sixty-eighth year
of his age. His remains are interred in the adjoining burial-
ground. This tablet is erected by his affectionate friends, the
trustees of this chapel, in testimony of their high esteem and
respect for their ever active and faithful treasurer. 'Blessed
are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find
watching' {Luke xii. 37)." — See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c.
1775—1845.
JAMES BISCHOFF, ESQ.,
Author of a History of the Woollen and Worsted 2±anufactures,
formerly of Leeds, and afterwards of Highbury Terrace, London,
died February 8th, 1845, in his seventieth year. This gentle-
man was prominently connected with the trade of Yorkshire.
He was brother of the late Thomas Bischoff, Esq., and brother-
in-law of the Messrs. Stansfeld, of Leeds. His family was
of German extraction, and boasts among its ancestors the
reformer, Episcopius. So long since as the year 1816, his pen
was actively employed in correspondence with Lord Milton
(then one of the members for Yorkshire), and the Earl of Shef-
field (then an active leader of the agricultural interest), in dis-
cussing the proposed alteration of the laws relating to the
woollen trade. HLs writings on this subject were published in
the Leeds Mercury, the Farmer's Journal, and on one occasion
at least in the Gentleman's Magazine. In December, 1819, Mr.
Bischoff was appointed one of the deputies from the manufac-
turing districts, meeting to promote a repeal of the wool tax.
He was one of those selected by the committee to wait on tho
Earl of Liverpool and the ministers; and he took a principal
share in the composition of the statistics and arguments which
the occasion required. In 1820 he published a pamphlet,
entitled Reasons for the immediate llcpial of the Tax on Fun ign
Wool; and another containing Observations on the Report of the
410 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Ea/rl of Sheffield, to the Meeting at Lewes Wool Fair, July 2Gth,
1820. On' the 23rd February, 1825, Mr. Bischoff received a
note from Mr. Huskisson, then president of the Board of Trade,
requesting him to call there on the following day, accompanied by
any gentleman who might be well acquainted with the woollen
trade in all its branches. The assistance of John Maitland,
Esq., the chairman of the wool trade, and of Edward Sheppard,
Esq., being unattainable from illness and absence, Mr. Bischoff
obtained the company of John Pearse, Esq., M.P. for Devizes,
and waited on the minister. Mr. Huskisson informed them of
his proposed alterations in commercial policy, particularly a
reduction of the duty on foreign manufactured goods, and Mr.
Bischoff gave his opinion in reply that the changes proposed
might be very desirable; and if the duties on the raw material,
dyeing wares, oil, and other articles used in manufactures were
repealed, and the British manufacturer put upon the same
footing as the foreigner with respect to the price of food, and
particularly corn, little or no duty on foreign manufactures
would be required. At this period Mr. Bischoff carried on an
important correspondence, not merely with other persons of
influence, but directly with Mr. Huskisson, who, in Mr.
Bischoff's opinion, "by his unwearied attention to the trade of
the country, and by the firmness with which he carried on his
measures, became the best commercial statesman England ever
knew." On the 1st of May, 1828, Mr. Bischoff, although then
"no longer directly concerned in the woollen trade," was sum-
moned before the privy council, when he was examined by the
Duke of Wellington personally, " with that anxiety and deter-
mination so conspicuous in his character." The duke had then
promised the agricultural interest a committee in the House of
Lords; and Mr. Bischoff, before the close of the interview, suc-
ceeded in obtaining from his grace a promise that, in agreeing
to such committee, he would state his determination to resist
any further tax on wool. Shortly after Mr. Bischoff published
a pamphlet, entitled " The Wool Question Considered ; being an
examination of the Report from the Select Committee of the
House of Lords, appointed to take into consideration the state
of the British Wool Trade; and an answer to Earl Stanhope's
Letter to the Owners and Occupiers of Sheep Farms." In 1832
Mr. Bischoff published a Sketch of the History of Van Diemeris
Land; and in 183G an essay on "Marine Insurances; their
importance, their rise, progress and decline, and their claims to
freedom from taxation." In 1842 he produced, in two octavo
volumes, embellished with some good plates, a very valuable
JOHN MARSHALL, ESQ., M.P. 411
work, entitled .1 Comprehensive History of the Woollen and
Worsted Manufactures, and the Natural and Commercial History
of Sheep, from the earliest records to the present period. Of this
work Mr. Bischoff modestly termed himself the " compiler,"
rather than author : it was composed on the plan of abstracting
all previous writings on the subject, but it was not the less
valuable on that account. It was noticed in the Gentleman 1 s
Magazine, vol. xviii. (new series), p. 64, «tc. His last publication,
in 1843, was a pamphlet on "Foreign Tariffs: their injurious
effect on British Manufactures, especially the Woollen Manu-
facture, "with proposed remedies; being chiefly a series of articles
inserted in the Leeds Mercury from October, 1842, to February,
1843." Mr. Bischoff was very highly esteemed, both in public
and private life, and few men have acquired, or deserved, more
fully the attachment of their friends. Mr. Bischoff married
Miss M. Stansfeld, by whom he had three sons, James, George,
and Josiah, and live daughters. The two elder sons were
resident at Hamburg; and the youngest was partner with his
father in London. Mr. Bischoff s eldest daughter, Sarah, was
married to Edward Towgood, Esq. (son of Matthew Towgood,
Esq.) of St. N/eot's, in Huntingdonshire; the second daughter,
Madelina, died at Highbury in 1843; the third daughter, Ellen,
was married on the 20th August, 1844, to the Rev. Thomas
Madge, minister of the Essex Street chapel; the fourth daughter,
Eliza, was unmarried ; the youngest, Margaret, married Mr.
Meissner, junior, the only son and partner of the State printer
at Hamburg. — See the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1845,
p. 443, (fee; Whitaker's Loidis and Ehnete, p. 202; the Leeds
Papers; Schroeder's and Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c. The
above Sketch has been kindly revised by his eldest son, James
Bischoff, Esq., of London.
1705—1845.*
JOHN MARSHALL, ESQ., M.P.,
A celebrated flax-spinner, of Holbeck, Leeds, died June 6th,
1845, at his seat, Hall steads, near Penrith, in Cumberland, in
the eightieth year of his age. The deceased was a native of
Leeds, and one whose name is now and will long be cherished
* — 1845. For a memorial Sketch of William Fuller Boteler, Esq., M.A.,
Q.C. (which has been withdrawn through want of space), who was the senior
commissioner of the Leeds District Court of Bankruptcy; recorder of the
city of Canterbury, &c. ; of Oulton Green, near Leeds, &c ; who died at
Leeds, through a railway accident, in October, 1845, — see the Leah Pajiers :
the Gentleman's Magazine for December, 1845, p. 641, &c. ; Burke's Landed
Gentry, &c.
412 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
with veneration by his townsmen. Mr. Marshall was an extra-
ordinary man. He possessed powers of thought rarely equalled.
The habit of his mind was most reflective. A man of few
words, and of quiet and reserved manner, he thought deeply
and carefully on every topic that engaged his attention. The
result was the formation of clear and just views. But with his
caution and prudence were joined a decision, energy, and
boldness, a firmness and perseverance, that seemed almost at
variance with the former qualities, as well as with his pensive
countenance and placid manner. He was just and upright,
candid and straightforward, liberal towards those who differed
from him, gentle, modest, and unobtrusive. Mr. Marshall is one
of the most remarkable instances, even in this commercial
country, of men who have risen by their own talents, persever-
ance, and enterprise, from moderate circumstances (his father is
said to have occupied the shop No. 1, at the bottom of Briggate)
to the possession of a splendid fortune, and to a degree of
honour and influence rarely attained but by the aristocracy of
the land. It will not be doubted by any one who knew him,
that he owed his elevation, under Providence, to his distin-
guished abilities and virtues. In business Mr. Marshall was
enterprising and indefatigable : he was among the first persons
in the country to attempt the spinning of flax by machinery, in
imitation of the example of Arkwright in the cotton spinning;
and it is believed that he staked his all on the enterprise, and
that whilst the experiment was in progress, his fortunes were in
a critical state. By unceasing and skilful attention both to the
mechanical and commercial departments, he overcame every
difficulty, and by his success not only realized an immense
fortune for his family, but founded a branch of manufacture
which is at present one of the most important in the country.
Mr. Marshall's first manufactory, we believe, was at Scotland
mill, three or four miles from Leeds; after which he built tbe
large mills in "Water Lane, and also mills at Shrewsbury.* In
politics Mr. Marshall was a decided and far-going Liberal, and
a thorough friend of free trade. He published a little work on
The Economy of Social Life, intended to explain in a clear and
familiar manner, so as to be intelligible to the working-classes,
some of the most important doctrines of political economy. He
advocated the principles of civil and religious liberty with the
* For a graphic description of Messrs. Marshall's new mill, Holbeck, with
engravings, see the Off rial Illustrated G-uide to the Great Northern and Mid-
land Railways, p. 441, &c. ; Howitt's Land We Live In, vol. iii., p. 31;
Fenteman's Historical Guide to Leeds, p. 29, &c.
JOHN MARSHALL, ESQ., M.P. 413
utmost decision. As a citizen, Mr. Marshall was eminently
public-spirited. His enlarged mind made him the ready pro-
moter of improvements, and especially of all institutions designed
for the intellectual and moral advantage of the bulk of the
people ; and his great fortune, bountifully though prudently
used, enabled him to be one of the most munificent patrons of
all such institutions. He was a founder and most liberal sup-
porter of the Lancasterian School, the Leeds Philosophical and
Literary Society, and the Mechanics' Institution; and he gave
his active assistance and wise counsels to those institutions for
many years. He for some time presided over the Philosophical
Society, and delivered lectures there on subjects of political
economy and geology. He was also one of the founders of the
London University, and sat for some time on its council. The
establishment of a university at Leeds, for the North of Eng-
land, was also recommended by Mr. Marshall in 1826. In Ins
own extensive manufactory he liberally promoted the education
of the children, as well as adopted, before any law existed to
compel it, every improvement in the internal arrangements of
the mills that could conduce to the health and comfort of the
workpeople. At the general election of 1826, Mr. Marshall was
fixed upon as the most likely person to be the colleague of Lord
Milton (afterwards third Earl Fitzwilliam), to represent the
county of York in the Liberal interest in parliament. It was
at that time an unprecedented thing for a manufacturer to be
elected member for Yorkshire : the compliment to Mr. Marshall
was therefore very high ; but the second Earl Fitzwilliam
(acting, we believe, much on the opinion of Mr. Tottie, of
Leeds), at a preliminary meeting of Yorkshire Whigs held in
London, advocated with decision the selection of Mr. Marshall
to represent the great manufacturing interests of the county.
The recommendation was followed up by Sir Francis Lindley
Wood, Bart., Mr. (now the Eight Hon. Sir) Charles Wood,
M.P., and Mr. Baines ; and the vote in his favour being
unanimous, Mr. Marshall, after some hesitation, consented to be
put in nomination with Lord Milton. At the same election
Mr. Fountaync Wilson and the Hon. W. Duncombe (the present
Lord Feversham) were returned on the Tory interest for the
county — there being then four members for Yorkshire. Though
no contest eventually took place, Mr. Bethcll's appearance as a
candidate made it necessary to prepare for one; and the mere
preparations involved a very heavy expense both to the Liberal
and Tory members. Mr. Marshall ably filled the arduous and
honourable post of member for Yorkshire till the dissolution of
414 lilOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
parliament on the death of George IV., in 1830, when he
retired again to private life, prudently feeling that the represen-
tation of Yorkshire was too great a burden for a person at his
advancing age. He continued, however, to take a considerable
part in politics, and gave his support to the Reform Bill. On
the enfranchisement of the borough of Leeds, he had the plea-
sure to see his second son, the late Mr. John Marshall, elected
as one of its first representatives, along with Mr. Macaulay.
His eldest son, Mr. William Marshall, who had previously been
in parliament for Leominster and Petersheld, has also since
been twice returned to parliament for the city of Carlisle, and
is now member for East Cumberland. His third son, James
Garth Marshall, Esq., also sat for Leeds in the parliament of
1847; and his fourth son, Henry Cowper Marshall, Esq. (who
has been kind enough to revise this Sketch), was mayor of
Leeds in 1843.'"' The family of Mr. Marshall was large,
consisting of five sons and six daughters. It became allied
by a triple union with that of Lord Monteagle, formerly
Chancellor of the Exchequer : the noble lord himself married
Miss Marshal], and two of his daughters were united to Mr.
James Garth and Mr. Henry Cowper Marshall. Another of
Mr. Marshall's daughters was married to Professor Whewell,
of Trinity College, Cambridge. Mr. Marshall, though by no
means of robust frame, experienced the benefits of strict temper-
ance and prudence, and enjoyed a green and protracted old age.
He divided his time between London, where he was a liberal
patron of science and art, his beautiful seat of Hallsteads, on
the banks of Ulleswater, in Cumberland, and his old residence
at Headingley, near Leeds. As infirmities increased, he remained
chiefly at Hallsteads. Six or seven weeks before his decease, a
very serious attack of the nature both of apoplexy and paralysis
gave warning that his end was approaching; his advanced age
forbade the hope of his rallying; a second stroke followed upon
the first; and he gradually sunk, and died June 6th, 1845, in
his eightieth year. On the previous day he had spoken for a
short time quite collectedly and calmly, and with a distinct
consciousness that his end was at hand. Mr. Marshall had
purchased large estates on the beautiful lakes of Ulleswater,
Buttermere, Crummock Water, and Lowes Water; whilst his
e The benevolent proprietors have established excellent day-schools, in
wlrich upwards of 1,200 children are taught, and a valuable library for the
benefit of their workpeople ; besides which tbey erected and endowed a few
years ago (in 1850), a beautiful church (in the early English style), for the
advancement of the spiritual interests of the inhabitants of the densely-
populated district in which their factories are situated.
JAMES WILLIAMSON, ESQ., M.D. 415
sons, Mr. John and Mr. Jas. Garth Marshall, became proprietors
of estates on Derwent Water and Coniston Water. We believe
Mr. Marshall might have had a title when his political friends
were in power, had he been willing to accept of it. He lived
with the universal esteem and regard of all who knew him, as
well as with the devoted affection of his numerous family; and
he has left behind him a name that will ever be associated in
public remembrance with great talents and eminent virtues.
The remains of the deceased were interred on the Thursday
following, at New-church, near Hallsteads. The funeral was
private."" — For further particulars, see the Gentleman's Magazine
for August, 184-5, p. 201, etc.; the Leeds Papers, especially the
Mercury; Schroeder's and Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c. And
for many additional particulars, see the Note to John Marshall,
jun., Esq., M.P., p. 364.
1797-1845.
JAMES WILLIAMSON, ESQ., M.D.,
For many years resident in Leeds, and the second mayor under
the Municipal Corporations Act, afterwards of Stretton Hall,
Cheshire, died at Brighton, November 18th, 1845, aged forty-
eight years. Dr. Williamson was a native of Chester, but his
professional life was spent almost entirely in Leeds, where he
rose to the head of his profession, as well as acquired the
highest esteem of his townsmen. He was a man of enlarged
mind, richly stored with science and literature; his judgment
Avas remarkably sound, and his taste severely correct. His moral
qualities commanded universal respect. A high sense of justice,
an ardent love of truth, well-principled benevolence, the most
scrupulous honour, and the most refined delicacy, marked his
character. His moral courage placed him above the concessions
that professional men too often make to fashion. A conscientious
Dissenter, and an enlightened friend of evangelical religion, he
never changed his principles, but knew how to make all men
respect them. In politics he was a firm and consistent Whig;
his mind was truly liberal, and free from party asperity ; he was
as loyal to his sovereign as strongly attached to constitutional
principles and popular rights. When chief magistrate of this
borough (in 1837), he showed an earnest determination to dis-
countenance vice, and himself inspected many of its haunts for
the purpose of removing (if possible) those nests of iniquity.
* On the 12th of January, 1847, a beautiful marble bust (by Macdonald, <>f
Rome), of the late John Marshall, Esq., was presented to Hie Leeds Philo-
sophical and Literary Society by his sons; for an engraving of which, with
some additional particulars, see the Illustrated Loudon News for June, 1845.
41 G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
In the Philosophical and Literary Society of the town he took
a prominent part. He was elected physician to the Leeds
General Infirmary and the House of Recovery; lectured at the
Leeds School of Medicine, which he assisted to form, and for a
time was co-editor of the North of England Medical and Surgical
Journal. He was also one of her Majesty's justices of the peace
for the borough of Leeds and the West-Riding of Yorkshire.
In every public capacity he maintained the same dignified and
gentlemanlike deportment, and fulfilled his duties with the
same conscientious rectitude. The failure of his health induced
him, though very reluctantly, to retire from practice, and to
take up his abode at Stretton Hall, near Chester, where he was
extensively useful to the poor. The loss of his only child, in
the preceding June, preyed severely on his mind, and gave a
shock to his already enfeebled health from which he never
recovered. He was removed to Brighton about three weeks
before his death. There his strength entirely gave way, and he
died without pain after one day's confinement to bed. In this
neighbourhood, and wherever he was known, his loss was deeply
lamented. He was an ornament to his profession, to his party,
and to society. — See the Leeds Papers, especially the Mercury,
for November, 1845.
1782-1846*
THOMAS BENSON PEASE, ESQ.,
Alderman, &c, of Chapel- All erton Hall, near Leeds, died sud-
denly, May 23rd, 1846, in his sixty-fourth year. Mr. Pease had
retired to rest apparently in the full enjoyment of his usual
excellent health, but on his manservant going to his room
between seven and eight o'clock on Sunday morning he was
found quite dead, though lying in the attitude of calm and
natural sleep. Prom the fact that the body was nearly cold,
it was apparent that life had become extinct several hours pre-
viously. On a post mortem examination, Mr. Teale, surgeon,
discovered that the cause of death was considerable ossification
of a portion of the heart. This very unexpected and mournful
event caused a great sensation in the town and neighbourhood,
* —1846. Mr. Jonathan Shackleton, a member of the Society of Friends,
died at Holbeck, near Leeds, August 5th, 1846, in his sixty -fifth year. He
was an active and efficient member of the Leeds Town CouncU, and much
respected by his colleagues. He was also a true philanthropist, being ever
ready to aid any institution which had for its object the general good of man-
kind. A lasting monument of his perseverance and zeal may be found in
the establishment of Zion School, New Wortley, of which he was the prin-
cipal promoter and most liberal subscriber. His death was long felt to be a
public loss. — See the Leeds Mercury for August, 1846.
GRIFFITH WRIGHT, ESQ. 417
where Mr. Pease was universally esteemed for the kindness of
his disposition and the frank affability and bonhomie of his
manners, as well as for the unexceptionable manner in which he
fulfilled the social duties of life as a man and as a citizen. Though
much mixed up in municipal and other public affairs, and feeling
a warm interest in political questions, he was altogether free
from aspei'ity and bitterness, and his personal demeanour was
ever conciliatory and obliging. Mr. Pease was a native of
Darlington, and came to Leeds in the year 1802. In conjunc-
tion with his brother, William Aldam, Esq. (who took the
name of Aldam on inheriting the estate at Warmsworth, near
Doncaster, where he afterwards resided), he was for many
years a principal member of one of our first mercantile firms,
that of Aldam, Pease, and Co., of which, on Mr. Aldam's
retirement, he became the head, under the style of "Pease,
Heaton, and Co." The deceased was, of course, the uncle of
Mr. William Aldam, jun., at that time M.P. for Leeds.
Mr. Pease had been, with very little interruption, a member of
the Corporation of Leeds since the passing of the Municipal
Reform Act, and for several years an alderman of the borough.
He gave up much time to the important committees of council
of which he was a member, but declined the more public
honours of the mayoralty and magisti'acy. Mr. Pease left
considerable landed estates in this county and the adjoining
county of Durham. His only son was travelling in the south
of Europe at the time of his father's death. Mr. Pease was a
member of the Society of Friends, as were also his ancestors
for several generations. His remains were interred in the
family vault at the cemeteiy, Woodhouse Laue, Leeds. This
brief Sketch has been kindly revised by his son, Thomas
Pease, Esq., now of Henbury Hill, near Bristol. — See the Leeds
Papers, ifcc, for May, 181G.
1784—1846.*
GRIFFITH WEIGHT, ESQ.,
A magistrate of the borough of Leeds, and the last mayor
under the old corporation (1834—5), died at Harehills, near
* — 1845. For a Sketch of Thomas Hamilton, Esq., an eminent solicitor, of
the firm of Few, Hamilton, and Fews, London, who was articled to Messrs.
Upton and Co., of Leeds, and died in February, 1845, see tbe Law Times;
the Leeds Intelligencer for March 8th, 1845, &c.
— 1845. For a Sketch of Sir Thomas Potter, M.P., of Manchester, who was
born near Tadcaster, see the Leeds Intelligencer, &c., for April 5th, 1845.
— 1845. For a Sketch of Anthony Titley, Esq., of "Wortley Lodge, near
Leeds; a magistrate of this town; senior partner in the firm of Titley,
Tatham, and Walker, see the Leeds Intelligencer for May 24th, 1845.
r d
418 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Leeds, November 18tb, 1846. He was twice on the commission
of peace for Leeds. He was also one of the patrons of the
Leeds vicai'age, a trustee of the Leeds Grammar School and of
the Pious Use Property. In all these capacities he was remark-
able for Ids assiduity to public business. The Leeds Intelligencer
was established by his grandfather, Mr. Griffith Wright, having
been commenced by him on the 2nd of July, 1754;* and it con-
tinued under his management as sole proprietor for many years,
till, retiring from business, he relinquished it to his son,
Mr. Thomas Wright, at whose death, in the early part of the
pi-esent century, it came into the hands of his son, Griffith.
The last-named gentleman edited his own journal, and con-
ducted it with great spirit, ability, and success. He kept a
vigilant eye on passing events and public transactions, and was
watchful of the policy of the parties he opposed, and of all
enemies of British interests and constitutional government,
whose false steps ever had in him a severe censor. He had a
rich vein of wit and humour, which were conspicuous in his
writings as a journalist, and his power of sarcasm was not to
be provoked with impunity by those who would play fantastic
tricks before the world. In December, 1818, Mr. Wright,
having transferred his whole interest in the Intelligencer to
Messrs. Gawtress and Co., after it had been, from its commence-
ment (sixty-four years), in the exclusive possession of his family,
retired from business, though not into inactivity, as the honour-
able part he afterwards took in public offices, already mentioned,
testifies. In private life his kind and cheerful disposition, and
amiable virtues, endeared him to all his connections and friends.t
He died, unmaiiied, in the sixty-second year of his age, and
was interred at Chapeltown church, near Leeds. — See the Leeds
Papers for November, 1846.
1777-1847.
CHKISTOPHER BECKETT, ESQ., J.P.,
Banker, of Meanwood Park, near Leeds, died at Torquay, in
Devonshire, March 15th, 1847, aged seventy years. % Mr. C.
* For a long account of the centenary of the Leeds Intelligencer, see that
paper for July 1st, 1854.
+ According to the Leeds Mercury : "In his capacity as the proprietor and
editor of the Leeds Intelligencer for many years, he conducted that paper, as
his progenitors through two generations had done, with ability, though with
a strong Conservative bias; and we are glad to have it in our power to do
justice to his memory by saying that, in the numerous conflicts in which we
have been engaged, we always considered him to be an upright man."
X A very costly and beautiful structure was subsequently erected in the
Leeds parish church, as a memorial, by the surviving brothers and sisters of
CHRISTOPHER BECKETT, ESQ., J. P. 419
Beckett was bom January 26th, 1777, and was the second son
of the first Sir John Beckett, Bart., of Gledhow Hall and
Meanwood Park, near Leeds, and of Sonierby Park, in Lincoln-
shire, by Mary, daughter of Dr. Christopher Wilson, Lord
Bishop of Bristol (for a Sketch of -whom, see p. 200, &c), and
grand-daughter of the pioiis and learned Dr. Edmund Gibson,
Bishop of London. Mr. Beckett was a magistrate and deputy-
lieutenant for the West-Riding of Yorkshire, and likewise for
many years an active magistrate for the borough of Leeds,
having twice served the office of Mayor (1819 and 1829); and,
although on the passing of the Municipal Reform Act he ceased
to be in the commission of the peace for the borough, he con-
tinued to take a very prominent part in its public affairs, and
in the administration of its various charities, and few trans-
actions of moment were undertaken in the town without his
countenance and sanction. He discharged his magisterial duties
with strict impartiality and humanity; and in the administration
of justice it was his unceasing care to discriminate between
adepts in crime and those whose cases admitted of a more
lenient and merciful consideration. He heartily loved the
Church, and delighted to contribute to the maintenance of her
just influence and usefulness, and was foremost in promoting
the erection and endowment of churches and schools whenever
required. Mr. Beckett erected at his own cost a handsome and
commodious school, with a suitable residence for a master and
mistress, in Ids own village, and maintained the same. The
school being licensed by the Lord Bishop of Ripon, he also at his
own charge appointed a clergyman, who celebrated divine ser-
vice therein, and administered to the spiritual necessities of the
inhabitants. He also took a warm interest in the re-erection of
the deceased. The tomb, which is entirely of Caen stone, is an elaborate
specimen of the style which prevailed in the early part of the fifteenth
century. The design consists of a large central sepulchre arch, flanked on
each side by massive angle buttresses, and surmounted by a parapet, from
which spring pinnacles supported by projecting corbel angels, holding scrolls.
On the top of the tomb the following inscription is emblazoned in mediaeval
letters: — "In Memory of Christopher Beckett, of Meanwood, Esq., a justice
of the peace and deputy-lieutenant of the West-Riding; twice mayor of
Leeds; born 26th January, 1777; he died at Torquay, 15th March, 1847, and
was interred in the adjacent vault. He was an active magistrate, a faithful
dispenser of public trusts, and a liberal supporter of the calls of religion and
the claims of charity. ' Fear ( !od, and keep his commandments.'" The size
of the tomb across the base is II Eeei '■'• baches, and to the top of the angels on
the angle buttresses 12 feet 10 inches. The design and detail drawings of the
tomb are by Mr. Dobson, the architect, and the whole was executed by
Mr. R. Mawer, both of Leeds. The stained-glass window is by Mr. W'ailes,
of Newcastle.— See the Leeds IntelMgencer for February 24th, 1S4'J, &c.
420 BlOGRArillA LEODIENSIS.
the parish church of Leeds, of which he was one of the patrons,
and he lived to see it one of the finest parochial churches which
has ever been erected in this kingdom since the Reformation.
He was likewise mainly instrumental in establishing the
Diocesan Church Building Society, and Board of Education;
and continued ever after to take a warm interest in their opera-
tions, contributing largely towards carrying out their designs.
In politics he was a loyal subject, and a faithful adherent to the
ancient constitution of his country ; and, although not intolerant
of the opinions of others, he received all projects calculated to
effect sweeping or fundamental changes with characteristic
caution. This distrust, however, did not lead him to reject such
progressive and salutary reforms as were necessary to impart
greater efficiency to our venerable institutions, and to meet the
exigencies of the present state of society. To almost every
public institution within the borough of Leeds he also contri-
buted largely, nor were his private charities more restricted;
to him the friendless and indigent scarcely ever appealed in vain.
But, while in matters of public concern he did not shrink from
recording his munificent donations, as an example and encou-
ragement to others, he was careful in his more private acts of
benevolence to avoid all ostentatious parade, so that they are
alone known to the grateful recipients of his bounty. As the
head of one of the most influential provincial banks in the
kingdom, he contributed in no slight degree to maintain the
public credit of this important manufacturing district; and his
grateful fellow-townsmen upon more than one occasion publicly
acknowledged the prompt, effectual, and disinterested aid which
his house had rendered in the hour of commercial perplexity
and gloom. In private life he was a man of inflexible integrity,
and of a nice sense of honour; and, abhorring alike all flattery
and dissimulation, he was cautious in whom he confided; but
once assured of their honesty and truthfulness, he ever after
became an unflinching friend and kind patron. Although to an
ordinary observer his deportment might appear somewhat stern,
it nevertheless concealed a kindly and most benevolent disposi-
tion ; while his manners in private life were at once agreeable
and conciliatory, and his society and friendship were most valued
by those who knew him best. The pre-eminent position which,
with the universal assent of all parties, he so long occupied in
the borough of Leeds, can scarcely ever again be filled by an
individual who will enjoy so large a share of public confidence;
but his example will serve to stimulate others to fulfil their
public duties with like intrepidity and candour, and to imitate
CHRISTOPHER BECKETT, ESQ., J. P. 421
him in the discharge of all the private duties and relations of
life, in which he was alike exemplary. It is much to be regretted
that the borough does not possess an authentic portrait of this
upright magistrate and excellent man. When the melancholy
and unexpected intelligence of his death was received in Leeds,
immediately the passing-bells of several of the churches rang
out a mournful peal, and a universal gloom prevailed — every
man feeling as if he had lost a personal friend, and the town a
benefactor. " His remains were brought to Leeds, and on Monday,
the 23rd of March, were interred by the Rev. Walter Farquhar
Hook, D.D., vicar, in the family vault in the ante-chapel in the
north aisle of the parish church, immediately under the east
window, which had been but recently inserted at the sole expense
of the deceased. This window is beautifully executed, and con-
tains the armorial bearings and numerous quarterings of the
family. A new musical service, composed expressly for the
occasion, was chanted by a full choir, in the most solemn and
impressive manner. The funeral was attended by the deceased's
brothers, the Right Hon. Sir John Beckett, Bart.; Thomas
Beckett, Esq.; William Beckett, Esq., M.P. for the borough of
Leeds; Edmund (Beckett) Denison, Esq., M.P., one of the
representatives for the West-Riding of the county of York ; by
J. Staniforth Beckett, Esq. , of S winton Park ; and Edmund Beckett
* The following eulogistic character of Mi-. C. Beckett was given by the
Leeds Mercury :— " The unexpected news of the death of this most estimable
man was received in Leeds with a painful sensation of lively and heartfelt
sorrow, which it may be truly said pervaded the whole town in a degree seldom
witnessed. Every one seemed to feel that he had lost a valued friend, and
that a blank had been suddenly created which few, if any, could be expected
to supply, and never was public grief more general and sincere, nor better
justified by the sterling worth of its object. As a magistrate of the West-
Hiding, and as a leading trustee and active administrator of nearly all the
public charities of the parish, his services have long been of the highest
value. As senior partner in the banking-house of Messrs. Beckett and Co. he
has, on every trying occasion, been recognized as the worthy head of a firm
on whom reliance might be placed to meet the emergency of difficult times
with a liberality truly great and unselfish ; and many, indeed, are the members
of our commercial community who will cherish his memory with thankfulness
as their friend in the time of their greatest need. As a friend of the Church
and of every well-considered effort to improve the condition of society in his
native town — in the building and endowing of schools, and in affording
encouragement to every good work, his open and generous hand was ever
ready to give help where needed; and as a staunch supporter of the institu-
tions of the country and the preservation of public order, his name will long
live in the grateful recollection of all whose privilege it has been to witness
his most upright, sincere, and uncompromising conduct during a long life of
usefulness. In fact, society has, in these days, comparatively few sucli men
to lose; and the best solace to his bereaved relatives will be found in tint
assurance that, as he has lived honoured and beloved, so he has died, deeply,
sincerely, and universally lamented by every class in the community."
422 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Denison, jun., Esq., nephew of the deceased. The pall-bearers
were the Rev. George Lewthwaite, rector of Adel ; John Blayds,
Esq.; Henry Hall, Esq.; George Bischoff, Esq.; John Gott,
Esq. ; Henry Cowper Marshall, Esq., &c. : who were followed by
the Revs. John and George Urquhart ; John Smith, Esq.,
partner in the house of Beckett and Co.; John Atkinson, Esq.,
and T. T. Dibb, Esq., the solicitors of the deceased; by George
Buliner, Esq., his medical attendant; the principal clerks of the
deceased's banking establishment; Mr. Pollard, his steward, and
by several old and faithful domestic servants. The clergy and
principal gentry of the town and neighbourhood, as well as a
large concourse of the inhabitants, many of whom closed their
shops on the occasion, also attended to pay their last tribute of
honour and respect to the memory of the deceased. Mr. Beckett
was principal lord of the manor of Leeds, as likewise lord of
the manor of Chapel- Allerton in the borough, within which he
possessed a considerable estate; and, having died intestate, the
same has descended upon his eldest brother and heir, the Right
Hon. Sir John Beckett, Bart. His personal estate, which was
not less extensive, was divided amongst Sir John and the seven
other surviving brothers and sisters.* Thomas Beckett, Esq.,
the next brother, was then the heir presumptive to the title and
estates. — The above Sketch is supposed to have been contributed
to the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1847, by the late Edward
John Teale, Esq., of Leeds. For further particulars, see the
Annual Register; the Leeds Papers, especially the Intelligencer
(for a long account of the funeral); Schroeder's and Mayhall's
Annals of Leeds, &c.
1775-1847.
RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN BECKETT, BART., &c,
A privy councillor, D.C.L., F.R.S., and a bencher of the Inner
Temple; formerly judge advocate-general, and M.P. for Leeds,
died, after a short illness, at the York Hotel, Brighton, May
31st, 1847, aged seventy-two years. The Right Hon. Sir John
Beckett, second baronet, was the eldest son of Sir John Beckett,
* The representatives of the late C. Beckett, Esq., of Leeds, banker, who
died intestate, presented the sum of £1,000, in equal shares, to the three
medical charities of Leeds. They also devoted £1,000 to assist the Church in
Leeds in further efforts for the promotion of education, and more especially
in enabling their schools to obtain the benefit of the proposed government
aid, and that Dr. Hook and two others named should devise a plan for carrying
out the object in view. These three gentlemen, in reply, submitted three
propositions — of grants for the erection of new schools ; of grants (in order to
obtain government aid) in aid of existing schoolmasters' residences; and of
grants for the enlargement of the existing schools. These propositions were
accepted. — See the Gentleman's Magazine for December, 1847, &c.
EIGHT HON. SIR JOHN BECKETT, BART. 423
the first baronet, banker, of Leeds, who died in 1826 (for a
Sketch of whom, see p. 304, &c), by Mary, daughter of the
Right Rev. Christopher Wilson, D.D., Lord Bishop of Bristol.
He was bom at Leeds on the 17th of May, 1775. He com-
menced his education at the Leeds Grammar School, and con-
tinued his studies under the Rev. "William Sheepshanks, then
incumbent of St. John's church, Leeds. He attained distin-
guished honours at Trinity College, Cambridge, being fifth
wrangler in 1795; and he was called to the bar at the Inner
Temple, February 4th, 1803, of which he became a bencher,
and he practised for some time on the Noi-thern Circuit. On
the 18th of February, 1806, he took office as Under-Secretary
of State for the Home Department, under the Whig ministry
of Fox and Grenville; and on the 20th July, 1817, he was
appointed a privy councillor. Sir John first entered the House
of Commons in 1820 as member for Cockermouth, but vacated
his seat in the following year. He was returned for Haslemere,
near Winchester, in 1826, 1830, and 1831. Sir John succeeded
his father as a baronet, September 18th, 1826. He was judge-
marshal and advocate-general during the Duke of Wellington's
administration from 1828 to 1830; and during the short period
of office of Sir Robert Peel, in 1834, he again filled the same
appointment until the month of April, 1835. In 1832 he
unsuccessfully contested East Retford, and in February, 1834,
on Mr. T. B. Macaulay being appointed a member of the Council
in India, he had a severe contest for Leeds with Mr. Edward
Baines — Sir John polling 1,917 votes, and Mr. Baines 1,951.
At the general election of 1835, Sir John was returned for
Leeds, at the head of the poll. At the general election on the
accession of Queen Victoria, in 1837, he again contested Leeds,
and was defeated — Mr. Baines and Sir William Molesworth
being returned. From that time till his death, the much-
respected baronet retired from taking any active part in public
affairs. By virtue of his services as a privy councillor, &c, Sir
John was entitled, according to act of parliament, to a retiring
pension of one thousand pounds a year; but with characteristic
independence and liberality he declined taking one farthing of
the public money in the shape of a pension. Sir John was a
zealous and consistent Conservative, and when in the House of
Commons voted against the Reform Bill, the Municipal Cor-
porations Bill, and the Irish Tithe measure. Latterly he took
very little interest in the political world; in the commercial he
did not, however, cease to be known, and as a commercial man
his memory was long revered, lie was at the head of the
424 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
eminent banking firm of Beckett and Co., at Leeds, and was an
extensive promoter of railways, being chairman of some leading
companies. He was also a great patron of literary and scientific
institutions. Sir John possessed a fine personal appearance,
great moral worth, and excellent business talents. He married,
January 20th, 1817, Lady Anne Lowther, third surviving
daughter of William, Earl of Lonsdale, K.G., and sister to the
present earl, who survived him, without issue. He, like his next
brother, Christopher, who died in March, 1847, died without
will, and thus the landed estates, estimated at the annual value
of £10,000 (saving the widow's dower), together with the
baronetcy, devolved upon his next brother, Mr. Thomas Beckett,
late an eminent banker in Leeds, now of Somerby Park, near
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire; a deputy-lieutenant for the West-
Biding; born in 1779; married in 1825, without issue; heir
presumptive, his younger brother, Edmund (Beckett) Denison,
Esq. ; his next brother, William Beckett, Esq., M.P. for Leeds,
having died in 1863. The remains of the right hon. baronet
were interred at Eulham, in the county of Middlesex, where
rest the remains of his maternal grandsire, Christopher, Lord
Bishop of Bristol, and also of his younger brother, the late
Rev. George Beckett, rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire.* — A por-
trait of Sir John Beckett, M.P., was engraven from a painting
by Schwanfelder, of Leeds. See the Gentleman s Magazine for
October, 1847, p. 426 ; the Annual Register; the Leeds Papers;
Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, &c.
1782— 1847.t
RICHARD FOUNTAYNE WILSON, ESQ.,
Formerly M.P. for Yorkshire, and late colonel of the First
West Yorkshire Regiment of Militia, died at Melton Hall,
near Doncaster, July 24th, 1847, aged sixty-five. Mr. Richard
* The late baronet was a faithful member of the Church of England, and
he judiciously and ably fulfilled the duties which his rank, his wealth, and
the posts of honour to which he was elevated devolved upon him. In his
death society lost an influential and intelligent member, and the poor a
liberal benefactor.
t —1847. For a long Sketch of the Rev. Thomas Dykes, LL.B. (which has
been withdrawn for want of space), who married Mary, the eldest daughter of
William Hey, Esq., F.R.S., the celebrated surgeon, of Leeds; and was for
some time incumbent of Barwick-in-Elmet, near Leeds; and was also a can-
didate for the vicarage of Leeds; and afterwards founder and incumbent of
St. John's church, Hull, see his Memoir by the Rev. John King, prefixed to
a volume of his Sermons, edited by the Rev. William Knight, of Hull, in
1849; and also the Leeds Intelligencer; the Gentleman's Magazine for
November, 1847, p. 545, &c. ; the Chvrch of England Quarterly Review for
July, 1850, p. 170; the Annual Register; Schroeder's Annals of Leeds, &c.
RICHARD FOUNTAYNE WILSON, ESQ., M.P. 425
Fountayne Wilson was born in the year 1782, the elder son
and heir of Richard "Wilson, Esq., of Leeds, who was the
eldest son of Christopher, Lord Bishop of Bristol, by Anne,
daughter of Dr. Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London. The
mother of the deceased was Elizabeth, third daughter of the
Very Rev. John Fountayne, D.D., dean of York, to whom his
father, Richard Wilson, was married in 1781. In 1807, during
the ever memorable election of Wilberforce, Lascelles, and
Milton, Mr. Fountayne Wilson was the high-sheriff of York-
shire. At the dissolution of parliament on the 31st of May,
1826, he was solicited to become a candidate for the representa-
tion of Yorkshire, then, for the first time, returning four
members to represent it in the House of Commons ; and on the
21st of June in that year, he was returned a member, together
with Lord Milton (afterwards Earl Fitzwilliam), John Marshall,
Esq., and the Hon. William Duncorube (the present Lord
Feversham), without opposition, Richard Beth ell, Esq., the fifth
candidate, having withdrawn. Mr. Fountayne Wilson con-
tinued in parliament until the general election in 1830, when
he retired, and Lord Morpeth (afterwards Earl of Carlisle),
Henry Brougham, Esq. (now Lord Brougham), the Hon.
William Duncombe, and Richard Bethell, Esq., succeeded to
the representation. In politics Mr. Richard Fountayne Wilson
was a Tory, and, while a member of the House of Commons,
voted against the Catholic Emancipation Bill. The various
public charities of the country, on several occasions, received
from him very nmnificent donations, and to his liberality many
of them owe their present exalted position and extended sphere
of usefulness. In 1817 he munificently presented the trustees
of the Leeds General Infirmary with a plot of land on the
south front, consisting of 4,000 square yards, and valued at
£1,500, which extends to Wellington Street. This land was
tastefully laid out as a garden and pleasure-ground, and enclosed
by a substantial wall, surmounted with iron palisades, and
served materially to ornament the west entrance to the town,
as well as to benefit the General Infirmary. This plot of
ground, with the old Infirmary building, has recently been
sold to the Messrs. Kitson and Co., for railway purposes,
for about £37,500. In 1823, the town and parish of Leeds
was blest with another great public benefit, viz., the com-
mutation of all the mixed and personal tithes, payable to
the vicar and clerk of Leeds, for an annual income of £500,
arising from £14,000, one half of which was the muni-
ficent gift of Richard Fountayne Wilson, Esq., M.P., and the
42G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
other half was raised by subscription. Of the National Society
of Education he was a warm supporter, and one of his latest
gifts was a donation of £1,000 to this institution. He was
the colonel of the First West York Militia, which he had
vacated by his resignation only a few months before his death ;
and he was, likewise, a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of the
West-Riding. Mr. Fountayne Wilson married Sophia, third
daughter of George Osbaldeston, Esq., of Hutton Bushel, in the
county of York, and had issue four sons and five daughters.
Of the former two are deceased. The third is Andrew Montagu,
Esq., who assumed that name only in 1826, in pursuance of
the testamentary injunctions of the Eight Hon. Frederick
Montagu, of Papplewick, in the county of Nottingham, a
kinsman of his maternal grandmother, Anne, third wife of the
dean of York. — See the Gentleman's Magazine for October,
1847, p. 435, &c. ; the Annual Register; the Leeds Papers;
Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c.
1793—1847.
THE REV. JOHN ELY,
Minister of East Parade chapel, Leeds, died October 9th, 1847,
aged fifty-four years. He was born at Rochester, in Kent, on
the 20th of August, 1793. His father, Mr. Daniel Ely, an
architect and builder, died when he was young; his aged
mother survived him. Mr. Ely received his education at Hoxton
College, where the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, the Rev. John Alexander,
and other eminent ministers were his contemporaries. He
settled at Rochdale in June, 1814,* and was ordained in the
summer of 1815. After a nineteen years' pastorate in that
town, with considerable success, and having declined many
other calls to larger spheres, he at length saw it his duty to
accept the call from the church and congregation at Salem
chapel, Leeds, and subsequently removed to East Parade chapel.
He came to Leeds on the 1st of July, 1833, and was designated
over the church and congregation, in August following, as suc-
cessor to the Rev. Edward Parsons. He had, therefore, more
than completed a ministry of fourteen years in Leeds, and of
* A handsome tablet was erected in Providence chapel, Rochdale, in June,
18G4, the jubilee anniversary, to the late Rev. John Ely. The inscription on
the tablet is as follows: — "In Memory of the Rev. John Ely, who was for
nineteen years the faithful and devoted pastor of the people worshipping
here. He entered on his duties as the first Independent minister of this
town in June, 1814, laboured successfully until his removal to Leeds in July,
1833 ; and departed this life greatly beloved on the 9th of October, 1847,
aged fifty-four."
THE REV. JOHN ELY. 427
thirty-three years at Leeds and Bochdale. He died in the
fifty-fifth year of his age, leaving a widow and one daughter.
The death of this eminent and excellent minister, cut off in the
vigour of his days and in the midst of his usefulness, created
profound sorrow not only among all classes in this town, but
throughout this and the neighbouring counties, and, indeed,
wherever his valuable ministrations and writings had made
him known. Pew characters have displayed a more perfect
symmetry than that of the deceased. He was not eminent in
some features of his character and wanting or faulty in others.
But a just and noble proportion was observable in his intel-
lectual and moral qualities, as well as in the discharge of all his
duties. He shone alike as the able and energetic minister, the
faithful, affectionate, wise, and indefatigable pastor, the meek
yet manly Christian, the true patriot, the enlightened philan-
thropist, the finished gentleman, the invaluable friend, the
charming companion, the tender son, husband, and father. No
one could say whether he was more remarkable for his faith or
his good works; the former was unfailing, the latter incessant.
In both he was obviously under the influence of the highest
motives — love and duty to God, and love to his fellow-men.
His intellectual powers were high. His mind was of large
range and masculine vigour. He loved an elevated theme.
With a clear judgment he drew out conclusions and established
principles which, when attained, he held with a firm grasp.
The speculations of philosophy were congenial to his taste;
he entered with zest into questions of lofty controversy; he
could have engaged with relish in any department of scholar-
ship. But so practical was his mind, and so strong his sense of
duty, that he habitually denied himself in these things for the
sake of ministerial usefulness, and tore himself from his loved
study to comfort the sick, to cheer the destitute, to instruct the
ignorant, and to do the work of the many societies which seek
the diffusion of the Gospel at home and abroad. As a preacher
he was at once instructive and impressive, endeavouring in
every sermon to enlighten the understanding as well as to
awaken the conscience and touch the heart. His style and
manner were animated and full of energy. They betokened a
man thoroughly in earnest. His pulpit oratory was aided by a
powerful voice and vigorous action. Some critics might think
him at times declamatory; but it was the declamation of a
mind filled with strong concern, noble enthusiasm, and a gener< >US
abhorrence of all that is base and wicked. In appeal he was
solemn, affectionate, and faithful. His sermons were the pro-
428 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
duct of careful thought ; they fully expounded the sense of
Scripture, as well as enforced its lessons and precepts. His
theology was that of the Reformation, of the "Westminster
Assembly, and of the doctrinal articles of the Church of Eng-
land. He was very jealous of any departure from orthodox
and evangelical opinion. He gave prominence to the great
doctrines of the atonement, justification by faith, and regenera-
tion by the Holy Spirit; and he distinguished most carefully
between speculative and practical faith — between the perform-
ance of outward rites and the devotion of the heart. The
morality which he inculcated was the pure and benevolent
morality of the Gospel, uttex-ly inconsistent with all dissimula-
tion, fraud, injustice, impurity, or even hazarding the property
of others by undue speculation. His prayers were very com-
prehensive and animated, including references to national
circumstances, whether prosperous or adverse, to the temporal
and spiritual interests of his own people, and to the extension
of religion in the earth. In the performance of pastoral duties,
Mr. Ely was, perhaps, hardly ever excelled. All that could be
done by strength of body and mind, time well husbanded, and
a most active and ingenious kindness, was done for the super-
vision of his numerous flock. He seemed to know the character
and circumstances of every individual. He sympathized with
every sorrow, and was one of the wisest of counsellors. His
unfailing cheerfulness and perfect affability made him every-
where welcome. To the young he was affectionately winning.
At the sick bed he was at once kind and faithful. In managing
the difficulties which sometimes occurred he showed the truest
wisdom, by always meeting them in the spirit and temper of the
Gospel; and scarcely ever did he fail by that means to arrive at
the best result. The consequence of his prudence and his many
admirable qualities was, that his people enjoyed unbroken
peace among themselves and with their pastor, as well as affec-
tionate intercourse with other churches. Whilst he never
lorded it over his people, and not only admitted but encouraged
the exercise of every right that belongs by New Testament law
to the members of a Christian church, he never for an instant
forgot his self-respect and the dignity of a Christian minister.
But still he seemed to rule, not by prerogative, but by the dis-
charge of every duty and the exercise of every virtue that
belong to the sacred office. He was in all things an example
— in the truest piety, in religious decision as opposed to worldly
conformity, in active effort, in large-hearted liberality, in self-
denial, in moderation, in temper, in Christian kindness and
THE REV. JOHN ELY. 429
prudence. Whilst he was such a pastor to his own flock, his
heart was as large as the world. No interest of man was
excluded from his sympathy. Every institution for the diffu-
sion of the Gospel, at home or abroad, to Jew or heathen, by
Bibles, tracts, or the living agent, had his warm support. He
encouraged the Town Mission for sending Scripture-readers
into the dwellings of the poor; he was the indefatigable secre-
tary of the Home Missionary Society, for helping to maintain
ministers in the rural districts of the West-Riding; he gave his
most energetic support to the London Missionary Society, whose
field is the world; he pleaded for the British Missions (at home,
in Ireland, and in the colonies), connected with the Congrega-
tional Union; he countenanced the London Society for pro-
moting the conversion of the Jews; he befriended the Bible
Society, the Religious Tract Society, and the Sailors' Friend
Society; every anti-slavery effort had his help. For several of
these objects he made tours in various parts of the kingdom.
No request on the part of his ministerial brethren for his
assistance in the pulpit was denied, if duty permitted him to
acquiesce; and the more humble was the applicant, the more
prompt and kindly was the response. Mr. Ely was the con-
stant and earnest friend of universal education. At Rochdale
he established several Sunday schools, which became very
flourishing. At Leeds he manifested the warmest interest in
the Sunday school; and he promoted, both by purse and influ-
ence, the establishment of a day school connected with his
congregation. But, ever firm in the maintenance of his prin-
ciples, Mr. Ely insisted on two things, first, that education
should be religious, and, second, that it should be perfectly free
from all government support or control. Whilst cherishing
feelings of warm charity towards every evangelical community,
in or out of the Establishment, and, therefore, a zealous friend
of the Evangelical Alliance, he was at the same time one of
the staunchest Nonconformists.'"' Mr. Ely's most considerable
* The best evidence of Mr. Ely's principles and character is to he found in
the things he accomplished. "When he went to Rochdale, no Independent
church existed, and scarcely any congregation ; during his stay 247 members
were admitted; and, on his leaving, the church consisted of 144 members,
and the congregation was numerous. At the beginning of his ministry there
the Sunday school was exceedingly small ; at its close there were in connection
with his chapel several schools, containing many hundred scholars. "When he
came to Leeds, the number of members in the church did not exceed 250 ; at
his death they were close upon 500. The exertions of his people in behalf of
every good cause were stimulated by his spirit and example to an extra-
ordinary degree. They raised a new chapel, with Sunday schools and a day
school, at an aggregate cost of more than i'10,000, the whole of which was
430 BIOGRAMHA LEODIZXSId.
work was a series of lectures chiefly on subjects of Scripture
history, which, having been delivered at Rochdale in the course
of a winter, he entitled Winter Lectures, 8vo., 1833. His
funeral took place at the cemetery,""' Woodhouse Lane, Leeds;
being preceded by a most affecting service at East Parade
chapel, conducted by the Rev. Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool, an
early friend of the deceased minister. The service at the grave
was conducted by the Rev. Thomas Scales. The attendance of
ministers of various denominations, from the town and country,
was exceedingly numerous; and several of the most eminent of
the Congregational ministers from other parts of the kingdom
were present. The chapel was crowded with sincere mourners.
A funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, of
Leeds, on the Sunday following, at East Parade chapel. — For
further particulars, see the Leeds Papers, especially the Mercury,
for October, 1 847 ; and also an Introductory Memoir prefixed to
the Posthumous Works of the late Rev. John My, by the Rev.
Dr. Hamilton, of Leeds.
1777—1848.
JOSEPH TAYLOR, ESQ.,
Senior partner in the firm of Messrs. Taylor, Wordsworth, f
and Co., machine-makers, Holbeck, Leeds, died February 3rd,
1848, aged seventy-one years. To the causes of religion, educa-
tion, and public charities, he was a munificent benefactor. His
donation of £1,000, in 1845, towards the liquidation of the
debt on East Parade chapel, originated a movement which led
to the discharge of all the debts on the Independent chapels in
contributed without affecting their contributions to other objects. Their
liberality towards home and foreign missions was multiplied several fold. In
all these efforts Mr. Ely himself set an example of liberality, and used
every influence that was legitimate, but none that was otherwise. He con-
ducted all the operations of his people with admirable method, punctuality,
and accuracy. He also breathed his own spirit into his ministerial brethren
through a wide range of country, and thus extended his influence beyond
what it is possible to calculate.
* Where a neat cohimn has been erected, bearing this inscription: — "In
Memory of John Ely, pastor of the Independent church, East Parade chapel,
Leeds. Born August 20th, 1793; died October 9th, 1847. This monument
is erected as a tribute of grateful affection by the members of his Bible
classes. ' Feed my lambs.'" He was succeeded by the Rev. H. R. Reynolds,
B.A., now j>resident of Cheshunt College, near London.
+ Joshua Wordsworth, Esq., of Mount Preston, Leeds, and partner in the
highly respectable firm of Messrs. Taylor, Wordsworth, and Co., machine-
makers, died, after a short illness, August 11th, ] 1846, aged sixty-six. The
funeral of Mr. Wordsworth was attended by a very large procession of the
workpeople employed by the above firm, as well as by numerous private
friends of the deceased. Mr. Wordsworth was a gentleman of great worth
and generosity, and zealous in his attachment to Liberal principles.
REV. RICHARD WINTER HAMILTON, LL.D., D.D. 431
Leeds, and in several other parts of Yorkshire. He left legacies
to several charities, amongst which may be mentioned £200 to
the Leeds Town Mission, .£250 to the Leeds General Infirmary,
£250 to the Leeds House of Recovery, and £100 to the Leeds
Public Dispensary. — For an account of their patents, &c, see
Newton's Journal of Arts, &c. ; the Mechanics' Magazine, &c.
1794—1848.
EEV. RICHARD WINTER HAMILTON, LL.D., D.D.,
Minister of Belgrave Independent chapel, Leeds, died of
erysipelas, July 18th, 1848, aged fifty-four years. He was a
native of London, where he was born on the 6th of July, 1794.
His father was the Rev. Frederick Hamilton, Independent
minister, of Brighton ; and his mother, Martha, the daughter of
the Rev. Richard Winter, B.D., pastor of the Independent
chapel, Carey Street, London. He was late in speaking plain
and learning to read, and as a boy had unbounded spirits and a
lively imagination ; was a mimic, and got plentifully into
scrapes, but was nobly and fearlessly truthful. When a child,
in frocks, riding from Brighton over the South Downs, on
coming at once in sight of a richly wooded and extensive
country, he stood silent a few minutes, and then with glowing-
countenance exclaimed, "Mamma, this must be heaven !" He
was educated partly at a school in the Isle of Wight, and partly
at the Protestant Dissenters' Grammar School, Mill Hill, near
London, in the latter of which Judge Talfourd was his school-
fellow. In August, 1810, he became a student at Hoxton Col-
lege, where he made great progress in his studies. On the 15th
of March, 1815, he was ordained the minister of Albion chapel,
Leeds,* then in the occupation of the Independents. This
body removed to a more commodious and handsome structure,
Belgrave chapel, which was opened on the 6th of January,
1836, where he continued his ministry till the close of his life.t
* The laborious discharge of his duties as a minister, combined with the
attractions of his eloquence and of his character, filled Albion chapel incon-
veniently; and his people accordingly erected another and far more spacious
building. This structure, named IJelgrave chapel, was handsome and com-
modious, and was opened in January, 1836.
T The vigorous intellect and large soul of Mr. Hamilton exercised them-
selves not only in the discharge of the sacred and all-important duties of the
ministry, but also in other methods of promoting the welfare of his fellow-
men. He was alive to the events passing around him, and, without being a,
very active politician, he sympathized in every public movement on behali of
civil and religious liberty, the emancipation "f the slave, the evangelization
of the heathen, the spread of education, the improvement of the condi
of the working-classes, and the reform of our national institutions. He pub-
lished Sermons on the persecution of the Protestants in the south of France, on
432 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
He married on the 21st of May, 1816, Rachel, the daughter
of Michael Thackrey, Esq., of Leeds, by whom he had two
daughters and a sou. The birth of the latter was fatal to the
mother. On the 6th of December, 1836, after a widowhood of
sixteen years, he married Harriet, daughter of John Robson,
Esq., of Sutton Hall, who survived him. His eloquence, high
attainments, and wit, placed him in a commanding position
amongst his fellow-men.* His published works are numerous,
showing great intellectual power, research, and a great exuber-
ance of language, t Milton's description of the English people
the death of the Princess Charlotte, and on the question of Christian missions,
in reference to the persecution of the missionaries in the West Indies. He
also published a Funeral Sermon (entitled " The Cherished Remembrance of
Departed Worth") for E. S. George, Esq., 1830; and another Funeral Sermon
for the Rev. William Vint, preached at the Independent chapel, Idle, 1834.
He was one of the earliest members of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary-
Society, which was opened in 1821 ; in the following year he was elected a
member of the council, and with little intermission he remained in that body-
till his death. He was three times elected vice-pi - esident ; and for three suc-
cessive years, from 1836 to 1838, he filled the office of president. We believe
at no time (says the Leeds Mercury) has the office been filled with more
exemplary punctuality or with higher efficiency : the society was increasingly-
prosperous during that period. He read at various times no less than twenty-
six lectures or pajsers before the society — a number which shows his zeal on
behalf of letters and of the society, and which, when his numerous engage-
ments are considered, entitled him to the gratitude of his fellow-townsmen.
The Literary Society and the Mechanics' Institution of this town, for many-
years separate, though now happily united, were also respectively indebted to
Dr. Hamilton for valuable aid, as well as their elder sister, the Philosophical
Society.
* In the year 1833 his early and fast friend, the Rev. John Ely, came to
settle in Leeds ; and it is worthy of remark that their friendship was never
ruffled by even the slightest difference, though each was characterized by the
most manly independence. No thought of competition seemed ever to enter
their minds. They were found side by side in every good cause — each stimu-
lating and animating the other, but never jostling — each constantly endea-
vouring to do the other honour. Indeed all the Independent ministers of the
town were united in personal and sacred friendship, and they succeeded in
joining their flocks in the same Christian union. But the friendship of
"Hamilton and Ely" became proverbial: their " souls were knit" together,
like those of David and Jonathan. Mr. Ely took a leading part at the
opening of Mr. Hamilton's new chapel, and Mr. Hamilton afterwards at the
opening of Mr. Ely's. The beauty of this brotherhood was not greater than
its practical usefulness. It is deserving not merely of honour, but of imitation.
And as these two eminent ministers were united in life, they were, after a very-
brief space, re-united in death. Each lived to complete his fifty-fourth year ;
each was smitten in the midst of his days and of his usefulness ; each died
amidst the tears and consternation of a fondly attached people ; and the sur-
vivor, after finishing the monument he had erected to his friend, was in the
very month of its publication himself seized with his mortal illness, and on
his death-bed gave instruction that his grave should be " as near as possible to
dear Ely's."
+ The first work of any magnitude published by Mr. Hamilton was a
volume of Sermons in 1833. It is a treasure of sacred eloquence, containing
some of the author's richest and most delightful compositions. The following
REV. RICHARD WINTER HAMILTON, LL.D., D.D. 433
lias not been inaptly applied to him. "Not slow and dull, but
of a quick, ingenious, and piercing spirit; acute to invent, sub-
tile and sinewy to discourse, not beneath the reach of any point
the highest that human capacity can soar to."* In private life
year lie published a small volume, entitled Pastoral Appeals on Personal,
Domestic, and Social Prayer — a work of remarkable excellence, unveiling
the inmost heart of the pastor in its tenderest and most spiritual moods.
Some years later he put forth a volume of domestic prayers, entitled The
Little Sanctuary (1838). In the year 1841 he published several of his papers
read before the Philosophical Society, together with other papers and poems,
under the title of "Mvgce Litcrarue: prose and verse." The amount of
classical learning displayed in some of these papers, and the metaphysical
acumen in others, were such as to induce even professors at our universities
to remark that such compositions little deserved to be called trifles (Nugce).
In 1842 appeared his work on "Missions : their Authority, Scope, and Encou-
ragement; an Essay, to which the second prize, proposed by a recent Associa-
tion in Scotland, was adjudged" — (the first prize having been won by that
consummate essayist, the Rev. Dr. Hams, of Cheshunt College). This was a
noble production^ full of high and warm thoughts, profound reasoning, scrip-
tural illustration, and fervent appeal. Mr. Hamilton had now done quite
enough to entitle himself to those literary honours which our universities
have it in their power to bestow. Accordingly, the University of Glasgow
conferred upon him the diploma of Doctor of Laws, on the 1st of February,
1844; and in the course of the same year the University of New York sent
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The priority, both in time and in the
standing of the university conferring it, decided Dr. Hamilton always to
place the LL.D. before the D.D. in giving his literary titles. The next work
published by Dr. Hamilton was his essay, entitled The Institutions of Popular
Education, to which a prize of one hundred guineas, given by "a patriotic
Churchman of Manchester," was adjudged. This important work was written
at the close of 1843 and the beginning of 1844, soon after the defeat of Sir
James Graham's Factory Education Bill. In the year 1846 the doctor pub-
lished a " second series" of Sermons on some of the highest subjects of Chris-
tian contemplation, and characterized by all his excellencies. The Revealed
Doctrine of Rewards and Pun 'shments, being the twelfth series of The Congre-
gational Lecture, was published in the year 1847. It is the most elaborate
and learned of all his works, and it has been received by the critics of different
evangelical denominations as an important and valuable addition to our
theological literature. It is especially directed against the doctrine of the
annihilation of the wicked at death, which some time since appeared to be
gaining ground. In the beginning of 1848, Mr. Hamilton published a small
but valuable treatise, "Horwet Vindicice Sabbaticcej or, Familiar Disquisition
on the Revealed Sabbath." His last publication was the Introductory Memoir
prefixed to the Posthumous Works of the late Rev. John Ely, of which he was
the editor. It is inscribed by the baud of friendship, but under the watchful
guidance of truth.— Sec Darling's Cyclopaedia Biblwgraphica, kc.
* The intellectual character of Dr. Hamilton was pre-eminently marked by
power. His was a robust, a herculean intellect. It was large in grasp, ami
rigorous in action. His apprehension was quick and penetrating, and his
reflective power great. A memory which seemed 1" retain all that he ever
read or heard, furnished an inexhaustible storehouse of knowledge; whilst
his quickness in producing his mental ti equal to his power of
acquiring and retaining them. His combination of strength with Bubtilty
suggests the familiar but apt comparison of the proboscis of the elephant,
which can equally pick up the ]>iu and rend the oak; and his union of quick-
ness with power recalls the idea of the steam-engine, which adds the speed of
the bird to the might of leviathan. Words presented themselves to him in
E E
434 BIOGRAPIIIA LEODIENSIS.
he was deservedly esteemed for the purity of his character, and
for the "warmth and sincerity of his social affections.* He was
interred at "Woodhouse Ceinetery,+ and his remains were fol-
lowed to their last resting-place by hundreds of the inhabitants,
and many Independent ministers and laity from other towns at
only too great abundance ; and his choice among them too constantly, though
quite unconsciously to himself, betrayed the scholar, who might seem to be
ever living amongst Greek and Latin, amongst metaphysicians and schoolmen.
The exact technical term was never wanting ; the illustrative allusion was
ever at hand, though drawn from remote sources; and this overflowing of the
well of knowledge, though a positive defect in a popular speaker addressing
an unlearned audience, was a rich intellectual feast to the scholar, whom it
carried back to antiquity, as well as through the vast range of letters and
science. Dr. Hamilton was endowed with an imagination which luxuriated
in all beauty and soared to all grandeur and elevatioD. His sold was full of
poetry. He was also passionately fond of music. Yet with all these attri-
butes of genius, and with all his exquisite susceptibilities, there was still a
defect, namely, in point of taste. This regulator and governor of the great
mental machine, in its operations to produce what shall move and please
mankind, was imperfect. There was power, there was elevation, there was
beauty, there was tenderness, and all even in redundance, but there wanted
the fine proportion, the elegant symmetry, the restraining, self-controlling
hand of the perfect artist. There was over-colouring, there was excess. He
was the Michael Angelo, but not the Eaphael. His architecture was Egyptian,
not Grecian. Had he combined Attic taste with his Atlantean strength, his
literary fame, high as it is, would have been still more eminent.
* Dr. Hamilton's moral qualities were a warmth of heart that made him
the faithful friend, the tender relative, the affectionate pastor, the true philan-
thropist, and "zealously affected in every good thing" — a generosity the
most large and free — a sense of honour which could not brook the thought of
disingenuousness or meanness — a candour the most manly — an independence
the most proud — a love of truth which ruled his powers and his life. We do
not say that he had not prejudices, sometimes freely and strongly expressed.
"We do not say that his chivalry of feeling and friendship was not too fervent
to be always strictly just. Dr. Hamilton's manners were those of the well-
bred gentleman, and at the same time most engaging and frank. He had a.
taste for aristocracy, though an ardent friend of popular rights. Throughout
Yorkshire his services were in constant request on occasions of religious or
philanthropic interest, whether connected with his own denomination or of a
more catholic kind ; and his visits to the metropolis and other parts of the
country on public service were frequent, and always productive of advantage
to the cause he sought to promote, by the interest excited and the impression
produced by his appeals.
+ A monument to the memory of the deceased was erected in "Woodhouse
Cemetery in March, 1851, from a design prepared by Mr. J. Dobson, architect,
and executed in cleansed stone, from Park-Spring Quarries, by Mr. George
Hogg, of Leeds. It stands about twenty-three feet in height, and covers a
space of about seven feet square at the base. It is a chaste and beautiful
classical structure, composed of a base or pedestal, supporting four Grecian
Doric columns six feet nine inches high, surmounted by an appropriate archi-
trave, frieze, and cornice, &c. The inscription is as follows: — "In Memory
of Richard Winter Hamilton, LL.D., D.D., thirty-four years pastor of the
Independent church assembling in Albion and Belgrave chapels, Leeds. He
died July 18th, 1848, aged fifty-four years. His rare talents, extensive learning,
and fervid eloquence, were consecrated to the glory of God and the highest
interest of man. As a minister and pastor he was earnest, affectionate, and
faithful ; as a divine, zealous for sound theology and evangelical truth.
EDWARD BAINES, ESQ., M.P. 435
a distance. The late Rev. Dr. Raffles, of Liveipool, impressively
read the funeral service. — For additional particulars, see the
Leeds Papers, especially the Mercury, for July, 1848; Lives of
Illustrious Men; Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of Universal
Biography ; his Memoir, &c, by W. H. Stowell, D.D., with
portrait (engraved by J. B. Hunt, from a painting by William
Scott), and a facsimile of his autograph, 1850, price 10s. 6d.
For a long and interesting Sketch of Dr. Hamilton, see also
Gilfillan's Third Gallery of Portraits, 1854, p. 77, &c.
1774—1848.
EDWARD BAINES, ESQ., M.P.,
Senior proprietor of the Leeds Mercury, a magistrate for the
West-Riding of Yorkshire, and formerly one of the members of
parliament for Leeds, died August 3rd, 1848, aged seventy-four
years. Mr. Baines was the second son of Mr. Richard Baines,
of Preston, in Lancashire, and was born on the 5th of February,
1774, at Walton-le-Dale, in the same county. Placed at an
early age under the care of his uncle, Mr. Thomas Rigg, of
King's Land, Hawkshead, he received his first public education
in the Free Grammar School of that town. Returning to
Preston at the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a
Mr. Walker as a printer.'"' Before his term of apprenticeship
expired he removed to Leeds for improvement, and entered that
town as a poor printer seeking his fortune. He soon engaged
himself with the publishers of the Leeds Mercury (Messrs.
Honoured and beloved for his genuine piety and high principle, the warmth
and openness of his heart, his ardent patriotism and love of freedom. This
monument, erected by his townsmen, testifies that they mourned his death
and cherish his memory." In July, 1843, a very handsome silver tea and
coffee service was presented to him by his congregation at Belgrave chapel,
Leeds, as a token of esteem and affection. He was succeeded by the Rev. G.
W. Conder, now of Manchester. The above Sketch has been kindly revised
by his son, Mr. R. W. Hamilton, of Headingley, near Leeds.
* An example of energy, prudence, and integrity in business, of earnest
patriotism in a political career, of benevolent zeal for all social improvement,
of the qualities that adorn society and sweeten domestic life, displayed from
early youth with increasing lustre to advanced age, is one which every man
may study with advantage. On the 1st of June, 1793, Mr. Walker started a
Liberal newspaper called the Preston Revieio,\>ut, after a two years' existence,
it was discontinued. The business in the printing-office was so much
diminished, that young Baines, although he had two years still to Berve,
received from his master his indentures. He then left Preston for Leeds in
search of work as a printer. He walked the whole distance with a bundle on
his arm, and very little money in his pocket. On his arrival at Leeds, he
proceeded to the printing-office of Messrs. Binns and Brown, the publishers
of the Leeds Mercury, and inquired if they had room for an apprentice to
finish his time. He was taken into the office, and by his punctuality,
industry, and obliging disposition, soon won the esteem and confidence of Ins
43G BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Binns 4 '' and Brown), with whom he served the remainder of his
time. In the year 1801 Mr. Baines, by the aid of local friends
who knew and prized his great industry and thrift, was enabled
to purchase the paper on which he had worked, and then at the
age of twenty -seven the compositor became the proprietor. +
Owing to this, the Leeds Mercury, from being a local journal
of small dimensions and feeble power, suddenly acquired an
extensive political influence in the north of England, and from
that time to the present it has uniformly maintained the prin-
ciples of civil and religious liberty with zeal and consistency.
In the year 1798 Mr. Baines was united to Charlotte, % eldest
employers. His maxim was, that whatever is worth doing is worth doing
well. He laid the foundation of future success as a master, in the thorough
knowledge and performance of the duties of a workman. His apprenticeship
terminated in September, 1797, and on the following day he commenced
business as a printer in the Rose and Crown Yard, Briggate, in partnership
with a Mr. Fenwick, the firm being "Baines and Fenwick." In the early
part of the following year the partnership was dissolved.
* Mr. John Binns, of Leeds, was an extremely spirited bookseller, who
bought whole libraries, and kept a large stock of books. He became a
partner in the banking-house of Scott, Binns, Nicholson, and Smith, in
Leeds, and died on the Oth May, 1796, aged fifty-two, leaving his business to
his widow and children, from whom it was purchased some years after by
Mr. John Heaton. A notice of Mr. Binns, by Mr. Heaton, may be found in
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. viii., p. 468.
*f* From his boyhood he had formed an ambition to follow the example of
the great American printer and patriot, Benjamin Franklin. The fact of
Dr. Franklin's having visited Preston, and married a lady of that town,
brought the example more immediately before him. There were so many
points of resemblance in the mental character and history of the two men,
that Mr. Baines was often called, and not without reason, " the Franklin of
Leeds." They corresponded in sterling sense, in calm and cheerful temper,
in indefatigable diligence, in abstemious habits, in early rising, in enterprising
spirit, in a certain degree of original thought, in pithy and practical writing,
in strict frugality, in the character of their fathers, in their removal from
home, in successful attention to business, in love of freedom, in the public
influence they acquired, and in the fact that they became members of the
legislatures of their respective countries. As the life of Franklin helped to
form the character of Baines, perhaps the example of the latter, through
these pages, may serve as a model to young and virtuous readers.
% She was a most affectionate, pious, and God-fearing woman, and exercised
no little influence on the future career of her husband and family. She
survived her husband two years and a half, and died February 26th, 1851,
aged seventy-five years. On his marriage he took a house and printing-office
in Dickinson's Court, Briggate, where business soon poured in upon him, for
he was known to be a man of industrious, frugal, temperate, and punctual
habits. In 1801, by the assistance of his friends, who lent him £1,000
(which he afterwards repaid with interest), he purchased the copyright of
the Leeds Mercury, the good- will of the printing business, and the printing
materials for the sum of £1,552. He also took a lease for seven years of the
printing-office in Mercury Yard, now Heaton's Court, near the bottom of
Briggate. The first number of the Mercury published by him appeared on
the 7th of March, 1801, and from that time it was considered to be the organ
of the Whig and Dissenting interest in Leeds. The Mercury was originally
established in May, 1718. — One evening in November, 1805, Mr. Baines's
EDWARD BAINES, ESQ., M.P. 437
daughter of Mr. Matthew Talbot,'"' of Leeds, author of the
Analysis of the Bible. They had eleven children, of whom, nine
were then living. The eldest son, Mr. Matthew Talbot Baines,
M.P. for Hull, was a Queen's Counsel, and deservedly stood
high in his profession ; afterwards three times M.P. for Leeds,
President of the Poor-Law Board, and Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster, with a seat in the cabinet and at the privy
council. Mr. Edward Baines, jun., was well known as an
author, and is now one of the members for Leeds. He is asso-
ciated with his brother, Mr. Frederick Baines, in the proprie-
torship and conducting of the Leeds Mercury. Mr. Thomas
Baines was proprietor of the Liverpool Times. Mr. Baines left
behind a large family, united among themselves, and all holding
stations of respectability and influence in the world. It may
justly be said of Mr. Baines that he did more for the cause of
reform in the county of York than any other man; and, when
we consider the powerful movement in the manufacturing dis-
tricts in favour of Lord Grey's bill, it is not too much to say
that to his strenuous endeavours the country was indebted, in
no slight degree, for the passing of that measure. When, in
1815, the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, Mr. Baines dis-
covered that a meeting held at Thornhill Lees, near Wakefield,
was betrayed to the magistrates by a spy named Oliver, who
had been also employed by Lord Sidmouth in Yorkshire, Not-
tingham, and Derbyshire. This was exposed in the Leeds
Mercury, and brought before the House of Commons by Sir
Francis Burdett, and added much to the popularity of Mr.
Baines. It was he also who suggested to the freeholders of the
county of York the propriety of returning Henry Brougham to
parliament, which was done at the election of 1830. Lord
Morpeth, too, and Mr. Macaulay, in the same manner, owed
their first elections — the one for the West-Riding and the other
for Leeds — mainly to the personal exertions and influence of
Mr. Baines. On the appointment of Mr. Macaulay to an official
dwelling, situate on the south side of Park Square, was partially destroyed by
fire, by which he suffered the loss of his furniture. At the beginning; of
1807, he removed his business to premises in the middle of Briggate, just
above Duncan Street, where it was continued until after his death. Thus it
will lie seen that the foundation of Mr. Baines's success in life, and of his
eminent usefulness, was laid in those homely virtues which are too often
despised by the young and ardent, but which arc of incomparably gn
value than the most shining qualities — in integrity, industiy, perseverance,
prudence, frugality, temperance, self-denial, and courtesy.
* For a short Sketch of Mr. Matthew Talbot, see p. 274, &c, and for many
additional particulars, see Life of Edward Baines, by his son, large edition,
pp. 30, 31.
438 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
post in India, in December, 1833, Mr. Baines was solicited by a
large majority of the electors to become a carididate for the
representation of Leeds. The reasons which led them to this
choice will be shown by the terms of the following requisition : —
" We, the undersigned electors of Leeds, believing ourselves
to be in no small degree indebted to your exertions for the
elective franchise, having long witnessed your unwearied, con-
sistent, and enlightened labours as the advocate of reform in
every branch of the public service ; and convinced by experience
of your eminent talents for jiublic business, request that you
will allow us to put you in nomination as a candidate to repre-
sent this borough in parliament, there to carry forward those
great principles the success of which it is equally your object
and ours to promote.'' He went to the poll, and, defeating Sir
John Beckett, — Lord Sid mouth's late private secretary — was
triumphantly returned, without cost to himself, on those prin-
ciples of purity of election which he had so long and so strenu-
ously advocated.'"" Mr. Baines went into the House of Commons
unfettered by pledges, saying — "My own judgment and con-
science shall be my guide, and the general happiness of the
community my aim;" and, while there, maintained a course of
independent action which endeared him to his political friends,
and commanded the respect of his opponents. He was the
unflinching advocate of a rigorous economy in the public expen-
diture, and of the emancipation of the slave — the imdaunted
assailant of the close-corporation system — one of the main
promoters of the present scheme of municipal reform, not
only in England, but in Ireland — the staunch friend of the
Government plan of education — the uncompromising foe to all
monopoly in trade and commerce. As the representative of the
* Mr. Baines was now a member of parliament for the town which be bad
entered as a poor apprentice, unknown to a single inhabitant. It is an
honourable and happy thing for England, that his is far from being a solitary
instance of talent, virtue, and perseverance working their way, unaided, to
such a position. It is well for the nation that its institutions, notwith-
standing a large admixture of aristocracy, permit it to draw its pubUc
servants from every walk of life. And it is well for the young among the
middle and humbler classes to have examples before them of prosperous
virtue — of eminent success won by real merit. In the case of Mr. Baines the
distinction was not obtained through the influence of large property, or
extensive mercantile connections ; bis fortune was moderate, and he had few
dependants. His personal qualities commanded the esteem, confidence, and
even affection of his townsmen ; from long and thorough knowledge of him,
they bebeved him to be equal to and worthy of the highest trust that could
be reposed in him ; and when that trust had been once confided, his discharge
of it was confessedly so exemplary as to leave him without a competitor in
the estimation of Ms constituents.
EDWARD BAINES, ESQ., JJ.P. 439
Dissenters in the House, he had the burden of those questions
more nearly affecting their interests — the Eegium Donum,
Church-rates, Pious Use Trusts, Tithes, &c, and he gave his
unwearied support to the claims of Dissenters for admission to
the English universities, and of the charter granted to the
University of London. In all the discussions upon these and
kindred questions, he avowed the broad principle that no man
ought to be placed under any civil disqualification in conse-
quence of his religious belief, and that Dissenters who support
their own ministers and places of worship should not be taxed
to uphold the churches and pay the clergy of the Establishment.
At the same time, he assisted in passing a bill for augmenting
the stipends of the poor working clergy. He did his utmost to
promote the education of the people and the widest diffusion of
religious knowledge— seeking, by the Mechanics' Institute as
well as the Sunday school, to assist self-education and the intel-
lectual elevation of the community. Mr. Baines's laborious
duties in the House of Commons laid the seeds of serious
illness. He was seldom absent from his post. Day and ni^ht
he gave up his whole time to the fulfilment of the onerous
duties devolving upon him; and the result was that he overtaxed
himself, and served his constituents and his country beyond his
strength. From this cause, at the close of the Melbourne
Administration in 1841, Mr. Baines withdrew from the repre-
sentation of Leeds, after having held that distinguished position
during three successive parliaments. ISTo sooner was his inten-
tion of retiring known, than his constituents were most earnest
in their solicitations that he should re-consider Ins decision.
But these entreaties were unavailing; his health was seriously
impaired, and duty to his friends, as well as his own personal
safety, rendered the step absolutely necessary. This point
having been decided, it was at once resolved by his constituents
to present to Mr. Baines a public testimonial, as a memorial of
their appreciation of services so nobly rendered and so exten-
sively useful. A list was opened for contributions, limited in
amount, and to this fund men of all shades of politics sub-
scribed, and in a very brief space a large sum was raised. The
testimonial consisted of a magnificent candelabrum, supported
by three figures representing Truth, Liberty, and Justice, and
bearing the following inscription: — "Presented to Edward
Baines, Esq., by his friends and fellow-townsmen, in admiration
of the integrity, zeal, and ability with which he has advocated
the principles of civil and religious liberty during a public lit'<-
of more than forty years, and to evince their gratitude for his
4*40 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
important services as the faithful and indefatigable representa-
tive of the borough of Leeds in three successive parliaments.
Leeds, November, mdcccxli." In retiring from his public
duties as a member of parliament, Mr. Baines never contem-
plated an idle or useless life. Already he had appeared as the
author of two most valuable works — one, The History of the
Wars of the French Revolution, which was subsequently made
to embrace a wider range, and became a History of the Reign of
George III.; and the other, a work of national importance,
being a most elaborate History of the County Palatine of Lan-
caster, in four vols., 4to. The original form of the latter was a
History, Gazetteer, Directory, &c, printed at Liverpool in two
octavo vols., 1825. The larger work was published in parts, and
was, in some measure at least, the work of other hands, under
Mr. Baines's superintendence. As a journalist he was distin-
guished for a large and comprehensive view of public questions;
an unwavering advocacy of the cause of liberty and good
government ; and at the same time an entire absence of offence
against public order or personal com*tesy, and an earnest endea-
vour to restrain the excesses to which the working-classes have
at periods of excitement been inclined in the wide range of his
circulation. His own newspaper writings prove the freedom,
chasteness, force, and eloquence with which he could employ the
resources of Ms native language; while, at the same time, they
demonstrate the extent, accuracy, and solidity of his general
and diversified information. The conducting of the paper he had
long before yielded to his sons; but never did a number appear,
when he was in Leeds, without his contributing, in some way
or other, to its columns. Mr. Baines took a large share in the
administration of justice in the borough of Leeds, where he was
a justice of the peace, and also a magistrate for the West-Biding
of Yorkshire. He had always shown a great taste for agricul-
tural pursuits, and he spent much of his time at his farm at
Barton Grange, on Chat Moss, a large tract of property which
he had drained and brought into a high state of cultivation.
This frequent change afforded him gi*eat enjoyment, and was
veiy conducive to health. Mr. Baines was an attached and
most liberal supporter of the various benevolent institutions in
his town and county; and his love for the religious institu-
tions of the country, and for missionary operations, was very
constant. His love for Sunday schools was marked; and his
inquiries as to the operations and progress of the London
Sunday School Union was very frequent. One by one, he was
compelled to give up his accustomed duties out of doors. This
EDWARD BAIXES, ESQ., M.P. 441
he did with great reluctance; for his habits of life, so active and
useful, led him frequently to regard too lightly the injunctions
of his medical adviser. His personal character was thus sketched
by his successor: — "He had a large and liberal spirit, a just and
upright mind, a benevolent and affectionate heart. He was,
therefore, the friend of freedom, good government, and reform,
of charity, peace, and religion — the friend of the people, and
especially the friend of the poor and oppressed. Whilst decided
in his opinions, he was most catholic in his disjDOsitionj whilst
the most faithful of adherents, it was his delight to co-operate
with men of all parties and sects for common objects. His
understanding was sound, strong, and clear — his judgment cool
and cautious. He was universally regarded as one of the safest
of counsellors. In his own profession and trade he was at once
enterprising, prudent, and indefatigable. In the discharge of
his parliamentary duties he was unwearied. His temper was
mild and equable, yet at the same time cheerful and buo} 7 ant —
a combination which was singularly conducive to his own happi-
ness and to the happiness of all around him. Few men have
been more universally popular and more truly beloved. He
combined manly firmness with the truest humility. His tastes
were simple and unostentatious. In domestic life he was the
most amiable of men, gentle, forbearing, loving — the very bond
of union; his radiant countenance, the image of an affectionate
heart, shed light through all his home, and made his large family
circle one of unbroken peace. His religious views were evan-
gelical, and he possessed the soul of religion in charity, faith,
humility, and love. At the approach of death his view of his
own merits was most lowlv and self-abasing, and his view of the
Divine goodness and condescension almost overpowering. The
sunset of his life was serene rather than glowing. Patient,
resigned, and gentle, he watched the ebbing of the tide of life;
and in the midst of his large family, looking around him with
love, and heavenward with hope, his death, like his life, was
that of the good man."" His body was interred in the Wood-
* In combination with strong natural powers of understanding, strength sne< I
and matured by practical exercise in the real business of life, and amid
stirring events, Mr. Baines had great industry and perseverance, as well as
patience and resolution, and with these lie posse--"! pleasing manners and
address. In person, lie was of a firm, well-built frame, rather above the
average stature; his features were regular, his expression of counten
frank and agreeable; and he retained his personal comeliness, as well as his
vivacity and suavity of manners, to the last, showing but slightly the oui ward
characteristics of his advanced years, and evidencing by this token of a
"green old age," the equability of a well-poised mind, and bhe felicity of
temperament which graced the declining years of his long and well-spent life.
442 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
house Cemetery, a funeral service having been performed in
East Parade chapel. The corporation, headed by the mayor,
attended in a body. There were present, also, the mayors of
Wakefield and Bradford; the magistrates of the borough;
journalists from different districts; the servants in the employ
of the deceased; the masters and journeymen printers of the
town and neighbourhood, and a vast number of private carriages
and individuals.* " Quam civitati cams fuerit, mserore funeris
indicatum est." — Cicero, Be Amicitid. — For a fuller account of
this remarkable man, see his Life, by his son Edward, with a
portrait, recently republished in a cheap form (12mo., 1859,
2s. Qd.), from which this Sketch has been partly drawn. See
also the Gentleman's Magazine for September, 1848, p. 319, &c. ;
the Leeds Papers, especially the Mercury ; the Illustrated London
News for August, 1848; the Annual Register; Mackenzie's
Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography, &c.
— For a full and graphic description of Mr. Baines's character, see the con-
cluding chapter of the Life of Edward Baines, late 31. P. for the borough of
Leeds (with a fine portrait, engraved by Greatbach, from a painting by
Hargreaves, with a facsimile of his autograph), by his son, Edward Baines,
author of The History of the Cotton Manufacture, &c, 1851, p. 358, &c.
A portrait of Edward Baines, Esq., M.P. (with his autograph), engraved by
J. Cockram, painted by T. Hargreaves, was published by Fisher, Son, and Co.,
London, 1834. Another portrait of Edward Baines, Esq., from a daguerreo-
type taken at the Leeds Photographic Gallery, 27, Bark Eow, in 1842,
drawn by G. Childs, was printed by M. and N. Hanhart, &c.
* The estimation in which Mr. Baines was held was not only shown by the
testimonial presented to him during his life, and by the honours of his public
funeral ; but, some time after his death, an excellent full-length portrait, by
Richard Waller, of Leeds, was bought by public subscription, and presented
to the Leeds Mechanics' Institution and Literary Society, of whose hall it
forms a principal ornament, and where it constantly reminds the young of
one of the best models they can follow in the pursuit of honour and happi-
ness. (For a long account of the presentation of Waller's portrait of the
late Mr. Baines, see the Leeds Papers for September, 1850.) Still later,
a large subscription was raised by very numerous contributors (of all
parties) in Leeds and the neighbouring towns, with several of his old
friends in both houses of parliament, to erect a statue in his honour in some
public part of the town of Leeds. The statue was executed with great
ability by Behnes, and is an excellent likeness. The size is colossal, being
eight feet in height ; and it is made of a faultless block of Carrara marble.
It was committed to the care of the Town-Council of Leeds, who placed it in
the Town Hall (opened in the year 1858, by her Majesty Queen Victoria). A
massive block of polished granite has been recently placed under the statue.
In front of this pedestal is the following inscription, carved in letters of
gold : — "To commemorate the public services and private virtues of Edward
Baines, who faithfully, ably, and zealously represented the borough of Leeds
in three successive parliaments. As a man, a citizen, and a patriot, he was
distinguished by his integrity and perseverance, his benevolence and public
spirit, his independence and consistency. This monument is erected by
voluntary subscription, that posterity may know and emulate a character
loved and honoured by his contemporaries. Born February 5th, 1774; died
August 3rd, 1848." The above Sketch has been kiudly revised.
REAR-ADMIRAL MARKLAND, C.B. 443
1780—1848.*
KEAK-ADMIRAL MARKLAND, C.B., &c.
John Duff Markland, born at Leeds September 14th, 1780,
brother of the late Ralph Markland, Esq., of Leeds, was
the second son of Edward Markland, Esq., formerly mayor
of Leeds (for a short Sketch of whom, see p. 337), who died at
Bath in 1832, and was descended from a family of the same
name seated at Wigan, in Lancashire, in the reign of Richard II.
He commenced his naval career in 1795, under the auspices of
* — 1848. Mrs. Matthewmas, a native of Leeds, who died on the 1st of
June, 1848, by her will directed the residue of her personal property to be
applied by her trustees, William Beckett, Esq., and John Atkinson, Esq., in
promoting, in the borough of Leeds, divine worship according to the liturgy
and usages of the United Church of England and Ireland as by law estab-
lished, in such a manner as her trustees or trustee for the time being, with
the sanction of the Bishop of Bipon for the time being, should think fit. The
appropriation of the fund was as follows: — Endowments of £150 per annum
each have been wholly or partly provided for the incumbents of six new
parishes, viz. : —
For Buslingthorpe, the whole endowment • . . . . £5,000
For Burley, the whole endowment 5,000
For Burmantofts, the whole endowment .... 5,000
For Pottery Field, Hunslet, half of the endowment (the other
£2,500 being provided by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners) . 2,500
For Brewery Field, Holbeck, half ditto (ditto) . . . . 2,500
For New "Wortley, half ditto (ditto) 2,500
Ten grants of £400 each were made (to meet £800 of additional subscriptions
in each case), to provide parsonage houses for the incumbents of each of the
following churches, viz. : —Christ church, St. Mary's, St. Luke's, St. Philip's,
St. Matthew's, All Saints', St. Ceorge's, Armley, Farnley, and "Wortley.
Three grants of £600 each (to meet £600 of additional subscriptions in eacli
case) to provide parsonage houses for the three newly endowed districts of
Buslingthorpe, Burley, and Burmantofts. A grant of £400 (to meet £600
additional subscriptions), to increase the endowment of the vicar of St.
Andrew's church ; a parsonage house having been previously built by subscrip-
tion. A grant of £100 towards a parsonage house for the incumbent of Wood-
side, near Horsforth (a small portion of that district being within the borough).
The total amount of grants towards endowments of new parishes was £22,500 ;
ditto, to augment subscriptions for parsonage houses, &c, £6,300; total of
Matthewman grants, £28,800. And this sum was augmented by grants from
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of £7,500 ; by additional subscriptions to
meet the other grants, amounting to £10,400. Total additional subscriptions,
£17,900. The result of this charitable lady's munificent bequest to the
borough of Leeds has consequently been to cause an investment of £46,700,
applied partly in improving the provision for twelve previously existing incum-
bencies, and partly in endowing six new districts, which, on the consecration
of churches within them, became new parishes for all ecclesiastical purposes.
It has also led to the raising of more than £20,000 for the erection of churches
for the six new parishes. The patronage of the three new parishes, viz.,
Buslingthorpe, Burley, and Burmantofts. has been vested by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners in bodies of five trustees for each. The patronage of the other
three new churches, viz., St. Judo's, Hunslet; St. Barnabas', Holbeck; and
New Wortley, belongs alternately to the Crown and the Bishop of the Diocese.
— See the Leeds Intelligencer for November 26th, 1853.
444 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
his uncle, Captain John Cooke, of the Bellerophon, who fell in
the battle of Trafalgar. He was midshipman of the Nymphe,
at the capture of the French frigates Resistance and Constance
in 1797, and of the Amethyst at the capture of the Dedaigneuse
in 1801. He obtained his first commission as lieutenant in
that year, and two years after he was raised to the rank of
commander. In 1808, he was appointed to the Bustard brig,
and was actively employed against the enemy for two years in
the Adriatic, Archipelago, and on the coast of Barbary, and at
the capture of a convoy near Trieste, in protecting Sicily from
invasion by Murat's army. His commission as post-captain
was dated the 18th of April, 1811. From 1811 to 1813, he
served as flag-captain to Rear- Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle, in
the Milford, 74 guns. He was present at the captures of
Fiume, Rovigno, Pisan, Capo d' Istria, and at the siege of
Trieste. In April, 1830, he commissioned the Briton, 46 guns,
for the Lisbon station, and received the thanks of the Admiralty
and the British merchants at Lisbon, for his conduct in the
protection of British interests during the civil disturbances
which occurred in Portugal in the following year. He obtained
the good-service pension in 1841, and was promoted to the
rank of a retired rear-admiral, October 10th, 1846. He was
gazetted on three occasions, viz., in 1809, and twice in 1813,
and the imperial order of Leopold was stated in the Gazette of
the 19th of March, 1816, to have been conferred upon him,
" in approbation of the distinguished services rendered by him
at the siege and capture of Trieste, and the other operations in
Italy during the campaigns of 1812 and 1813." From his
early years he was devoted to a naval life, not only from strong
inclination, but from the noble emulation which the heroic acts
of so many of his maternal ancestors, and the distinction
obtained by them in naval history, would naturally excite.
His mother was Elizabeth Sophia, the daughter and co-heiress
of Josiah Hardy, Esq.,* governor of New Jersey, and afterwards
* It is a remarkable fact that, in the eighteenth century, not fewer than
five members of this family attained the rank of admiral, four of whom
received knighthood, viz., Sir Thomas Hardy, distinguished in the expedition
against Cadiz under Sir George Rooke, when in command of the Pembroke,
and at Vigo, where the French fleet and several Spanish galleys were either
taken or destroyed. His monument is on the south side of the west door of
Westminster Abbey. His son was Admiral Sir Charles Hardy, and his grand-
sons Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, Eear- Admiral John Hardy, and Sir Charles
Hardy, junior. Mr. Hardy, their brother, the grandfather of Admiral Mark-
land, married the grand-daughter of Sir Thomas UAeth, Baronet, of Kent,
and great grand-daughter of Sir John Narborough, whose widow married Sir
Cloudesley Shovel, rear-admiral of the fleet.
MR. THOMAS GRAY. 445
his Britannic Majesty's consul at Cadiz, a descendant of Clement
le Hardy, who settled in Jersey about 1380. Admiral Mark-
land's own career, as we have seen, was marked by services
both honourable to himself and useful to his country. As an
officer he was distinguished by ability, firmness, and zeal, by a
close and unwearied attention to his duties, and by the most
spotless honour and integrity. In private life he was justly
endeared to his family and friends, by the excellence of his
heart and the many amiable and pleasing qualities that adorned
his character; and it may be said with strict truth, that his
uniform study through life was to discharge his duty humbly
and faithfully to his God, his country, and his fellow-creatures.
Admiral Markland married, on the 8th of March, 1814, Helen
Ellery, eldest daughter of Lewis Dynioke Grosvenor Tregonell,
Esq., of Cranbourne Lodge, Dorset, and Bourne House, Hants,
by whom he left one son and three daughters. He died at
Bath, August 28th, 1848, in his sixty-eighth year. — For further
information, see the Gentleman's Magazine for October, 1848,
p. 424; O'Byrne's Naval Biography; the United Service
Journal; the Illustrated London News for September, 1848;
the Annual Register, &c. See also Note, p. 371.
1787-1848.*
ME. THOMAS GKAY,
"The Bailway Pioneer," a native of Leeds (son of Mr. Robert
Gray), published, in 1820, a Is. Gd. octavo, which went
through five editions in five years, entitled " Observations on a
General Iron Railway ; or, land steam-conveyance, to supersede
* —1848. George Lane Fox, Esq., M.P., died November 15th, 1S48, at
Bramham House, near Leeds, aged fifty-five. For many years Mr. Foa
been subject to frequent interruptions of health, though wearing the appear-
ance of a hale and robust man ; but we believe it was not till within a few
days of his death that his illness assumed an alarming character. The family
of the deceased is of ancient descent, and its representatives have Long been
among the most influential and opulent of the commoners of England, and
his father, James Fox Lane, Esq. , whom he succeeded in 1821 (for a Kkdeli <>f
whom, see p. 283, &c), declined the honour of the peerage, which Mr. Pitt
offered to confer upon him by the renewal of the Bingley peerage, e:
on the death of his uncle, Lord Bingley, in 1772 (for a. Sketch of whom, Bee
p. 173, &c), piquing himself on "being one of the very few old English
families— a commoner (not a trader) of high birth and fortune." The last
Lord Bingley (George Fox), inherited by will theestateoi Lord Lam jborough,
and took the surname and arms of Lane in addition to those oi Fox. He
had married Harriet, daughter and sole heiress of the Right Hon. Robert
Benson, Baron Bingley, to whom a large giant of land on Bramham Moo,- was
made, for his eminent services to the Government, and who laid out the
grounds and built the magnificent house of Bramham Park, initially
destroyed by fire in Julv, l«2<s, and not since inhabited. The Late <•■
Lane Fox, Esq., represented Beverley and Pontefraot in parliament su<
-140 BIOGRAPH1A LEODIENSIS.
the necessity of horses in all public vehicles ; showing its vast
sxiperiority in every respect over all the present pitiful methods
of conveyance by turnpike roads, canals, and coasting traders." *
In 1820 and 1821 he presented a petition to Lord Sidmouth,
who was then prime minister, and in 1822 another to Sir Robert
Peel. On the publication of a second edition of this work, he
sent circulars to the merchants of Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool,
and London. He proposed that the plan should first be tried
between Manchester and Liverpool. In 1822 the desirability
of having a railway between these two places was considered.
A committee was formed, who visited the different railways in
the collieries, and reported to a meeting, which determined to
apply for an act. The plans of railways which he suggested
are published in his work in 1822, and were those that were
first carried out. In 1846 a testimonial was originated by the
mayor and other gentlemen of Exeter, in order to acknowledge
sively, and was again member for Beverley from 1837 to 1841. But in conse-
quence of ill-health he then retired from parliamentary duties, and for the
same reason was excused from serving the office of high-sheriff for the county
of York in the year 1845-G. He was a major in the Yorkshire Yeomanry
Cavalry, and deputy-lieutenant for the North-Riding. In earlier life he was
fond of the pleasures of the chase, and was always a generous patron of the
sport. The later years of his life were distinguished hy the liberal and active
exertions he made for promoting agricultural improvement. The annual
Bramham Park shows, which he instituted for competition amongst his
numerous tenantry, attest his laudable and successful endeavours; and he
was also a valuable supporter of the "Wetherby Agricultural Society, of which
he was a vice-president. He married, in 1814, Georgiana Henrietta, only
daughter of Edward Pery Buckley, Esq., by Lady Georgiana West, daughter
of John, second Earl of Delawarr, and he was succeeded by his son, the
present George Lane Fox, Esq. The proximate cause of Mr. Fox's death
appears to have been his taking cold whilst following his favourite sport, fox-
hunting. The following members of Mr. Fox's family were present when he
died: — Mr. and Mrs. George Lane Fox, jun., Mr. Sackville Lane Fox, and the
Rev. Thomas Fox (brothers of the deceased gentleman) ; Lady Caroline Fox,
widow of the late Mr. W. Fox; and the Honourable Adolphus and Mrs.
Lidded. His remains were interred in the family vault, at All Saints' church,
Bramham, near Leeds. — See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for November, 1848.
The above Sketch has been kindly revised.
* At the time this book was written, all that was known of railways was as
they existed in the rude tramways at Newcastle and its collieries, considerably
before the construction of those earliest of our railways, the Stockton and
Darlington, and Liverpool and Manchester. Mr. Gray's suggestion was to
carry out a comprehensive railway over the whole United Kingdom ; in fact,
to make a simultaneous system to all the principal towns, instead of making
the work a labour of section and degree. The progress of the railway system,
however, proved that this was impracticable, in many, but more especially in
monetary points of view, and the suggestion, from its very comprehensive-
ness, perished. Some of his Essays on Land Steam Conveyance were printed
in the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1824, p. 146, and October following,
p. 312. He then resided at Nottingham. In 1824 he presented a petition on
lus scheme to the corporation of London, and in 1825 he petitioned parliament
and Sir Robert Peel, but received no encouragement.
JOHN HEPWORTH HILL, ESQ. 447
the great services ]\Ir. Grav had rendered to his ase and
country in the conception of the national system of railway
communication, and his claims on the liberality and gratitude
of the nation were urged by several speakers. Whatever effect
Gray's labours may have had hi directing attention to the
subject of railways, and in suggesting views to others, he
himself gained neither reward nor honour. His late years
were passed in obscurity as a dealer in glass on commission at
Exeter, in which city he died of disease of the heart, October
15th, 184S, aged sixty-one years. Appeals were made to the
railway-world on his behalf, but they met with no response,
and it was said that he died broken-hearted. — See the Athenaeum
for October 28th, 1848; the Gentleman's Magazine for Decem-
ber, 1848, p. 662, &c.
1803—1849.*
JOHN HEPWOKTH HILL, ESQ.,t
Barrister-at-law, died January 4th, 1849, aged forty-six, at his
residence hi Park Square, Leeds. He was educated at Trinity
College, Cambridge, where be distinguished himself in his class,
and obtained the honour of a senior optime's degree in 1824.
He was called to the bar in the year 1827, after which he
practised on the Northern circuit. At the time of his death
he was recorder of Pontefract ; judge of the sheriff's court,
under the title of sheriff's assessor ; one of the patrons of the
Leeds parish church, and a governor of the Leeds Free Grammar
School. The late Robert Hall, Esq., who knew him well, said
* For a long Sketch of General Sir Robert Thomas Wilson, 31. P., colonel of
the 15th Hussars, who died in May, 1849, aged seventy-two, and is buried in
"Westminster Abbey; and who was the son of Mr. Benjamin Wilson, F.R.S.,
an eminent painter, &c, formerly of Leeds, for a short Sketch of whom see
p. 185, &e. ; and for many additional particulars, see a review, in the Aihmcenm
for January 31st, 1863, of the Life of General Sir Robert Wilson, from Auto-
bio'jraphical Memoirs, Journals, Narratives, Correspondence, kc, edited by
his nephew and son-in-law, the Rev. Herbert Randolph, M.A., Oxon, with
portrait, 2 vols., Murray.— See the work itself, especially the first chapter,
ending at page 42, with notes, for an interesting account" I his father, Benjamin
Wilson, Esq., F.R.S., of Leeds. See also the Illustrated London 2V< m, with
a portrait, for May, 1849; the United Service Journal for June, 1849, p. 319;
the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1849, p. 91, &c. ; Knight's Cyclopaedia oj
Bioqraphv, kc.
+ Another Mr. John (Hepworth) Hill (—1863), mayor of Leeds in is],,
died in March, 1863, at Haughton Hall, near Darlington, He 6rst became a
member of the Leeds Corporation in 1804, and was created an alderman in
1816. He was also an officer of the old volunteers under the late Colonel
Lloyd, and the last officer of that body then surviving, ex© pi Mr, Edward
Grace and Mr. Thomas Motley, of Leeds. II- was on dutj with bis regiment
at York, in 1807, when his rank was that of major.— Sec the Leeds Papers, kc,
for March, 1863.
448 BIOGBAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of him that "he was one of the kindest, truest, and most
upright of men ; not so quiet as some, not so impassioned as
others ; in his profession he was a safe, untiring, and successful
counsellor, ever equal to occasions as they arose ; whilst in his
general character there shone forth all the sterling qualities that
make up a man, — their lustre unblemished by one single mean-
ness." He was a gentleman of high standing in his profession
(at the time of his death being third in seniority at the West-
Riding Sessions), and was much respected by all who knew
him. Cut off as he was in the very prime of life, and leaving
behind him a widow with a large and young family, his some-
what sudden and unexpected death was much lamented. He
was a Conservative in politics, and a valuable and consistent
member of the Church of England ; and those who knew him
best spoke in the highest terms of his private worth both as a
man and as a Christian. — See the Leeds Papers, &c, for January,
1849.
1766-1849.
EOBEET W. DISNEY THORP, ESQ., M.D.,
Late of Leeds, died July 1st, 1849, at the rectory, Kemerton,
near Tewkesbury, the residence of his son (the Archdeacon of
Bristol), in the eighty-third year of his age. For several years
of his life the late Dr. Thorp held a prominent position in this
town as one of its leading medical men. He was for a con-
siderable period (thirty-three years) one of the physicians to the
Leeds General Infirmary ; and by his humane and indefatigable
exertions, aided by those of the late Mr. T. S. B. Beade, Mr.
Baines, and other gentlemen, that most valuable institution, the
House of Recovery, or fever hospital, was established. Dr.
Thorp'"' was appointed physician to this institution at its origin,
* That the name of Dr. Thorp is entitled to be inserted in the list of public
benefactors to the town of Leeds, is attested by the existence of that valuable
institution, the House of Recovery. Being brought, in his professional avoca-
tions, into a close observation of the condition of the poor under the visita-
tion of a severe and prevalent epidemic fever, and seeing at once the difficulty
of administering adequate treatment to the patients in their own confined and
ill-supplied homes, and the danger of contagion to others in densely inhabited
localities, he suggested the establishment of a fever hospital, and he perse-
vered in his design till, with the co-operation of the wealthy and humane of
his fellow-townsmen, the philanthropic object was achieved. Early in 1802,
the Leeds Mercury contained a favourable notice of a pamphlet published by
Dr. Thorp, entitled Hints and Observations relative to the Prevention of Con-
tagious Fevers, in which the establishment of a House of Recovery, or fever
hospital, was strongly recommended. Dr. Thorp persevered in his efforts till
that valuable institution was established ; and from that time to the present,
the hospital for the reception and treatment of fever patients, under the more
auspicious name of House of Recoveiy, as well in the original building (in
ROBERT W. DISNEY THORP, ESQ., JI.D. 449
and lie continued to hold the office and to render efficient
service in it almost up to the time of his leaving Leeds. He
had the gratification some years before his death to find that
the motives -which had acted so powerfully on himself and
others in establishing the original House of Recovery, had
since influenced a far larger number of his fellow-townsmen,
and led to the erection of a fever hospital much more spacious
and commodious — every way better fitted than its predecessor
to meet the wants of a constantly increasing population. He
was also an alderman of the ancient corporation of this borough,
and filled the office of mayor in the year 1830. Dr. Thorp
was the father of the Venerable Archdeacon Thorp, whom he
had the satisfaction to see attaining distinguished positions at
the University of Cambridge and in the Church. The last few
years of his long life were passed at Kemerton rectory, Glou-
cestershire, the residence of his son, the Yen. Thomas Thorp,
B.D., archdeacon of Bristol, &c. Dr. Thorp* was at one time
a claimant of the barony of Braye, being the heir of the eldest
co-heiress of Lord Braye ; but the barony was conferred by the
Crown on the representative of another co-heiress. — See the
Leeds Papers, &c, for July, 1849. The above Sketch has been
kindly revised and corrected by his eldest son.
Vicar Lane), as in the more commodious and noble one lately erected in
Beckett Street, Burmantofts, has continued to confer benefits on the popula-
tion which cannot be calculated; for the record of patients admitted and
restored to health gives no witness of the myriads who may have been saved
from fatal contagions. Dr. Thorp continued to give his services as one of the
physicians of this institution from its commencement to within a short time
of his retiring from practice. He was also for many years a physician of the
Leeds General Infirmary ; and both in his public official duties and in private
practice he was distinguished by unwearying attention, and humane and
considerate kindness. These qualities, combined with abilities of a superior
order, gained him a high professional reputation, and secured him an influen-
tial position among his fellow-townsmen.
* The late Robert Disney Thorp, Esq., M.D., of Headingley, near Leeds,
born in 1766; married, in October, 1789, Ann Katharine, daughter of Gregory
Grant, M.D., of Edinburgh, and died July 1st, 1849, having had issue: — 1,
Thomas, B.D., archdeacon of Bristol, and rector of Kemerton, born March 4th,
1797; 2, Johnson, born in 1801; 3, Disney Launder, M.D., of Prestbury, born
in 1805; married, in 1835, Eleanor, only daughter of Francis Chorley, mer-
chant, of Leeds ; 1, Maria, married Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Leith,
K.C.B., and died about 1835; 2, Mary Ann, married General Sir H. C. Bus-
Bel, Royal Artillery, and died in 1S28. Dr. Thorp (son of the Rev. Robert
Thorp, of Droitwich, by Martha, his wife, daughter of Gcrvasc Disne\ , M I ' I
was declared by the House of Lords, in L841, to he. through his great-grand-
mother, Frances Boothby, representative of the eldest Bister and co-heir of
John, Lord Braye, and as such senior co-heir of the Barony of Braye, the
abeyance of which was terminated in 1841 in favour of Mrs. Otway Cave,
representative of his lordship's second sister. — See Burke's Landed Gentry,
F F
450 BIOGKAPfilA LEODIENSIS.
1776-1850.*
WILLIAM SMITH, ESQ., J.P.,
For many years one of the leading woollen merchants in Leeds,
and a partner in the house of Messrs. Smith and Dickinson,
died December 2Sth, 1850, aged seventy-four years, at Mount
Stead, Burley, near Otley. He was in the commission of the
peace for the borough, and for two successive years (1839 and
1840), after the passing of the Municipal Eefbrm Act, filled
the office of chief magistrate, or mayor — his election a second
year being considered a well-deserved compliment for the faithful
and satisfactory manner in which he had discharged his public
duties during the first year of his mayoralty, and previously as
an alderman of the borough. In politics he espoused "Whig
principles, but without any violence to persons of contrary
opinions. He was a member of the Wesleyan Methodist con-
* — 1850. For a Sketch of the Rev. Thomas Furbank, M.A., late incumbent
of Bramley, who was a native of Leeds ; educated at the Leeds Grammar
School ; graduated at Oxford ; curate and clerk in orders of the Leeds parish
church till about 1830 ; author of Votive Offerings, 1839 ; through whose
instrumentality a church was built at Stanningley, and the schools at Bramley,
&c. , see the Leeds Intelligencer for Novembei-, 1850.
For a Sketch of Wade Broicne, Esq., M.A., magistrate for the county of
Somerset, only son of Wade Browne, Esq. (son of John Browne, of Chapel-
Allerton, by the daughter and eventual heiress of John Wade, of Moortown,
Esq. ), formerly a merchant at Leeds, of which he was mayor in 1791 and 1804,
and also a magistrate and deput3--lieutenant of Yorkshire ; who was born at
Leeds, in 1796, and died in August, 1851, having married the eldest daughter of
the Bight Hon. Edward Pennefather, lord chief -justice of the Queen's Bench
in Ireland, and was succeeded by their eldest son the present Edward Penne-
father Wade Browne, Esq., of Monkton Fairleigh, Wilts, born in 1835, &c,
see the Gentleman's Magazine for October, 1851, p. 435; Burke's Landed
Gentry; Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 154.
For a long Sketch of William Busfield, Esq., M.P. for Bradford, and a
magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of the West-Biding, who died in September,
1851; eldest son of Johnson Atkinson, Esc/., M.D., of Leeds, by Elizabeth,
only daughter and heiress of William Busfield, Esq., of Bysh worth Hall, in
the parish of Bingley (and brother of the Bev. Johnson Atkinson Busfield,
D.D., who died in January, 1849). Dr. Atkinson assumed the name of Bus-
field after the death of his wife's uncle, and afterwards resided at Myrtle
Grove, near Bingley, where he was an active magistrate and registrar of the
West-Biding. The Busfields wei-e a family of long standing in Leeds, and
Ryshworth was purchased by William Busfield, who was mayor of Leeds in
1673. — See the Leeds Intelligencer for September 20th, 1851 ; the Gentleman's
Magazine for December, 1851, p. 654; Burke's Landed Gentry, kc. And for a
long pedigree of the Busfields, see Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, pp. 5, 6, &c.
For a Sketch of the Bev. John Fawcett, M.A., incumbent of St. Cuth-
bert's, Carlisle, who died December 4th, 1851, aged eighty-two years ; was a
native of Leeds, educated at the Leeds Grammar School, of which institution
his father was second master ; was author of four volumes of Sermons, &c, and
father of the Bev. James Fawcett, late incumbent of Woodhouse, Leeds,
now vicar of Knaresborough ; Jolvn and Edward, barristers ; Bowland Morris,
a surgeon, &c, see the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for December 13th, 1851.
WILLIAM WEST, ESQ., F.E.S. 451
nexion, and Lis remains were interred at St. Peter's Weslevan
chapel, Leeds ; his funeral being attended by a large number of
persons anxious to pay to his memory the last tribute of respect.
As a good citizen, a merchant, and a magistrate, as well as in
the private relations of Life, he was much respected. — See the
Leeds Papers for January, 1851. The above brief Sketch has
been kindly revised.
1793-1851.*
"WILLIAM WEST, ESQ., F.R.S.,
Eminent for his attainments in chemical science, died at bis
residence, Highfield House, Hunslet, near Leeds, September
10th, 1851, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. Mr. William
West, the able analytical chemist and scientific lecturer was
the son of 3Ir. Samuel West, of London; and was born at
Wandsworth. Both his parents were members of the Society
of Friends, and he received his education at several of the then
well-known schools of that society in the south of England.
He came to Leeds in 1816, when he was twenty-three years of
age. At the time of his death he was president of the Leeds
Philosophical Society, to which he had contributed many valu-
able papers.t Mr. West received the " Telford" silver medal
in 1846, for a paper On Water for Locomotive Engines: one of
several read before the Institute of Civil Engineers, London, of
which he became an Associate in March, 184l'j and in the
beginning of 1846 the Fellowship of the Eoyal Society was
conferred upon him, " for distinguished attainments in chemical
science" — an honour of which he was not a little proud. He
was an active member of the West-Riding Geological and
*— 1852. For a Sketch of William Markham, Esq., of Becca Hall, near
Leeds, eldest son of William Markham, Esq., of the same place (who was the
eldest son of Archbishop Markham, of York), colonel of the second West
York Militia, and also a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of the West-
Riding, who died in January, 18o2, — see the Leeds InielMgencer for January
31st, 1852; the Gentleman's Magazine for March, 1852, p. 302; Burke's
Landed Gentry; and also this volume, Nate, p. 245, Sec.
*t The following is a list of the papers which be re the members of
the society: — ISi'J, On some colours for painting found at Pompeii; 1820, On
substances from which a blue preci produced l>v means "f
heat; 1821, On the atomic theory ; 1822, On iodine ; Notice of bl
charcoal by the galvanic battery; 1825, <>n nun naJity; 1826, The
twentieth century, in verse; 1829, On the varieties of water; 1830, < »n the
decline of the Roman empire, as related by Gibbon; L831, < >u fche boiling
point of water under certain circumstances, with memorandum of experi-
ments; 1832, Miscellaneous chemici 1 ol
On the intellectual capacity of the negro; Bints in support of the mat< riality
of caloric; L834, An account of the meeting of fche Brrl u at
Edinburgh; On the temperature of the tunnel of the Leeds and Selby I
452 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Polytechnic Society, to which he contributed several valuable
papers. He was lecturer on chemistry to the Leeds School of
Medicine for fourteen years, from 1831 to 1845, when ill health
obliged him to resign. He took a warm interest in the estab-
lishment and prosperity of the Leeds Mechanics' Institute, of
which he was a life-member from the commencement, and he
was for several years one of its council. He took great interest
in the proceedings of the British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, and from the list given in the Note it will be
seen that in 1834 he read one paper, and in 1838 two papers,
in reference to the meetings of that association, before the
Philosophical and Literary Society of this town. He was a
member of the association from its commencement; and was a
local secretary and member of the council in 1844, when it held
its second meeting at York, and contributed papers on applied
chemistry. Mr. West was likewise a member of the Chemical
Society of London from its first existence, in 1841, to the time
of his death. It need scai'cely be added that he contributed
several valuable papers to the society. Mr. West was elected a
councillor for Hunslet ward, Leeds (in the place of Mr. Joshua
Bowei", who had been elected an alderman), on the 16th
November, 1844. He remained in the council until 1st
November, 1847, when he was re-elected for the same ward;
and finally went out of office as town-councillor on the 1st of
November, 1850. Mr. West was also the local secretary of the
Anti-Slavery Society in Leeds for many years. He was a
member, from the beginning, of the Peace Congress, and a dele-
gate to the meeting of that body at Paris in 1849. Mr. West
was a member of the Society of Friends, of rather eccentric
way ; 1835, On detection of arsenic ; 1837, On chemical notation, isomorphism,
and isomerism ; 1838, An account of the scientific proceedings of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Liverpool ; On the
requisite arrangements for a meeting of the British Association in Leeds ;
1840, Hints on steam-engine boilers, locomotive engines, and railways ; 1842,
Review of some portions of Professor Whewell's Philosophy of the Inductive
Sciences; 1845, Three lectures on chemical analysis; 1847, A comparison
between the principal modern languages of Europe ; 1851, On explosions in
coal-mines. Some of the papers in the above list were also read by Mx. West
before the members of the West-Riding Geological and Polytechnic Society.
The following is a list of his chief contributions to that society : — On the
proportion of sulphur in coal; On data for a comparison between the heat
yielded by coke and coal ; On a remarkable case of the action of spring- water
on lead ; On some peculiar states of water of high temperatures, and on the
freezing of water in red-hot vessels ; On water for steam-engines, its chemical
analysis, and some proposed remedies for incrustations in boders ; On a
remarkable boiler-crust composed of sulphate of lime ; On explosions in coal-
mines, their causes and modes of prevention.
NORRISON C. SCATCHERD, ESQ., F.S.A. 453
habits, and was distinguished, for active benevolence. — See the
Leeds Papers, &c, especially the Intelligencer for September,
1851 ; the Reports, &c, of the above societies.
1780-1853.*
NORRISON C. SCATCHERD, ESQ., F.S.A.,
Barrister-at-law, &c, died at Morley House, near Leeds,
February lGth, 1853, aged seventy-three years. Mr. Norrison
Cavendish Scatcherd was descended from a family resident at
Morley for several generations, and was the eldest son of
"Watson Scatcherd, Esq., a very successful member of the
Northern bar, and, during the latter part of his life, a "West-
Riding magistrate and chairman of sessions. Mr. Norrison
Scatcherd, after being educated at Marylebone and Hipperholme
schools, and graduating at Cambridge, was called to the bar by
the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn on the 28th of November,
1806. He practised only for a very short time, and then
betook himself entirely to music, literature, and antiquities.
He published The History of Morley and its surrounding
Villages, 1830, 8vo. ; "Memoirs of the celebrated Eugene Aram,
who was executed for the murder of Daniel Clark in 1759;
with some account of his family, and other particulars, collected,
* — 1853. For a Sketch of Mr. Henry Schroeder, of Leeds, who 'wrote
Butterworth's Minor's Life, a work that was once very popular, though now
scarce ; composed the old song, beginning, " When first in London I arrived,"
&c. ; died February 18th, 1853, aged seventy-nine years. Shortly before his
death he compiled the Annals of Yorkshire, &c. — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
— 1854. For a long Sketch of James Montgomery, Esc/, (which has been
withheld for want of space), who was born in 1771, and educated, from 1778
to 1788, at the establishment of the United Brethren, Fulneck, near Leeds.
His father and mother were Moravian missionaries, who died amidst their
labours in the "West Indies. He afterwards settled at Sheffield, and con-
ducted The Iris till 1825. In 1835, Government granted him an unsolicited
pension of £150 a year. In 1836, a collected edition of his Poems was issued
in three volumes; another in four volumes, in 1849; and another in one
volume, in 1851. He died April 30th, 1854; and on the day of his burial the
shops and manufactories of Sheffield were almost all closed, many members
of the corporation attending the funeral, as did also the vicar of Sheffield and
twenty-four clergymen. By his will he left £900 to be distributed to various
charities. — See his Memoirs, published in seven octavo volumes, by John
Holland and James Everett; Public Characters; the British Quarterly
Review for 1855; Knight's Cyclopcedia of Biography; Mackenzie's Imperial
Dictionary of Universal Biography; tbe Annual Register for 1854, p. 298;
the Christian Observer, vol. xL ; Darling's Cyclopcedia Bibliographica;
Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual, kc. For a portrait and long Sketch, see
also the New Monthly Magazine, vol. x., p. 513, &c. ; and also the Memovn
prefixed to bis Poems. For portrait, &c, sec the European Magazine for
January, 1825, p. 5; the Illustrated London Newt for Stay 6th, 1864, also
June 10th, 1x54 (from a fine painting l>y R. Smith), For a Sonnet "•<)n tin-
death of James Montgomery," by J. H. Eccles, of Leeds, Bee the Leedi Intel-
ligenccr for June 17th, 1854.
454 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
for tlie most part, above thirty years ago," two editions;
Gleanings after Eugene Aram; " A Treatise on Bridge Chapels ;
including the history of the chapel upon "Wakefield Bridge."
Mr. Scatcherd was also formerly a contributor to the Gentle-
man's Magazine. His health had suffered considerably during
the latter years of his life, which had interfered with his
literary pursuits; but he had the gratification to be elected a
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on the 16th of Januaiy,
1851.* — See the Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1853, p. 205;
Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual, kc.
1790-1854.T
THE REV. JOSEPH HOLMES, D.D.,
Head-master of the Leeds Free Grammar School for twenty-
three years, died at Leeds, June 14th, 1854, in his sixty-fifth
year. He was formerly Fellow and tutor of Queen's College,
Cambridge, where he graduated B.A., 1812, as third wrangler;
M.A., 1815; D.D., 1840. He left Cambridge in 1819, and
was elected head-master of the Leeds Grammar School in the
summer of 18 30, % as successor to the Rev. George Walker, M.A.
He held no church preferment at the time of his death; but
from the time of his becoming master of the school at Leeds he
was the officiating minister of Trinity church, § till the death of
the then incumbent, the Venerable J. Sheepshanks, archdeacon
of Cornwall. Some years ago, when the question of the union
of Church and State was much agitated, Dr. Holmes published
a volume of very excellent Sermons, in which that union was
most ably vindicated against the advocates of separation; but
we are not aware that he has left behind him any other pub-
lished works. He was a sound scholar, not only as a mathema-
tician (of which his honourable degree at the university is a
test), but as a classic and divine; and as an instructor of youth
* In politics he was a Whig; in religion, a member of the Established
Church. The erection and support of the church in his native village were in
a great measure indebted to him. He was also noted for his kindness to the
poor, and was ever ready to contribute in a case of distress. The above
Sketch has been kindly revised by his son, Samuel Scatcherd, Esq., of Morley
House, near Leeds.
+ — 1855. For a Sketch of the late Joseph Robert Atkinson, Esq., magistrate,
of Elmwood House, Leeds; head of the firm of Hives and Atkinson, flax-
spinners ; to whom a stained glass east window was afterwards inserted in St.
Matthew's church, Little London, — see the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for
January 6th, August 4th, and December 29th, 1S55.
X For some additional particulars respecting the Rev. Joseph Holmes, see
the Biographical Sketch of Dean Milner, Note, p. 280.
§ In 1834, he published, at the request of the congregation, Five Sermons on
a National Church Establishment, preached in Trinity church, Leeds.
JOSHUA BOWER, ESQ. 455
he devoted his undivided labours to the duties of that arduous
and important function with ability, zeal, and affection. The
deceased was very much respected by his fellow-townsmen, and
was always held in the highest esteem by his scholars. In
March, 18-14, the trustees of the Leeds Grammar School pre-
sented him with a donation of .£500 from the funds of the
charity. In May, 1845, two silver-waiters, a tea and coffee
service, inkstand, and basket were presented to him, on his
retiring from the curacy of Trinity church, Leeds, by the con-
gregation, as a token of their high respect and regard towards
him, as curate of that church during a period of fourteen years.
Some time ago a subscription was commenced by his scholars
with the view of presenting to him some memorial of their
regard; at the time of his death the amount subscribed was
about £60. He resigned his appointment at the Christmas
preceding his death, and was succeeded by the Rev. Alfred
Barry, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, now
principal of Cheltenham College, and son of Sir Charles Barry,
architect of the new Houses of Parliament, &c. He left five
sons, all of whom are in the church; and one daughter, married
to the Rev. G. M. Gorham, M.A. One of his sons is the
incumbent of the magnificent church, All Souls, Haley Hill,
Halifax, built by Edward Akroyd, Esq. His funeral took place
at Trinity church, Leeds. — See the Leeds Papers, especially the
Intelligencer ; the Gentleman s Magazine for September, 1851,
p. 312, &c.
1773-1855.*
JOSHUA BOWER, ESQ.,
Alderman, crown and bottle-glass manufacturer, &c, died at
his residence, Hillidge House, Hunslet, near Leeds, September
7th, 1855, aged eighty-two years. Commencing as a journey-
man carpenter, he afterwards went into business for himself in
* —1855. For a Sketch of Lieutenant James Marshall (son of T. H. Mar-
shall, Esq., county-curt judge at Leeds, &c.)who was killed before S
topol, and to whoiu a monument was afti ed in bhe Leeds pansh
church, see the Leeds Intt >' ttd Septei
27th, 1856; Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c, p. r t
For a Sketch of William James Wilson, Esq., formerly of
wards senior surgeon of the Royal Infirmary, Manchester, see the Leeds
Intelligencer, &c, for July 5 5.
For a long Sketch of the Might Hon. Svr WiUux
(winch has been omitted for want of spa " ." '"
July, 1837, as the ' ■'■>''■ '- "' I 1 '''
E ds .' rcury) for the repr< of Lee Is, and returned for
borough, defeating Sir John Beckett in the following poll: Edward Bi
. 2,028; Sir William Moksworth, Bart., u John Beckett, Bart,
45$ BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS'*
a small way, and ultimately became possessed of works as a
manufacturer of crown-glass, by which he raised the greater
part of his fortune. He was also one of the largest toll-farmers
in England, having at one time nearly all the tolls between
Leeds and London, some in Hants, Dorset, and Wilts, besides
numerous others in various parts of the country. He was also
the proprietor of extensive coal-mines. He died, it is supposed,
worth £100,000. The deceased was well known for the con-
spicuous part he had taken in most of the political movements
of the present century, and was always a welcome speaker at
public meetings, uttering sound truths in Saxon-Euglish, and
accompanying them with illustrations at which the most fas-
tidious were compelled to smile for their quaintness, and applaud
for their point. Mr. Joshua Bower had a keen eye for the prac-
tical in politics, and though a Radical in principle, never refused
to join others in seeking a real reform because it did not quite
meet his own view of what was desirable. He was a candidate
for the representation of Leeds at the election of 1834, and
obtained the largest show of hands on Woodhouse Moor, but
was defeated at the poll. He was a member of the town-
council for the Hunslet ward, from the passing of the Muni-
cipal Reform Act, in 1835, and held the office of alderman for
the borough from November, 1844. Mr. Bower was the archi-
tect of his own fortune, and succeeded in amassing a large
sum, giving employment to many hundreds of the inhabitants
of Hunslet, &c. — See the Gentleman's Magazine for October,
1855, p. 446; the Leeds Papers, &c.
—1855.*
ME. JOSEPH EHODES,
Who, for more than half a century, held a prominent place
among the artists and art-teachers of Yorkshire, died April 7th,
1,759. On the dissolution of 1841 he had reason to suspect that Leeds could
not return two liberal members. He accordingly did not contest the town,
resigning his interest to Mr. Joseph Hume, the veteran reformer, who, how-
ever, was defeated by Mr. William Beckett, and lost Leeds by a minority of
ten votes. Sir William Moles worth was afterwards M.P. for Southwark, and
her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the colonies, &c. — See the
Annual Register for 1855, p. 313; the Gentleman 7 s Magazine for December,
1855, p. 645, &c. ; The Times ; the Daily News; the Examiner; the
Athenwum, &c. ; the Leeds Papers; Mayhall's Annals of Leeds, &c., p. 670,
&c. For a portrait, &c, sec the Illustrated London Hews for October 27th,
1855, &c.
* — 1855. For a Sketch of John Atkinson, Esq., of Little Woodhouse,
Leeds, solicitor, of the firm of Atkinson, Dibb, and Atkinson, see the Leeds
Intelligencer, &c, for November 17th, 1855, and August 2nd, 1856.
THE REV. HICHAM) SHEEPSHANKS, SI.A., P.R.S. 457
1855, after a tedious illness of nearly two years' duration.*
Mr. Rhodes "was a native of Leeds, and was apprenticed to
a house-painter in that town ; at the expiration of his term
of servitude he went to London, and was employed in the
establishment of a japanner in decorating articles of furniture.
He was subsequently engaged by M. San Jusse to assist in the
chromatic ornamentation of architecture in the mansions of the
wealthy. In his leisure hours from these engagements, he occu-
pied himself in acquiring a more intimate knowledge of drawing
and painting, for which purpose he entered the schools of the
Royal Academy, when West and Fuseli were superintending the
studies there. He also designed and made drawings for the
best wood-engravers of that time, and was offered an engage-
ment by the managers of Drury Lane theatre, then perhaps in
its most flourishing condition, as scene-painter and decorator;
but his contract with M. San Jusse compelled him to decline
its acceptance. Having married while in London, the delicate
state of his wife's health induced him to quit the metropolis and
return to Leeds, where he established a school for drawing,
which existed for forty years. Among his scholars were Robin-
son, Smith, Topham, Atkinson, Cromek, &c. "So numerous,"
says the Huddersfield Chronicle, "were the pupils instructed by
Mr. Rhodes, and so long continued his services in this branch,
that he has been emphatically designated the Father of Art in
Yorkshire." His artistic talents Avere very varied; figures,
landscapes, fruit, and flowers were produced by his pencil with
success. — See the Leeds Papers; the Art- Journal for June,
1855, p. 192; the Gentleman's Magassme for July, 1855, p. 103,
&c. See also a Sketch of his son, Mr. John 1ST. Rhodes, who
died in 1842, p. 395, &c.
1794—1855.
THE REV. RICHARD SHEEPSHANKS, M.A., F.R.S., &c,
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Follow of the
* The loss sustained to Lis profession will be one not to lie replaced.
Mr Khodes's talents embraced cverv branch of artistic -kill. Admitted at an
eariy age to the studies of the Royal Academy, he there acquired a thorough
knowledge of the anatomy of the human figure. An ardent Bpii i1 oi Love for
nature— a keen perception and quick eye enabled him to portray and
transmit on canvas scenes throughout the counties of Yorkshire, WestE
land, Cumberland, Nottingham, and Lincoln, abounding with the
luxuriant diversities of effect; whilst fruit, cattle, and (lowers were dep
with a, truthfulness almost akin to nature's self. The galleries in this ami the
surrounding counties are stored with rich specimens of his skill. His memory
will lie held in high esteem by all members of the profession, as well as his
personal friends, and his works will carry down to after ages unmistakable
evidence of his artistic ability.
45S BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Royal, Geological, and Astronomical Societies, died suddenly,
from an attack of paralysis, August 7th, 1855, aged sixty-one.
He was descended from a wealthy Leeds family engaged in the
woollen trade, and was brother to Mr. John Sheepshanks,
owner of the renowned gallery of British art at Rutland Gate,
afterwards munificently bequeathed to the nation, and now
exhibited at the Kensington Museum. He studied in early life
for the law, and was subsequently called to the bar by the
Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, June 14th, 1825; but in
1828 he relinquished that profession for the Church, and, never
having married, he retained his Fellowship at Trinity College,
Cambridge, to the day of his death. Desirous of cultivating
his taste for astronomical science, and being possessed of ample
means, Mr. Sheepshanks never accepted any cure, but devoted
himself wholly to scientific pursuits. He had an observatory,
first in London and afterwards at Reading, containing a fine
transit instrument, and he had a room devoted to his use, for
the performance of experiments, beneath the apartments of the
Astronomical Society at Somei-set House. When the standard
weights and measures of England were destroyed at the burning
of the Houses of Parliament, Mr. Sheepshanks was one of the
commissioners, in conjunction with the astronomer-royal,
Professor Miller, and Sir John Herschel, appointed for the
preparation of a new national standard, and many an anxious
hour did he devote to the necessary comparison of standards —
for the restoration of the yard, more particularly — in his under-
ground room at Somerset House, where his experiments were
least influenced by variations of temperature. For some years
he edited the Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society, in
conjunction with Professor De Morgan. Mr. Sheepshanks also
took a warm interest in determining the longitude of places in
England and Ireland, not perfectly known, and, spaiing no
expense, would set out on his journey with as many as seven or
eight of the finest chronometers. He was also extremely active
at one period of his life in aiding the statistical surveys of
population, &c, that had to be made preparatory to the Reform
Bill. Mr. Sheepshanks's principal literary labour was the con-
tribution of a valuable series of papers to the Penny Cyclopaedia,
descriptive of instruments and their mode of adjustment, and
he also furnished that publication with all its astronomical and
geodesical formula?. He possessed a beautiful collection of
instruments useful in navigation and scientific travelling, and
was constantly engaged in making experiments. He was
exceedingly liberal in lending them wherever they could be
JOHN HARDY, ESQ., M.P. 459
made available for scientific purposes, and many were given
away. Mr. Sheepshanks was a man of excellent company,
clever and witty in conversation, and everywhere greatly
respected. He resided with a sister, to whom, we believe, he
left all his property, including his instruments, which were to
be devoted to some useful purpose. His uncle, the Yen. John
Sheepshanks, 21. A., archdeacon of Cornwall, and incumbent of
Trinity church, Leeds, died December 21st, 1844. — See the
Literary Gazette; the Gentleman's Magazine for September,
1855, p. 321, &c. See also the Sketch of his uncle, the Rev.
William Sheepshanks, with Notes, who died in 1810, p. 239, &c.
— The above Sketch has been kindly revised.
1773—1855.*
JOHN HARDY, ESQ., M.P.,
Recorder of Leeds for twenty-seven years; deputy-lieutenant
and magistrate of the West-Riding of Yorkshire, and after-
wards M.P. for Bradford, died at Dunstall Hall, Staffordshire,
September 29th, 1855, in his eighty-second year.t Mr. Hardy
was the eldest son of John Hardy, Esq., and was born in 1773.
He was called to the bar by the Honourable Society of the
Middle Temple on the 7th of June, 1799. He practised as a
special pleader, and was for some years a distinguished member
* 1856. For a short account of Edward John Teale, Esq., solicitor, of
Leeds, deputy-registrar of the diocese of Ripon, and general lay secretary of
the Ripon Diocesan Church Building Society and Ripon Diocesan Board of
Education, see the Leeds Intelligencer for February 16th, 1856, &c.
+ For a long poetical Sketch of John Hardy, Esq., then of Heath, near
Wakefield, see p. 142, &c, of " The Bar, with Sketches of eminent Judges,
Barristers, &c, a Poem, with Notes," published at Leeds, in 1825, by Robin-
son and Hernaman, in two parts. He was a man of refined taste, and
possessed considerable powers of eloquence, which were at first displayed at
the bar, and subsequently in the wider arena afforded by politic iona
within and without the House of Commons. He was an ardent ami zealous
defender of the great principles of " our glorious constitution," and was not a
less faithful guardian of the most valuable of our institutions. He was a
liberal supporter of education and religion; ami in schools ami church
has left behind him rich legacies of usefulness to future generations. The
Bradford Observer, a journal opposed to I plea of Mr. Manly,
thus speaks of him : — " In private life Mr. Hard] bed for social
virtues, and was deservedly and universally belov< ncere and
pious Christian, an amiable and benevolent man. Three churches wi
by his individual munificence, and a fourth is about to be erected. Tic- Bible
Society, the Chiirch Missionary Society, ai kindred institution found
in him a liberal supporter, and an earnest and into dvocate. H<
among the earliest and mosl generous friends of tie Bi Fo d ft names'
Institute, and, if in no other way, a i lea b; donation, he is entitled to rank
among its founders. Having fini bed
to his lathers — like a shock of com fully ripe. Mr. Hard;, bad imily
— twelve children, we believe — of whom only three are sons,"
460 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of tlie Northern Circuit, and also attended the West-Riding
Sessions. He was chief steward of the Honour of Pontefract,
and recorder of Leeds from 1806 to 1833, when he resigned
that office in order to attend more continually to his parlia-
mentary duties. At the first election for Bradford after the
Refoi-m Act he was returned after the following poll: — Ellis
Cunliffe Lister, Esq., 650; John Hardy, Esq., 471; George
Banks, Esq., 402. Again in 1835: — John Hardy, Esq., 611;
Ellis Cunliffe Lister, Esq., 589; George Hadfield, Esq., 392.
In 1837 he was thrown out by Mr. Busfield: — Ellis Cunliffe
Lister, Esq., 635; "William Busfield, Esq., sen., 621; John
Hardy, Esq., 443; William Busfield, Esq., jun., 383. In 1841
he recovered his seat: — John Hardy, Esq., 612; William Cun-
liffe Lister, Esq., 540; William Busfield, Esq., sen., 536. At
the dissolution of 1847 he retired. Whilst in parliament he
brought forward in a very able manner the Carlow election case,
in which D. O'Connell was so notoriously concerned. Having
invested his property largely as an ironmaster, he was latterly
possessed of great wealth, and few men have made a better use
of it. In April, 1848, he presented (to the Bev. Dr. Burnet,
vicar of Bradford) the munificent sum of £6,000 in aid of the
erection and endowment of churches in Bradford and neigh-
bourhood. On first entering parliament his politics were
extremely Radical — being in favour of the ballot, household
suffrage, shorter parliaments, &c. He was, however, opposed to
free trade, when not reciprocal ; and he afterwards declared him-
self a Conservative, "on the principles and opinions expressed
by Sir Robert Peel in his address of 1835." Mr. Hardy mar-
ried, in 1804, Isabel, daughter of Richard Gathorne, Esq., of
Kirkby Lonsdale; she died January 11th, 1834, leaving issue.*
* John Hardy, Esq., eldest son, M.P. for Dartmouth, born in 1809; married,
in 1846, Laura, daughter of William Holbech, Esq., of Farnborough, War-
wickshire; educated at Oriel College, Oxford; is a Conservative and "a
sincere supporter of those constitutional principles which have so long secured
for us the blessings of civil and religious liberty." First elected for Dart-
mouth, in November, 1860. Residence, Dunstall Hall, Burton-on-Trent.
Charles Hardy, Esq., J. P., second son, an ironmaster at Bradford. Gathorne
Hardy, Esq., third son (of John Hardy, Esq., who represented Bradford
for ten years), M.P. for Leominster; born at Bradford, in 1814; married,
in 1838, Jane, daughter of James Orr, Esq. ; educated at Shrewsbury School
and at Oriel College, Oxford, where he was second class in classics, and
graduated B.A. in 1836; called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1840, but
has ceased to practise. Was Under-Secretary for the Home Department from
March, 1858, till June, 1859. Became a deputy-lieutenant of the West-
Riding of York, May, 1856, for which he is also a magistrate. A Conser-
vative; in favour of extending education " based on religion," but objects to
"compulsory rates" for that purpose; opposed to centralization, and to
WILLIAM WILLIAMS BROWN, ESQ. 461
For other particulars, see the Leeds Intelligencer for October
6th, 1855; the Gentleman's Magazine for December, 1855,
p. 655, &c. The above Sketch has been kindly revised.
1788—1856.
WILLIAM WILLIAMS BEOWN, ESQ.,
Banker, and alderman, of Leeds, died January 26th, 1856, aged
sixty-seven.* He was well known as being the head of one of
the only two private banking establishments then remaining in
Leeds. Between forty and fifty years ago he joined in estab-
lishing the firms of Nicholson,? Brown, and Co., of Leeds, and
Nicholson, Janson, and Co., of London; and he subsequently
became the head of the firms of William Williams Brown
founding representation " on mere numbers." Unsuccessfully contested
Bradford in July, 1847; first elected for Leominster, in February, 1S56.
Residence, Hemsted, Staplehurst, Kent.— See Dod's Parliamentary Com-
panion for 1864, &c.
* He was tbe son of James Brown, Esq., an eminent merchant of Leeds,
who married, in 1785, Anne, only daughter and heiress of Samuel Williams,
Esq of the same place, and had two sons, namely— I. James, his heir, of
whom presently; II. William Williams, of AUerton Hall, near Leeds, a
banker in Leeds and London, born February 10th, 1788; married, November
23rd 1812, Margaret Brockden, only child of Isaac Duncan, of Philadelphia,
and W her, who died in May, 1820, had one son and two daughters, viz.—
1, Samuel James, born October 25th, 1814; married, June 1st, 1841, Jacobma
Maria Sophia, eldest daughter of Sir Joseph Radcliffe, Bart. ; 2, Ann
Williams, married to Thomas Benyon, Esq., late of Gledhow Hall, near Leeds,
and died in February, 1852 ; 3, Margaret Duncan, married, in 1842, to Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Dunn, Royal Artillery. Mr. Brown died in 1813, and was
succeeded by his elder son, James Brown, Esq., of Harehills Grove, near
Leeds, J.P. andD.L. for the West-Riding of Yorkshire, born in 17815; married,
in 1811, Charlotte, third daughter of Matthew Rhodes, Esq., of Campfield,
near Leeds, and had issue (with three daughters) James Brown, Esq., late of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and Harehills Grove, near Leeds, born m April,
1814- a ma°istrate and deputy-lieutenant of the West-Riding of "iorkslnre;
has been high-sheriff of that county; formerly a merchant and manufacturer
in Leeds; now of Rossington, near Bawtry, and Copsgrove Hall, Borough-
bridge; M.P. for Malton; first elected in 1857. —See Burke's Landed Gentry;
Dod'°s Parliamentary Companion, &c.
t William Nicholson, who died in 1812, had issue— 1, Thomas Nicholson,
Esq of Roundhav Park, a banker in Leeds and London, who died, without
issue, January 14th, 1821; 2, Stephen Nicholson, Esq., of Boundhay Park,
near Leeds, born in January, 1779; married, in December, 1801, Sarah,
second daughter of Matthew Rhodes, Esq., of Campfield, near Leeds; 3,
Mary, married Thomas Phillips, of Leeds, merchant, and then- eldesi bi ...
William Nicholson Phillips M.A., J.P. West-Riding of \ ..rkslnre, assumed
by royal licence, dated 13th October, 1827, the surname of hu
uncle," Stephen Nicholson, Esq. He was horn lv.r.nber L2th, 1803; mai
October 2nd, 1827, Martha, third and youngest daughter and co
Abram Rhodes, Esq., of Boundhay and Wold, Newton Hall, ■ „ the coun£ of
York, and has, with four daughters, Lucy .lul,,^,,!,,,,!,. and Emily,
several sons-Thomas, born September 18th, 1829; Rhodes, bora Ju y 9th,
1830; Stephen, born November 10th, 1831; Albert Henry. Wn . „ly H, I,.
1833- Walter born January 27th, 1840.fcc.-Sec Burke's Landed (.entry,..-.
462 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
and Co., and Brown, Janson, and Co., which succeeded them,
and which are now in deserved repute as among the most
respectable banking-houses in the country. Mr. Brown was
a very judicious, cautious, and skilful banker. He was of very
courteous manners, but of a retiring disposition.* He was a
magistrate for the borough of Leeds, and also for the West-
Bidinc. Their banking establishment is in Commercial Street;
and the premises have lately undergone extensive alterations,
both interior and exterior. The style is Italian, and does great
credit to the architect. This building may be now considered
one of the most beautiful of its kind in Leeds. In April, 1852,
William Williams Brown, Esq., presented to the Leeds Philo-
sophical Hall a valuable specimen of the ichthyosaurus, an
extinct fossil reptile. — See the Leeds Papers for February, 1856.
1799-1856.
JOHN WILKINSON, ESQ.,
Head of the firm of Messrs. Wilkinson and Co., flax-spinners, of
Hunslet, and one of the Leeds borough magistrates, of Gledhow
Mount, near Leeds, died March 12th, 1856, aged fifty-seven years.
He was remarkable for his eminent business talents, by means of
which he raised himself from a comparatively humble position
to be the head of one of the first manufacturing establishments in
Leeds. He possessed great sagacity, a clear and calni judgment,
indefatigable industry, and a veiy enterprising spirit He was
a man of the highest honoiir and integrity, remarkable for a
warm-hearted and open-handed benevolence, and for zeal on
behalf of the moral and intellectual welfare of the mimerous
workpeople in his mills. For their benefit he erected excellent
schools, which he sustained in a state of great efficiency, and at
considerable expense to himself. The flax -mills, called Hunslet
Mills, were built by him, and are generally considered models
* Though he took some part in most of the leading public affairs of the
borough, he was not what is usually considered an active public man. As a
magistrate he was attentive to the evidence adduced in the cases brought before
him, and his judgments were free from prejudice and generally tempered with
mercy. He was a man of excellent moral temperament, and was both judi-
cious and liberal in the dispensing of charity; always giving to the most
deserving objects, both public and private. In politics he held "Whig prin-
ciples, but with a moderation that was highly commendable. He was a
member of the Established Churcb, and a supporter of several Church societies.
Just before his death he had contributed most liberally to the restoration of
the church at Chapel-Allerton, and his private benefactions were considerable
in the neighbourhood of that village. The death of Mr. W. VT. Brown was
deeply lamented, both ou public and private grounds, and he left behind him
the remembrance of a good and honest man. — For a long account of his
funeral, see the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for February 2nd, 1856.
THE THIRD EARL OP HAREWOOD. 4G3
of order, cleanliness, and arrangement. He was intelligently-
alive to all questions of public interest, and was a Liberal in
politics. He was esteemed by all who knew him, both in his
public and private life. Mr. Wilkinson was twice married, and
he left behind him a widow and two sons and two daughters;
one of whom was married, in May, 18-16, by Mr. Joshua
Burton, son of John Burton, Esq., of Boundhay. His remains
were interred in the Woodhouse Cemetery, near Leeds. — The
above Sketch has been kindly revised. See the Leeds Papers
for March, 1856.
1797-1857.
THE THIRD EARL OF HAREWOOD,
Lord-lieutenant of the West-Biding, died at Hare wood House,
near Leeds, February 22nd, 18-57, in his sixtieth year. The
deceased earl was born on the 11th of June, 1797, and was the
second son of Henry, the second earl, who formerly represented
the county of York ; his elder brother, Edward, having died in
1839, he became earl on the death of his father in November,
1841. He married, in July, 1823, Lady Louisa Thynne, second
daughter of the second Marquis of Bath, who survived him two
years, leaving a large family of sons and daughters.* The noble
earl was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He entered the
army before he was eighteen years of age, having obtained an
ensigncy in the Grenadier Guards in April, 1814. He was at
the battle of Waterloo, and was slightly wounded there, whilst
bearing the standard of his regiment (June 18th, 181o). He
retired on half-pay in 1820, and wholly quitted the army in
1831 ; but while he was on half-pay, and for several years after-
wards, he held a commission in the Yeomanry Cavalry corps.
* 1, Henry Thynne, the present Earl; 2, the Hon. Egremont William,
born in 1825, late captain Grenadier Guards, major 1st West Sork Militia;
married, in 1851), Jessie Elizabeth, daughter of Neil Malcolm, Esq., and has
issue; 3, the Hon. George Edwin, born in 1826; married, in 1851, Louisa
Nina Murray, only daughter of the Earl of Mansfield, K.T., and I
4, the Hon. Algernon Francis, horn in 1828, died in 1st:., buried ai Bare-
wood; 5, the Hon. Alfred Daniel, horn in 1829, died in 1845, buried at I
wood; G, the Hon. and Rev. James Walter, rector of Goldsborough, born hi
1831, married, in 1856, Emma, daughter of William Miles, Esq., BLR, oi
Leigh Court, Somersetshire, and has a son, horn m 1858; 7, the a.on.B
Doug
1830;
Uxfbridg
Mary Elizabeth, born in May, L842; 6, Lady Maud Caroline, born in Novwn-
ber, 184G.— See the I'ccrages, &c.
464 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
called the Yorkshire Hussars, from 1826 to 1831. As the Hon.
Henry Lascelles, he represented the borough of Northallerton
for some years in parliament. His lordship succeeded to the
earldom on the death of his father, the second Earl of Hare-
wood, at the close of 1841, and was appointed lorddieutenant
of the West-Riding on the death of Lord Wharncliffe in 1846.*
His lordship died twenty-eight days and a half after suffering a
fracture of the skull and other injuries from his horse falling
while following the Bramham-Moor fox-hounds, f For many
years he had been noted as a careful rider, and at the time of
the accident was passing through an opening in a hedge which
* In 1845, great rejoicings took place at Harewood House, on the occasion
of Viscount Lascelles, his eldest son, having attained his majority. Old
English hospitality was dispensed with a very liberal hand, and few there
were who came away empty. (For a long account of the " Grand Festivities
at Harewood House," with four engravings, see the Illustrated London News
for November, 1845. ) During the last few years the mansion has undergone
such extensive improvements and alterations, that the style of the exterior is
altogether changed. In the centre of the north front, now considerably
elevated, is exhibited the family crest, sculptured in bold relief, the whole
supported by fluted Corinthian pillars, exquisitely carved. Each of the
wings has been proportionately raised, so that the edifice now presents an air
of solidity and grandeur which cannot fail to excite admiration. On the
south front, which displays corresponding architectural beauties, a terrace has
been formed that, for extent and beauty of design, is equal to anything of
the kind in England. The interior has also in a great measure been changed,
and the alterations effected have not only led to the formation of a greater
number of apartments, but have materially improved the general plan and
arrangements. The work is still proceeding, and, when completed, will have
cost several thousand pounds. Among the paintings recently added is an
equestrian portrait of the late (third) earl, representing him mounted on a
favourite mare, ready for the chase, with a number of fox-hounds in the fore-
ground. This portrait, presented to his lordship by the members of the
hunt, was painted by Francis Grant, Esq., R.A., and is a splendid production
of art. The likeness of the noble earl is well preserved, and the mare and
dogs have been pronounced by that eminent artist, Landseer, to be perfect.
(For a lengthened description of this equestrian portrait (Grant's chef-d'ceuvre),
and its presentation, see the Leeds Intelligencer for January 22ud, 1848, &c. )
The situation of Harewood House is one of great natural beauty, and as the
residence of a noble family it is now entitled to rank with the first in the
kingdom. The church of Harewood is of great antiquity. It contains
numerous monuments, the most distinguished of which is that of Sir William
Gascoigne, of Gawthorpe, Knight, lord chief-justice of England. Near this
monument rest the remains of Sir Thomas Denison, a judge, who was born at
Leeds, and died in 1765, and whose epitaph, it is said, was the composition
of Lord Mansfield. — See pages 70 and 169.
+ On Saturday morning, the 24th of January, 1857, the "meet" took place
at Stockeld Park, near Spofforth (the seat of J. B. Faviell, Esq.), and in the
course of the run the noble earl took an ordinary fence, but discovered when
too late that there was a sheep-net on the opposite side, in the meshes of
which the hind feet of his hunter got entangled. The horse, a fine spirited
animal, plunged violently, and in the struggle fell, rolling over his lordship,
and inflicting, besides a compound fracture of the skull, severe internal injuries
of the chest. Mr. T. P. Teale, of Leeds, Mr. G. Smith, the family surgeon,
and Mr. 0. Hawkins, the eminent metropolitan surgeon, were called in, and
THE THIRD EARL OF HAREWOOD. 465
separated two fields; but not observing a sheep-net that was
affixed to the bottom of the opening, the hind feet and legs of
the horse became entangled in the net, the animal was tin-own
down, and in its struggles to get free it kicked or struck him on
the head, inflicting a compound fracture of the skull. Immedi-
ately after the accident medical and surgical assistance was pro-
cured; and, although the worst results were apprehended from
the first, his lordship progressed favourably for three weeks.
The Countess of Harewood, the sons and daughters of the
noble earl, and other near kindred, were present when his lord-
ship expired. The late earl was an excellent landlord, and did
much to promote the moral, social, intellectual, and religious
interests of his humbler fellow-beings by encouraging and sup-
porting schools, mechanics' institutes, and churches.* It is
somewhat singular that the deaths of the last two Earls of
Harewood were both connected with following fox-hounds — the
one died at the age of seventy-three yeai\s, when returning to
Harewood House after hunting, and the death of the other was
caused under the circumstances mentioned above. The latter
earl had twice previously narrowly escaped serious injury or
death. In the battle of Waterloo he was carried off his legs by
the bursting of a bomb-shell; was reported dead, but recovered,
having suffered no permanent injury; and about six yeai's after
that he was shooting sea-fowl off Cowes, Isle of Wight, when a
gun burst in his hands, and did serious injury to three other
persons, but little or none to his lordship. He was a Conserva-
tive ; though for some years he had scarcely taken any part in
politics, but confined himself to his duties as lord-lieutenant, to
the promotion of various public objects, benevolent and religious,
every measure was adopted that surgical skill could devise, and the most
judicious care could do, but on Thursday, February 19th, he had a sudden
return of erysipelas, with increased violence; the membranes of the brain
were necessarily affected; convulsions followed, and the noble earl expired on
Sunday morning, February 22nd, 1857.
* "His memory will long be cherished. In all the varied duties of his
position he maintained the honour and reputation of his house. As i ble-
man his actions, though unostentatious and unassumin lustre over his
name <>f which his descendants may feel justlj pi
few public movements in the county of a reli | bilanthropic charactei
of which he has not been the warm sup; patron. & sincere
admirer of the Established < ihurch, he was evi r Looked up to with esteem by
the clergy and churchmen of all 'school-.' Thi bis life were
those of charity, and his last appeal a public man, on the occasion of
his presiding over the meeting at Leeds to promote the Bishop Longley
Endowment Fund, a few days before the accident which i his death.
was combined with other acts which, if less noticeable in their nature, i
equally honourable to his noble character. "
c; G
4G6 EIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSlg,
and to the interests of his family and tenantry. He was ail
amiable man, of cheerful disposition and obliging manners,
unostentatious, and living quietly in the style that became his
rank and fortune. He was highly respected by his neighbours
and tenants, as well as by the magistrates and gentry of the
West-Riding. The noble earl was succeeded in his title and
estates by his eldest son, Henry Thynne, Viscount Lascelles,
who was born on the 18th of June, 1824; educated at Eton and :
Christ Church, Oxford; deputy-lieutenant for the West-Riding
of Yorkshire, and colonel of the West-Riding Hussars ; and'
married, first, in 1845, Lady Elizabeth Joanna de Burgh, eldest
daughter of the present Marquis of Clanricarde. Her ladyship-
died in 1854, leaving several children.* The earl married,,
secondly, in April, 1858, Diana Elizabeth, eldest daughter of
Colonel J. H. Smyth, M.P., of Heath Hall, near Wakefield.—
For additional particulars, see the Leeds Papers; the Annual
Register for 1857, p. 293; the Gentleman 's Magazine for April,
1857; Jones's History of Hareivood ; Burke's Peerage; May-
hall's Annals of Leeds, &c. See also a Sketch of the second
Earl of Harewood, p. 390, &c.
1801—1857.
ROBERT HALL, ESQ., M.A., M.P.
For the borough of Leeds, died at Folkestone, after a short
illness, on the 26th of May, 1857. At the general election of
the preceding March he was returned after a close and severe
contest, the labour and excitement of which had occasioned
such debility to his system, that he died after a few days'
illness of influenza, t He was born in Kirkgate, Leeds, on the
* 1, Henry ITlick, Viscount Lascelles, born August 21st, 1846; 2, the Hon.
Frederick Canning, born May 6th, 1848; 3, the Hon. Gerald "William, Bora
October 26th, 1849 ; 4, the Hon. Charles George, born January 23rd, 1851 ;
1, Lady Constance Mary, born May 26th, 1852; 2, Lady Margaret Joan, bom
October 2nd, 1853, &c.
■f" The following is a portion of a leading article on "our late member,"
from the Leeds Intelligencer: — "It is a melancholy, yet not altogether
ungrateful task to pay tribute to the viriaies of a good man departed. We
can call to mind his many virtues, we can ponder over his good qualities, we
can review his gracious acts ; and, although he is lost to us, we can trust that
his example will still exert its influence upon us, and that his life will not
have been spent in vain. Of him it may well be said that he was a truly good
man, and that his life has been well spent. Highly distinguished in his pro-
fession, he was still more esteemed in his private relations. Enemies he had
none; and of those who differed from him in his opinions, there is not one,
we believe, who would not bear willing testimony to his sincerity, zeal, ear-
nestness, and truth. As a lawyer he ranked amongst the soundest; as a
judge he was an ornament to the bench; as a friend he secured the love of all
who knew him ; as a man he diligently endeavoured to do all the good that in
ROBERT HALL, ESQ., M.A., M.P. 467
15th of November, 1801, and was the only child of the (late)
venerable Henry Hall, Esq., of Bank Lodge, the representative
of one of the oldest and most respected families in Leeds, by
Grace, eldest daughter and the only surviving child of the late
Robert Butterfield, Esq., of Halifax. He was educated at the
Grammar School, Heath, near Halifax, where he remained
three years, and at the Grammar School, Leeds, under the care
of the Rev. George Page Richards and the Rev. George Walker,
M.A.* After a most successful school career, he entered as a
commoner at Christ Church, Oxford. There he took the degree
of B.A. in 1823, being placed in the first class in classics, and
in the second class in mathematics; and of M.A. in 1826. In
1828 he was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. On the 8th
of September, 1829, he married Maria Clay Tennant, second
daughter of Thomas Tennant, Esq., thrice mayor of Leeds, and
remained in Leeds until 1835, when he removed to Dean's
Yard, Westminster, occupying chambers in the Middle Temple,
Ins sphere of life he could accomplish. To those who -were not acquainted
with him this may seem over-wrought praise, but those who knew him
well know also that no terms of commendation can exaggerate his merits.
Laudation is common-place, and is apt to run into rhapsody, and yet without
laudation we cannot speak of Mr. Hall in terms that are befitting. A labori-
ous but eminently useful life opened up to him the prospects of honourable
ambition. Respected at the bar, he was still more deeply regarded on the
bench ; and when at length another prospect was presented to him, when his
fellow-townsmen conferred upon him the highest honour they could bestow,
by sending him to represent them in parliament, there was every hope that
his practical usefulness, having a greater field for exertion, would be still more
beneficially displayed than in that smaller area in which he hail for years
been unobtrusively but diligently doing his allotted work. But this was m it
to be. Cut off in the mid-day of life, he exemplifies the frail tenure of this
world; yet leaves behind him to each of us who knew him, and who knowing
him esteemed and loved him, this solemn lesson, 'Whatsoever thy hand
findeth to do, do it with thy might.' We need scarcely add that Mr. Hall
was a man of deep religious convictions, and never failed in the hour of trial
to find consolation in the Bible, of which he was a constant stud at. In the
inscrutable wisdom of God he has been called to his account, when the future
promised a long career of usefulness, and when lie had won the honours due
to the past; but in the memory which he leaves behind him there is traceable
the silver lining that fringes the darkest cloud." His remains, followed bj a
numerous attendance of the magistracy and gentry of the town, were ii 1 1 ■
at Whitkirk church by the Rev. Dr. Hook and the Rev. A. MarMneau, 1 1
funeral sermon was preached at the Leeds parish church by the Rev. Dr.
Hook, who referred to Mr. Hall's connection with the pariah church, of «
he was a patron, observing that he was christe 1, confirmed, and married
there, and that there he first became a communicant. 3.6 re* rr< & to Mr.
Hall's great attainments and bis high position, and spoke of his deep reli
feebng as that which afforded the stroi gest comfori in the hour- of affliction.
* His habits at this time were steady and Bedate, as in after life: and in the
pursuit of his studies, which were of a preparatory character tor the uni-
versity, he was ever in advance of his fellow-pupils, almost invariably
standing at the head of his class.
4G8 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEXSIS.
and enjoying an extensive and increasing practice to the day of
his death. He was a distinguished member of the Northern
Circuit, and being deeply read in law, and possessing a sound
and cautious judgment, which seldom led him astray in giving
his opinion on the questions submitted to him, he acquired
extensive practice, with the general esteem and respect of his
brethren at the bar, and the profession in general. In 1842 he
was appointed deputy-recorder, or assistant at the sessions of
Leeds; and in 1845 recorder of Doncaster, the duties of which
he exercised until his death — with the exception of an interval
in 1855, in consequence of a serious railway accident, by which
both his arms and both his legs were fractured, and other severe
injuries, for which, after a trial at the assizes at York, he
obtained £4,500 from the Great Northern .Railway Company.
In 1848 he was appointed lecturer on common law at the Inner
Temple, and held the appointment until 1852. His energies
and talents were not exclusively devoted to his professional
duties; the important social and political questions of the day
largely engaged his attention. During his residence at Leeds
he was a member of the committee of Pious Uses, a patron of
the vicarage, and took an active interest in the prosperity of the
Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, before the members
of which he read many valuable papers, and was a supporter of
the numerous charitable and social institutions of the town.
The promotion of education and the social condition of the
lower classes were his special objects of interest. He originated
and personally superintended a Sunday school at Richmond
Road, Bank; and on his removal to Westminster became a
teacher of the first class in the Sunday schools of St. John's, in
the church of Avhich parish an appropriate and elegant tablet
has been erected to his memory by his fellow-teachers and
pupils. Of late years his studies had been directed more especi-
ally to the important question of the treatment of juvenile
criminals, to which his mind was forcibly turned by the painful
experiences which his judicial duties but too frequently afforded.
During the long vacations he usually visited the continent, and
inspected the principal reformatories in France, Belgium, and
Germany, and during these tours secured the friendship of
M. de Metz, one of the founders of Mettray, and other eminent
philanthropists. Subsequently he published two lectures — one
on Mettray, and the other Visits to Continental Reformatories,
in which he gave expression to his own views* on this great
* Those views were eminently practical in their character, whilst they were
thoroughly comprehensive in their object and detail, and their publication
ROBERT HALL, ESQ., M.A., il.P. -469
social problem. Amongst the minor studies to which he
devoted a portion of his attention, during the vacations, was
that of natural history, and more especially the department of
geology, of which his knowledge was very extensive. He was
also a collector of coins, and well versed in numismatics.
Mr. Hall inherited the political sentiments of his father, and
was a consistent Conservative, anxious to extend electoral
reform within what he believed to be the limits of the con-
stitution, but earnestly and determinately opposed to extreme
measiu-es tending to revolutionize the constitution, and to
swamp the representation of property in that of mere numbers.
He took an active part in political questions, and was one of
the most energetic supporters of Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler
at the general election in 1832, and rendered great assistance to
that gentleman and Mr. Richard Oastler in their effective exer-
tions for the reduction of the hours of labour in factories for
children.* The death of one endowed with more than ordinary
talents, sound judgment, matured principles, and possessing the
respect and esteem of all parties, was an event that not only
deprived his fellow-townsmen of a representative well qualified
to support their interests, but occasioned the loss of a legislator
who was prepared and able to discuss, and take an active part in
placed Mm in the first rank of social reformers. It was to forward this great
object, which had become to him one of intense and absorbing interest, that
Mr. Hall more especially was desirous of a seat in parliament, and there can
be no doubt, had his life been spared, that he would have distinguished him-
self as a legislator in all matters pertaining to social reform. His views on
the subject were matured, he had attained a position where he was sanguine
of giving them practical effect, and the future was before him full of hi
when his career was stayed, and he was called upon to pay the last debt of
nature. The memory of the late Robert Hall, Esq., M.P., who
abilities and public virtues are held in merited esteem by the inhabitants of
Leeds, has been handed down to posterity by the erection of a Btatue, of v
marble (colossal size, representing the learned member in his robes of office
as recorder, as he appeared when presenting an address from the corporation
to the Queen), in the Victoria Hall of the Leeds Town Hall— For a Long
description of this statue, and its inauguration, see the Art-Journal for July,
18o'J; the Leeds Intelligencer, &c., for July 13th, 1861.
* At the election of 1834, on Mr. Macaulay becoming a n • council
in India, he acted as chairman of Sir John Beckett's committee. Be occupied
the same post at the general election in 1835, and contributed to Sir John
Beckett's return on on, by the soum aduntiru
which he displayed. The increasing professi ms upon his attention
after this compelled him to withdraw tor the time from active political life,
and it was not until the general of L852, when he was aom
the Con of this boroui ith hour, that we meel with
him again in I of politi , On thai oca was an
but he received such support as to justify the avowal of his intention
to solicit the suffrages of his when opportune
occur; which intention was carried out at the general election in MaJ
470 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
the settlement of the important social and political questions of
these eventful times.""' Robert Hall was the descendant of an
old family, the owners of Stumpelow Hall, in the parish of
Sheffield, and lords of the manor of Midhope. Henry Hall,
born at Stumpelow in 1G82-3, removed to Leeds in 17 1G, and
served the office of mayor of that borough in 1751-2. Henry
Hall, grandfather of Robert, was mayor in 1796, whose son
Henry was born in 1773; after twice serving the office of mayor,
in 1812 and 1825, he died at Bank Lodge, October, 1859,
respected for his long and valuable services to the borough of
Leeds. Robert Hall, Esq., was succeeded in the representation
of Leeds by George Skirrow Beecroft, Esq., Conservative, in
* "It is with deep and sincere regret," said the Leeds Mercury at the time,
"that we announce the melancholy event of the death of Mr. Hall, so recently-
elected one of the members for this borough. The event is one of those solemn
admonitions by which Providence so often teaches us — but so often to be
neglected or forgotten — 'what shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue.'
Scarcely had the deceased gentleman attained the object of his honourable
ambition, to which he had been looking forward for many years, when the
dart of Death was found to be concealed among the laurels of victory, and
he is carried almost from the scene of triumph to the narrow house appointed
for all living, (a) Mr. Hall was a very zealous adherent of the Established
Church, and he bountifully contributed to many of its charities. If we have
been rightly informed, the long and painful retirement consequent upon his
dreadful railway accident had the effect of deepening his religious convictions.
Much of his time was then spent with his Bible before him ; and he devoted
himself a good deal to the work of translating from the Greek Testament.
For about thirty years Mr. Hall had discharged the self-denying but most
useful duties of a Sunday school teacher."
(rt) LINES DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OP ROBERT HALL, ESQ., M.P.
By Eliza Craven Green.
-The actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust."
" Mourn not that, as the victor touch'd the palm
He sank upon the threshold : — long his ear
Had heard the angel-summons, yet serene
He workM while it was day !
'"Tis only here,
"Where we see darkly, that the bright career
Seems shadow' d at its noon — beyond the veil
It brightens into glory, full and clear;
The accepted service and the earnest will
That triumph'd o'er the mortal, failing clay.
"Mourn not, ye gentle souls that yet are left,
That early thus your lov'd one pass'd away,
In the fair harvest of this earth's renown.
Death has unclasp' d, not sever'd the sweet links,
The golden chain of home's dear sanctities,
And with divinest influence lifts you near,
With tenderest memories of his charities,
To where your treasure shines as one amid
The gathered jewels of Immanuel's crown."
St. John's Place, Leeds. Intelligencer, June 6th, 1857.
DAVID COOPER, ESQ. 471
opposition to John Remington Mills, Esq., Liberal. — For addi-
tional particulars, see the Leeds Papers, especially the Intel-
ligencer, for May 30th, 1857; the Doncaster Papers ; the Annual
Register, p. 310; the Illustrated London News, with a portrait
(engraved from a painting in the possession of the family), &c,
for June 27th, 1857, p. 627.
1793—1858.*
DAVID COOPEB, ESQ.,
A merchant of Leeds, and a deputy -lieutenant for the West-
Riding of Yorkshire. A gentleman whose energy and rare
business qualities gained for him a first position as a merchant.
Endowed by nature with an intellect singularly clear and
strong, of generous sentiments, large-hearted, and liberal of
hand, he was fitted to fill, and would have graced, public office.
He was, nevertheless, not ambitious of such honour, and found
his highest gratification in the quiet performance of the duties
of his station, rather than in the excitement, glitter, and parade
of public life. In commercial circles — as, indeed, wherever
known — his sterling worth, unassuming manners, quiet deport-
ment, and uprightness of character, obtained for him universal
respect, and his name will ever be remembered with a cherished
regard. As a friend, the confidence he inspired was unsur-
passed, and will long remain dear to memory. In him, struggling
worth, irrespective of politics or sect, was sure to find a generous
* —1857. Mr. Thomas Plint, accountant, &c, of Springfield Place, Leeds,
died December 25th, 1857, aged sixty years. He was distinguished by great
ability as a statist and political economist, and was a zealous supporter of the
principles of free trade. He had for some years been the registration-agent
for the Liberal party for Leeds and the "West-Riding. The early part of his
life was spent in business as a cloth-merchant, but he followed in later years
the business of an accountant. In politics he was a Liberal, and was often a
speaker at political gatherings of the Liberal party. During the corn law
agitation he rendered signal service to the cause of the repeal. F<.r several
years he was secretary to the Yorkshire Union of Mechanics' Institutes. In
1851 he published a work entitled Crime in En<jl<ni<l ■ ii.: r< lotion, charcu U r,
and extent, as developed from 1801 to 1848; also, "Voluntaryism in England
and Wales; or, the Census of 1851." He was also a constant contributor to
many of the leading reviews and newspapers, on political and economical sub-
jects. The above brief Sketch has been kindly revised by Mr. J. ('. Knight, of
Leeds. — See the Leeds Papers for January, 1858.
—1858. For a Sketch of Mr. Edward Burlend, author of Village Rhymes,
&c, who was born at Barwiek-in-Elmet, near Leeds, and afterwards became
a successful schoolmaster at Hunslct, see the Leeds Intelligencer for Sep
tember 4th, 1858, &c.
—185!*. Mr. T. B. Thompson, the celebrated Temp. dvocate, died
January 20th, 1859, aged forty-eight years. \ number ••( tie' members ol
the Leeds Temperance Society have by subscription recently erected to his
memory a monument in Woodhouse Cemetery. The design i> of the decora
tive Gothic style of architecture; the plan at the base is square and rises six
472 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
patron and sincere friend. As an extensive employer of labour,
he commanded the devotion and respect of all in his employ,
whose comfort and welfare it was his constant pleasure to pro-
mote. To the poor, also, his death will be felt as a heavy loss,
to many of whom his bounty (known almost entirely to himself),
has been large, in clothing and otherwise contributing to their
comforts. He was suddenly cut down by the stroke of death,
in the midst of his general usefulness, by an abscess in the
lungs, in full possession of all his faculties, and a calmness and
fortitude to the last moment of hi3 life, rarely witnessed. He
died February 1st, 1858, at Shadwell Grange, agecT sixty-five.
His remains were interred at Roundhay church. The above
Sketch has been kindly revised by his brother, John Cooper,
Esq., of Gledhow.
1777-1858.
MR. WILLIAM HIRST,
Cloth manufacturer, of Leeds, died August 29th, 1858, aged
eighty-one years. He was bom in 1777, near Huddersfield, of
parents so poor that they were unable to give him the most
ordinary education. He came to Leeds when about eighteen
years of age, and worked first as a journeyman cloth-dresser.
About the year 1810, he began business on his own account as
a cloth-dresser and manufacturer. At that time Yorkshire
woollen cloths were looked upon with great disfavour, the West
of England cloths bearing away the palm, both as regards
quality and finish ; commanding nearly double the price of the
former, although made from precisely the same quality of wool.
This was no doubt owing to the fact that hand-labour was still
employed in the north in dressing, while in the west it had
given place to machinery. Mr. Hirst, therefore, in 1813, began
to have his goods finished by machinery, and made woollen
cloth of such a quality as had never before been thrown off" a
Yorkshire loom. He stood alone in this part of the country
as a finisher by machinery, and his life in consequence was
frequently threatened by the croppers, who thus saw their well-
paid occupation entirely destroyed. The result of the new
system enabled Mr. Hirst to realize from 20s. to 34s. per yard
for Yorkshire cloths, which before had commanded prices varying
feet, from which springs an octagonal column, with an enriched capital and a
carved terminal. The total height is sixteen feet. It bears the following
inscription: — -"In Memory of T. B. Thompson, who departed this life Janu-
ary 20th, 1859, aged forty-eight years. Having been fifteen years agent of
the British Temperance League, this monument was erected by a few friends
in memory of one of the most able and consistent advocates of the tempe-
rance movement." — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
ME. "WILLIAM HIRST. 473
from 10s. to 14ft per yard, and the demand muck overtaxed his
powers of supply. Almost every improvement in the Leeds
cloth-manufacture from 1813 to 1 825, was introduced by him.
He introduced spinning-mules, Lewis's machine, and an impor-
tant improvement upon that machine, and the first working
of hydraulic presses. Mr. Hirst was always ready to show
strangers and persons in the same business over his works, so
that others followed in his wake, and also reaped golden har-
vests.* He had retired from business in 182-5, having amassed
a splendid fortune ; but the panic of that year involved the firni
that succeeded him, and he also was a great sufferer by their
failure. He manfully took the concern upon his own shoulders,
and, in spite of his limited capital and his bankruptcy in 1830,
worked it until 1833, when his mercantile career was brought
to a close. He could not recover his position, and was once
more a poor man. On June 14th, 1832, he published in the
Leeds papers an appeal to his Yorkshire friends for pecuniaiy
support, in which he says that — "At the time I began the
new system of manufacturing and finishing cloth, I was not
worth £500 ; the system itself enabled me in a short time to
lay out in mills and machinery upwards of £80,000, and in
1824 I gave up business with a great income, but left all in the
concern; but 1825 was the ruin of the concern. I thought I
could save it, and, in 182G, I mortgaged my property for that
purpose, but the new tariff in America, in 1828, blasted all
hope." He had to appear in the Gazette, and he states that
"his life had been a life of struggle and disappointment since
1825." His fellow-townsmen shortly after in public meeting
set on foot a subscription for his benefit. Having been for a
long time confined in Eothwell gaol, for debt, Ids Majesty on
hearing of the case sent a benefaction of £20 (February 26th,
1837). His fellow-townsmen also raised a subscription for his
benefit, amounting to £1,308. From this time to his dying day
he believed that he was kept down by those who were reaping
fortunes from his improvements. This delusion led him fre-
quently to abuse and misrepresent parties who were no doubt
anxious to assist him. Mr. Hirst has been justly styled the
father of the Yorkshire woollen iv.uh; and there is no doubt
he was in his day a public benefactor, and the town and trade
* On the 30th of June, 1X25, the I "idle-
worth gave a public dinner, with a silv< c cup of fifty guineas, to w illiam
Hirst, of Leeds, "i bimony of 1
abilities and perseverance as a woollen manufacturer; and ol
for his frankness and liberality in communicating Lis improvements t" the
public."
474 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIEKSIS.
of Leeds especially are greatly indebted to his energy, skill, and
perseverance. What a pity that the declining years of such a
man should have been passed in poverty ! In the November
following his death (1858), the Earl of Derby granted £100
from her Majesty's royal bounty, on behalf of the daughter-in-
law, and grandson of the deceased, who had ministered to the
old man's comforts in his declining years, and a subscription
was also raised in their behalf. — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
1773-1859.*
HENKY HALL, ESQ.,
Justice of the peace, of Bank Lodge, Leeds, died October 5th,
1859, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. He was a native of
Leeds, having been born in Kirk gate, June 11th, 1773, and he
was the representative of the oldest Leeds family then resident
in the town.+ Having retired at an early age from business, and
being of an active disposition and of high intellectual endow-
ments, it was natural that he should be selected by his fellow-
townsmen for various public functions, for which he was so well
qualified. He was elected a member of the corporation on the
27th of March, 1805, taking the rank of "Assistant," as the
* — 1859. For a long Sketch of F. R. Atkinson, Esq., an eminent solicitor
and literary character, who was born in Leeds, November 12th, 1784 ; well-
known as a most judicious book-collector on an extensive scale, not only in
Manchester, where he afterwards resided, but throughout England. In May,
1858, considerable interest was excited in literary circles by the sale of
Mr. Atkinson's library, decided upon in consequence of his removal into the
country; the sale lasted ten days, and was attended during the whole time
by persons from all parts of the kingdom ; a considerable sum was realized,
and, although this library contained some 13,000 volumes, it is said that there
was not a single volume that he was not personally acquainted with. Mr. F.
R. Atkinson died in June, 1859, in his seventy-fifth year, having been on the
rolls as an attorney and solicitor upwards of forty-nine years, during the whole
of which time he enjoyed a high reputation. — See the Law Times; the Gen-
tleman's Magazine for August, 1859, p. 194, &c.
f His father, also called Henry, married Elizabeth Broadbent, of Stank
House, "Whitkirk ; by whom lie had a numerous family, of whom Henry was
the eldest. His father, who was a severe, stern, and self-willed man, sent
him, when very young, to Hipperholme School, near Halifax, and afterwards
for a short time to the Leeds Grammar School, in North Street. From
thence he was sent, in 1791, to Delph, in Holland; it being the custom of the
merchants of that day to send their sons abroad, in order to learn French and
Dutch — those countries, especially the latter, forming no small part of the
Leeds trade. In Holland he did not remain long, owing to the troubles con-
nected with the breaking out of the French Revolution in 1793. He returned
to Leeds, and was at once taken into the business as a stuff-merchant. There
he remained until his father's death, though his own wish was to have taken
holy orders, but the needs of a numerous family obliged his father to join him
unto his own occupation. He married Grace, daughter of Robert Butterfield,
Esq., of Halifax, and two sons were born to him — Henry, who died in
infancy, and Robert, afterwards M.P. for Leeds.
HENRY HALL, ESQ., J. P. 475
junior branch of the municipal body was then called. On the
8th of June, 1811, he was made alderman ; and in the following
year he took the office of mayor, and again for the second time
in 1825.'"' It was during this second term of his occupying the
civic chair that he was the proposer of Mr. Richard Fountayne
Wilson as one of the candidates for the representation of York-
shire. Mr. Hall was one of the aldermen in the reformed
corporation, elected in December, 1835, but he only remained
in that position three years. As an alderman of the old cor
poration he was a magistrate for the borough ; but this function
being separated from aldermanic dignity by the Municipal
Reform Act, in the year 1842 he was placed again on the
commission, and at the time of his death he was the oldest of
our borough magistrates. His father, Henry Hall, was mayor
of Leeds in 1796, and his grandfather's brother, also called Henry
Hall, was mayor in 1751. Besides his municipal and magisterial
duties, which he ever discharged with zeal, integrity, and rare
ability, Mr. Hall filled various offices of public trust in his
native town. He was one of the patrons of the vicarage, t and
a trustee of the Leeds Grammar School,^ as well as of other
* In all the public movements Mr. Hall was zealous and active, and the
years in which he was mayor were marked by events which made that office
by no means a sinecure; in 1812, owing to the disturbed state of the "West-
Riding and the party of the Luddites; and in 1825-6, to an election for the
whole county of York, when open house was kept for the convenience of
voters from a distance. Mr. B. Fountayne "Wilson and the Hon. W. Dun-
combe were the Conservative members. Mr. Hall acted as their chairman for
the "West-Riding.
•f" Mr. Hall strenuously upheld the rights of the Established Church, and
he was an indefatigable adjutor to the vicar for the time being— for during
his long life he assisted at the election of four vicars of Leeds. At vestry-
meetings, then somewhat notorious for riot — at meetings respecting Easter-
dues, he took a leading part, and not less so when subscriptions were raised to
meet half of the valuation of the dues most generously offered by Mr. Foun-
tayne "Wilson. Mr. Hall, and his son Robert, were the chief means of
bringing Dr. Hook, then of Coventry, before the notice of the trustees of the
Leeds vicarage, and a friendship was formed which existed during life.
"When the parish church was restored, Mr. Hall was at his post, and bis coat-
of-arms, with those of the other trustees, form part of the gnat west
window. Dr. Hook's Church Dictionary was dedicated to him in the follow-
ing words: — " To Henry Hall, of Lank Lodge, Leeds, Esq., senior trustee of
the advowson of the vicarage of Leeds ; a loyal magistrate ; a consistent Chris-
tian; a faithful friend; this volume is with affection and respect inscribed."
A stained glass window in memory of Henry Hall, Esq., was .-.;
placed in the ante-chapel of the Leeds parish church.
£ As a trustee Mi-. Hall took a deep interest in the Grammar School, and
those connected with it. it hud been Ids wish in youth to prepare foi
nation, and throughout life he cherished his classical studies. II
occasionally us assistant examiner, and in later years he was the means oi
assisting many who had gone to the universities, and in bearing with them
the necessary expenses. Those whom he so « aided can bear witi
to the kindness and interest he showed for their welfare. It was this last, in
476 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
public institutions. He was treasurer of the Leeds Library"
forty years, and of tbe General Infirmary thirty-eight years,
both unpaid but somewhat onerous offices. The former he
resigned in 1853, and the latter in 1854, on account of the
increasing infirmities of age ; and he received from the trustees
of the Infirmary a cordial vote of thanks for his valuable gratui-
tous services through so long a period, during which he had
constantly and zealously promoted the interests, advocated the
claims, and extended the benefits of that valuable charity.
Nor was it only in the civil affairs of the state that Mr. Hall
showed his readiness to serve his country. In the early years
of the century, when England was arming against the threatened
invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte, Mr. Hall held a commission
in the Leeds Volunteers, and was a major in the regiment of
Local Militia in which the Volunteers were afterwards merged.
Again, in 1820, when a volunteer corps of infantry was raised
in Leeds, Mr. Hall joined the body as a captain.f Mr. Hall
was a steady and consistent member of the Church of England,
and his religious convictions were firm and sincere. In politics
it is scarcely necessary to mention that his principles were
strictly Conservative; he might, indeed, be called a Tory, and
would not himself have objected to the designation ; but, as a
man of intelligence and reflection, he was well able to vindicate
his opinions; and all classes and parties agreed in acknowledging
that the deceased was an able, useful, and good man. The last
of a veiy long series of public duties in which Mr. Hall took a
part was, as one of the patrons of the Leeds vicarage, of which
body he was the senior member, to assist in the election of a
new vicar in the place of Dr. Hook, on the 17th of August,
part, which caused him shortly before his death to resign his office of senior
trustee, because he thought that the extension scheme of the school educa-
tion, and the consequent fees, would prevent the poorer inhabitants of the
town from enjoying the endowment.
* The Leeds Library owed its origin to him and some few other gentlemen,
who, feeling the want of a library, united together and took a room in the
Old Infirmary Yard, Kirkgate. This was soon found to be insufficient ; it
was then removed to a room under the old Eotation Office, and at last the pre-
sent building in Commercial Street was erected.— The greater part of the infor-
mation in these Notes has been kindly contributed by the Rev. W. Tutin, B. A.
•f The circumstances in connection with Mr. Hall which will be most familiar
to the majority of our readers are those which relate to his son, and only
child, the late Robert Hall, Esq. It needs not that we should recount the
events of 1S57, when the father's heart was gladdened to see his son chosen
to represent his native town in parliament ; and then within a few weeks his
fortitude was tried by the death of that son,— a trial borne as only a sincere
Christian in trustful submission to the Divine will can bear such sorrow.— A
lithographic portrait of Henry Hall, Esq., was executed from a photograph
by Baume, of Leeds.
SIR GEORGE GOODMAN, M.P. -477
1859. In that important transaction Mr. Hall took a very-
earnest and anxious part, and, being in a feeble state of health
at the time, he seemed to regard it as the closing act of his
public services. He was interred in the same vault with his
son (Robert Hall, Esq., M.P.), on the south-east side of Wh it-
kirk churchyard. His funeral was attended by a large number
of the borough magistrates, and of the most influential inhabi-
tants of the town ; and his funeral sermon was afterwards
preached at the Leeds parish church, by the new vicar, the
Rev. James Atlay, D.D. There is in the Leeds General Infir-
mary a fine statue of Henry Hall, Esq., life-size, and in a
sitting posture, executed in marble by Behnes, erected July,
1852, which now stands in the vestibule. — For additional infor-
mation, see the Leeds Papers, especially the Intelligencer for
October, 1859 ; the Annual Register, p. 427, &c.
1792—1859.*
SIR GEORGE GOODMAN, M.P.,
A magistrate for the borough of Leeds, and also for the West-
* — 1859. For a long Sketch of the Rt. Hon. T. £., Lord Macaulay, born
October 25th, 1800; Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who, after being
called to the bar, went the Northern Circuit, and was, in 1832, elected mem-
ber for Leeds (a) along with the late Mr. John Marshall, jim. In 1834, he was
appointed secretary to the India Board, and shortly afterwards was made a
member of the East India Company's supreme court at Calcutta. He was
absent in India four years. The year after his return (1839) he was elected
for Edinburgh, and in the following year accepted office as Secretary at War.
He was also a member of the senate of the University of London. His Lays
of Ancient Rome, his Essays, and his History of England arc well known.
Macaulay was uncpuestionably a man of genius, as well as a scholar, critic, and
reformer, and no higher compliment was ever paid to literature, and none
more satisfactory to the nation, than his elevation to the peerage in
Lord Macaulay was never married, and the title he had so well won conse-
quently died with him. — See the Public Life of Lord Mod . the Eev.
F. Arnold, B.A., 1862, especially chaps, v. and vi. (from p. 89 to p. 183),
relating to Leeds ; The Times and other London Journals; the Leeds Papers
(and here it might also be stated that Mr. T. F. Ellis, the late recorder of
Leeds, one of his lordship's executors, happened to be in Leeds when the
telegram of Lord Macaulay's death overtook him ; it to Mr. Bairn
the Mercury, and from this provincial journal London and the world
heard of its loss); the Athenceum; the Literary Gazette; the Gentlt
Magazine for February, 1860; the Annual Register, p. 451; the J!-
Pod's late Pavlianu nUiry ('u>u r a, , ion; "Waif ' I the
late Peerages, &c; Knight's Cyclopaedia of Biography; Lowndes's Biblto-
fin (pher's Manual; Mackenzie's Imp try of U Biography,
with a fine portrait. For
News for May and June, 1846J and for January 7th, L860, p. I.".; a porl
&c, was also published with the 272 oftfa l>
(a) .Ml!. M.w aii.AV l\ LEEDS.
(From the i.> ■<>.-■. Mercury for September l •".///.
"The people hen rd him, and the pi 'd:
And oh my country, here is }■■;
478 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Riding, and formerly one of the parliamentary representatives
for the borough, died at his residence at Roundhay, near Leeds,
October 13th, 1859, aged sixty-seven years.* He was, the
son of Benjamin Goodman, Esq., a gentleman of the old
English style (with a frank courtesy and simple goodness
about him which made themselves apparent in all his actions),
who was a consistent Christian and zealous friend to many of
the local charities, and who died June 10th, 1848, aged eighty-
five years. f The worthy knight, for two years before his death,
had suffered from ill-health — paralysis and neuralgia — brought
on by his zealous and close attention to the new and arduous
duties which were imposed upon him by being elected a member
of the House of Commons in 1852. Sir George was four times
elected to the highest civic office in the borough. He was the
first mayor under the Corporation Reform Act, being elected in
Their noble hearts responding, well were inov'cl
By the old principles of liberty,
Adorn'd by high and sweet philosophy.
Our petty, local great ones coldly eyed
A stranger in their fancied seigniory.
Were he a lordling, they had not denied
The humblest homage of their calculating pride.
"But ancient name he needs not to inherit :
God giveth him more glorious precedence,
The innate greatness of a lofty spirit !
His, is a patent from omnipotence !
His wealth, his mind's magnificence ;
For titles, he hath truth and modesty;
For power, the lightning of his eloquence;
His herald is a heart-simplicity,
That proves, while it proclaims, his soul's nobility."
Leeds, September 11th, 1832.
* Few forms had become more familiar, few persons whose presence was
hailed with more general delight, until the hour when his increasing infirmi-
ties compelled him to withdraw from those scenes of public usefulness and
private hospitality which had won him the affection, no less than the esteem,
of all classes of his fellow-townsmen.
•f His son, Sir George, early won his way to the good-will of his fellow-
townsmen by the unaffected kindness of his heart and the soundness of his
business talents. "Without flash or brilliancy, he possessed a judgment at
once clear and reliable, a diligence which enabled him quietly to get through
much work, and a cordial unaffected benevolence of disposition and manner
which powerfully contributed to allay the bitterness of party-feeling and to
smooth the angry passions which, as a public man, he had frequently to con-
tend against. His presence at a committee was enough to prevent discussions
from turning into personalities, and was an almost irresistible charm to chaw
disputants together, if not in harmony of views, at least in harmony of feeling
and action. His good sense combined with his good heart to fit him admir-
ably for the office of peace-maker. Without formal interference, he drew
away attention from minor points of difference to the more serious points of
union.
SIR GEORGE GOODMAN, M.P. 479
January, 1836 ;* and as a testimonial of respect, as well as to
commemorate the new era in municipal affairs, a full-length
Portrait of him was subscribed for by his fellow-townsmen, and
painted by John Simpson, Esq., which now adorns the council-
room at the Town Hall. It was presented to the town- council
by the burgesses of this borough, October 23rd, 1837. On
April 30th, 1836, a valuable chain of standard gold, weighing
two pounds troy, and which cost £197 14s., was presented to
him, as the first mayor under the new corporation. An heraldic
shield, pendant to the chain, has on it the following inscription :
— -'Presented by the burgesses and inhabitants of Leeds to
their reform corporation, as the official insignia of the mayor,
in token of their approbation of representative municipal
government, and to remind the chief magistrates that their
powers and honours, conferred by the people, are to be held for
the public welfare. George Goodman, Esq., first mayor, elected
1st January, 1836." At a meeting of the Leeds Town- Council,
May 14th, 1857, a letter was read from Sir George Goodman,
in which he generously presented to the mayor for the time
being, and his successors, the gold chain worn by him in private
parties, during his mayoralty in 1836. This chain is a fac-
simile, upon a reduced scale, of the official chain, described
above, worn by the mayors of Leeds. He was also elected
mayor on the resignation of C. G. Maclea, Esq., on the 1st of
January, 1847. He went out of office on the 9th of Novem-
ber following, but on the 9th of November, 1850, he was again
elected mayor, and on the 9th of November, 1851, he was
re-elected; but on the 20th of March, 1852, he resigned the
office of mayor, in order that he might be eligible to be a candi
date for the representation of the borough in parliament in the
spring of 1852. In 1851, Mr. Goodman might be considered
as the civic representative of Leeds at the Great Industrial
Exhibition in London, in reference to which her Majesty con-
ferred the honour of knighthood upon him, at the recommen-
dation of his friend the late Earl of Carlisle, February 20th,
1852. In July of the latter year, at the general election, Sir
George Goodman was elected, along with the Righl Eon. Bff.
T. Baines, as one of the members for the borough of Leeds,
which he continued to represent till the dissolution in 1857,
when he retired on account of ill health. 'In politics,Sir Ge<
* It was probal.lv owing mainly to hia imp i ! ' manner
and benevolence of diapoaition, while filling that office, that theold and I
feud between the Reform and Conaervative paxtiea waa moderated into the
temperate rivalry of recent years.
480 BIOGRArHIA LEODIENSIS.
was a Liberal ; in religion, a Baptist ; in trade, a woolstapler
at Leeds and Bradford- and both in his public and private
capacity be was greatly respected." He was especially distin-
guished for kindness of manner and an open-hearted disposition,
which gained for him the affection and esteem of all classes of
his fellow-townsmen. His funeral, which took place at Whit-
kirk, was attended by many of the Leeds magistrates and other
principal inhabitants of the town. — For further particulars, see
the Leeds Papers, &c, especially the Mercury, for October, 1859;
the Annual Register, p. 425; the Gentleman's Jlagazine for
November, 1859, p. 546, &c.
1786-1859.
THE EEV. FRANCIS THOMAS COOKSON, M.A.,
Incumbent of St. John's church, Leeds, died December 20th,
1859, aged seventy-three years. He was the son of "William
Cookson, Esq.,t twice mayor of Leeds, in 1793 and 1801, who
* Few men in our town have received more numerous and unmistakable
marks of popular favour, and few deserved them better. While firmly
attached to his own principles, he was the very opposite of a bigot. If his
head went with one party, his heart went with all. He was of too genial a
disposition ever to forget that his opponents were men, and entitled to the
courtesies and kind feelings which one of his temperament was inclined to
accord to all men. Party rancour was a stranger to his breast. The hospi-
talities which he so freely dispensed were shared alike by Liberal and Con-
servative, by Churchmen and Dissenters. Nor were they in either case the
formal decencies of civic life — ceremonies grudgingly performed because they
could not with propriety be avoided. They were the genuine gifts of a genial
heart which delighted in the happiness of all around him, and which never
had such thorough enjoyment as in witnessing the happiness which it was in
his power to bestow. Even during the most active period of his life, he had
the rare good fortune to be a favourite with both parties, while known to be
firmly wedded to one, and in the feelings of respect and affection which were
awakened by his death, his political opponents miugled no less heai'tily than
his political friends. It may be said, indeed, that all men were his friends,
for he was accessible to all, and none ever came in contact with him without
liking him. " His sunny smile, his frank reply, his ready response to every
tale of distress, or to every deserving appeal to his benevolence, will" (said
the Leeds Mercury) "be remembered by hundreds who knew nothing of his
politics or business qualities, and he will be followed to the grave with the
most genuine feelings of affection and esteem by all those with whom he
came in contact." His funeral sermon, preached by the Rev. Dr. Brewer,
was afterwards published. The above Sketch has been kindly revised by his
brother, John Goodman, Esq., of Gledhow House, near Leeds.
+ William Cookson, Escj. (1749—1811), one of the senior magistrates of
Leeds, and a deputy-lieutenant for the West-Riding, died, after a short but
severe illness, February 1st, 1811, in the sixty-second year of his age. He
was a man of the strictest integrity and the strongest understanding ; both of
which he devoted with unwearied assiduity to the service of benevolence.
Indeed he seemed to have been born not for himself, but for others ; for he
sacrificed all the ease, repose, and comfort of domestic life, to the convenience,
the demands, and the emolument of the public. As a magistrate he was
indefatigable and upright in the administration of justice, with an ear ever
THE REV. FRANCIS THOMAS COOKSON, M.A. 481
was the grandson of William Cookson, Esq., thrice mayor of
Leeds, in 1712, 1725, and 1738, for a Sketch of whom, see
p. 159. The Rev. F. T. Cookson was, at the time of his death,
in the fiftieth year of his incumbency, to which he was appointed
in September, 1810, as successor to the Rev. William Sheep-
shanks, M.A., for a Sketch of whom, see p. 239, &c. Mr.
Cookson was a very kind-hearted and benevolent man, always
ready to give with a liberal hand to the poor around him.
During the last twelve years of his life he suffered severely, but
with cheerful patience, from a painful affection of the nerves,
with partial paralysis of the limbs, which incapacitated him
from active duty ; but even to within the last few- weeks he was
carried in a chair to his church, and performed part of the
service, his voice and the fine facultv of reading: for which he
was remarkable, being little impaired by the malady which
crippled his limbs.* He was the eleventh incumbent of St.
John's church, which was consecrated by Archbishop Neale, in
September, 1634-.T On the 12th of March, in the following
year (1860), the Rev. Edward Monro, M.A., from Harrow-on-
Weald, Stanmore, near London, was appointed to the vicarage
of St. John's, there being 122 candidates. — See the Leeds
Papers, especially the Intelligencer, for December, 1859.
open to the complaints of the poor; as an arbitrator (an office to which he
was often reluctantly pressed), he was impartial and honest, always endea-
vouring, like a true peacemaker, to reconcile animosities; as a friend, skilful
in commercial affairs, he was peculiarly happy in disembarrassing difficulties
and arranging disorder. He was a most loyal subject, and warmly attached
to the Established Church; above all, he was so "active and faithful a ser-
vant" to this town, that his loss was long severely lamented. Another
account states, that "in the private relations of life his conduct was most
exemplary; as a patron of public improvements he was greatly distinguished ;
and as an active magistrate, always inclined to temper justice with mercy ; he
had few equals, and no superiors." — See the Leeds Intel!, for February, 1S1 1.
* He was a person of vigonras and cultivated intellect; the French, Italian,
and Latin languages lending their aid in turn to relieve the monotony of his
long confinement. The Letters of Seneca, the works of Dante, and I)' A zeglio .
and articles in the Revue des Deux Mondes (often very deep and philosophic),
served to beguile many a weary hour.
+ In 1831, Mr. Cookson informed the trustees of St. John's church thai
the tower was in an unsafe condition, and requested their assistance; but not
receiving it, he took the liabdity on himself — the necessary amount being
raised on the security of a life assurance policy, taken out for thai purpose a1
an exorbitant premium. The reduction in his income of at least Jt'l K) per
annum, lasting for twelve or fourteen years, was a heavy burden on the late
vicar, and no do\ibt materially hastened on the infirmity under winch he
laboured for the last eleven years of his life. In addition to tie
of St. John's tower, for many years he paid regularly annuities to supei
annuated workmen, granted in better tines to his servants by bis father,
whose death was caused in a great measure by the sudden intel] the
rascality of his partner or agent in America. The above Sketch has I
kindly revised by his eldest son, Francis Cookson, Esq., of Headingley.
II II
482 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1799—1860.*
THE EIGHT HON. M. T. BAINES, M.P.,
Died at his house in Queen Square, "Westminster, January 23rd,
1860. Mr. Matthew Talbot Baines was the eldest son of the
late Edward Baines, Esq., who was one of the representatives
of Leeds from 1834 to 1841, and brother of Edward Baines,
Esq., one of the present members. His mother, Charlotte, was
daughter of Matthew Talbot, Esq., of Leeds, after whom he
was named. He was originally destined to assist and succeed
his father in conducting the Leeds Mercury, and after an
ordinary grammar school education, under the late Rev. John
Foster, of Leeds, and at the Protestant Dissenters' Grammar
* — 1860. Lord Londesborough, F.R.S., &c, second surviving son of
Henry, first Marquis Conyngham, by his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of
Mr. Joseph Denison (for a Sketch of whom, see p. 228), was born on the 21st
of October, 1805. He was twice married ; first, in July, 1833, to the Hon.
Henrietta Maria Forester, fourth daughter of the late Lord Forester, who
died in April, 1841; and, secondly, in 1847, to Miss Bridgeman, eldest
daughter of Captain the Hon. Charles Orlando Bridgeman, which lady
survived her husband. As Lord Albert Conyngham he served for a short
period in the Boyal Horse Guards, but then adopted the diplomatic service.
In May, 1824, he was appointed attache to the British Legation at Berlin, and
in the following year removed to Vienna, where he remained until Februaiy,
1828, when he was made Secretary of Legation at Florence. He sat in the
House of Commons as member for Canterbury from 1835 to the early part of
1850, when he was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Londesborough.
In 1849 he assumed the name of " Denison," in lieu of that of Conyngham,
in accordance with the will of his maternal uncle, Mr. "William Joseph.
Denison, of Denbies, in the county of Surrey, and of Seamer, near Scar-
borough, in this county. (For a Sketch of whom, see the Gentleman's Maga~
zine for October, 1849, p. 422.) Mr. Denison bequeathed to his nephew the
bulk of his immense wealth, and thus Lord Albert Conyngham found himself
at once elevated from the position of a younger son to that of one of the
most wealthy noble commoners in England, coming into the immediate
possession of a princely income. According to the arrangements of his
uncle's will, the residue of his personal property was to be expended in the
purchase of landed estates, to be entailed on three generations. The invest-
ment of this enormous property secured a rent-roll of more than £70,000 a
year in the county of York alone. That property includes fine estates in
each of the three Ridings of this county — Londesborough, in the East-Riding,
and Grimston Park, in the "WestJ?»iding, being amongst the number. _ His
Yorkshire residence was at Grimston Park, near Tadcaster, about thirteen
miles from Leeds (which formerly belonged to Lord Howden). In politics
Lord Londesborough was a Whig. In mature life his lordship's tastes for
literature, science, and the fine arts developed themselves in a very striking
manner. As early as the year 1843, he distinguished himself by taking an
active part in the foundation of the British Archa3ological Association, of
which he became president. Devoted to antiquarian pursuits, it was as a
collector of rare and costly objects— especially in early goldsmiths' work — that
his lordship's taste and judgment were chiefly displayed. In this branch of
mediaeval art there is probably no private collection in the kingdom so rich as
that which was formed by the deceased nobleman. These objects have been
made subservient to the general purpose of antiquarian research by their
publication in a costly volume, profusely illustrated in gold and colours.
THE RIGHT HON. M. T. BA1XES, M.P. 483
School, Leaf Square, Manchester, he was engaged for some time
in the Mercury office ; soon afterwards, however, he was sent to
pursue his studies at the Kichmond Grammar School, under the
late Rev. James Tate, and subsequently to Trinity College,
Cambridge. It is no doubt owing to his education at Richmond
and Cambridge, that he was through Life a Churchman, and not,
like his father and the other members of his family, a Dissenter.
He was second senior optime at the B.A. mathematical exami-
nation in 1820, and he received two declamation prizes. In
1825 he was called to the bar at the Inner Tetnple, and joined
the Northern Circuit, of which he subsequently became one of
the leaders.* He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1841, and
became a bencher of the Inner Temple. "When a vacancy took
place in the recordership of Leeds, in 1837, the town-council
unanimously memorialized the Government to appoint Mr. M.
Talbot Baines to the office. A rule against appointing recorders
in places where they might possess party influence prevented
Lord John Russell from complying with the request; but he
Towards the close of 1848 his lordship visited Greece and Italy; and in the
following year printed his tour under the title of Wanderings in Search of
Health, an exceedingly readable and characteristic volume, containing
much information and well-told personal adventures. His lordship died
January 15th, 1860, at his town residence, Carlton House Terrace, in his
fifty-fifth year ; and his remains were interred at Grimston. Two sons
(the present Lord Londesborough, and the Hon. Albert Denison, a lieutenant
in the royal navy) and two daughters survive by the late noble lord's first
marriage, and three sons and three daughters survive by his lordship's second
marriage. He was succeeded in his title and extensive landed property
by his eldest son by his first marriage, the Hon. William Henry Forester
Denison, born in June, 1834, late M.P. for Beverley, and afterwards for
Scarborough. — For many additional particulars, see the Leeds Intelligencer
for January 21st, 1860; the Gfentleman's Magazine; the Annual Register for
1860, p. 450 ; the Peerages, &c. For an engraving of the splendid portrait by
Grant, see the Illustrated London News for February 4th, 1860, p. 108.
* From the first his success was decided. To a chaste style of forensic
eloquence he added the yet more important qualifications of sound law and
great discretion. By these characteristics, combined with unremitting atten-
tion to business, he soon won the confidence of his clients; whilst by his
moral virtues— honour, integrity, and kindness— he commanded the respect
of all his learned brethren. To the judges and to senior counsel ho wee
respectful, without the slightest attempt to curry favour: to his juniors be
was kind and fair, without any of the airs of patronage. His add
juries earned weight by the clearness of their expositions and the force of
their arguments, not by passionate or ad captandum appeals or any species of
forensic trickeiy. He did not browbeat witnesses, I" combined the
gentleman with the pleader. He brought his heart to hi- work, ami in all
things governed himself by a conscientious sense: of right and duty. Such,
in short, was his conduct that he won the respeci of all. and t h men!
of those who came into nearer con t a. t with bim. Bj th I temperance,
regular exercise, early rising, and invariable punctuality, be qualified himself
for hard work, and laid the foundation of bhe g I health which he enjoyed
till it was affected by causes which no prudence could coutiol.
481 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
conferred on him the same office in the borough of Hull, whilst
the recorder of that borough was transferred to Leeds. Mr.
M. T. Baines was recorder of Hull from 1837 to 1847,* in
which latter year he was elected one of the members for that
borough. He continued to represent Hull till 1852,f when he
was returned for Leeds, his native town. He was again
returned at the general election in 1857, along with the late
Robert Hall, Esq., but at the election in 1859, he declined to
allow himself to be put in nomination, in consequence of
impaired health, and he retired from parliamentary life alto-
gether.:}: He was President of the Poor-La w Board from
January, 1849, to March, 1852, and from December, 1852, till
* For ten years Mr. Baines held the office of recorder of Hull, and in his
judicial conduct he displayed the same virtues, talents, and wisdom which
had gained him approbation at the bar. His court held him in the highest
respect : no barrister took liberties with him, and none ever complained that
he treated them unfairly. So eminently judicial was Mr. Baines's character
of mind— so impartial, so discriminating, so clear, so prompt, and so dignified,
— that it was evident he would have graced the highest judicial bench in the
country. To that position he was, indeed, making steady though quiet pro-
gress, when circumstances occurred to turn his abilities to another field of
honourable exercise.
t In the House of Commons Mr. Talbot Baines discharged his duties with
the same conscientious, steady, and indefatigable application as at the bar.
His ambition was not to shine, or even to lead, but to be useful. Availing
himself of his experience at the bar, and working in his own province, he
brought in and carried some very useful measures of law reform. The talent
for business which Mr. Baines had so often displayed induced Lord John
Russell to offer him an under-secretaryship ; but as the acceptance would
have obliged him to retire from parliament, he declined the position. Soon
after, however, in 1849, a gentleman was wanted to fill the arduous and
delicate duties of President of the Poor-Law Board; and Mr. Baines was
appointed to the office, which he may be truly said to have rescued from the
popular odium which had for years attended the administration of the Poor-
Law. The acceptance of this office, however, compelled him to abandon his
own profession of the law; and in the opinion of many of his friends this
was a mistake, as he was in a fair way to win the honours of the bench.
The question certainly admits of doubt. But in this public office he displayed
a talent for administration equal to that which he had already shown for
presiding in a court of justice. At the Poor-Law Board, as everywhere, he
was indefatigable, impartial, conscientious, kindly towards subordinates, con-
ciliatory among disputants, quick in discovering the merits of a case, and
resolute in enforcing what was just and right. If all public employments
were discharged like his, the established character of government offices
would be changed, and they would become celebrated for punctuality,
promptitude, good judgment, and efficiency. He employed his patronage
with scrupulous regard to the merits of the candidates, and not from personal
favour or connection. Indeed no public office was ever bestowed upon any
connection of his own. He would extend his private bounty towards those
who needed it, but he durst not and would not use his official influence to
gratify his party, his friends, or even his own amiable feelings.
t Mr. Baines did not take a leading part in debate; but his judgment,
knowledge, and wisdom were held in the highest esteem by his colleagues,
and he sought no end but the true honour and welfare of his country and
THE RIGHT HON. M. T. BAINES, M.P. 485
August, 1855. In December of that year he was appointed
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a seat in the
cabinet, which office he held until the resignation of the
Palmerston ministry in February, 1858. He was, up to the
time of his death, chairman of the Lancashire Quarter Sessions,
and also a magistrate of the West-Riding of Yorkshire. He was
born on the 17th of February, 1799, and therefore was nearly
sixty-one years of age. In 1833 he married the only daughter
of L. Threlfall, Esq., of Lancaster, who survives him, and by
whom he has left a son and a daughter. Through her he
received a handsome property. His name will be long remem-
bered in Hull, in Leeds, in Lancaster, and in the metropolis,
where his modest, unassuming manners, and honest frankness,
won him numerous friends. As a straightforward, honest,
reliable man of business, and sincere, warm-hearted friend, he
far excelled many of his former colleagues in the cabinet, who
possessed more dazzling abilities. He was also, before his
death, a member of the senate of the University of London.
He was buried in the consecrated portion of the General
Cemetery, Lancaster.""' — Chiefly from the Leeds Intelligencer for
January, 1860. For much additional information (which would
have been inserted had space allowed), see the Leeds Mercury ;
the Gentleman's Magazine for March, 18G0, p. 302; the Annual
Register ; Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of Universal Bio-
the peace of the world. We may say with entire truth that lie discharged
his duty to his constituents laboriously and faithfully. According to the
Annual Register for 1860, p. 386: — "His qualities were rather solid than
brilliant, but he was much respected by his associates for sound sense and
moral worth."
* This brief Sketch of Mr. Baines"s life indicates his character. To Ids own
talents and virtues he owed the honours to which he successively attained.
A masculine intellect, corresponding with his commanding face and figure,
made him the easy master of whatever branch <>f knowledge or pursuit of
life he addressed himself to. He was quick of conception, ready in wit,
fertile in speech, consummate in judgment and in taste. Had he ['leased, he
could have shone in parliamentary debate. But there was a moderation, a
calmness, an unselfishness, a modest preference of others, together with a
high prudence, which made him shrink from conflict and from display. It
is possible that these qualities may have been carried in him to an excess ; ho
would certainly have played a still higher part in public affairs, and lie might
have been even more useful than he was, if he had had more of tli.it earni t
ness which as often leads men to commit errors as to achieve distinction.
But the qualities we refer to made him one of the wisest of counsellors, one
of the best of judges, and in private life one of the most amiable of nun.
En the domestic circle he was beloved and venerated foi his noble nature^ his
affectionate ami gentle spirit, his combination of intellectual i ■ ■itli
the goodness of the heart. Seldom has any public man acted more invariably
under a sense of duty. It may be said that his fault iimmed Dp in
this, that he was too modest, too moderate, too prudent, and too kind. His
fine moral nature was elevated by true Christian principle ; his Bible was his
486 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
graphy. For a portrait and Sketch of the Right Hon. M. T.
Baines, see the Illustrated London News for October 13th,
1855; and also for February 4th, 1860, p. 101. A tine por-
trait, <fcc., was also published with the Illustrated News of the
World for November 24th, 1860. A lithographic portrait was
also published in June, 1854, by Mr. William Slade, of Leeds,
from a daguerreotype by Mr. Kilburn.
1773-1860.
THOMAS WILLIAM TOTTIE, ESQ.,
An eminent solicitor, died at his house, Beech Grove, Leeds,
May 10th, 1860, aged eighty-seven years.* He had been a
member of the legal profession for about sixty years in this
town. His decline in life may be truly described by the trite
but expressive phrase, " a green old age." His physical frame
was of a tall, attenuated character, characterized, however, by
good health, the result of judicious and temperate habits.
Though long -withdrawn from active public duties, few men
were better known in Leeds than Mr. Tottie; his tall figui'e,
snow-white hair, aristocratic bearing, and distinguished presence
could not fail to be remembered by all who saw hhn.t In
politics he was a Liberal, and was an active and zealous sup-
tnost prized treasure and his daily study; and on his death-bed he exhibited
the humblest sense of his own merits, and declared emphatically that all his
hopes were founded on the merits and atonement of his Saviour. — Within
about three months Leeds saw the grave open for three men who represented
it in parliament — Sir George Goodman, Lord Macaulay, and Mr. Baines.
We cannot claim for the last anything like the genius of the second ; but he
certainly combined in some degree the political talents and usefulness of
Lord Macaulay with the benevolence of Sir George Goodman.
* In the decease of this venerable gentleman, Leeds lost one of its most
honoured inhabitants. From the earliest recollection of almost all of the
present generation, Mr. Tottie occupied a very eminent position in the
borough as a professional man, a leader of the Whig party, and a high-
minded, public-spirited, and benevolent citizen. Owing to his very advanced
years, which had for some time withdrawn him from active life, he was best
known to the elder part of our townsmen ; and, owing to the part which he
long took in the political movements of the county, he was nearly as well
known to the gentry and the political leaders of Yorkshire as to the
inhabitants of Leeds. He survived, by a few months, the venerable Henry
Hall, -who was his contemporary, and, we believe, schoolfellow; and those
two highly esteemed men, though belonging to, and we may eveu say leading
and representing, the two opposite parties in Church and State throughout
their long lives, continued personal friends and coadjutors in many public
institutions, and descended to their graves amid the sincere lamentations of
their townsmen.
*t* A portrait of Mr. Tottie was published by Mr. Hogarth, of the Hay-
market, from a likeness by Mr. J. C. Moore, engraved by Mr. C. W. Sharpe.
— For particulars, see the Leeds Intelligencer for February 6th, 1858.
THOMAS WILLIAM TOTTIE, ESQ. 487
porter of Ms party,* though, being a warm advocate of national
education, he was opposed to some of his friends on that ques-
tion. In 1836, Mr. Tottie was elected an alderman of the
borough of Leeds, and in the following year he was chosen
mayor. He was also placed on the commission of peace for
the borough, and continued a member of the town-council for
several years. The duties of the various civil offices which he
filled were discharged w r ith uprightness and efficiency, and he
deservedly possessed the goodwill and respect of his fellow-
citizens. About the last occasion in which he took part in any
public event was in the year 18-32, when he nominated the late
Right Hon. M. T. Baines,t as a candidate for the representa-
tion of Leeds. We believe that the father of Mr. Tottie was
a merchant in Leeds, and that he was born in Leeds. During
the greater part of his life he was a Unitarian, but for the last
ten years was a consistent member of the Established Church.
His body is interred at Coniston church, near Skipton. J — Chiefly
from the Leeds Intelligencer for July 12th, 1860. See also the
Leeds Mercury; and for a long pedigree of the Totties, see
Thoresby's Duccdus Leodiensis, p. 119.
* His excellent abilities and high character led to his being selected, in the
year 1807, as one of the principal agents of Lord Milton, in the great con-
tested election for the county of York; and so energetic and able was his
management, and so hearty his political sympathy with the cause, that he
became the personal friend as well as political agent and counsellor of the
Whig leaders, and so continued as long as the county of York d an
undivided constituency. In the year 1826, he was instrumental in recom-
mending the late John Marshall, Esq., of Leeds, as the colleague of Lord
Milton in the representation of the county, when, after preparing for a great
contest, the parties agreed to return two Liberals and two members in the
Tory and Anti-Catholic interest. On retiring from his position as agent for
the 'Whig party, after the Reform Act, Mr. Tottie received an address signed
by all the Liberal members and many of the leading gentry of fchi
expressive of gratitude for his long and gratuitous services, and the highest
respect for his character. Mr. Tottie was a supporti r of the Reform Bill of
1831-2, and he took part in that great popular conflici and victory. But,
though staunch in his principles as a reformer, his natural (Mini..]! and Bome-
what aristocratic tastes and sympathies led him to hold aloof from many of
the later efforts of the Liberal party. He ■■ &ed with the greal con-
stitutional advantages already obtained, and hi itioH
with some of the ardent spirits who pushed on tin Ae and othej
' t It was on the advice of Mr. Tottie that Mr. Bainea, Ben.,
eldest son for the bar; and the able solicitor new to take an int<
in the welfare of the young barrister, wh I honoaral
lie traced with pleasure to its prcm.n uri i
IThe deceased was, for 8 Lone course of yeaj . the prol il of
severa
Cowper ;
His mind* was comprehensive and renin kably acute. JVn I nil
The deceased was, for a ton '•" I'" l)l , "
ral noblemen in the county, in tiord Palmei too and thi Earj
per; and he was also the adviser of the trustees of the Coloured and
te Cloth-halls in this town, Mr. Tottie's abilities were distinguished.
488 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1786— 1860.*
THE REV. THOMAS SCALES,
Independent minister, was a native of Leeds, having been born
in December, 1786. His father kept an inn in Upperhead
Row; bnt the son's tendencies as he grew up proved to be
towards the Christian ministry, and with this in view he entered
the Independent college (or academy, as it was then called), at
Hoxton, near London, and of which the Rev. R. Simpson, D.D.,
was president. On the completion of his theological studies,
Mr. Scales was induced by the committee to continue in resi-
dence as classical tutor; but a call from a newly formed Con-
gregational church at "Wolverhampton not long afterwards pre-
vailed, and he first entered on the pastoral office in that town.
In 1819, on the resignation by the Rev. William Eccles of the
pastorate of the White chapel, Leeds, Mr. Scales was invited to
succeed him, and returned to his native town with that object.
He preached at the White chapel to an attached and influential
congregation, who soon resolved to secure accommodation better
suited to the times than the building which had seen Indepen-
dency at Leeds in its infancy; and accordingly, in 1823, the
first stone of Queen Street chapel was laid. From the opening-
legal caution too much into the domain of politics. His sagacity and experi-
ence made him, however, a valuable counsellor. He was a man of nice and
proud honour and strong will, whilst his manners were those of a gentleman
of the old school, combining dignity with courtesy. He wrote and spoke
with great effect. His personal appearance was commanding, and his fine
intellectual head was beautified by the snows of age. Mr. Tottie was twice
married, first to Miss Bischoff, sister of the late James and Thomas Bischoff,
Esqs., and afterwards to the relict of Mr. Garforth, of Coniston. He left
one son and one daughter.
* — 1860. Mr. Joseph Gott, sculptor, was a native of Calverley, near
Leeds. His taste and facility in modelling attracted the notice of Sir Thomas
Lawrence, who, after Mr. Gott had obtained the gold medal at the Royal
Academy, London, advised him to visit Rome, and generously assisted him in
prosecuting his studies. In his studies in that city Mr. Gott subsequently
produced many works of great merit. Among those in our neighbourhood
maybe mentioned the full-length figures of the late Benjamin Gott, Esq.,
of Armley House, and Jonathan Akroyd, Esq., of "Woodside, placed as
monuments in Armley church, and the cemetery chapel, Haley Hill, Halifax,
&c. The following extract is from a letter, dated Rome, January 14th,
I860:— "One of the oldest artistic residents in Rome, Mr. Gott, who has
exercised his profession in the eternal city nearly forty years, died here in the
beginning of the week, and was followed to his last home in the Protestant
burial-ground, by most of the English, and several of the foreign, artists
resident in Rome. In the course of his long career, Mr. Gott has executed
many beautiful and interesting groups, and exhibited a remarkable talent for
the representation of animals, which he combined in a thousand natural and
graceful positions with children and youthful figures."— See the Leeds Intelli-
gencer, &c, for January 28th, 1860.
For a short Sketch of John Arthur Ihin, Esq., the late town-clerk of
Leeds, see the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for September 8th, 1860.
RALPH MAKKLAND, ESQ. 489
of that edifice (which was the first very spacious place of wor-
ship occupied by the denomination in Leeds) to 1849, Mr. Scales
laboured there as pastor of the church and congregation. In
the year last named he resigned his charge, and not long after-
wards accepted the post of chaplain at the Northern Congrega-
tion School, Silcoates, near Wakefield. For some years he
resided without charge at Cleckheaton, near Leeds, ever ready
to give temporary help to neighbouring ministers, and to further
the interests of religious associations with which he had long
been connected. Though his sight failed alarmingly before he
left Leeds, he had through life enjoyed unusually good health.
His death was wholly unexpected; having gone to preach the
funeral sermon of his friend the Rev. J. Paul, late of Wibsey,
he experienced an apoplectic seizure, and died soon after, June
24tb, 1S60, in his seventy-fourth year. Protestant noncon-
formity has had no more staunch friend than Mr. Scales, who
was ever ready to vindicate its principles, and to promote
the success of its institutions. In 1830 he published a valu-
able little volume, entitled Principles of Dissent, which passed
through two editions, and for many years past he had been
engaged in collecting materials for a History of Nonconformity
in the West-Riding of Yorkshire. He was also a zealous advo-
cate for the abolition of negro slavery. While taking a very
active part in public questions — some of them calculated to
excite angiy feelings — Mr. Scales showed that he never forgot
his character as a Christian minister. It was his delight, too,
wherever practicable, to act with members of other religious
communions for common Christian objects, and as joint-secretary
of the Leeds Bible Society he enjoyed for many years the friend-
ship of men much opposed to some of his views. The late Rev.
Dr. Hamilton, of Leeds, in his Memoir of the Rev. John Ely,
speaks of Mr. Scales as "blending more than any man lie knew
firmness and amiableness." Mr. Scales was twice married. By
his first wife (a daughter of his college tutor, Dr. Simpson) he
had eight children, of whom three survive. His remains are
interred in the family vault at Queen Street chapel, Leeds. —
See the Leeds Mercury; the Gentleman s Magazine, for August,
1860, p. 213, &c.
1789—1860.*
RALPH MARKLAND, ESQ.,
An old magistrate of the borough of Leeds, and a member of
*_18G0. The third Ecurlof Mexborough, born July 3rd, 1783; married, \x
29th, 1807, Anne, eldest daughter "f Philip, Earl of Haxdwit I eded
■490 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
the corporation previous to the date of the Municipal Reform
Bill, when he filled the office of mayor in 1828. In the first
commission of the peace after the constitution of the reformed
corporation his name was not inserted, but during the time Sir
James Graham was Home Secretary, in 1842, Mr. Markland
was made a magistrate, along with several others of the Tory
party. He was anxious, after the passing of the Municipal
Act, to enter the new corporation, and, after two defeats, was
elected a councillor for the north-west ward, in 1838. In 1841,
he was again defeated at the municipal election for the same
ward, and in 1842 unsuccessfully contested Kirkgate ward,
and did not afterwards seek the honour of a seat in the town-
council. Mr. Markland was the descendant of an old York-
shire family. His character was marked by great warmth,
his father (for a Sketch of whom, see page 319) as third earl, February 3rd,
1830; died December 25th, 1860, in Portman Square, LoDdon, at the resi-
dence of his son-in-law, the Hon. Colonel Lindsay, aged seventy-seven. The
late earl, whose seat is Mexborough Hall, Methley, near Leeds, was a Free-
mason, and had held for many years the position of provincial grand master
of the West Yorkshire District. His lordship having been for a long time in
pecuniary difficulties, Mexborough Hall was, some years ago, left unoccupied,
and is now tenanted by Titus Salt, Esq., late M.P. for Bradford, the no We
earl himself living in a small house on the estate in humble retirement. In
politics he was a Conservative, but was never at any period a prominent
public man. The deceased had issue — I. John Charles George, Viscount
Pollington, born June 4th, 1810; married, February 24th, 1842, to Lady
Rachel Katherine Walpole, eldest daughter of the la"te Earl of Orford, and
by her, who died June 21st, 1854, has issue, John Horace, born June 17th,
1843. II. Henry Alexander, bom in 1811; a military officer; married, in
1840, Catharine, third daughter of the late K. Pennefather, Esq., of New
Park, Tipperarv, and by her (who died in 1843) had a son, "William, born
October 8th, 1841. He died March 1st, 1850. IH. Philip Yorke, bom
August 23rd, 1814 ; rector of Methley ; married, January 20th, 1842, EmUy
Mary Brand, eldest daughter of William Hall, Esq., of King's Walden,
Herts, and has issue— 1, George, born Aprd 26th, 1847; 2, Henry William,
bom March 9th, 1850; 3, Frederick James, born May 27th, 1851; 4, a
son, born December 31st, 1859 ; and a daughter, Alice Mary, &c. IV. Charles
Stuart, born in 1816. V. Frederick, lieutenant, R.A. ; born in 1817; married,
in 1839, Antonia, daughter of the Rev. William Archdall, rector of Tintera ;
and died April 3rd, 1851, leaving issue — 1, Philip Alexander, born Aprd 1st,
1843 ; Louisa, Agnes Yorke, and Sarah Elizabeth. VI. Arthur, born Decem-
ber 20th, 1819 ; in holy orders, rector of Foulmire, near Royston ; married,
July 13th, 1852, the Hon. Georgiana Neville, youngest daughter of Lord
Braybrooke, and has had issue — Grey Henry, who died an infant, April 16th,
1858, and Elizabeth Jane, Mirabel Anne, Alethea Maud, and two other
daughters. I. Sarah Elizabeth, married, in 1845, to Colonel the Hon. James
Lindsay, M.P., of the Grenadier Guards, &c. He was succeeded in the
family honours by his eldest son, Viscount PolLington, born in 1810, who was
educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, at which university he graduated
M.A. in 1830. In 1831, he was returned to parliament for Gatton, and repre-
sented Pontefract in the House of Commons from 1835 to 1847. — See the
Leeds Papers, &c, for December, 1860; the Peerages of Burke, Debrett,
Lodge, &c.
SIR PETER FAIRBAIRN, KKT. 491
earnestness, and decision, combined with entire sincerity.
From youth he was attached to the Tory, or " Church and
King" party; and he was accustomed to refer to the part he
took in the great county election between Lord Milton and
Mr. Lascelles with feelings of special pride. It was his boast
that he retained the principles of his party without swerving,
when nearly all its other members followed Sir Robert Peel in
embracing the doctrines of Free Trade and modifying Toryism
into Conservatism. In earlier life his political feeling was
peculiarly strong, but at length, finding himself left alone, he
ceased to take a personal interest in politics, and indulged
the natural kindliness of his disposition towards his former
opponents, with only an occasional burst of contemptuous
indignation against all compromise. He never ceased to
bewail the repeal of the Corn Laws as a gross error in policy.
He was a man of great honour in public and mercantile life, a
friend of local improvements, active in support of our older
institutions, and diligent in the discharge of his magisterial
duties, in which his long experience caused his judgment to be
much esteemed. In society he was genial and cheerful, and he
won the respect of all who knew him. Mr. Mark land was the
brother-in-law of the late Mr. Griffith "Wright, proprietor of
the Leeds Intelligencer. He was a member of the old firm of
Messrs. John Scott and Co., corn-factors. His health had
generally been good, and was sustained by active exercise and
field-sports, of which he was passionately fond, especially of
shooting. He was one of the patrons of the Leeds vicarage,
and formerly a trustee of the Grammar School, from which be
retired about two years before his death. He died December
17th, 18G0, at his house in Brunswick Place, Leeds, in the
seventy-second year of his age, after an illness of only a w<
duration. His remains were interred in the family vault a1
Chapeltown church, near Leeds. — Chiefly from the Leeds Mer-
cury for December 18th, 18G0. For many additional partieu
lars, see the Leeds Intelligencer, &c.
1799— 186L
SIR PETER FAIRBAIRN, KNT.,
Machinist, rose from very moderate and even humble rirocun
stances, and was indeed a self-made man. He was the youi
sonof Mr. Andrew Fdirbairn, of K«1,m: but hisp amoved
to Ross-shire when he was young, and thence <" Newca tie,
where, at the early age of eleven years, bewaa taken from Bchool
and afterwards apprenticed to the busi Bfifi <i a .millwright. Hm
492 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
eldest brother, William, who has since become a distinguished
civil engineer and machine-maker, and a Fellow of the Royal
Society, &c, was then a millwright and engineer at Manchester;
and the younger brother (Peter) received part of his business-
training in that establishment.* He was also for a short time
with the Messrs. Rennie, in London. In 1822 he went to
France, but returning to Manchester in 1823, he was again
employed by his brother; and, in the following year, his talent
and energy having been proved, he was received as a partner
in the firm of Messrs. Houldsworth and Co., of the Anderton
Foundry, Glasgow.t Here he married, in 1827, the daughter of
Mr. Robert Kennedy, merchant, of that city. In the year 1828
he removed to Leeds, and commenced the business of a machine-
maker, in which he afterwards rose to so much eminence. He
first applied himself to the construction of woollen machinery,
in which he was among the first to improve the machines, by
substituting iron for wood. He then directed his attention to
the making of improved machines for the preparation and
spinning of flax, and for several years was largely employed
by the Messrs. Marshall. £ As an inventor and improver of
machinery applied to the useful arts, Sir Peter stood high in
the estimation of his country, which opinion is endorsed by the
whole mechanical world ; for his machines are known and appre-
* It is interesting to notice that the eldest son, "William, and the youngest,
Peter, the subject of this memoir, are solely indebted to their own exertions
for the position they have held in the estimation of the world. Both have
achieved distinction in their respective departments of mechanical industry;
and while elevating themselves, they have, at the same time, materially con-
tributed to the welfare of the country.
t This partnership, however, was not of long duration, for Sir Peter soon
discovered that, owing to circumstances over which he had no control, there
was but a small probability of success attending his exertions. He left
Glasgow in 1828, and after some days' consultation with his brother and
friends at Manchester, he determined to commence business on his own
account as a machine-maker at Leeds. He entered upon his work in that
capacity early in the year 1820, and from that time to the present it is well
known to the public how much he has contributed towards increasing the
industrial resources of the country by his numerous inventions and improve-
ments in machinery.
t In dealing with this subject he was assisted not only by a vigorous intellect,
but also by the experience he had derived from early association with the
construction of the cotton machinery of Manchester and Glasgow. These
qualifications, combined with his powers of construction and skill, effected
sucli happy results as to give a new character and fresh impetus to the flax
trade. Sir Peter was eminently successful in this special department of
practically applied science, and his system, classification, and powers of com-
bination have seldom been surpassed. The almost classical neatness of his
designs gave to his constructions a style and character always in harmony
with the objects for which they were intended ; but this is well known to the
inhabitants of Leeds, and a survey of his extensive works sufficiently reveals
the order, method, and system by which his operations were regulated.
SIR PETER FA1RBAIRN, KNT. iOi)
dated in every part of the globe, where such implements are
required.* He then entered largely into the construction of
engineering tools of all descriptions. At the beginning of the
Crimean war, the firm of which he was the head was invited by
Government to commence making special tools; and he after-
wards constructed a large number of machines for the manufac-
ture of fire-arms and other warlike implements, both at Wool-
wich and Enfield. Before his death a considerable number of
tools were made at his establishment for the manufacture of
the Armstrong guns, which aa-e now working both at Woolwich
and Elswick.t In his extensive works, called the Wellington
Foundry, which were planned and built under his own direc-
tions, about a thousand workmen have for some years been
employed. Sir Peter Fairbairn took an active interest in public
affairs, and so long ago as 1836 he was elected a town-councillor.
He was chosen an alderman of the borough in 1854. He carried
into public life the same energy, resolution, and business-talent,
which characterized him in the manasrement of his own affairs :
and these qualities made him a useful member of the corpora-
tion; one of his chief characteristics, which distinguished him
alike in municipal affairs and in his own manufactory, was the
spirit of improvement; and it need scarcely be said that this
spirit was much w r anted in Leeds. Being a man of taste in the
fine arts, and of a munificent spirit, he bestowed upon the town
a marble statue of her Majesty the Queen, by Noble, which
forms a chief ornament of our splendid Town Hall. This gift,
and his personal qualifications for the office, led to his being
chosen mayor in the year when the Town Hall was to be
opened, and when the British Association for the Advancement
of Science w r as to hold its meeting in Leeds. It required some
boldness to resolve on inviting her Majesty to inaugurate the
* He was one of the improvers of the roving frame, and assisted Mr.
Henry Houldsworth in the application of the differential motion so admirably
adapted and so usefully employed in that machine. Although not fc] rigina]
inventor, he it was, at' any rate, who worked out and rendered really valuable
the motion known by the name of "screw gill," by making it of easy practical
application. He, moreover, introduced the rotatory gill, which has hem most
extensively applied in tow machinery. These improvements effected almost
a revolution in flax and hemp preparing machinery, and enabled spinners t<>
produce a very superior article at much less cost than formerly, althc
from the same quality of material.
t Sir Peter was afterwards induced to begin making enginei ring tools of a
general description, and up to the last month of his life he was busty ocou
pied enlarging and organizing hi i i stablishment for fchi ptu pc e. Lastly, we
may mention that Sir Peter has constructed a hog'- quantitj of machinery for
preparing and spinning jute, water silk, and rope yarns. For a di icription of
his largo establishment, see Chambers's Edinburgh Journal tot l s n.
494 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Town Hall, and no small ability and perseverance to satisfy the
royal advisers that suitable arrangements could be made for the
accommodation of her Majesty. But the unflinching deter-
mination of the mayor overcame every obstacle, and perfected
every arrangement. The Queen graciously accepted the invita-
tion, and the inhabitants will long remember the exciting and
delightful circumstances of the Royal visit, when, accompanied
by the late much esteemed Prince Consort, and two of the
princesses, Queen Victoria rode through the town, and opened
the hall amidst the unbounded enthusiasm of her loyal people.
Sir Peter Fairbairn placed his own residence, "YVoodsley House,
at the disposal of her Majesty, who did him the honour to accept
the accommodation. It was with a unanimous feeling that the
distinction had been well earned, that the people of Leeds saw
her Majesty confer upon their- chief magistrate the title of knight
bachelor in the presence of the corporation and a brilliant
assembly in the Town Hall.* So remarkable was the success of
the first year of his mayoralty, that the town-council almost
forced the office upon his acceptance for a second year; at the
close of which a public subscription was raised to have his por-
trait painted by one of our first artists, and the picture by
Grant lately placed in the Town Hall was the result. He was
on the commission of the peace for the borough and also for the
West- Riding. His political principles were decidedly Liberal.t
His first wife having died in 1843, by whom he had one son,
Andrew, and two daughters (one of whom is married to
Mr. Wailes) ; he was married a second time, in 1855, to
* If it were only for the exertions which Sir Peter Fairbairn made at that
memorable time for the credit of the horough of Leeds, his memory would
long be gratefully cherished by his fellow-citizens.
"T Sir Peter Fairbairn was a member of the Church of England. In politics
he usually associated himself with the Liberal party, but he was a man of
moderate views, ever willing to lend his countenance to wise and judicious
measures, and to oppose those of a contrary tendency. His character in all
the relations of life was marked by the strictest integrity and uprightness.
A striking instance of his impartiality occurred at the last nomination of
members of parliament for the borough of Leeds, when as returning officer
he declared the show of bands to be in favour of Mr. Beecroft (Conservative)
against Mr. Forster (Liberal), and notwithstanding the clamour which was
raised by the political excitement of the moment, he consistently upheld his
decision. "We may conclude," says the Leeds Intelligencer, "this brief
tribute of justice to Sir Peter Fairbairn by expressing our conviction, from
which we are sure none of the inhabitants of Leeds will dissent, that his
death will be a great loss to the borough. We doubt not that his name will
be long cherished in grateful recollection, and that when the people of Leeds
call to mind the fine, patriarchal, snow-white beard which distinguished his
face in the busy street or crowded assembly, they will not forget that their
town was in many ways indebted for the hearty sympathy and unflagging zeal
manifested in its welfare by Sir Peter Fairbairn."
SIR PETER FAIRBAIRN', KMT. 495
Rachel Anne, the fourth daughter of the late Robert William
Brandling, Esq., of Low Gosforth, Northumberland, and widow
of Captain Chaides Bell, R.3sT. It may be truly said that
the talents and taste of Lady Fairbairn contributed no little
to the success of Sir Peter in the arduous duties of his
mayoralty. He "was born in the year 1799, and was therefore
sixty -one years of age when his "life, which promised much
longer duration, was so abruptly terminated, January -1th,
1861.* He was buried at Adel the Wednesday following, with
this inscription on the gravestone: — " Sir Peter Fairbairn, Knt. :
born 11th September, 1799; died 4th January, 1861." — Chiefly
from the Leeds Mercury, January 5th, 1861 ; see also the Leeds
Intelligencer; the Annual Register p. -436; the Gentleman's
Magazine for February, 1861, p. 231, &c. See his portrait
* Every plan calculated to promote the general welfare and prosperity of
the borough, or to make its position as the metropolis of the West-Riding
more apparent and decisive, was warmly supported by the late Sir Peter
Fairbairn, and with a zeal and pecuniary sacrifice which showed that his heart
was in the cause. During his two years' mayoralty, Leeds gained a prestige
far greater than it had ever previously occupied, and one which ought to be
so employed as to give the town a status in the West-Riding, and in the
county of York, which may yet obtain for it other important distiuet ions and
advantages. Sir Peter thoroughly understood that the progress and success
of a town, like the prosperity of any mercantile establishment, depend on the
discretion and energy of its guiding heads, and he set an example in this
respect during the time that he occupied the highest civic office of the
borough, which did credit alike to him as a man of business, and as a well-
wisher to the community amongst whom he dwelt. The liberal expenditure
of time and money which Sir Peter made, to add tclat to all the proceedings
in connection with the Town Hall, is too familiar to our readers to need
special reference to ; but we may again remind them of one of his acts, cer-
tainly not the least liberal or appropriate, viz., the presentation at the cost oi
about £1,000 of a beautiful marble statue of the Queen, which adorns the
vestibule of the Town Hall. It deserves to be recorded also that he was the
first mayor who manifested a thorough appreciation <>f the value of a cordial
and friendly unity between the merchants of Leeds and the gentry oi
county; and the banquet which he gave to Earl Fitzwilliam and other noble-
men and gentlemen, after the inauguration of the Town Hall, v I ince
of the pains and tact which he displayed to promote and th or ment
such a union. Not only, however, in his official capacity as mayor, did Six
Peter show bis desire to advance the interests of the borough, but as a
private individual his sympathy and purse were never wanting tor ;<n\ I
which would promote this end. He was a good supporter ol the ?i us
scientific, literary, and otheruseful institutions in the town, and n ■ neroua
contributor to the local charities. Ho was a useful patron oi the bne art
president of the Yorkshire Choral Union and ther ways he did mil
promote the cause of music; while his admiration oi the drama led him
heartily to promote a scheme for the erection of a new and commodioua
theatre in Leeds. Some time ago his fellov "' "'
th-ir sense of the value of his eminent public semi ption,
and obtained a full-length portrait of Sir Peter, which utedbj Mi F.
Grant, K.A. The painting, which n pr< i nts Sur Peter in the court dn
civic robes which he wore at the inauguration of the COWD Hall, IS placed In
the council chamber.
49 G BI0GRAPH1A LEODIENSIS.
iu the Illustrated London News for September 11th, 1858.
For Stanzas "In Memoriain" of Sir Peter Fairbairn, by
Joseph Smeaton, of Leeds, see the Leeds Intelligencer for
January 12th, 1861. The above Sketch has been kindly
revised, as to facts, by his son, Andrew Fairbairn, Esq., J.P.
1795-1861.
THOMAS FLOWER ELLIS, ESQ., M.A.,
An able and accomplished lawyer, who for nearly twenty-two
years was recorder of this borough, died April 5th, 1861, at
Bedford Place, Eussell Square, London, aged sixty-six years.
He studied at Cambridge, and there laid the foundation of that
compact and extensive knowledge which his literary and legal
studies afterwards swelled to so vast a bulk. Having chosen the
bar as his profession, he was called on February 6th, 1824. He
selected the Northern Circuit, of which he was a member to
the day of his death. His judgment, diligence, and large
acquaintance with law recommended him as a suitable partner
to Mr. Adolphus in editing the Queens Bench Reports. This
»reat work he besjan in Easter Term, 1835. Twelve thick
octavo volumes of Reports were published under their joint
names. A new series was then commenced, which ran through
about eighteen volumes. After this Mr. T. F. Ellis continued
the same great and useful work in conjunction with Mr. Colin
Blackburn, who was soon after appointed to a judgeship by Lord
Campbell. Of the value of this laborious record, of cases, even
lawyers themselves find it difficult to form an adequate opinion.
Perhaps it will be best appreciated if we say that there is not
a term-day in Westminster Hall, when these volumes are not
cited fifty or a hundred times. In May, 1839, Mr. Flower
Ellis was appointed recorder of Leeds, in place of Mr. Arm-
strong. Although he had not very good health, and frequently
suffered severe pain from an internal disease; yet he was only
absent from one sessions, besides the last, during the whole
twenty-two years he was recorder. During which time he was
well known to large numbers of our townsmen ; and the
temper, the judgment, and the other qualities he had shown in
the discharge of that office had earned him universal respect
and esteem. Those who had seen him most intimately had a
still higher appreciation both of his character and of his abili-
ties. His genuine worth, his genial tempei', his unaffected
modesty — the more admirable because united with unusually
large literary attainments — his clear judgment, his ready wit,
and the kindness and goodness which shone out in all his private
THOMAS EDWARD PLINT, ESQ. 497
intercourse, made liim always a welcome guest, an interesting
companion, and a valued friend. Mr. Ellis was a man whose
high, qualities were not seen at a glance. His powers of advo-
cacy were not great. He was a profound lawyer, but no speaker.
Tbere was no surface-glitter about the man, but a vast depth of
solid matter. Few minds have been more richly stored, either
with literary or legal knowledge — well digested and thoroughly
mastei'ed. He was one of the most intimate friends of the late
Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose own prodigious memory
and vast stores of knowledge have been the theme of universal
admiration. Few men could judge better of these qualities in
another, and the reliance which he placed on the judgment and
learning of his friend Mr. Ellis — a reliance which lasted through
life, and was most strongly marked by his appointing him one
of his two literary executors — bears strong testimony in favour
of the depth and solidity of his attainments. Another testi-
mony to his sound merits as a lawyer was furnished by his
appointment to the Attorney- Generalship of the Duchy of
Lancaster — an appointment which he obtained neither by flashy
brilliancy nor by personal favour, but simply as a tribute to his
high legal acquirements. Since the death of his friend Lord
Macaulay, who was M.P. for Leeds, after the passing of the
Reform Bill, in 1832, Mr. Ellis has brought out an interesting
volume of unpublished Essays, J'evieivs, Poems, and other
literary fragments by the great historian, some of them written
at a very early age. This was his last service to Macaulay, and
one of his last services to the public. — Chiefly from the Leeds
Mercury for April 9th, 1861. See also the Leeds Intelligencer,
April 13th, 1861; the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1861,
p. 588; the Annual Register, p. 435, kc,
1823-1861.
THOMAS EDWARD PLINT, ESQ.,
Sharebroker, of Leeds, died very suddenly,"' July 11th, 1861,
aged thirty-eight years. Few names were better known on the
London and provincial stock exchanges than that of Mr. 1 Mint,
* It is with extreme regret we announce (said the Leeds Mercury), thai
Mr. Thomas Edward Flint, of this town, expired on Thursday, after on
illness of little more than two hours' duration, II'' had attended i" bu
as usual the day before, and lefl a of the minister and deacons "f
East Parade chapel at ten p.m., being then, to all appearani ...II. \i
about six on Thursday morning he fell fain! done before,
and desired that Mr. Braithwaite, surge might be summoned ili.it gentle
man residing close by. Mi. Braithwaite, ran., was in immediate attend
and prescribed a restorative, under which Mr. Plin i. to
express his opinion that the affection w. off, and that hi i
i i
498 BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
whose transactions there were very large. He was also well
known as possessor of a choice and valuable collection of paint-
ings, including "the Black Brunswicker" and "the Broscribed
Royalist," by Millais, and which was shortly to have been
enriched by the addition of Holman Hunt's celebrated " Bind-
ing of Christ in the Temple;" Mr. Blint having lately bought
that great work. The deceased, who was a man of excellent
talents and much reading, combined in a remarkable degree
energy of mind with amiability of disposition. Both these
qualities were displayed in all the relations of life, winning him
the esteem of everybody who knew him, and the warm affection
of lai'ge numbers of persons. The energy with which his
business operations were conducted was thrown into the service
of religion and benevolence with yet more zest, and his death
was a heavy loss to many institutions, local and general, to
w T hich it was his delight to contribute largely both in time and
money. No good cause ever met with a denial of aid from
him ; his liberality, indeed, was most munificent. — Bor an
account of the sale of the late Mr. Blint's pictures, which
realized upwards of £18,000, with a long description of them,
see the Leeds Mercury, <kc, for March 4th, 5th, and 10th, 1862;
the Art- Journal, etc.
1778—1861.*
JAMES HOLDFORTH, ESQ., J.P.,
Silk manufacturer, of Burley Hill, Leeds, died July 13th, 1861,
at the advanced age of eighty-three years. He was one of our
oldest and most esteemed borough magistrates — being one of the
further attendance. Within an hour, however, a fresh summons was received
by Mr. Braithwaite, who obeyed it only to find that life had already begun to
ebb fast away, and to witness its close at about twenty minutes past eight
o'clock. Dr. Chadwick and Mr. Hoi well, Mr. Flint's ordinary medical
advisers, had been summoned on the occurrence of this second attack, but
neither could reach the house in time to see him alive. Great feebleness,
temporarily intensified, rather than actual disease of the heart, is believed to
have been the cause of death. The news of Mr. Flint's sudden withdrawal
from the scenes of his activity and usefulness produced a very painful
impression in Leeds. He died at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight,
leaving a wife (who died about two months after) and a very large family, as
well as an extensive circle of friends, to lament his loss. — For Lines " In
Memoriam" of Thomas Edward Plint, Esq., by Eliza Craven Green, see the
Leeds Intelligencer for August 3rd, 1SG1.
* — 1861. For a Sketch of J. G. Upplthy, Esej., of Park Place, Leeds, for-
merly a cloth-merchant, and a great patron of the fine arts, &c, who left
many bequests to the charitable institutions of Leeds, &c, see the Leeds
Intelligencer, &c, for February 16th and 23rd, 1861.
For a Sketch of the Rev. Samuel Bell, M.A., Ph.D., an eminent school-
master, who was born at Leeds in 1793, and died suddenly at Stockwell
Green, Surrey, July 22nd, 1861, see the Congregational Year-Book for 1S62.
Rft'HARD OASTLER, ESQ. 499
twenty-two gentlemen placed in the first commission of the
peace under the Municipal Act, in 1836. At the first election
of members of the town-council under that act, he was returned
as a councillor for the east ward ; was the same month included
in the first list of aldermen; and in November, 1838, had the
higher honour of chief magistrate conferred upon him. He was
one of the most assiduous and painstaking mayors this borough
ever possessed, and was the first Roman Catholic mayor elected
in England since the Reformation. For some years declining
health and age had necessitated his withdrawal from any active
public duties. During the earlier part of his life he was identi-
fied with all public matters connected with the welfare of the
town. He took an active part with the late Mr. Edward
Baines, the late Mr. T. W. Tottie, and the leaders of the Liberal
party in Yorkshire, in carrying the Catholic Emancipation Bill,
and was a friend and correspondent of Daniel O'Connell, Sheil,
O'Gorman Mahon, and other Catholics of distinction. Parlia-
mentary and municipal reforms were also objects to which he
gave an earnest support, and he was always found co-operating
with the advocates of these important measures. Of our public
charities he was a liberal supporter. As an employer he was
greatly beloved by his workpeople, large numbers of whom he
employed in his extensive silk-factory, situated in the ward
which, on the first occasion that presented itself, elected him as
a member of the reformed corporation. In religion he was a
staunch Roman Catholic, but never failed to show a careful
regard for the conscientious religious opinions of others. He
and bis father may be said to have founded the Catholic Missions
of Leeds; to each he was a large benefactor, and an unflinching
friend in times of difficulty. His sympathy for the poor was
conspicuous, and for many years he entirely supported a ragged
school in the East ward, where, by the poor especially, lie will be
much missed as an adviser and advocate. — Chiefly from the
Leeds Mercury; see also the Intelligencer for July 20th, L861.
1789—1861.
EICHABD OASTLEE, ESQ.,
Whose name was formerly a " household word " in every worl
ing-man's abode throughout Yorkshire and Lancashire, and
whose memory will Ion- be affectionately cherished there, did
at Harrogate, on Thursday, the 22nd of A-Ugust, L861, a
seventy-two years." He was a native of Leeds, being born m
* " The deceased," says the John Bull, "(who was ,„.,...'..!■. Icnovra ... the
manufacturing districts as the 'Factory King') w ■ t&unoh ! "<> : "">
500 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
St. Peter's Square, on the 20th of December, 1789. He was
the youngest of eight, and the son of Robert Oastler, a Leeds
merchant. The father was one of the earliest adherents of
John Wesley, who was the constant guest of Robert Oastler,
when his mission brought him to Yorkshire. On Wesley's last
visit to Leeds, shortly before his death, he took little Richard
in his arms, and invoked a blessing upon him.* Mr. Richard
Oastler's father was a distinguished philanthropist, and upon
settling in Leeds he took an active part in such public discus-
sions as were then rife in Leeds. His mother was a very good
woman, the daughter of Mr. Joseph Scurr, of Leeds, the repre-
sentative of an old and respectable family. When eight years
of age, Richard was sent to school at Fulneck, and when his
education had been considerably advanced he desired to enter
the legal profession, but to this his father objected. He was
then articled to Mr. Charles Watson, then an eminent arbitrator
and surveyor at Wakefield. Leaving there he went into busi-
Churchnian. Long resident in the West-Riding of Yorkshire, in the midst
of Radicals and Liberals, he was among the working classes one of the most
popular of political leaders. This must appear anomalous to those who are
ignorant of the circumstances and who knew not the man. Sincerity of
character and purpose was stamped on every public act of his life. This
was the key to his popularity and success ; it is also the great fact to which
the misfortunes of his checkered life were attributable. In 1807 he first
came before the public as a staunch supporter of Wilberforce, as the advocate
of negro emancipation. He was a great supporter of Queen Caroline, and
supported the Roman Catholic emancipation. During the reform agitation
he told the working men that all the pledges about retrenchment and
economy, and the total uprooting of bribery, intimidation, corruption, pen-
sions, and sinecures, so glibly promised, would prove to be a delusion ; and
when riots' occurred in Birmingham and Bristol, and Nottingham Castle was
in flames— when throughout the manufacturing districts of England and
Scotland men were being trained to the use of arms, and the lives of those in
opposition were frequently not safe, he boldly opposed the popular measure.
Between 1829 and 1832 Mr. Oastler was the leader of the Ten Hours' Bill
movement. From 1830 to 1847 he was engaged in an unceasing crusade
against the cruelties practised in factories until the passing of the Factories'
Regulation Act. He was a violent opponent of the new Poor-Law, and was
a staunch Protectionist. He was editor of a periodical called The Home, and
author of innumerable tracts, besides being a diligent newspaper correspon-
dent. His last tract, on Convocation, appeared in 1860, and was favourably
noticed in the John Bull. ' The Altai-, the Throne, and the Cottage,' in
other words, ' God, the Sovereign, and the People,' was his motto. He num-
bered among his friends — judges, bishops, peers, manufacturers, merchants,
and operatives. At all times he was the same in manner and spirit ; to the
poor and to the rich — courteous, earnest, and sincere." The estimation in
which Mr. Oastler was held by those who best knew him was shown by a
public meeting held at Leeds a few days after his death, and attended by both
millowners and millworkers, when the erection of a monument to his
memory was unanimously resolved on, and a subscription at once commenced
for that purpose.
* A ceremony not unfrequently performed by that venerable man upon the
children of his pious followers.
RICHARD OASTLER, ESQ. 501
ness at Leeds as a commission agent, but was unsuccessful. At
Leeds he was neither idle nor a waster." Benevolence was his
characteristic, and he found in Michael Thomas Sadler and
Joseph Dickenson congenial spirits to his own. Mr. Oastler's
marriage with Miss Mary Tatham, of Nottingham, took place
in 1816.t She was one among a thousand; a woman of much
natural talent, carefully educated, of the most pleasing man-
ners, and a devoted believer in Christ, &c. About July, 1820,
he succeeded his father as steward of the Yorkshire estates
of Thomas Thornhill, Esq., a Norfolk gentleman of large pro-
perty. It was while living in this capacity at Fixby Hall, near
Huddersfield, that Mr. Richard Oastler became a public man
under somewhat remarkable circumstances. He was, in the
autumn of 1830, on a visit to the late John Wood, Esq., an
extensive manufacturer at Bradford, when in the course of con-
versation that gentleman, who had discovered somewhat of the
benevolent, energetic, and impassioned nature of his guest,
expressed surprise that he had never turned his attention to the
"Factory System," adding that little children were by it subjected
to excessive work, and exposed to much cruelty in other ways.
Mr. Oastler inquired particulars, and next morning found that
Mr. Wood's mind as well as his own had been so much impressed
with the subject that neither of them could sleep. The conse-
quence was an engagement on his part to obtain, if possible,
* And such was the high opinion in which he was held that his friends
would have given him credit to almost any amount before he retired from
business.
t Who thus became, as he himself has said, "the helpmate of him who
loved her as his own soul, and during more than twenty-eight ye;i
his soitows and enhanced his joys." She whs born May 24th, 17'.i-".. and
June 12th, 1845. They had two children, Sarah and Kobert, who both died
in their infancy. The good old man, who ever after remained a widower,
was seized with his fatal illness while fcravi a Darlington and
Bradford. He was removed to Harrogate, and survived net many .1 . 1 1
mind continued as clear and as calm to the last as it had ■ a, full of
hopeful and joyful confidence to the end. Hr was a sincere Christian, an
honest politician, Mid a man who loved Ins God, Ins qi I bis com
The good he has done will live after him. He was an original thinker, and a
writer of great ability: perhaps the besi specimi writings maj !»■
found in tin: pages of Th II r omt . a publication he used to call " - bis little pet,
whose death" he "regretted with a fathi > ss;" it i ed on
.May old, L851, came out weekly, hut wa I in June,
not self-supporting. Much, very much, mighl still be culled from it- p
though, perhaps, not .if passing interest. Tin- remains o
now he in Kirkstall churchyard, mar the n ble abbej ; in
that . .. red the remains of his wife and their two
children.— For a Ion- description of a b -aim. I gls j window, I
erected in St. Stephen's church, Kirkstall, to In. memory, see the /
Inlelli'jencer, &c, for. Juno, 1804.
502 UIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
remedies for the evils which had so deeply excited the feelings
of Loth. The means employed were more consonant with his
own fiery temperament than with the dictates of more sober
judgments. Finding the manufacturers unwilling to admit his
sweeping charges against the system, and afraid to risk the
manufacturing pre-eminence of England, by consenting to
restrictions on the labour of young persons and women which
did not exist in other countries, he denounced them in unmea-
sured terms, confounding together the men of large benevolence,
many of whom even advocated moderate restrictions, and those
who undoubtedly needed legislative intervention between their
cruel neglect of duty and the defenceless sufferers from that
neglect. In the course of the Ten Hours' Bill agitation, in
which he had several influential coadjutors, but of which he
was the recognized leader out of parliament, and in opposing
the application of the New Poor-Law to the parishes around
Fixby, he succeeded in setting class against class to a lament-
able and alarming extent.* He saw in millowners generally
men of tyrannical dispositions, the sworn enemies of the opera-
tives; and in the advocates of the New Poor-Law none but men
who would grind the faces of the poor, while the Board in
London were in his eyes actual " devil kings." The resistance
to the application of this law in the Huddersfield and Halifax
districts, fomented by him, threatened the public peace ; and
Mr. Thornhill was induced by a representation from the Poor-
Law Board first to remonstrate, and then to deprive him of his
.stewardship. This was in 1838. A placard, strongly reflecting
upon Mr. Thornhill appeared contemporaneously with a popular
ovation to Mr. Oastler at Huddersfield, and the belief that the
latter was the author of an attack he really disapproved, induced
Mr. Thornhill to sue his late servant for a debt of some years'
standing. Judgment was given for the plaintiff in June, 1840,
and in December of that year, Mr. Oastler being unable to pay
the debt, was lodged in the Fleet Prison. For more than three
years he remained within the dismal walls of that prison, being
cheered from time to time by the visits of attached friends, and
still taking part in public questions by means of his "Fleet
Papers." At the beginning of 1844 a public subscription was
* At first he stood almost alone, but he was not the man to he daunted l>y
difficulties or overcome by opposition, and his exertions soon attracted the
notice of other intelligent and patriotic persons. From that time he became
the respected and beloved friend of the working classes of England, and his
name, both as an orator and a writer, a guarantee for plain-speaking and
common sense.
MR. JAMES NICHOLS. 503
got up in order to pay Mr. Thornhill's claim, and by February
in that year Mr. Oastler was once more a free man. He came
forth with his energies abated, but unaltered in any of his views,
except that he had learned charity towards former opponent-,
whose motives he could now believe to be as pure as his own.
Some of those whom he had often in past times denounced had
had the pleasure of contributing to procure his release — a
circumstance his grateful heart never forgot. Up to the enact-
ment of Lord Ashley's Ten Hours' Bill, in 1847, Mr. Oastler
continued as earnest, if not so fiery, an advocate of that
measure, as in former days. With its enactment his public
career may be said to have closed. He lost his wife in 1845.
and then resided for some time at Guildford, in Surrey. His
death took place in the West-Riding, which so often formerly
witnessed his immense activity. We believe he died without
an enemy, and that the news of his death would be received
with tears in many a poor man's dwelling. There can be
no doubt that the factory operatives' condition is now vastly
superior to what it was in 1830, or that to Mr. Oastler (after
all drawbacks are made) this happy change is in no small
measure due. He was a man of large heart, whose story may
perhaps point a moral, but will certainly excite much admira-
tion for the purity of motive, the energy of character, tin-
indomitable perseverance with which ends, he believed to be
right, were pursued, throughout a long and most checkered
career.'"' — Chiefly from the Leeds Mercury for August 2nd, 1SG1 .
1785—1861.
ME. JAMES NICHOLS,
The learned printer of Hoxton Square, London, and formerly
of Leeds, died November 26th, 1861, in the seventy-seventh
year of his age. He was a delightful friend, an accomplished
.scholar, an able controversialist, and a literary antiquarian of
wide research and great extent of knowledge. He was born a<
Washington, in the county of Durham, on April 6th, 1785;
but the family soon left the coal district for Bradford, in York
* See also the Leeds Intelligencer for August 24th and 31st, and Decombei
7th, 18(U; the Gentleman's Magazine for October, L861, p. 449, and for
December, p. 689; the Annual Register, p. 476, &c. For much additional
information, which would liave been inserted had apace allowed, see a
SpeecJn
land Quarterly Review for April, L850, p. 330, &c
504 ' BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
shire. His father meeting with reverses in business, he had to
begin to earn his own living at the early age of eight years ;
from which time till he was twelve, he worked in a factory at
Holbeck, a suburb of Leeds. And here it was that he laid the
foundation for his extensive acquirements : for, with that zeal
after knowledge which marked him to the last, he fixed his
Latin graruniar against some part of the framework, and turned
to it whenever his occupation as a piecer left him a spare
moment. Subsequently, his father's circum stances being some-
what improved, he was enabled to attend the Free Grammar
School of Leeds, where he made rapid progress in all the depart-
ments of learning. Being specially distinguished for his
classical attainments, he soon obtained the position of a private
tutor in a gentleman's family; and from that period, ixntil
within a few months of his death, it does not appear that he
ever slackened his application to his favourite studies. By
habits of early rising and other methods of redeeming the time,
he succeeded in accomplishing an astonishing amount of literary
work, even during the years in which the cares of a large busi-
ness required his attention. It is worthy of particular mention
that, although he was a layman and a man of business, he loved
to read the ponderous folios and quartos in Latin and in Dutch,
which contain the biographies, the correspondence, and the
controversial writings of the most famous divines of the conti-
nent of Europe, subsequent to the period of the Frotestant
Reformation, as well as the works of English historians and
divines. Every diligent reader of his volumes, " Calvinism and
Arminianism compared in their principles and tendency," and
" The Works of James Arminius, D.D., including a copious and
authentic account of the Synod of Dort and its proceedings,
and notices of the progress of his theological opinions in Great
Britain and on the Continent," has seen with admiration how
ably he executed these self-imposed and important tasks. On
all hands his learning and research were acknowledged.*
Among the valuable works which Mr. Nichols carefully edited
may be enumerated, Fullers " Church History of Britain," his
"History of the University of Cambridge and of "Waltham
* The Rev. Richard "Watson thus elegantly wrote: "The great object of
this various, or, as we might call it, manifold work, is expressed in the title,
'Calvinism and Arminianism compared,' and leads the author into a wide
range of historical research, often curious, always interesting, and, in very
many instances, exceedingly important. We have read few works with more
interest and instruction*; and we may with confidence say, that till these
volumes are thoroughly read, no person knows perfectly the times which they
embrace. Throughout the whole, we observe in the author a clear knowledge
MR. JAMES NICHOLS. 505
Abbey, with the appeal of injured innocence," and his "Holy
and Profane State (Avith Notes)/' Faringdoris "Sermons.'
Pearson "On the Creed," "The Morning Exei-cises," Chilling-
worth's "Religion of Protestants," Thomson's and Young's
"Works,"* Caesar's "Commentaries," and Virgil's "Eclogue.-,
and Georgics;" all admirable editions. His third volume of
the Works of Arminius is left in an advanced state ; and,
among other numerous unfinished -works, one of the most
interesting is a nearly completed edition of the Poems of Samuel
Wesley. Endowed with a knowledge of modern sacred litera-
ture sufficient to adorn the highest ecclesiastical position, it is
not any occasion of surprise that he was sought out in his
modest retirement by Southey, Tomline, and Wordsicorth, and
other men of name in the literary world, who courted his
friendship and his correspondence ; and that more than once
he was invited to enter the ministry of the Church of England.f
Mi\ Nichols was a lover of Methodism, and an ardent admirer
of the character and writings of the Wesley s. Fifty years ago,
when resident in Leeds, he edited the Poetical Works of the
celebrated Br. Byrom, of Manchester, who was a friend of the
Wesleys ; and, in 1813, it was a labour of love to him to report
and publish the proceedings of the first Methodist missionary
meeting held in Leeds. He was a large contributor to the
"Theological Dictionary" of the Rev. Richard Watson: that
celebrated divine having entertained for him a most sincere
affection, and having formed the highest estimate of his Learning
and ability. The late Dr. Bunting and many other miuisters
of the connexion always regarded him with no ordinary measure
of love and friendship. Mr. Nichols had a profound reverence
for the Holy Scriptures, which he studied in the original
Hebrew and Greek, as well as in the authorized English version.
of the Christian system, and an amiable and pious spirit. What evi
in earnest looks for in a work of this kind, he is sure of finding, Laborious
and careful research, good and acknowledged authority jation cai i led
up to the fountain-bead, and c;ilm and logical induction." In thi
of Mr. Nichols's labours, the highest literary authority day fully con-
curred. "This highly valuable work," said the Quarterly I
have a place in every historical, and in ical librai
Lowndi -/,■ Manual; Darling's Cyclopedia Bibliographica,&c.
* "Among the many works which he edited, fcbei ll "' 1 '
cannot be surpassed for judgment, zeal, care, and hip on the p
the editor; namely, 'The Poetical Works of Thomson, and ' Che ( ptote
WorksofDr. Young.'"'— Athenaeum, Dei ■ h, 1861.
t He was especially pressed to take this .step by Ins tv. nds,
Archdeacon Wrangham Todd, the i
latter of whom brought an urgent message on fche Bubjei t from one wno .»•"
well able to appreciate Mr. NichoU's qualifications, th< "'''■
500 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
That version lie regarded as faithful in intention, happy in
execution, and, notwithstanding any criticisms which may have
been passed upon it, as a stupendous monument of sacred
learning, and as the most estimable gift of God to the English-
speaking populations of the world, and to the heathen nations
who are receiving the Gospel from English Christians. His
excellencies as a husband and a father cannot be told in this
brief Sketch. — Abridged from the Watchman newspaper; re-
printed, in the form of a pamphlet, with Portrait, by William
Nichols, of London. See also the Leeds Intelligencer for
December 7th, 1861; Darling's Cyclopedia Bibliographica ;
Lowndes's Bibliographer s Manual, &c. The above Sketch has
been kindly revised by Mr. Councillor Nichols, of Holbeck.
1784-1883.
WILLIAM BECKETT, ESQ. (M.P.),
Banker, of Kirkstall Grange, near Leeds, formerly M.P. for
Leeds and Papon, died at Brighton, January 26th, 1863, in
his seventy-ninth year.* He was the principal partner in the
eminent banking firm of Beckett and Co., of the Leeds " Old
Bank," and for more than forty years held a leading position in
this borough, and stood high in the estimation of his fellow-
townsmen, t He had filled with ability, prudence, public spirit,
and we may even say with meekness, a very eminent position
in the banking and mercantile world. Owing to his wealth and
standing, his influence was very great, and his judgment on
mercantile, social, and even political questions was highly
* On the news of his death becoming known in Leeds, the mayor (Mr. March)
ordered the great hell at the Town Hall to be tolled, and the passing-bell of
the parish church was rung; and as their solemn tones were wafted on the
sombre winter air, and' their significance was understood, a sensible gloom
passed over all classes of the inhabitants ; every one feeling that the town had
lost a worthy and honoured citizen, who had rendered in his day and genera-
tion good service, both publicly and privately, both locally and nationally, to
his fellow-men, and had left behind him an unblemished and noble character,
as an incentive and example for the present and future generations.
*t As the liberal supporter of almost every undertaking having for its object
the promotion of the moral, social, and intellectual advancement of the
inhabitants of his native town, Mr. Beckett was equally held in esteem ; and
as a Churchman, who belonged to no narrow school of theology, he had won
for himself the praise of " all sorts and conditions of men," by repeated muni-
ficent subscriptions and other gifts for the extension of the Church and educa-
tion in this borough. To attempt to raise the character of Mr. Beckett in the
estimation of his contemporaries by eulogistic phrases is as unnecessary as
it would have been painful to his own unostentatious nature. He has left
behind him, as a citizen, as a statesman, as a Christian, a truly good name, —
and has obtained from those who were for years his bitterest political oppo-
nents an acknowledgment of his clearness of perception, his soundness of
judgment, and his honour and faithfulness of conduct.
WILLIAM BECKETT, ESQ., M.P. f)07
respected : but he was unostentatious in his mode of living
unambitious, calm, and always used his influence with modera-
tion, and with great respect for the rights and opinions of
others. His person was noble and commanding, his manners
highly popular, his talents good, his mode of speaking in public
clear and effective; so that he might have taken a far more
prominent position in politics if he had chosen. But his never
failing moderation led him to decline any peculiar prominence.
When loudly called upon by his party, in 1841,* he responded
to the call, and accepted a seat for this borough in the House of
Commons ;t but when the Conservative party was divided on
the Free Trade question, and when he himself had wisely
abandoned the views of the Protectionists, he promptly with-
drew from the representation of Leeds, and sat for some years
for the city of Ripon, from which he retired in the year 1857.
* After an arduous contest lie was placed at the head of the poll, having
received a larger number of votes than any previous candidate since the
enfranchisement of the borough. The numbers on that memorable occasion
were:— For W. Beckett (Conservative), 2,07G ; W. Aldam, jun. (Whig), 2,043;
Joseph Hume (Radical), 2,033; Viscount Jocelyn (Conservative), 1,926. At
the general election, in 1S47, Mr. Beckett was again returned at the head of
the poll, the numbers being : — W. Beckett (Conservative), 2,529; James Cartli
Marshall (Whig), 2,172; Joseph Sturge (Radical), 1,978.
T On the opening of parliament in 1842, Sir Robert Peel, the first minister
of the Crown, selected as seconder of the address in the House of Comn
the then newly-elected member for this borough, who, if we remember rightly,
appeared in full military dress as lieutenant-colonel of the Yorkshire Hussai s,
in which capacity he served for very many years, under the late Earl de < rrey.
In seconding the address, Mr. Beckett delivered an appropriate and effective
speech, which met with the appi-obation of both sides of the House. < >ne
topic which he gracefully adverted to was the birth and baptism of his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales. We have not muni to go into a genei al ri
tulation of the other parliamentary services of Mr. Beckett. They were
sistent throughout, and were uniformly marked with a due consideration for
the public weal. He was a warm supporter of the great constitutional prin-
ciples, which are involved in the maintenance of the three estates of tin'
realm, and the union of Church and State; but lie was equally the advocate
for the removal of abuses which had crept into our national policy, ami for
such changes in the fiscal and general laws of our country, as the alti red
circumstances of the age justified and prudence sanctioned, lie was the
warm supporter of the Factory Bill, which he advocated on the principles of
humanity and justice to the females and youthful'operatives employed in the
various textile manufactures of the United Kingdom. Eappily, though the
Whigs opposed that bill, and Lord John (now Earl) Russell said in the II
of Commons, on the very night that .Mr. IV* ! I il.. ■ ■ ■ i i ■ is, thai
"he believed that if any measure for the limitation of the industry and
labour of our manufactures should be even entertained by parliament
would cut at the root of our national ( perity," it has long been, in
stance, the law of the land, and millowners and manufaci orei i, as well as 1 1"
working classes, acknowledge the propriety of its enactment ami tin ■■ 1 .i
has produced. Mr. Beckett took a leading position on the wool dun. . and
to his disinterested efforts, in a great measure, was owing the ri peal of the
import duty on foreign wools, — a measure which conferred advantage! upon
508 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
No one who ever conversed with Mr. William Beckett could
fail to be impressed with the fairness and impartiality of his
views, the calmness of his spirit, the soundness of his judgment,
and his willingness to listen to men of far humbler position
and powers. These qualities naturally added to the estimation
in which he was held by the judicious, though not without a
slight mixture of regret that he did not always take the position
he might have taken. Mr. Beckett was much attached to his
native town, and was a liberal supporter of its institutions.
He was the founder of several schools, and contributed largely
to the support of churches, educational institutions of all kinds,
and all our charities. To the Philosophical Hall, the new
Infirmary, the intended Mechanics' Hall, the projected church
at Headingley, and a multitude of other objects, he gave munifi-
cent donations. The conduct of Mr. Beckett and his late
brother, Christopher, as bankers, at the alarming crisis of 1825,
gave to the Old Bank a strong claim on the confidence, and even
on the gratitude of the town. At that period they acted with
bold liberality, and yet with prudence, and so as to save many
of their customers from embarrassment.* Indeed, Mr. Beckett
was the model of a banker; and his influence on the whole
mercantile community of Leeds has been most salutary. The
last occasion on which he appeared in public in this borough
was in November, 1862, when he stood forward to advocate
the claims of the people of Lancashire on the sympathy and
help of his own fellow-townsmen. It will be remembered that
Lord and Lady Palmerston were Mr. Beckett's guests on their
visit to Leeds ; and that the esteem of his fellow-townsmen was
shown after his retirement from public life by a subscription for
a full-length portrait of him, by F. Grant, R.A., at a cost of
our woollen manufactures, and, instead of being followed by a depreciation
of the price of the home-grown wool, as many had anticipated, was soon suc-
ceeded by a greater demand, and enhanced prices for the produce of our own.
flockmasters. He supported the liberal commercial tariff introduced by Sir
Robert Peel in 1842, and other fiscal changes brought forward by that states-
man, including the repeal of the Corn Laws. At all times Mr. Beckett was
tolerant of the opinions of others, but he never gave up his own for either
party or personal purposes. Had he entered parliament at an earlier day, or
had he been ambitious to distinguish himself in the administration of the
affairs of the country, there is no doubt that he would have been called upon •
to take office in the Government.
* This wise and generous conduct was universally acknowledged, and con-
firmed the apophthegm that "A Beckett never failed us yet." Since the day
when that exclamation first found utterance from grateful lips, it has been
re-echoed with popular unanimity under various circumstances ; for no good
movement ever lacked the munificent support of this lamented gentleman;
and the frequency with which his bounty was exercised caused the expression
in cpiestion to become a proverb among his old constituents and neighbours. \
WILLIAM BECKETT, ESQ., M.P. 509
four hundred guineas, which now hangs in our Town Hall,* and
has special interest in recalling the features and bearing of a
departed worthy. Mr. William Beckett was the fifth son of
the first Sir John Beckett, Bart., and heir presumptive to Sir
Thomas Beckett, Bart. The youngest brother of that large
family, Edmund (Beckett) Denison, Esq., now heir presumptive
to the baronetcy, sat as member for the West-Riding in several
parliaments. Mr. "William Beckett was born in Leeds, in 1784,
and woidd have attained his seventy-ninth year in March. He
married, in 1841, Frances Adelina, a sister of H. C. Meynell
Ingram, Esq., of Temple Newsam, who survives him, without
children. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
For a long account of his funeral, see the Leeds Intelligencer,
&c., for February 7th, 1863. Funeral sermons were preached at
St. George's church, Leeds, by the Rev. William Sinclair, M.A.,
late incumbent (for long extracts from which, see the Leeds
Intelligencer for February 14th); and at the parish church, by
the Rev. Canon Atlay, D.D. For Stanzas " In Memoriam," by
Joseph Smeaton, of Leeds, see the Intelligencer for February
21st; for extracts from Mr. Beckett's will,T see the Intelli-
gencer for April 4th, 1863; and for a long description of a
stained glass window, which has been recently placed to his
memory in St. Stephen's church, Kirkstall, see the Leeds Intel-
ligencer for May, 1864. See the Gentleman's Magazine; the
Annual Register; and also Sketches of his father and brothers
in this vol., pp. 304, 418, and 422, <fcc.
* It well becomes the place it occupies (the mayor's reception room), being
an excellent likeness of one of the noblest of the Worthies of Leedf a man
whose character and deeds will long shed a bright light over bis native town.
The following is a copy of the inscription on the frame of the picture : —
"William Beckett, Esquire,
banker, late m.p. fob the borough of leeds:
painted at the request of his >'eu.<>\v-t"wnsmkx, and
pbesented by them to the borough as a testimonial
of their high respect and bsthhh.
1859.
—For a long account of the presentation of this Portrait, see I
Intelligencer, &c., for October 29th, 1859. .
t The sum of £2,000 was directed to be distributed for such charitable
objects in Leeds as his executors should ad in addition th(
continue for one year all his annual charitable subscriptions and contnbi
His trustees were also directed to apply at their discretion £1,000 per annum
for ten years in promoting the extension of Divine worship according to the
rites of the Established Church, and the endowment of the ministers ol
church, within the borough of Leeds. Foi a lisl of the obantabli
of the late Miss Becketts, see the Leed* ft ine 4th, ]
510 B10GRAI>HIA LEODIENSIS.
1800-1863.*
FREDERICK HOBSON, ESQ.,
Senior proprietor of the Leeds Times, died very suddenly, +
February 18th, 1863, aged sixty-three years. A large portion
of the late Mr. Hobson's life was spent in connection with his
journal. The Leeds Times, which first saw the light soon after
the passing of the Reform. Bill, was still, when it came into
his hands nearly thirty years ago, in its early and precarious
infancy. % It needed watchful care and skilful fostering. Those
who know best the perils that beset a journal on all sides during
the early stages of its existence can best estimate the magnitude
of the difficulties which Mr. Hobson encountered and overcame.
He was eminently a man of business. He understood the
* — 1863. Wsr. Milthokpe Maude, Esq. , a magistrate and deputy -lieu-
tenant for the "West-Riding of Yorkshire, died at his residence, Knowsthorpe
House, Leeds, March 29th, 1863, in his eighty-sixth year. During a long
and honourable career he was called to the discharge of many important
public functions, and in every capacity his conduct was remarkable for ability
and zeal, conscientiousness and faithfulness. He was a consistent aud warm
supporter of the Conservative cause, and at various periods of his life took an
active interest in the great political movements of the day. He was for a
long succession of years the vicar's churchwarden for the parish of Leeds ; a
patron of the Leeds vicarage ; and one of the Pious Use trustees. His
remains were interred at Roundhay church, near Leeds.
•f* This melancholy event occurred on "Wednesday so suddenly and unex-
pectedly that his family and friends were entirely unprepared for the heavy
loss which befell them. Mr. Hobson visited the office on Tuesday morning
apparently in good health, and even more than ordinarily cheerful. He
afterwards went to collect the rents of some property which belonged to him,
and while in the house of one of his tenants was seized with apoplexy. He
was conveyed to the office in a cab as speedily as possible, and medical aid
immediately procured. Soon afterwards he was taken to his residence at
"Woodhouse, where he died at a quarter past three o'clock the following
morning. Few men were less likely than Mr. Hobson to terminate life thus
suddenly. Of spare figure, of temperate, active, and regular habits, he pre-
sented none of those characteristics which are usually considered as indicating
a liability to apoplectic attacks, but from which liability, of course, none- — and
especially those entering upon the winter of life — are free. His good consti-
tution was to all appearance unimpaired, and seemed of late years to have
rather gained than otherwise in strength and stability. The disappearance
thus abruptly of a fellow-being from the busy scene of human existence, in
whose cares, and interests, and enjoyments he was but a day or two before an
active participator, cannot fail to impress even the general public with a vivid
sense of the uncertain tenure by which life is held, and of the great truth that
"in the midst of life we are in death." How little can any of us tell at any
moment how soon the slender thread of existence may snap asunder. To
those who knew the late Mr. Hobson intimately, and those who were con-
nected with him by the closer ties of relationship, the event strikes far
deeper and sadder chords of feeling.
% The Leeds Times newspaper was established by Messrs. Fenton, Roebuck,
and Bingley, and within a few months of its commencement came into the
hands of its late senior proprietor, Mr. Frederick Hobson. By careful
management and able editing, it has attained a very high position as a Liberal
provincial newspaper, and has gradually increased from a small sheet to its
WILLIAM GOTT, ESQ. 511
importance of good financial management. To him was mainly
due the credit of organizing the practical arrangements in con-
nection with the paper; he placed them on a sound basis; he
watched over them vigilantly; and he lost no opportunity of
impi'oving and extending them. The journal he had taken
under his charge had, during its early course, some hard
struggles to wage, and not a few trying vicissitudes to pass
through; but gradually it won its way, and for many years
before his death had risen to a position of prosperity and
influence. His own labours were exclusively confined to the
commercial department; he seldom interfered, except by occa-
sional suggestions, with the editorial management of the paper.
Satisfied as to the principles, ability, and judgment of those to
whom its direction was intrusted, he wisely left them unfettered
in the exercise of their functions. In his own sphere his ser-
vices were invaluable. The Leeds Times owes much of its
success to his practical acuteness and business aptitudes — his
activity and enterprise. Of late years his eldest son, Mr Wm.
Hobson, who joined him in the proprietorship of the paper, has
taken a leading part in its editorial management and direction.
The loss of Mr. Hobson, although he never took any very j im-
minent position in public affairs, was widely and deeply
He was a quiet worker, and he did his work efficiently. His
manners were wholly free from pretension — indeed he was
unassuming and retiring almost to a fault. He was upright in
business, and kind in the relations of private life. To his own
family the loss must be irreparable; and, beyond the domestic
circle, many who have been for years associated with him in the
management of the paper will feel keenly and deeply this sudden
severance of a long connection. — See the Leeds Papers, &c, for
February, 1863.
1797-1863.*
WILLIAM GOTT, ESQ.,
Woollen merchant, of Wyther Grange, Kirkstall, and also oi
Bay Fort, Torquay, one of the senior partners in the emineni
present large size. It has numbered amongst il the Rev. 1.1
Parsons, the lamented Robert Nicoll. ("J < 'lisn-l.-s ll...,t..i.. Samu.-I Sn
Its present weekly circulation is said to be upwards of 22.000 1 f its
advertisements, now numerous, have more than douhl d ■
ye JS'Por along Sketch of Mr. Robert Nicoll, poet, &c, who died D
7th, 1837, in his twenty-fourth year, see MayhalTs Am
P * _!i863. For a Sketch of the late Cfiurles Bous, Id, '" ; ■ <
Roundhay, near Leeds; oi thi Sim of Hudron and Boiufleld, wo
512 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
and long-established firm of Benjamin Gott and Sons, cloth-
merchants and manufacturers, Leeds, died somewhat suddenly,
August 25th, 1863, at Patterdale, in Westmoreland, where he
was on a visit for the benefit of his health. Though not what
may be termed a public man, he was nevertheless a public
benefactor. His loss will be felt by all our local charities, to
which he was a munificent contributor. He did much good
without ostentation, had a warm attachment to his native town,
and loved to see its progress and improvement. Mr. William
Gott possessed an accurate knowledge of business, and devoted
much of his time and attention to the interests of the firm of
which his revered father was the founder, and of which he and
his brother (John) have been for upwards of twenty years the
chief members; but he was not unmindful of the more refined
pursuits of life, and his love of the fine arts formed his chief
recreation at home, where he delighted to surround himself with
those objects of taste which he had collected from boyhood
upwards. But his was not a selfish taste: he had long been a
member of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society; he
was one of its vice-presidents for 1863, and in several ways, and
cloth-merchants ; president of the Leeds Conservative Association ; chairman
of Mr. G. S. Beecroft's Committee, and his proposer at the last nomination,
see the Leeds Intelligencer for June 6th, 1863.
1800 — 1863. William Willans, Esq., J. P., was born at Leeds, in 1800,
but removed to Huddersfield when a young man, and established himself in
business, first as a commission-agent, and afterwards as a wool-merchant. By
mercantile talent, prudence, and high integrity, he gained a character which
raised his house to a first-rate position, and yielded him a handsome fortune.
His abilities as a commercial man were held in the highest respect, which was
shown by his being twice elected president of the Huddersfield Chamber of
Commerce — a position he filled with efficiency till his death — and also by his
being chosen chairman of the Exhibition Committees of both 1851 and 1862.
Mr. Willans became extensively known, not only in Yorkshire, but throughout
England, as one of the principal wool -merchants of the West-Riding; and
also as a leading member of the Liberal party at Huddersfield; and a zealous
supporter of the voluntary principle, whether in education or religion. In
1852, at the requisition of a majority of the electors, he consented to become
a candidate for the representation of the borough; at the election he was
defeated by thirty-nine votes ; his opponent, however, was unseated for
bribery. He took an active part in Sunday schools, in British and Foreign
schools, in the affairs of the Congregational church in Ramsden Street, in the
London Missionary Society, the Bible Society, the Religious Tract Society,
the Town Mission, and almost every public association for the promotion of
objects of a similar nature. He was one of the founders and most active
benefactors of the Huddersfield College, and at his death, September 4th,
1863, had been for many years its president ; and he also gave his aid to the
Huddersfield Mechanics' Institute. He died universally lamented, and was
honoured with a public funeral. — See the Leeds Mercury; the Huddersfield
Papers for September, 1863; the Illustrated London News, &c. And for a
much longer Sketch, see the Evangelical Magazine, and the West-Biding Con-
gregational Register, &c, for 1864. The above brief Sketch has been kindly
revised by his son, Jas. Edwd. Willans, Esq. , of Huddersfield.
e>
WILLIAM GOTT, ESQ. 513
on many occasions, he gave significant proof of his appreciation
of the objects which that society had been established to pro-
mote, by contributing largely in every way to it. His contribu-
tions to the museum are of great value; amongst them are the
fine fossil of the great Irish elk, and the finely -preserved Bengal
tiger, and other specimens of natural history, with many similar
objects of interest. Many of our readers will also remember
the beautiful collection of manuscripts which he sent on the
occasion of the opening of the new hall of the society. Thus
he endeavoured to give to others the enjoyment of those things
that his means allowed him in an unusual degree fco pos ess.
His great liberality found many ways of exercising itself.
There is scarcely a public institution in the town which lias not
been indebted to him. He was one of the largest subscribers
to the New General Infirmary for the borough, and to the fund
for enlarging the Philosophical Hall — to the former giving
.£1,000, and to the latter £500. He also gave largely to the
fund for the erection of a new building for the Leeds Mechanics'
Institution and Literary Society. Nor amidst these numerous
gifts in the town were his own workpeople forgotten. He
sought and laboured for their comfort in every way. It may
not be generally known that he was the suggester of the plan
for assigning allotment gardens to the mill-hands. In polities
Mr. Gott was a sound Conservative, though he took no public
part in them. He was very tolerant of the political opinions
of others, and in all his dealings with other men he displayed
an almost complete abnegation of political partisanship. In
religion, Mr. Gott was a consistent member of the Church of
England, whose usefulness he sought to extend, not less by liis
own life of practical piety, than by the way in which lie aided
everv scheme for church improvement in the town. In con-
cluding our brief notice, we will only add that kindness '■>
others, sympathy with all sorrow, and a desire fco make all
around him happy, were the prominent points of his character
that his loss will be deplored not only by his friends, or tl.
with whom he was brought into immediate contact, bu1 by tin-
town at large; and that it will b6 Ion-- before the v. -id can ed
by his large-hearted kindness can he supplied. lie did not
enjoy the best health for some years before he died; but bis
fatal' illness was only contracted a I' v. days before hi death, by
his getting wet, and a serious attack of dysenterj coming
from which he never rallied. He was the second urvh
son of the late Mr. Benjamin Gott, and was in tl- 66th yeai
of his age. He was buried the Tuesday following, Septembei
K K
514 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
1st, in their family vault, at Armley church, near Leeds.* — For
a long account of the funeral, with extracts from funeral
sermons, see the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for September 5th
and 12th, 1863.
1787—1863.
JOHN SHEEPSHANKS, ESQ.,
' ' The accomplished owner of the famous collection of pictures,
known as the Sheepshanks' gallery," which he gave to the nation,
was born in 1787, and was the son of a wealthy cloth-manufac-
turer at Leeds, where he succeeded his father in the business.
The leisure which he could spare from commercial pursuits he
devoted to the study of the fine arts. Having a large income
at his disposal, he gradually became possessed of one of the
best collections of pictures by British artists that have ever been
formed, and these he munificently presented to the nation, in
1856, tinder certain conditions.t This collection, which embraces
233 oil-paintings and 103 sketches and dra wings by Turner,
Stanfield, Chalon, and most of our best modern artists, has
been deposited at the South Kensington Museum, where the
public are admitted free of cost at all times when the gallery
is not reserved for the use of students. The liberal donor,
remembering how many of the public have but one leisure
day, wherein they could have enjoyment of his gift, wished that
access might be given to all comers after morning church-hours
on Sundays. There was a powerful sentiment which success-
* He left three legacies of £200 each to the Leeds General Infirmary, the
Public Dispensary, and the House of Recovery ; and a marble bust of him
is being carved at Rome for the Leeds Philosophical Hall.
■f Mr. John Sheepshanks had for a long time been known as a collector of
choice pictures, but he led a quiet and unobtrusive life, liberal to artists, and
happy in their society — though unknown to the general world, up to the act
of patriotic munificence which entitled him to a nation's gratitude. Early in
December, 1856, London was surprised and delighted to hear that he had pre-
sented to the nation the whole of his splendid collection of drawings and
paintings, for the purposes of public instruction in art. Mr. Sheepshanks disap-
proved of irresponsible management by boards like the trustees of the British
Museum and the National Gallery, and made it a condition that the responsi-
bility of taking care of his collection should rest with an individual minister
— the vice-president of the Committee of Council on Education. The gene-
rous donor considered that a crowded thoroughfare was not suitable for the
genial study of works of art ; and he stipulated that his collection should be
removed to South Kensington, giving also a liberal permission to provincial
towns to have the pictures on loan, if the authorities provided suitable places
to exhibit them in. Lord Palmerston accepted the splendid gift with grati-
tude, on behalf of the Government, and the collection was removed from
Rutland Gate to South Kensington early in 1857. The collection is worth
about £60,000. It is especially rich in the best works of Mulready, Leslie,
and Landseer, and contains fine examples of the principal modern British oil-
painters.
KOBERT GEORGE HARDWICK, ESQ., M.D. 515
fully opposed that wish. Almost the only legal enjoyment
which is permitted to our labouring classes, between the Sunday
hours of church services, is to be found in the taverns, which
are then opened. He was also, in the later years of his life, a
great collector of valuable books. His death took place on
Monday, October 5th, 1863, at his residence, Rutland Gate,
Knightsbridge, London, aged seventy-four. His brother, the
Rev. Richard Sheepshanks, F.R.S., &c, formerly Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and a distinguished astronomer
(for a Sketch of whom see page -±57), died in 1855. — See the
Leeds Papers; the Illustrated London Xeivs; the Illustrated
Times for October, 1863; the Leeds Intelligencer for December
13th, 1856; the Art-Journal for 1857, p. 33, &c.
1834-1864.
ROBEET GEOEGE HARDWICK, ESQ., M.D.,
Physician, of Park Square, Leeds, died early on Tuesday
morning, January 19th, 1864, aged thirty years. There was
but one feeling of deep regret in the town at the announcement
of this event.* Dr. Hardwick was a native of Leeds, had
studied at the Leeds Medical School, had subsequently taken
distinguished honours in the medical examinations of the
London University, t had held the office of house surgeon to
the Leeds General Infirmary during four years, and had settled
for the last four years in Leeds as a physician. His high
attainments and testimonials secured him the appointment,
against a formidable competition, to the post of junior physician
at the Leeds Infirmary. Dr. Hardwick was also physician to
the Leeds Dispensary and to the House of Recovery, and
lecturer on medicine at the Medical School. Though only
just turned thirty years of age, and not long established, lie
was beginning to gain a good practice, and was generally lo<
upon as a rising man in his profession. He was married al
three years ago to Miss Cook, of Richmond, Yorkshire, and
besides his widow, two infant children. Tl ins of this much
lamented gentleman were interred on the Friday following, in
Headingley churchyard. The funeral was attended bj
* His loss was felt in the town of Lee !
and by the Medical School and Infirmary, with which I
capacities for many years honourabl
by a large number of private I
t Mr. Robert &
passed third in hi ".' '"
■ urs in midwifery : and in the follow!
tion at the Ui Ion.
516 BIOGRAPIirA LEODIENSIS.
all the medical gentlemen and medical students in the town
and district, and by a large number of other friends of the
deceased.'"' — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
1799-1864.
ALARIC ALEXANDER WATTS, ESQ.,
Whom some of our readers may recollect, through his connec-
tion with the Leeds Intelligencer, of which he was the editor
about forty years ago, died in Blenheim Crescent, Kensington
Park, London, April 5th, 1864, in the sixty-fifth year of his
age. Mr. A. A. Watts was bom in London, March 19th, 1799.
In 1822 he published a volume of poems, Poetical Sketches,
which went through many editions, and in the same year he
became editor of the Leeds Intelligencer, and continued upon it
for four or five years. At that time newspaper hostilities were
waged with much severity, and Mr. Watts bore his part against
his antagonist, the Leeds Mercury, with no little spirit and
ability. After this he held the editorship of the Manchester
Courier, which he relinquished and returned to London to edit
the Literary Souvenir, one of those "annuals" which, like the
Forget Me Not and the Keepsake, enjoyed a well-earned popu-
larity during several years. He brought out eleven volumes of
the Literary Souvenir (1824 to 1834),+ and three volumes of the
Cabinet of Modern Art (1836-1838). From that time Mr. Watts
was largely connected with the press, and was the first editor of
the United Service Gazette. In 1850 he published Lyrics of the
Heart; and in 1853 he obtained a literary pension of £100 a
year. — See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for April 9th, 1864.
For additional particulars, see Knight's Cyclopaedia of Universal
Biography; the Gentleman's Magazine; Walford's Men of the
Time, &c.
1793-1864.
CHARLES GASCOIGNE MACLEA, ESQ.,
Justice of the peace, and formerly mayor of the borough of
Leeds, died at his residence, Blenheim Terrace, Leeds, May 24th,
1864, aged seventy-one. Mr. Maclea, though descended from
a good family (his grandfather, Dr. Maclea, being a clei'gy-
* Some of the friends of the late Dr. Hardwick, of Leeds, desirous of
showing their respect to his memory, have lately subscribed upwards of
£280 towards founding a prize, to be called the Hardwick Clinical Prize. It
is the intention of the subscribers that this prize shall be annually awarded
to the best student in clinical medicine at the Leeds General Infirmary. —
See the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for September 24th, 1864.
f For Stanzas on "Kirkstall Abbey Revisited," by ^laric A. Watts, see
the Leeds Intelligencer for December 16tb, 1824, &c.
CHARLES GASCOIGNE MACLEA, ESQ. ."; 1 7
man of the Church of Scotland), was yet a self-made
man, who rose^ to fill with universal esteem some of the
highest offices his fellow-townsmen could confer. As a member
for many years of the celebrated firm of Maclea and March,
machine-makers, Dewsbury Road, Leeds, he gained a high
character for commercial honour. Mr. Maclea, as an eminent
maker of flax-spinning and other machinery, had a European
fame; but for some years, we believe, he had not taken
much part in the business of the firm — the conducting of
which was left in the hands of his partner." As a man of
business Mr. Maclea was industrious and persevering, anil
showed that amount of sound judgment, coupled with courtesy
and liberality in his dealings, which won for him great respect
and considerable wealth. In the year 1847 lie was elected on
the directory of the Leeds and Yorkshire Insurance Company,
and almost immediately afterwards he was appointed the chair
man of the Board; and he held that honourable and responsible
post with great satisfaction till the year before his death, when
he resigned on account of the state of his health, and he was
succeeded by Mr. Joseph M. Tennant. Mr. Maclea was placed on
the commission of the peace for this borough several years ago,
and faithfullv discharged his magisterial duties until his declining
health compelled him to relinquish them. In politics he was a
consistent Whig, and was made an alderman in 1842, and
retained that position until 1862, when he declined being again
put in nomination. In 1816 he was elected mayor of the
borough, but he soon after resigned that office on account of
his health, and was succeeded by the late Sir George Goodman.
In public and private life Mr. Maclea's demeanour was alike
unostentatious and kind both to rich and poor, and it may safely
be said that he lived and died in the love and esteem of all \\ ho
knew him well.t His funeral took place at Si. Mark's church,
* On his retiring from business, in January, L843, tin- workmen gave him ■>
dinner, after which they ]> ■" liini a splendid gold snuff-hox, frmi
establishment of Messrs. Wilkinson, silversmiths, of Leeds; on the lid of
which was richly wrought, in high relief, York M ad on the bottom
was the following inscription: '" I I bo Charles Gascoigne Maclea,
Esq., by the workmen late in his employ, as an humble ■ their
esteem and respect. January I
t He married a daughter « be Mr. Matthew Murray, but, havini no
issue, he left the greater part of his property to the childri □ oi Mr. J.
March (the late mayor of this borough), in | hip with whom ii had
been made. A. beautiful font, carved in ( Mr. Robert Mawer, oi
Leeds, was munificently presented bo St. Mark's church. Wood] Mr,
Alderman .Maclea; for a d< cription of which, so- Mayhall'a AnnaX
Leeds, &c, p. 641. He was also one of the jc Exhibition in
1851 for tools and manufacturin nes.
518 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Woodhouse, on Saturday, May 28th, 1864, and was attended
by the borough magistrates and the directors of the Leeds and
Yorkshire Insui'ance Company. — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
The above Sketch has been kindly revised.
1802-1864.
MES. WOOD (nee Paton),
An eminent vocalist, well known in Leeds and neighbourhood,
expired July 21st, 1864, at Bultcliffe Hall, near Bretton, in
this county, where she and Mr. Joseph "Wood had been residing
for the last twelve months. After she had retired from public
life, she and her husband took up their residence at Woolley
Moor, near Wakefield, where they resided until May, 1854,
when, after a short sojourn in Manchester, they came to Leeds,
where for several years they resided at Camden House, Wood-
house Lane, where the lady devoted herself to the teaching of
music. Her labours in this department of the profession
resulted in the successful scientific education of several pro-
mising English singers. We need only mention Miss Milner,
Miss Pilling, and Miss Dobson, as examples of her careful
musical training. Mrs. Mary A. Wood was the eldest daughter
of Mr. Paton, a well educated tutor at the head of an Edin-
burgh mathematical establishment, and was born in 1802.
From her earliest years her musical gift was prominently
exhibited, and when only two years of age she could name any
tone, or semitone, on hearing it sounded. At four years of age
she was able to perform on the harp and pianoforte, and when
five years old several fantasias were published under her name.
In 1810 Miss Paton appeared at several concerts in Edinburgh,
where she sang and accompanied herself on the pianoforte, and
recited with considerable effect Collins's " Ode to the Passions,"
"Alexander's Feast," and other similar pieces of oratory. At
Huntley, hi Aberdeenshire (whither she had accompanied her
father), the Duke of Cumberland, who was then on his way to
Culloden, was so delighted with the style in which she executed
several Scotch melodies, that he presented her with a superb
scarf of silk tartan. Mr. Paton went up to London in 1811,
but here his daughter found considerable difficulties interposed
to prevent her from appearing in public, owing to the prejudices
of the professors who had then the lead of the musical world;
but at length Mr. Morris, of the Haymarket, agreed to give her
an easy essay on the stage, and on the 3rd of August, 1822,
Miss Paton made her first curtsey as Susannah in the " Marriage
of Figaro." She was a very agreeable looking girl ; her figure
MRS. WOOD. 519
was about the middle height, slender and delicate; her hair
and eyes were dark, her complexion clear. Never was success
more decided or more deserved. She subsequently performed
Rosina in the "Barber of Seville," &c. Two months after
Miss Paton was engaged at Covent Garden, replacing 31 iss
Stevens in the first characters. On the 19th of October she
appeared as Polly in the "Beggar's Opera/' and repeated that
character two or three times; but her name was then suddenly
omitted from the bills until the 7th of December, when she
appeared as Mundane. Curiosity was naturally excited, and it
then appeared that Miss A. M. Tree had peremptorily refused
to perform with Miss Paton, except on the condition of her
rival playing second to her, which the quality of their respective
voices rendered absurd: besides, Miss Paton had been engaged
to perform first characters only.' 5 ' Her unhappy marriage with
Lord William Lennox took place in 1821, but it was not
publicly avowed till two years later, t After her marriage with
Mr. Wood she enjoyed a prosperous career, and after a few
years retired in a great measure from public engagement-,
taking up her residence at first near Wakefield, and afterwards
at Leeds. About a year ago (1863), Mr. and Mrs. Wood
* The revival of Shakspeare's plays with music proved a more fertile source
of jealousy between the tival sirens. In February, 1823, they performed
together in the "Comedy of Errors." Miss Paton, as Adrian, sang the
" Willow" song from Othello, and " Come, live with me and be my love," vej y
sweetly, but she surpassed herself in " Lo ! here the gentle lark," from Venus
and Adonis. The duet with Miss Tree, " Tell me, where is fancy hied ! " was
finely executed. When Miss Stevens's engagement at the English opera
house was concluded, Miss Paton took her place to execute the music of " Der
Freischittz," which was produced July 22nd, 1823. She was then essentially
acknowledged to be a British songstress. Her voice was sweet, brilliant, and
powerful, its compass extending from A to D or E, or above eighteen or nine-
teen notes, and her intonation was correct. In October, 1823, at
given by her for the benefit of the nascent Royal Academy of Music, almosl
the only encore of the night was accorded to the duet "SulT Aria," sung bj
Miss Paton and Miss A. ML Tree. This sweet and beautiful melod\ was
"made a mere ground for the ladies to embroider upon, and they maun
as much ingenuity and as much execution as possible, though a! the . •
of a sound taste." In addition to the allurement of conscious power,
Paton began to imitate Catalini, and she did so with success, however nraon
it was regretted by true lovers of song.
t After her marriage the unhappy wife's health became so impai
even when the curtain rose to crowded audiences, the public were >
certain that they mighl not be met by a medical certificate of Mj j Paton'a
"total incapacity to play that evening." An ( from her husband,
followed by a divorce, terminated her unlu For ni
husband Miss Paton selected Mr. '>• ■ w1 "'
had lately appeared on the Ooveni Garden boards. Ee was a fine and
looking man, with a i eeable roice, and in bo
was a pretty good actor. -Mrs. Wo iduaUy recovered her health, whi<
Lady William Lennox, she had lost, and the cheerfulness and
520 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
removed again to the neighbourhood of "Wakefield, where
Mrs. Wood died, as already stated, after a long declining state
of health. — See the Leeds Papers, &c. ; and for many additional
particulars, see the Leeds Times for July 23rd, 1864.
1792—1864.
JOHN HOPE SHAW, ESQ.,
An eminent solicitor, died on Saturday morning, August 20th,
1864, at his residence at Headingley, near Leeds, in the seventy-
second year of his age."' To his kindred and more intimate
friends the death of Mr. Shaw was not an unexpected event;
for, although he was of good sound constitution, and had not
been confined to his house for more than a few weeks, there
were certain premonitory symptoms at the early stage of his
illness which caused serious apprehensions as to its probable
result. By the death of Mr. Shaw, the town of Leeds lost one
of its most distinguished members — a man who, it is not too
much to say, in this borough had no equal in the grasp of his
intellect, the depth of his knowledge, and the soundness of his
judgment. Nor was he deficient in the softer feelings of
humanity; for, though his demeanour was grave and dignified,
and occasionally marked with a degree of reserve amounting to
coolness, there was no forbidding hauteur in his bearing, and
his whole public conduct was free from those "fantastic tricks"
which the great dramatist rightly assigns as the besetting
failings of many men " dressed in a little brief authority." To
the humble as well as the exalted he was always courteous;
and the many personal labours and personal sacrifices which he
made, year after year, for a long period of time, are an indis-
putable evidence that to promote the moral, the intellectual,
and the social advancement of the middle and lower classes of
the community was to him not only an object of commendable
days returned. Her first appearance in p\iblic, after her marriage with
Mr. Wood, was on February 24th, 1829, at Uovent Garden, as lieisa in
Weber's "Oberon." Her powers were found unimpaired, and were never
more brilliantly displayed. Tempting offers induced Mr. and Mrs. Wood to
cross the Atlantic in 1840. On their return, they judiciously invested their
earnings in the purchase of an estate in Yorkshire, intending to retire and
enjoy the ease and quiet which they had fairly won.
* All ranks and parties in the borough of Leeds learnt with feelings of
deep regret the death of John Hope Shaw, Esq., one of the most eminent of
the Leeds magistrates, the head of a long-established legal firm, and a man
who has filled in the course of the past half century some of the most
honoured and most useful posts which could be conferred upon him by hi<
fellow-townsmen.
JOHN HOPE SHAW, ESQ. 521
ambition, but a real labour of love." In his profession :
solicitor and attorney, Mr. Shaw may be said to have stood on
the topmost pinnacle. His great talents, in the course of his
long professional career, received several marks of recognition.
He was elected — if not the first — one of the earliest presidents
of the Provincial Law Association; and as a token of their
deep respect for him, and as a tribute to his great legal know-
ledge, and the valuable services which he had rendered to the
profession, the members of the association p d him with
a handsome testimonial. A further tribute to his legal know-
ledge and personal character was subsecptentlv paid to him by
his being elected a member of the Council of "the Incorporated
Law Society, and as such an examiner of candidate-- for the
profession of attorney of her Majesty's courts of law. The
Metropolitan and Provincial Law Society had elected him pre-
sident for the year 1864, and if he had lived he would have
taken the chair at the annual meeting of that association, which
was shortly afterwards held in Leeds, and at which many eulo-
gies were pronounced to his memory. In his magisterial capacity,
Mr. Shaw was exemplary beyond question. In every sense he
was an ornament to the bench of this borough. His lecal
knowledge surpassed that of any man that ever sat there; in
his administration of justice he was patient in the investigation
* Mr. John Hope Shaw was for many years an alderman of this bon
in which capacity he rendered valuable service to the corporation ami
burgesses. His personal and public character alike commanded the unanimous
respect of his townsmen, who had been accustomed to see him fur many
years a foremost and eloquent advocate of religion, education, and li'
Mr. Shaw was a warm and staunch friend of all associations for the mental
and moral improvement of the working classes. Fe\ I td
sense of the duty which the educated and upper classes owe t"
favourably circumstanced than themselves, or more readily and frequently
responded (at the sacrifice of bis valuable time) to the call for his -
public meetings in various parts of the Wesl Riding to promote the car
popular education. His great abilities were combined witl dence of
thought, calmness and soundness of judgment, and n. thai the
highest respect was accorded by men of all parties and i
elusions at which he arrived. As a magi 'rate lie v.
painstaking, enlightened, and firm: the character of bis mind v. i ntly
judicial, and his loss was deeply f< it by his brother-ma I bten
compositions were marked by accur: public sp<
he was perspicuous, lucid, and i ffi Do private life Mr. Shaw wa ■ mosi
estimable; of domestic habits and rmly
beloved by his family and intimate friends. <,»n ; . I and somewh d in
general conversation, he was n . charming and instruc
tive companion by those who had the advantage of his friendship, In
character there was the mo I perfeci hon ur, and in his manners an u
Burning dignity. "We aeed aot say," said tin- I. ■ ■ \i the
death of such a man is a great public > the town of Leeds, and
it will be felt by all classes of our townsmen."
522 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
of the circumstances of the cases brought before him; his deci-
sions were marked by logical and legal acumen, and were pro-
nounced with clearness and precision. In private life Mr. Shaw
was kind and amiable, and was much beloved by his kindred.
He was, we believe, a native of Otley, at which place his father
was a surgeon. His wife, to whom he was married late in life,
died a few years ago, leaving no offspring. Having glanced at
Mr. Shaw's general character, both public and private, we will
now briefly enumerate some of the public offices which he filled.
He was three times elected mayor of Leeds, namely: — On the
9th of November, 1848; on the 20th of March, 1852; and on
the 9th of November, 1852. In the last year of his mayoralty
he laid the foundation-stone of the Town Hall, on the 17th of
August, 1853. In the latter part of 1848 Mr. Shaw was
placed on the commission of the peace for the borough. In
1837 he was elected a member of the Leeds Philosophical and
Literary Society; and, besides soon after being appointed one
of its council, he was seven times elected the president of
the society, the duties of which he discharged with almost
unequalled efficiency. The settlement and adoption of rules for
the society under its recent new organization are greatly due
to Mr. Shaw's judicious and persevering labours.* It would
occupy too much of our space to enumerate all the offices in
connection with public institutions which Mr. Shaw was called
upon to fill. "We may name two or three in addition to those
to which we have called attention. He was for several years
the president of the Leeds Mechanics' Institute and Literary
Society, and he was also one of the vice-presidents of the York-
shire Union of Mechanics' Institutes. He was the president of
the Leeds Recreation Society. He was also president of the
Headingley Mechanics' Institute, and he was often called upon
to take a leading part at the annual meetings and soirees of
various kindred institutions in different parts of this county.
He was likewise the president of the Leeds Society for the
* In the course of his thirty-seven years' membership of the society, he
read the following papers: — "On Capital Punishment," read October 21st,
1842; "On the Origin, Progress, and Present State of the English Jury
System," read October 20th, 1843 ; " On Capital Punishment," read December
17th, 1847; "On the History of English Municipalities," read October 14th,
1854; "On the Origin of the English Parliament," read October 30th, 1855;
and " On the English Parliament from the Reign of Edward I. to the Revolu-
tion of 1688," read October 21st, 1856. These papers were marked by great
research, patient investigation, and cogent reasoning. In style they were
lucid and forcible, eveiy sentence almost being so accurately and perspicuously
constructed that the removal or displacement of a word would have impaired
the beauty or the clearness of the ideas intended to be conveyed.
JOHN HOPE SHAW, ESQ.
Promotion of the Observance of the Sabbath. He was one of
the trustees of the Leeds parish church, and, being a sound
Churchman, he was a warm and liberal supporter of church
schools and missions, and often was an effective speaker at
meetings held for their promotion. He was also one of
vice-presidents of the Leeds Church Institute. In politic
Mr. Shaw was a Whig, and he held his opinions with a com-
mendable toleration of those who differed from him. A
party man on most public questions he acted with his party;
but he held his principles too broadly to be tied down to any
mere sectarian action, as was shown in las strong advocacy of
state-assisted education in opposition to some of the leading
Liberals (who so frecpiently proclaim themselves to be the only
friends of the people). Whether in public or private life, as we
have already intimated, Mr. Shaw deservedly won the affection
and the esteem of his fellow-men, and he died beloved by his
relatives, friends, and associates, and greatly respected by all
classes of the public* The body of Mr. Shaw was interred at
the Leeds Cemetery, Burmantofts, where rest the remains of
his wife. The funeral was attended by a large number of our
leading fellow-townsmen, and the solemn event was marked by
the tolling of the Town Hall bell, and the bells of the parish
church. — Chiefly from the Leeds Intelligencer, which see for a
long account of the funeral, &c. See also the Leeds Mercury, tec.
* STANZAS OH JOHX HOPE SHAW.
From the Leeds Intt lligencer.
" The silver cord is loos'd, the golden bowl is broken ! "
Those golden sands of life lie flooded o'er
By that resistless, cold, relentless ocean
That beats for ever on Life's yielding shore.
But through the blackness of these fatal waters
Illumining the gloom through which they shine ;
Behold true splendours of a lifetime, making
Goodness in Death seem almost all divine.
Nor Bench, nor Bar, might boast a nobler chieftain ;
Forensic learning knew no wiser sun ;
Justice and Honour lose a great disciple ;
In him faith, knowledge, conscience blent in I
Ah, never more the Town shall look upon him,
The tall lithe figure with the schol
The bald broad foreh sad and the to
He the chief presence oft of mi ap !
His works could be but fragrant 1 refreshi
J I i> whole course be i. at, and pun .
A blessing he to all for whom be labou
A precious memory now that shall i adure.
Leeds, August 24th, 1864.
524 BIOGP.APHIA LEODIENSIS.
1834-1864.
ME. JAMES EDWARD FAWCETT, R.N.,
Surgeon to H.M.S. Racehorse, which was wrecked on the 4th of
November, 18G4, whose premature death was caused thereby.
He was born at Woodhouse, near Leeds, in April, 1834, and
received his early education at Mr. Richard Hiley's, Queen's
Square, and at the Grammar School, Leeds. In 1849 he joined
the Leeds School of Medicine, being also an assistant at the Leeds
Dispensary. He took out his diploma in the Roj r al College of
Surgeons, London, in August, 1855, and in October of the
same year he was commissioned as assistant surgeon to the
Waterloo, then lying at Sheerness. In the summer of 1856 he
was appointed to the Acorn, in which he sailed for China, and
served until 1859, when he was appointed to the Chesapeake,
then the flagship on the China station. He was present at the
taking of Canton, the battle of Fatshan, and at both attacks on
the Peiho forts— after the latter of which he was raised to the
rank of full surgeon by Admiral Hope, in January, 1861, and
was confirmed in that rank on his return home in December,
1861. In the many actions he was concerned in, he was distin-
guished for his coolness and courage in the midst of danger and
in the performance of arduous duties, especially after the Peiho
engagement in 1859, when, after exposure in three different
gunboats during the day, he remained throughout the night
attending to the sick and wounded with a perseverance and
fortitude under great difficulties which could hardly be excelled.
In Maj r , 1862, he was commissioned to the Racehorse, and sailed
in August for Japan, where he arrived in time to take part in
the engagement against the forts at Kagosima. The Racehorse
had not been engaged in any action since, and was on her way
from Shanghai to Cheftoo Cape when the melancholy accident
occurred which caused the death of so many brave men.
Mr. Fawcett's death was lamented by all who knew him, as he
was not only a good officer and a skilful surgeon, but a good
Christian and gentleman. — See the Leeds Papers, &c.
1804-1864.
HENRY SMITH, ESQ.,
Artist, of Leeds, died at his residence in Brunswick Street, on
Monday evening, November 21st, 1864, in the sixtieth year of
his age. Mr. Henry Smith was well known as an able portrait-
painter. He began his art-studies with the late Joseph Rhodes,
the instructor of W. Robinson, F. Topham, Cromek, and the
late John N. Rhodes, as well as other local celebrities. On
JOHX FOWLER, ESQ. 525
his removal to London he first commenced the study of the
antique in the British Museum; and his works there soon
gained him admission to the life-school of the Royal Acad< i
in which institution he acquired great power and skill as a
draughtsman, as well as a rich and glowing colourist of the
human figure. He prosecuted his studies also at Rome, Florence,
and other continental cities; and in Rome, where his ability
was understood and appreciated, he was hailed by the artists
there as "Yorkshire Smith." After his return from Rome,
Mr. Smith was much employed in his profession, both in
London and the provinces. His kindliness of heart and good-
ness of disposition endeared him to a large circle of friends, by
whom his loss will be long and sincerely lamented. — See the
Leeds Intelligencer, &c. This Sketch has been kindly revised.
1826-1864.
JOHN FOWLER, ESQ.
In all parts of England, among manufacturers no less than
among agriculturists, the announcement of the death of Mr. John
Fowler, of Leeds, whose mechanical genius in the invention and
construction of the steam-plough has given his name a world-
wide celebrity, was heard with the deepest regret. The rapid
progress of agriculture in its scientific, and what may be called
its mechanical, branches, had few warmer friends, and no more
ardent and successful helper, than Mr. Fowler. He was com
paratively a young man, having died at the age of thirty-i ight,
and was only just entering on manhood when the repeal of the
corn-laws threw the agriculturists of this country on their own
resources, and obliged them to look out for improvements of
every kind in the mode in which they carried on their work.
His powerful mind, like that of many other aide men, was
turned to the great national want. America had already made
some progress in several branches of farming machinery, and
Europe was leaving us behind in the mechanical knowledge with-
out which no person can hope to keep up with the times in the
production of crops. England, however, made a greal Btart. I [ad
Mr. Fowler not appeared, the Howards of IVdldnl, and several
other agricultural implement makers, would have shared the glory
of introducing splendid and a] i rivalled improvements in
the manufacture of this class of tools. It would be beyond the
* There were especially many competitoi foi the honour of I ithe
world a really perfect steam-plough, which, pli ' and
most o - iy of agricultural imp! ments, i on ■' < Uwl to tdmil o(
improvement, and one of the most difficult to brir
526 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
purpose of this obituary notice if we were to enter into any
details as to the mode in which Mr. Fowler, and his various
able and formidable competitors, tried to meet the mechanical
difficulties which stood in the way of any perfect construction
of this complicated machine. Suffice it to say here that
Mr. Fowler from the first bid fair to distance all competitors.
But the race was not to be won in a single year. His own
machine, although it received the highest prize, was not by any
means perfect, and his competitors were men whose rivalry no
one could afford to despise. Year after year each produced some
improvement on his former system, so that probably the first
machine of one year might, if not considerably altered, have
been the last of the year following. Mr. Fowler, however, never
lost his lead, and each year saw him gaining something further
on those who were striving to outstrip him in the excellence of
their work. For a series of years his magnificent machine was
rather the wonder of the curious than the desire of the prac-
tical agriculturist.* But against these prejudices, against the
caution of the prudent, the blindness of the ignorant, and the
rivalry of able competitors, Mr. Fowler fought with a brave
determination which secured his final triumph. In Europe and
America, no less than in our own country, he stood forth as the
champion of his own inventions, and overthrew in fair fight
condition. In the ordinary ploughs almost every agricultural implement
maker produced some improvement. The frames were made at once lighter
and stronger ; the quality and shape of the shares were altered so as hetter to
adapt them to their purpose. But something more than this — a plough which
could work economically and successfully by steam-power— was imperatively
demanded by the more sanguine and advanced class of agricultural reformers.
Many schemes were set on foot for this purpose. Some machines, such as
Romaine's digger, were made to move like locomotives over the soil, scattering
and prdverizing the earth in all directions, with powerful spades attached to a
revolving drum which worked at the back of the machine. The more general
idea, however, was that which in the end has proved the most successful, and
is now adopted by all who seek to urge their various improvements in this
branch of steam cultivation. It was to make the engine stationary, and to
move the plough up and down the field by means of ropes attached to a drum.
This general principle was common to Howard, Fowler, and all other com-
petitors ; but in the construction of the plough, the arrangement of the rope,
the shape of the anchors, and the mode of winding the rope on and off the
drum, the varieties were almost infinite.
* It was impossible, indeed, to see it tearing its way through the soil with
the same calm steady motion with which a ship ploughs up the waves of the
ocean, tossing the earth, like water, in ridges from its prow, without being
struck with admiration both of its beauty and its power. Equally impossible
was it to see the admirable arrangement of the anchors which guided its
direction, and of the powerful engine by which it was moved, without
rejoicing in ths wealth of mechanical ingenuity and beautiful adaptation
which every part of the contrivance seemed to indicate. But the price of
such an implement was necessarily large, and the economical advantages had
JOHN FOWLER, ESQ. 527
every competitor who took the field against him. By successive
steps he brought it nearer and nearer to perfection, and at length
it seemed to have reached its highest point. All practical diffi-
culties had been overcome. Its incontestable superiority over
all rivals had been established. More than all, its excellence
was beginning to break down the scepticism and prejudices of
the farmer, and tbe appreciation in which it was held by the
great agriculturists was manifesting itself in the way at* once
most practical and most pleasing to an inventor, whose strength
had hitherto been devoted to the perfecting of his discoveries
with only partial and honorary rewards. A noble prospect of
fame and fortune seemed to be opening before the deep thinking
and patient inventor, and it appeared as if he were about to
reap the rich harvest for which he had so diligently sown and
so faithfully laboured. But it was not to be. The great mental
strain to which Mr. Fowler had been subjected had gradually
told upon his health. His brain and nervous system were
wrought into a state of undue activity, and his medical men
advised much active out-door exercise as the best cure. He
accordingly left Leeds, and went to reside at Ackworth, whence
he rode to this town, a distance of more than twelve miles,
nearly every day. This, however, was not sufficient, and his
medical men advised him to take still more active exercise,
especially in the hunting field. It was accordingly to this sport
that he now devoted his spare time and energies. Three weeks
before his death he was riding in the chase, when lie received a
severe compound fracture of the arm by a fall from his horse.
The nature of the injuries was such as to cause some anxi
and the best medical advice was obtained. For a time all seemed
to be going on well, and by the Thursday preceding Lis death
all apparent cause for anxiety had departed, and the fears <>f his
friends were almost entirely dissipated. On that day, how*
new and fatal symptoms made their appearance, and at
o'clock on Sunday evening he died, December 1th, 1SGI. Il<
to be very fully proved before the cautious BrU
expend so heavy a sum achine wl ndid
failure. Nor were the prejudices which bo "i
either few or easily overcome. In one 'list rid
assured an inquirer that the number of I
engine would have plouj hedi i - Id u
Further inquiry on the
single horse, which had tope
of the day, an
description of Fowler'.
for July 6th, Oth, am 1 " 64, with di
•>28 BIOGP.APHIA LEODIENSI8.
was a man of great mechanical and inventive genius, of
indomitable perseverance, and of frank, generous, and lovable
nature. His loss was regretted no less by the large circle of his
friends on account of his private worth, than by the general
public on account of his great services as an inventor. The
value of his mechanical triumphs will not, perhaps, be fully
appreciated for years after his untimely death. But if not fully
appreciated, they are at least widely known. In the granary of
the Eoman world his machines ai-e to be found performing their
herculean task, turning up the soil which, from the days of the
Pharaohs till now, the Nile has washed down from its hidden
sources to fertilize the country of the pyramids and the sphinxes.
In Hungary, Mr. Smallbones, the enterprising agriculturist who
manages Prince Esterhazy's vast domains, employs several of his
largest ploughs, and other large proprietors in that country have,
we believe, also imported them. But their general use in this
country is only just beginning. They will, probably, before
many years as completely supersede the ordinary hand-plough as
the power-loom is superseding the hand-loom, or the combing
machine the process of hand-combing. But the reward will go
to other hands and will gladden other hearts — for his, who
toiled so bravely and skilfully to win it, beats no more.
Mr. Fowler married a daughter of Joseph Pease, Esq., formerly
member for the county of Durham, whom he leaves, together
with five young children, to mourn his loss. His great manu-
facturing works at Hunslet, originally begun in conjunction
with Mr. Kitson and the late Mr. Hewitson, are carried on by
his partners. — Chiefly from the Leeds Mercury for December
7th, 1864. See the other Leeds Papers, and also the Gentle-
mans Magazine, &c.
—1865.
ADMIEAL HEXEY MEYNELL,
Second son of the late Hugo Meynell and the Hon. Elizabeth
Ingram, second daughter and co-heiress of Charles, ninth and
last Viscount Irwin (for a Sketch of whom, see pages 178 and
179, with Notes), and only surviving brother of Hugo Charles
Meynell Ingram, Esq., of Temple Newsam, Yorkshire, and
Hoar Cross, Staffordshire ; and also of Mrs. William Beckett,
of Kirkstall Grange, near Leeds, died March 24th, 18G5, at
Paris, whither the Admiral had been summoned at the early
part of the whiter on account of the illness of his sister, Mrs.
Waymouth, who died a few days before him. The gallant
admiral's early life was passed in the active duties of his pro-
ADMIRAL HEXRY MEYXELL.
fession, his career having commenced some time before the i
of the French war.* During the captivity of Napoleon at St.
Helena, he was flag-captain to Sir P. Malcolm, the admiral on
the station, and attracted the attention of the French Emperor
by his refined manners and gentlemanly bearing, joined with
the frankness and openness of the sailor. Some years after-
wards Captain Meynell entered into parliament, and was
returned on the Conservative interest for Lisburn. When Sir
Robert Peel took office in 1841 he was made a Groom of the
Bedchainbei', and in that capacity was able to render some
important services with respect to the department in the Royal
household that came under his observation, which services were
duly appreciated by her Majesty and the late Prince Consort.
In 1845 Captain Meynell had an opportunity of showing the
independence of his character, by refusing to vote for the May
nooth Endowment Bill, of which he disapproved. His office
was, we believe, placed at the disposal of the Premier, but Sir
Robert Peel, to his credit, magnanimously refused to punish a
faithful public servant for voting according to his consci>
At the dissolution, in 1847, Captain Meynell retired from par-
liament, and since then has lived a quiet, unobtrusive life,
amidst a wide circle of admiring friends and relatives, by
whom his loss is deeply lamented. Those who have ever had
the good fortune to be in his company will have recognized and
admired the high breeding of the finished gentleman, the frank-
ness of the sailor, united to the kindness and simplicity of
manner that denote the amiable Christian man. It is well
known to many, both in this neighbourhood and elsewhere,
with what liberality his purse was opened at all times to claims
of Christian charity, especially with regard to institutions con-
* He entered the navy in June, 1803, and was actively employed during his
first seven years in the service in the Mediterranean and home Btations, and
afterwards sailed as lieutenant of the Thebcm, with ■' convoy, for tin
Indies and China. He was appointed acting comuian I ogant, at
Bombay, in 1813; and in August, the same year, promoted to be commando)
of the Cornwallis. He subsequently (in 1815) became acting captain of the
Newcastle, bearing the flag of Sh Helena. He had
not been afloat since September, 1817. The late Admiral Meynell,
bis return to England, was, in the spring of 1820, appointed gentleman-ushei
to George IV., which office he held until the I i the
same post for a short time in the household <»f William IV.. and for
-, up to April, 1845, was one of thi Ln-waiting t" her pn
Majesty. The ha.- admiral, for more t]
borough of Lisburn in tin Hi. use ■■! | until
1847. Hi-, commissions bore d dlows: i 9th,
lso'j; commander, Lugust 24th, 1813; <■ April
admiral (reserve), April L"Jth, 1851; rice-admiral, duly 9th, L867 . and
admiral, October 4th, 1
1. L
530 BIOGKAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
nected with Lis own profession. He was sincerely attached to
the Church of England, and was very liberal in his donations
for church building and church restoration, in which he showed
great taste. The inhabitants of the neighbouring parish of
Whitkirk have reason to remember with thankfulness the
munificence which he displayed in contributing to the restora-
tion of their church, as well as the readiness which he always
showed to assist in promoting the spiritual and educational con-
dition of the parish. — Chiefly from the Leeds Intelligencer ; see
also the Leech Mercury ; the London Papers, &c.
CONCLUSION.
We have now given Biographical Sketches, as complete as the
nature and limits of our work would allow, of the most cele-
brated men born and living in Leeds, and neighbourhood,
from the Norman conquest to the present time. Let us,
in contemplating their characters, learn to imitate all that
was excellent in them, and avoid all that may be deemed
blamable. Let us, from these examples, learn to turn the fidl
force of whatever talents or favouring circumstances we may be
blessed with, to some good and honourable object. It has been
said, that any man may be whatever he wishes to become : it is
certain that we may all be useful to society in some way if we
endeavour to be so; and let us constantly bear in mind, that in
proportion as we minister to the happiness of others, we take
the most effectual means to augment our own.*
1 .
* He must, indeed, be an inveterate laudator temporis acti, who, in our
days, confines himself to the veneration due to the illustrious dead, and is
insensible to the existing claims to his admiration and respect, whether in
aims, in arts, in letters, in science, or in all the benevolent and dignified
qualities of human nature, which manifest themselves on every side, in
cheering and honourable variety. One of the most beneficial tendencies of
uccrologicat reading is, to teach us, while we lament that of which we have
been deprived, to value that which we retain ; and not churlishly to withhold
the expression of our applause and gratitude, until those, to whom the
approbation of their contemporaries might yield a generous and well-deserved
gratification, have become tenants of that cold and narrow dwelling, into
which the voice of human praise or censure can never penetrate.
The original number of pages fixed upon were 512, but finding that much
interesting information of later date would have to lie omitted, it was at last
decided to print thirty-two extra pages, which will account, to a certain
extent, for the delay in publication.
In addition to Alphabetical and Chronological Lists, it was also intended,
had space allowed, to have given Professional Lists ; and, also, at the end of
the Appendix, a list of the Centenarians of Leeds and neighbourhood.
R. V. T.
APPENDIX.
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA.
7'ape. Line
44
38 After England add— Allied of Rievaulx, in the preface to his Life,
of Edward the Confessor, says: — " By recording the lives and a
of the good, those who come after them have eno it to
imitate their virtues; and nothing more inciteth the mind <>f man
to an emulation of others than to hear the report of their noble
achievements. It is a fair step towards happiness and virtue to
delight in the company and conversation of good men ; and where
these cannot he had, it is better to keep no company at all."
" Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high,
So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be ;
Sink not in spirit ; who aimeth at the sky
Shoots higher much than he that means a tree."
« ■ BO. i.'i i: BED i
In point of biography, according to Dr. Whitaker, in his Lo
and Elmete, the precincts of Leeds, while they can scarcely be said
to have produced a genius in any way of the highest order, have
given birth, education, or residence to many learned and excellent
men of inferior rank, who were blessings to their own times and
examples to ours.
It is always interesting to read the lircs of men distinguished in
any of the walks of life; but our interest becomes deeper when they
are individuals who have lived in places well known to ourselves, and
been natives of the same village, town, or district in which w<
selves first drew our breath.
•">;> 14 After 1186 <nld Many of the fields near Knostrop bear the names
of very ancient proprietors, as Dame Ellen Flats and Paulino Flats,
from Paulinus de Leedes, who lived about the year 1207. It is also
remarkable for a very ancient Hall, with turrets like a castle : in the
front of the court are two antique stone chairs. It is uncertain at
what period the hall was erected. Galf ridus de Knostrop was witm -
to a deed dated in the year 1335.
do oG For Rumille read — Rumeli, as it i also, and perhaps preferably,
spelt.
For Eurique read Em tque.
For Leur read — Seur.
After magistrate add Foi ical Sketch of Sir Williai I
coigne, see "The Bar, with Sketches ot Eminent Judges, B
&c ; a poem, with notes," pubh bed ai Leeds in 1825, p. 13.
72 13 After Dictionary add Fobb'b Judges of England, voL iv., pp. L63
170- bmd Campbell's Lives of th ChieJ Justm i of England, vol L,
pp. 121 i::s.
72 - After second note add— Tin ma (1403 1457), i
Richard Gascoigne, Esq., was born eA Bunslet, in the parish oi I
in 1403; educated in One] or Balliol < lollege, Oxford, whi re he pro
cccded to the degree of D.D. In 1432, he we made Clmncolloi oi
66
49
68
l'.i
72
8
532 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
mC St. Peter's Cathedral, at York. In 1434, he was elected Vice-
Chancellor, and in 1442 Chancellor, of the University of Oxford, where
he died March 13th, 1457. His writings were many and various.—
See Wood's Athena Oxonienses, hy Dr. Bliss.
73 18 After Wkitaker add — For an engraving of the hrass tablet on his
tombstone, see Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol. ii., pp. 52, 53;
Wnrdell's Antiquities of Leeds, &c.
74 17 Add— John Forman (circa 1510). It is pleasant to see how, in times
of warlike commotion, the quiet paths of scholarship are not always
forsaken. Some men are as undisturbed by the tumult as the deaf
and dumb soldier by whom General Brook was shot at the siege of
Lichfield. Such a one was Sir Thomas Browne, and such a one, in
his degree, was John Forman, a native of Rothwell, near Leeds, who,
in the°year 1461, endowed Magdalen College, Oxford, with a fellow-
ship. The holder of it was to be one of his own kindred, or, iu
default of that, one born in or near to the parishes of Bothwell and
Ruston; of the first of which he was a native, and of the second,
vicar. In January, 1502, he founded a school at Buston (or Royston).
See Wood's History and Antiquities of Oxford, edited by the Rev.
Philip Bliss ; Zouch's Works, vol. ii. ; Lupton's Wakefield Worthies,
&c. See also Simon Forman, M.D. ; Wood's Athena Oxonienses,
p. 371, &c, and the New Edition, by Dr. P. Bliss, vol. ii., p. 98.
74 18 After Spottiswoode add— Robert Farrer, Bishop of St. David's, and
martyr, obiit 1555, who was born, according to some, at Esholt, near
Leeds, according to others, at Halifax. — Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of
Carlisle, who crowned Queen Elizabeth, born at Newton Kyme, near
Tadcaster.— Barnabas Oley, president of Clare Hall, Cambridge,
born at Thorpe, near Leeds, died 1686.— William Pettyt, keeper of
the records in the Tower, born at Storithes, near Hazlewood, about
1G36.-— Silvester Pettyt, a great benefactor, born at Storithes, near
Hazlewood, about 1636.— James Craggs, postmaster-general, once a
menial servant at Holbeck; see History of Durham, kc.—Dr. Alex-
ander Leiqhton, whose son, Robert, was the celebrated Archbishop of
Glasgow, lived for some time at Little Woodhouse, Leeds. — The
Rer.°Francis Roberts', born at Methley, rector of the parish, wrote a
book called Claris Biblica, or a key to the whole Bible.— The Rev.
Joseph Proctor, D.D., master of Catharine Hall, Cambridge, from
1799 to 1845, and vice-chancellor of the university in 1825, was edu-
cated at the Leeds Grammar School.
74 22 After 1545 add— His mother was the Lady Margaret Douglas,
daughter of Queen Margaret of Scotland, by her second husband,
Lord Angus, and niece of Henry VIII.
75 9 After chamber add— On his bed was embroidered the proud motto,
"Avant Darnley, jamais darriere," with which his ancestor had
rallied the French at Orleans under the famous Maid, and also
pointing to the proud aspirations doomed to extinction amid the
horrors of the kirk of Field.
75 42 After resided here add— Temple Newsome figures as Temple
Stowe " in Sir Walter Scott's celebrated romance of Iranhoe.
76 4 After lived aeld— For a much longer account of Henry (Stuart),
Lord Darnley, who died in 1567, with a fine portrait, from the
original, in the collection of the late Earl of Seaforth, at Brahan
Castle, see Lodge's Portraits of Illustrious Personages, vol. u., p. 27.
77 1 Add— Christopher Saxton received his education at the University
of Cambridge, but in what house or college, or at what particular
period, we are unable to ascertain. He seems to have been an
acquaintance of Sir John Cheke. On July 22nd, 1577, being then
servant to Thomas Seckf ord, Esq. , Master of the Requests, he obtained
the queen's patent for the sole publication during ten years of maps
of England, and of the several counties thereof. This useful work,
APPENDIX. 533
Page. Line.
■which also includes a general map of Scotland, and maps of the
cciunties of Wales, came forth in 1579, having been commenced in
1574. Some of the maps were engraved by Saxton himself, who was
agisted by Augustus Ryther. These maps seem to be the first ever
published from actual survey. Each map has the aims of the queen,
and of Mr. Seckford. Sir William Cordell, Master of the Rolls, was
a great encourager of Saxton. It has been conjectured that he was
buried in the church of Batley, near Leeds. Hi~ .in Latin,
is given in Cooper's Atken .. vol. L, pp. 420,568. See also
Gough*s British Topography, vol. L, p. 88; Thoresby's Z>>
Leodiensis, p. 195; Whitaker's Loidis, p. 240; Walpole's J'<
p. 851; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii., p. 584; Nichols's
Literary Illustrations, vol. iv., p. 232; Thoresby's Diary, vol. ii..
p. 60, &c., &c.
78 31 After see add — Wood's Athena Oxonienscs, p. 395, and Bliss's
New Edition, vol. ii., p. 153.
79 12 After Lord Savile add— Who died Aug. 31st, 1630, aged 74 years.
81 17 After see add — Wood's Athena Oxonienses, p. 575, and Bliss's
Edition, vol. ii. , p. 535.
81 38 After Edward Fairfax add — Who is said to have lived for some
time in Kirkgate, Leeds.
83 27 After Englishmen adrf^Coleridge's Yorkshire Worthies, p. 175,
note ; Chambers's Cyclopccdia of English Literature, vol. i.. p. L03.
85 - After antiquity, end of first note, add — For many additi
particulars of Sir Ralph, Lord Hopton, see Warburton's 11
the Cavaliers, vol. ii. ; Burke's Extinct Peerage, &c. And for a fine
portrait of Lord Hopton, born in 1598, by Vandyke (1652), from the
original in the collection of the Bight Hon. the Earl of Egremont, at
Petworth, see Lodge's Portraits of Illustrious Personages, vol. v.,
p. 25, &c.
86 - After death, end of note, add — For a more lengthened account of
Bp. Hopton, see Wood's Athena O. 689, and Dr. Bliss's
Edition; Cooper's Athenee Cantab., vol. i., p. 186; Thoresby's Duca-
tius, p. 187; Whitaker's Loidis, p. 360, &c.
88 37 After biography «<W— Darling . i.,-VJii.
89 42 After Elmete add— Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol i., pp. 94, 122.
102 39 After Adel add — Edward! M.A., of Cambridge Univei
an eminent divine, born at Morley, near Leeds, in 1600. — See his
Works, &c, in Calamy's A
103 23 After descendant '.aynes, of Adstock
Rectory, Bucks, had a fine, full-length portrait of < \dam
Baynes, by Sir Peter Lely ; and also one of his wife, .Martha 1 >awson,
by Vandyke, which are now in the possession of his BOD, Edward
Robert Baynes, Esq., of Church Street ny.
107 23 After Yorkshire • add — Eastmead's History of Kirby
Appendix.
Ill 8 Note. After 1661 add The late old church, at Bolbeck, was
built at the instauce of the Rev. John Nalson, \.M., the pious
minister there, when his learned son, Dr. John Nalson, the historian,
born, who, as appears by the parish register, was baptized A
2nd, 1637. Hi; mother was Sarah, daughter of Thos. Sharp
The Rev. Joh i, LL. D., ctions ("
tial i
name, ami of several publications in favour of < Ihuroh and state, was
rector of Doddington, in the [sle of Ely, where lie married
... He was collated ' ; the
Cathedral of Ely in L684, and died M irch 24th, L6
.. ee Bentham's Ely, p, 262. Foi l> ttei -
from sir Roger L'Est] ! fchi !■ e. John Laughton, Bl L, to
the Rev. Dr. Nalson, see Nicl
534 BIOGRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Page. Line.
pp. 68, 81; and p. 865 for a copy of his son's epitaph, in Latin (the
Eev. Valentine Nalson, M.A. ), at St. Martin's, Coney Street, York,
where he died in 1722, aged forty years. See also James's History
of Bradford, p. 428, &c.
116 13 After Leeds add— Darling's Cyclopeedia Bibliographica, vol. ii.,
p. 1,757, &c.
120 21 After years insert— (About 1649).
121 8 After by him add — He was a successful editor of Schrcvelius's Greek
Lexicon; and he also wrote the "Zealander's Choice," and a "Disser-
tation Concerning the Antiquity of Temples; wherein is shown that
there were none before the Tabernacle, erected by Moses in the
wilderness : from histories, sacred and profane," 4to., London, 1696.-
See Thoresby's Due. Leod., p. 175; Darling's Cyc. Bib., vol. i., 1483.
121 11 After Wilson's insert — Historical.
121 - 1st Note. After Peregrine insert— W\io.
122 24 After Lodge add— See also Note, p. 374.
127 42 After age add, as Note — Lines on the death of the Rev. John
Killingbeck, B.D., vicar of Leeds, by one of the patrons of the Leeds
parish church, 1839 : —
"True to the charge committed to his trust,
To mankind faithful, to his Master just :
God and religion did his hours employ,
Goodness his choice, and charity his joy !
Cheerful thro' life, in every healthy scene —
In sickness patient, and in death serene ;
Translated hence, of man and God approv'd,
He lives and triumphs in the world he lov'd."
From Furbajjk's Votive Offerings, p. 167.
136 37 Under 1729 add, as a Note — Mrs. Mary Potter, who bequeathed
£2,000 for the erection and endowment of the almshouses, near
St. John's church, Leeds, died May 31st, 1729. Pursuant to her
will, they were built in 1738, and have quite recently been rebuilt.
14:! 23 After Wm, Congreve Esq., insert — Nichols's Literary Anecdote*
(Index); Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of Universed Biography.
See also the poem to the memory of Congreve, by James Thomson,
edited by Cunningham, 1843.
150 18 After Leeds add — See also Note, p. 307.
158 11 After Gloucester add — For a portrait of the Rev. Dr. Bentley, see
the European Magazine, vol. Ixiii., p. Ill; and also the Gentleman's
Meigazinc for September, 1830, from a painting by Sir J. Thomhill.
158 14 After Biography «<W— Nichols's Literary Anecdotes (Index), and
Illustrations, vol. i., p. 406, and index to the last two volumes;
Darling's Cyclopedia Bibliographica; Lowndes's Bibliographer's
Manual; Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography.
158 See a fine portrait of Dr. Bentley in the library of the Leeds
Philosophical Hall, from a painting by Hudson, in Trinity College,
< 'nmbridge, with a short letter (seal, and autograph), dated December
30th, 1702.
After Worthies add — Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of Universal
Biography.
Note. " After Durham add— And died in July, 1861, aged forty-
seven. — For a long account of Sir C. H. Ibbetson's funeral, see the
Leeds Papers, &c, for July 16th, 1861. His only sister, Laura, was
married to Marmaduke Wyvil, jun., Esq., M. P. —See the Baronetages.
After see insert — James's History of Bradford, pp. 436, 437, &c.
After Anecdotes add— Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of Uni-
versal Biography.
After Elmete insert— James's History of Bradford, pp. 431, 432.
After Note about Portraits of Leeds Worthies, add the following : —
" It is needless," observes Mr. Lodge, in his Preface to the Portraits
168
5
169
8
174
177
16
9
183
185
3
4
APPENDIX. t 5
Page. Liut.-.
and Biographical Sketches of FUustrkms Pcr.<onar>e-->, "to descant
largely on the extended information and delight which we derive
from the multiplication of portraits by engraving, or on the more
important advantages resulting from the study of biography. Sepa-
rately considered, the one affords an amusement not less innocent
than elegant, inculcates the rudiments, or aids the progress o
and rescues from the hand of time the perishable monuments raised
by the pencil The other, while it is, perhaps, the most agreeable
branch of historical literature, is certainly the most useful in its
moral effects; stating the known circumstances, and endear ouring to
unfold the secret motives of human conduct ; selecting all that is
worthy of being recorded; bestowing its lasting encomiums and
chastisements ; it at once informs and invigorates the mind, and
warms and mends the heart. It is, however, from the combination
of portraits and biography that we reap the utmost degree of utility
and pleasure which can be derived from them; as, in contemplating
the portrait of an eminent person, we long to be instructed in !
history, so in considering his actions we are anxious to behold his
countenance. So earnest is this desire, that the imagination is
generally ready to coin a set of features, or to conceive a character,
to supply the painful absence of one or the other."
Sir Walter Scott said: — "It is impossible for me to conceive a
work which ought to be more interesting to the present age than
that which exhibits before our eyes our 'fathers as they lived,'
accompanied with such memorials of their lives and characters as
enable us to compare their persons and countenances with their
sentiments and actions."
10 After Leeds add — For additional information, see also Note, p. 4 17.
191 34 After injudicious add — For a portrait, &c, of Dr. Berkenhout, see
the European Mag. cine for September, 1788.
191 .".d After Biography insert — Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of
V( ,-■ 'i Biography.
200 7 After Whitkirk add — For a portrait, &c,
Magazine for November, 1792; Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary of
Universal Biography.
200 - Add to John Lee, Esq., M.P. — This justly celebrated counsellor;
well known at the bar by the name of Hont st Jack L^r, was ap] <
Solicitor-General to the king, first, upon Mr. Mansfield's promotion
in 1782; and, secondly, upon Sir Richard Arden's removal in I
In the latter year he was appointed Attorney-General, upon the
death of Mr. Wallace. At the time of his death he was Attorney-
General of the county palatine of Lancaster. He left a widow and
a daughter to lament his loss; and several relations at Leeds, in
Yorkshire. His memory is thus preserved in Staindrop church,
Durham:— "Near this place are deposited th is oi John Lee,
Esquire, one of his Majesty's counsel-at-hw : Attorney-Genera] Eoi
the county palatine of Lancaster, and Home time for this county also.
and member of parliament for Bigham Ferrers. He died on the fifth
day of August, 1793, in the sixty-first year of his age, af
attained, by means equally honourable to his abilitii a and |
an eminent rank in } 1 1 - profes ion, and U ''led the o
of Solicitor and Attorney-Gi bisMajesty. During the course
of an active and useful life, lie v. d Qguished for a natural
[uence singula] Lya disputation; an iud
zeal in promoting, as an advi I of individuals; and a
warm, invariable attachment to bhe laws and con titution «( his
couni ry. Free from all religious 1 d, both in his
public and private conduct, a firm belief in the < Ibri tian Revelation ;
and uniformly a< ted on the persuasion, that an
precepts is its best support, kb Dtcheerfulne i of disposition,
o36 BIOGRAl'HIA LEODIENSIS.
Page. Line.
united with a peculiar pleasantry in conversation, procured him the
esteem of numerous friends, whom no change of fortune could induce
him to neglect. And by the practice of every social virtue, as well
as a steady exertion of his uncommon talents in support of justice
and rational liberty, he acquired an indisputable claim to the remem-
brance of all who admire superior parts, or respect integrity of
character." — See Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. iv., p. 832, &c. ;
" The Bar, with Sketches of Eminent Judges, Barristers, &c. ; a poem,
with notes," published at Leeds in 1825 ; p. 114.
208 10 Under 1798 insert, as a Note — J. Tmon published a volume in
1790, under the title of "The Poetical Works of J. Tyson, Gram-
marian and Mathematician, Leeds;" with a dedication to the Rev. R.
Scott, M.A., of Kirby-Ravensworth, from "Boar Lane, Leeds."
There is a paraphrastic translation by him of Metastasio's Hymn to
Venus, in the Gentleman's Magazine, kc. — John Edwards, an esti-
mable man, and a pleasing poet, was born in the Moravian com-
munity, at Fulneck, near Leeds, December 5th, 1772, which place he
left about 1790, and went to Derby. His first publication was "All
Saints' Church," a blank verse composition, in 1805 ; his next, " The
Tour of the Dove, or a visit to Dovedale," published in 1821.
Smaller pieces appeared from his pen afterwards, as "Recollections
of Filey," &c. — See the Poets of Yorkshire, &c.
210 2 For Newcome read — Occasionally, and more appropriately, spelt
Newcombe.
212 - End of Note. After works add — See also a "Sermon preached at
York, December 31st, 1800, on occasion of the death of the Rev. N.
Cappe, with memoir of his life, by the Rev. W. Wood, of Leeds. "
226 9 After Hall add — For a portrait, &c. , of Dr. Priestley, see also the
European Magazine for Aug., 1791 ; Mackenzie's Imperial Dictionary
of Universal Biography.
After portrait add — Public Characters for 1799, vol. i.
Note. After 202, &c, add— For a short account of WUl
Walker, Esq., of Killingbeck Hall, see the Leeds Intelligencer, &c,
for April, 1817.— George Walker, Esq., of the same place, artist and
author of the "Costumes of Yorkshire," &c, died about 1855-6.
Note. After lieutenant add— For a short account of whom, see
the Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for February 2nd, 1861.
After 1750 add— Brother of the Rev. Henry Jowett, and son of
Mr. Henry Jowett, of Leeds; the celebrated Professor Jowett's son,
Mr. John Jowett, married a sister of Mr. Wm. Hey, F.R.S.
259 18 After Sotheby add— We understand that Mrs. Cookson, of
Headingley, relict of the late Rev. F. T. Cookson, vicar of St. John's,
Leeds, possesses portraits of the Rev. Jos. Cookson, the Rev. Dr-
Scott, and the Rev. Richard Fawcett, all Leeds Worthies.
268 29 After institution add— On the resignation of Mr. Billam.
Francis Billam, Esq. (son of John Billam, Esq.), of Leeds, senior
surgeon to the General Infirmary at Leeds, from its institution till
his resignation, in 1773. He married Anne, daughter and co-heir of
the Rev. John Jackson, rector of Rossington, county of York, and
domestic chaplain to Queen Caroline, wife of George II. ; and by her
had two sons and a daughter, viz.— John, his heir ; Francis Thomas,
lieutenant in the 62nd regiment, died, unmarried,' February 10th,
1840; and Anne, who married Edward Kenion, Esq., of Knayton,
county of York, and by her (who died in 1805), left an only daughter,
Anne Billam, married to Charles Bissatt Walker, Esq. The eldest
son, John Billam, Esq., of Wales, county of York, M.D., of Trinity
College, Cambridge, married Mary, eldest daughter of George Baron,
of Leeds, merchant, and by her (who died January 31st, 1827) left at
his decease, December 29th, 1825, Francis, his heir; John Baron,
married, September 20th, 1814, Maria, youngest daughter of Harper
226
238
23
16
240
2
247
17
APPENDIX. 537
l'ape. Line.
Soulby, Esq., of Cliff e House, county of York, and has issue— John,
Harper Soulby, Frank Baron; Maria, Dorothy, and Sarah Jane!
Francis Billam, Esq., of Newall Hall, near Otlev, J. P., bora May
3rd, 1800; married, January 10th, 1818. Anne," relict of Thomas
Wilkinson, Esq., of Winterbume, county of York, and only daughter
and heiress of Thomas Clifton, Esq., of Newall and Clifton, and has
issue (with one daughter, Mary Anne Wilkinson), Thomas Clifton
Billam, Esq., J.P., of Yorkshire, married, September 20th, L842,
Julia Jemima, second daughter of the Hon. Henry Butler, and has
Thomas Clifton, born in 1844, and other issue. — See Burke's Landed
Gentry, &c.
375 10 After M.P., &c, add— For additional particulars, see Note, p. 437.
275 - Mr. Matthew Talbot was a man of scrupulous conscientiousness,
great learning, and unbounded perseverance. By trade he was a
currier, but he retired from the business in consequence of the
imposition of a new tax, which he regarded as unjust. He was
afterwards secretary of the Leeds General Infirmary, which office he
filled with rigid punctuality and care for thirty-three years, till his
death : and it is characteristic of him that he died at the lutirmary,
having persisted in going there when dangerously ill to attend to his
duties, and the effort bringing on almost immediate death. There
was in lus character and tastes a venerable simplicity. The Bible
was his daily study. He was well versed in the Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin languages, and he himself formed more than one translation of
the entire Scriptures from the original tongues. He made ami pub-
lished an "Analysis of tJie Holy Bible, containing the whole of the
Old and New Testaments, collected and arranged systematically,
whereby the dispersed rays of truth are concentrated, and every
scriptural subject defined and fully exhibited." This was ;i work oi
prodigious labour, and displayed much judgment. It illustrated a
remark that once fell from him: "I can honour any draft drawn
upon the bank of patience." He was admirer of Milton's
Paradise Lost; and it was one of his herculean, self-imposed tasks,
to commit the whole of that magnificent epic to memory. IJ i
wrote a translation of the Scriptures in English verse, and illustrated
it, ingeniously but quaintly, by devices of his own. The PUgrimCs
Progress was one of his favourite books, lie was a devoted admire)
of nature, and would walk many miles to witness from some hill-top
the rising of the sun. He wrote respectable blank verse. His
temper was not sociable, but he was very fond of children, and
would unbend to join in their sports, and even to devise games for
them. His spirit was as independent as his pel
indomitable. He was indifferent to money, beyond the means of
humble comfort. His religious views were ev: : ■'i>'\ so reso-
lutely did he follow the dictates of bis CO that had he lived
in the days of the Reformers or early Puritans, he would, in all
probability, have become a marl
283 3 After magazine «</>/ Public Characters for 1800, voL ii
283 8 After 300 add. See also Christian Obaa erfoi L842, pp. 733, 791.
304 - End of Note add— Who presented, in September, 1864, I
inhabitants of Barn ( handsome building erected bj
him for a Dispensary, in addition to the building, he also gave the
sum of £5,000 to be invested, theinter* towards nMmtaining
the establish) 1 1 \ the Leeds \i ercury, &c, for Sept. 12th, 1864.
306 14 Note. Aft add— See the Illustrated London News toi
April, 1847; the Gentleman's Magazine.
307 1 After friends add For a loi ption oi thi altai
piece at St. George's church, Leeds, painted bj I Mr. < '■ «<
Cope, now a v - n Royal Academician (which would bavi
inserted had space allowed), ae< 1
538 B10GRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
Page. Line.
1840, and for February, 13th and 20th, 1841; the Literary Gazette ;
the Art- Journal, &c.
321 21 After of Leeds add — For additional information, see a Funeral
Sermon (entitled "The Cherished Remembrance of Departed "Worth " )
for E. S. George, Esq., by the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, Leeds, 1830.
33G 8 Note. After remembered add — " Dr. Hird, the biographer of
Fothergill (says another writer), was a physician of great skill, and a
man of exquisite taste."
350 7 After 1853 add — For a longer description of this memorial window,
see the Leeds Intelligencer, kc, for April 2nd, 1853.
353 11 After pursued add — For further particulars, see a "Funeral Sermon
for the Rev. Wm. Vint," preached at the Independent chapel, Idle,
by the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, 1834.
359 3 After Samuel Fenton, Esq., add, as a Note — For a long account of
the Fentons, a very old Leeds family (omitted for want of space), see
Thoresby's Ducat us Lcodiensis ; Burke's Landed Gentry, &c.
362 43 For now vicar read — Late vicar, kc ; and add, Now vicar of St.
Paul's, Bedford.
363 - Last line, after transactions, add — And also a work on the Civiliza-
tion of India, &c. — See James's History of Bradford, p. 429, &c.
367 - After end of second Note add — For a note on Heald's Brunoniad,
see " The Bar, with Sketches of Eminent Judges, Barristers," &c,
p. 63.
374 33 After 1859 add— For portraits, &c, of the late Duke of Leeds, see
the Illustrated London News for December 16th, 1854, and for July
14th and 21st, 1859, pages 478, 485, &c.
385 - Note, 14th line. After F. C. Trench, Esq., add — Late captain in
the 66th Foot. 15th line — For, on his marriage, read — After the
birth of his son. 16th line. Fur Colonel read — Late honorary-
colonel of the Leeds Engineers ; now lieutenant-colonel in the Leeds
Volunteer Artillery. 16th line. For now high-sheriff, read — Late
High Sheriff, &c.
390 14 After profession add — A monument was afterwards erected to his
memory in St. George's church, Leeds.
402 20 After 1841 add— In the year 1843 he carried through parliament
an act which, though since repealed in favour of a more extended
measure, first gave to scientific societies exemption from the payment
of local rates.
402 27 After Leeds add — By Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of Joshua
Rayner, Esq., of Leeds, merchant, and eventually co-heir (with her
sister, Sarah, the wife of William Smithson, Esq., of Heath), of their
brother, Milner Rayner, Esq.
402 - After first Note insert— William Smithson, Esq., lieutenant-colonel
commandant of the two regiments of Leeds local militia, and formerly
an alderman of this borough, died at Harrogate on Thursday, the
19th of August, 1830, in his eighty-first year. Previous to his death
he retired to Heath, near Wakefield, where the circumstances of the
times called for the exertion of his services in different grades of the
militia, in which he acquitted himself honourably, and was sincerely
esteemed and regretted by his friends.— See the Leeds Intelligencer,
kc, for August, 1830. Colonel William Smithson (successor to
Colonel Thomas Lloyd) was during many years a leading merchant
in Leeds, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Milner Rayner.
Esq. He afterwards resided at Ledstone Park, near Ferrybridge.
Colonel Smithson's only daughter, and heiress, married Thomas
Burough, Esq., barrister-at-law, of Hulland Hall, Derbyshire, whose
son, John Charles Burton Burough, Esq. (bom in 1810; married in
1848, and has a son, John Sidney, born in 1852, &c), of Chetwynd
Park, Newport, Shropshire, magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for
that county, and high-sheriff of Shropshire in 1844, is the present
424
126
•24
15
430
3
444
444
6
12
444
445
447
447
23
14
17
APPENDIX. 539
Page. Line.
representative of Colonel Smithson, and was until recently the owner
of considerable property in Leeds. — See Burke's J.
402 - After third Note add — At the same election Mr, G. W. food's
partner, Mr. Mark Philips, was returned at the head of the poll for
the town of Manchester, which he continued to represent for twelve
years. George William Wood's sister, Louisa Ann, was married, in
November, 1823, to the Eev. Samuel Crawford, and had surviving
issue two sons — William Crawford, Esq. , barrister-at-law, who married
a daughter of William Blanshard, Esq.. barrister-at-law, late of
Leeds; and Alexander Crawford, Esq., architect; and also a daughter,
Jane.
409 14 After ground add — His portrait is one of those included in the
well-known " Centenary Picture."
After see add — The Illustrated London News for June, 1847.
After York add — His fourth son is James Montagu, Esq., of
Ingmanthorpe, near Wetherby, and Nomianton, in Rutland.
After 1833 add — He also published an "Appeal to the Religious
Community," Is., 8vo., 1838.
For two, read four.
For, From 1811 to 1813 he served, read — He served for upwards of
four years.
After 1813 add— C.B. in June, 1815.
For Tregonell read Tregonwell.
After barrister-at-law add— Only son of John Hill, Esq. (see Note).
Second Note. First line, dele Hepworth. Second line, after died
add — At the age of eighty-nine. Seventh Line, after Major add —
He afterwards became lieutenant-colonel. The following are the
dates of his various commissions : — Second-lieutenant of the Leeds
corps of Volunteers, Dec. 26th, 1794 ; Captain, Leeds Volunteer
Infantry, Sept. 7th, 1803; Major, ditto, April 17th, 1807; Major of
the 2nd Battalion of the Leeds local Militia, Sept. 24th, 1808 ; Lieut. -
Colonel of the 2nd Regiment Leeds local Militia, June 18th, 1810.
He was also one of the twent3'-four patrons of the parish church of
St. Peter's, whose coats-of-arms are in the west window .
1 Third Note. For Busfield read — Busfeild 'as the name is now
spelt). William Busfeild, Esq., M.P., who died in 1851, was tin-
elder brother of the Rev. Johnson Atkinson Busfeild, D.D., who
died in 1849, and of Currer Fothergill Busfeild, Esq., whose
son is the present William Busfeild Ferrand, Esq., M.l'. of St. [ves,
near Bingley, &c.
450 4 Fourth Note, after sermons, &c, add — Also Exposition of
3 vols., and Exposition of the Acts, 3 vols.
455 7 After charity add— In consideration of the ahl • I .don-
manner in which he had discharged his duties.
455 20 For in the church read—In holy orders; and liter,
read two daughters, one of whom is,
455 21 After M.A. add— Late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and
formerly of the Grammar School, I. ■
45."i 24 For some additional information respecting the Rev. Dr. ffoh
and also the Rev. Thomas Nunns, M.A., late incumbent of Bolj
Trinity church, Leeds, see the /.<</ Intelligencer for October 20th,
1855. — For a line engraving of the inti bhe old Grammar
School, see Thoiesliy's Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 83.
456 - Last line. Note. Add — For a description of his monument in St.
George's church, with the inscription, see the Leeds ft rfoi
Aprill7th, 1858.
164 25 After perfect add— Grant's celebrated porta rlofHare
wood was afterwards engraved bj Ward.
474 12 Second Note. After death add Ind aft rwards with o
partners, until about L820, when he retired from bv ines», and
540 BIOGRAPHIA LEOBIENSIS.
Page. Line. . ,
devoted the rest of his life to the public service. After married add
—October 17th, 1798.
475 7 Second Note — For chief read principal.
476 5 First Note. After erected add— It also owed much of its pro-
gress to his efforts, for he acted as its secretary and librarian even
before he became treasurer. He also lived to see the payment of the
debt that had been incurred for the new building.
480 16 For 1793 read 1783.
481 5 First Note. After bom add— The Rev. F. T. Cookson married a
daughter of the Rev. Richard Fawcett, late vicar of Leeds, and the
Rev. "William Williamson, late incumbent of Headingley, married
another.
481 19 After M.A. add— (For a short account of whom, see the Leedi
Intelligencer for March 17th, 1860. )
491 23 After "Intelligencer" add, as a Note— Married, Monday, October
2nd, 1815, Ralph Markland, merchant, youngest son of Edward
Markland, Esq., Police-office, Shadwell, London, to Frances, younger
daughter of the late Mr. Thomas Wright, printer of the Leeds
538 31 Under 1865 add, as a Note— For a long account of Wm. Lyndon
Smith, Esq., who was drowned whilst nobly attempting to rescue
from a watery grave the daughter of George Buhner, Esq., see the
Leeds Intelligencer, &c, for January 28th, 1865.
DEATH.
" Pallida mors ,-equo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas,
Regumque turres."
" Sed omnes una manet nox,
Et calcanda»semel via lethi." Hor.
" Death with impartial pace doth tread,
And heedeth none : or rich, or poor;
He visiteth the poor man's bed,
And knocketh at the rich man's door.
" Alike by all one path is trod,
Which leadeth to eternal night,
To pain, to woe ; or else to God
And sempiternal bliss and bight.
" Life's dreams are fading, fleeting fast,
Life's moments swiftly pass away ;
None can recall the moments past :
Oh, work then, now, while yet 'tis day !
" Oh, well for them whose course is run,
And won the goal to which they prest ;
Oh, joy to them, their fight is done,
And from their labours they shall rest.
" The grave hath lost its victory,
Death unto tliem is robb'd of pain ;
From care, from fear, for ever free ;
To them, to them, 'to die is gain.'"
From the Leeds Intelligencer for July 1st. li>4s.
R. C, Leeds.
INDEX;
OE,
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF LEEDS WORTHIES.
Note. — It should be observed that the Sketches of those Worthies whose names are
printed in Italics will be found in the Notes.
PAGE
Adam, Rev. Thomas, B.A 183
Arthington, C, Esq., F.E.S., <£r. 163, 295
Atkinson, F. R., Esq 474
John, Esq., F.L.S. .. 311
,, John, Esq 456
„ Joseph Robert, Esq. . . 454
Rev. Miles, B.A 242
Baines, Edward, Esq., M. P. .. 435
„ Rt. Hon. M. T, M.P 4S2
Baron, Rev. Richard 170
Baynes, Adam, Esq., M.P 103
Rt. Rev. Ralph, D.D. .. 201
Beckett, Christopher, Esq 418
„ Sir John, 1st Bart 304
Rt. Hon. Sir.J.,M.P.,F.R.S. 422
William, Esq., M.P. .. 506
Bell, Rev. Samuel, M.A., Ph.D. .. 49S
Bentley, Rev. Richard, D.D 152
Berkenhout, John, Esq., M.D. .. 187
Billam, Francis, Esq 536
Bin ns, Mr. John 436
BirchalL Samuel, Esq 253
Bischoff, James, Esq 409
Bland, Thomas Davison, Esq. . . 407
Blenkinsop, Mr. John 327
Boteler, William F., Esq., Q.C. .. 411
Bousfield, Charles, Esq., 511
Bower, Joshua, Esq 455
Boyse, Rev. Joseph 135
Brandling, Chas. John, Esq., M.P. 302
Bridges, George, Esq., M.P 380
„ Mr. Thomas 14:5
Brooke, Rev. Samuel, M.A., LL.D. .. 202
Brown, William Williams, Esq. . . 401
Brovme, Wade, Esq., M. A 450
Burlend, Mr. Edward 471
Burnett, John, Esq 199
Burrow, Mr. Reuben 187
Burton, Rev. Henry, B.D.
Bits/, ;i,i, William, Esq., M.P.
Butterworth, Mr. William ..
PAGE
87
.. 450
353
Calyebley, Sir Hugh 65
„ Sir Walter, Bart. .. 160
„ John, Esq., <tc 100
Cappe, Rev. Newcome 210
Carr, Charles, Esq., M.D 382
Clapham, Rev. Samuel, M.A. .. 324
Clarel, Rev. Thomas 72
Clifford, Mr. Benjamin 242
CockeU, Lieutenant-General . . . . 335
Congreve, William, Esq 136
Cooke, Rev. Alexander, B.D 80
„ Rev. Marmaduke, D.D. .. Ill
,, Rev. Robert, B.D 77
Cookson, Rev. F. T., M.A 480
,, Rev. Joseph, M.A 158
„ WiMinin, Esq 159, 480
Cooper, David, Esq. 471
Cope, Mr. Charles 306
mins, Mr
l>Ai;\i.i.Y, Hi shy, Lord 74
Davison, Robert, l.«i, M.I) 237
Dawson, Mr. William 384
De Courcy. Richard
unt, Maurice
,, Robert
De Leedes, Paulinus 58
Denison, John, Esq., &t 280
Jo 228
M Eon. J.E
SirTnomae L69
William, Esq 180
William J . r . u P •
Dixon
/.' v. Thomas, LL.B 424
542
B10CRAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
TAGE
Edgar, Charles Frederick, Esq. 342
Elley, Lieutenant-General Sir John 375
Ellis, Thomas Flower, Esq., M.A. .. 490
Ely, Rev. John 420
Entwisle, John, Esq., M.P 370
Evre, Rev. William, B.D 73
Fairbairn*, Sir Peter 491
Fairfax, Edward, Esq 81
„ Rev. Guy, <tc 203
,, General Sir Thomas, Lord 103
Fawcett, Mr. James E., R.N 524
„ Rev. James, B.D 32S
Rev. John, M.A 450
Rev. Richard, M.A. .. 308
Fawkes, Rev. Francis, M.A 174
Walter R., Esq., M. P. .. 29G
Fenton, Samuel, Esq 538
Fitz-Harding, Robert 59
Forman, Rev. John 532
Fowler, John, Esq 525
Fox, George, Lord Bingley . . . . 173, 445
,, George Lane, Esq., M. P.. . 285,445
„ James ;Lane), Esq., M.P. 2S3, 445
Frazer, Rt. Rev. John 74
Furbank, Rev. Thomas, M.A 450
Gascoigne, Dr. Thomas 531
,, Sir Thomas 384
,, Sir William 70
William 80
Gawthorp, Mr 227
George, Edward 8., Esq., F.L.S. .. 320
Goodinge, Rev. Thomas, LL.V. .. 202
Goodman, Sir George, MP 477
Gott, Benjamin, Esq 377
,, Mr. Joseph 488
„ William, Esq 511
Graham, Sir James, Bart., M.P. .. 294
,, Sir Sandford, Bart. . . 295
Gray, Mr. Thomas 445
Guest, General 103
Haddos, Rev. Peter, M.A 259
Hall, Henry, Esq 474
„ Robert, Esq., M.P 400
Hamilton, Rev. R. W., LL.D., D.D. 431
,, Thomas, Esq 417
Hardwick, R. G., Esq., M.I). .. 515
Hardy, John, Esq., M.P 459
Harewood, First Baron 204
,, First Earl of 275
„ Second Earl of .. .. 390
Third Earl of 403
Harrison, John, Esq 91
Hartley, David, Esq., M.A., M.D. .. 164
Hassc, Mr. C. F.
Hastings, Lady Klizaboth .. 140,
Heald, Rev. W. M., M.A
Hey, John, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S. ..
,, Rev. John, D.D
,, Richard, Esq., LL.D
„ William, Esq., F.R.S
,, William, Esq., J. P
Hick, Mr. Samuel
Hill, John Hepworth, Esq
,, Lieutenant-Colonel John . . 447,
,, Rev. Joseph, D.D
Hird, Benjamin, Esq., M.D
Hirst, Mr. William
Hobson, Frederick, Esq
Holdforth, James, Esq., J.P.
Holmes, Rev. John B
,, Rev. Joseph, D.D
Hopkinson, John, Esq
Hopton, Right Rev. John, D.D.
„ Sir Ralph, Lord . . . . 83,
Hunter, Adam, Esq., M.D
Ibbetson, Sir Charles Henry . . 109,
,, Sir Henry, Bart.
Ikin, John Arthur, Esq
1 "ng ram. Sir Arthur, <tc
„ Charles, Viscount Irwin
,, Hugo Meynell
Jervis, Rev. Thomas
Jowett, Rev. Joseph, LL.D. ..
Ken/ion, James, Esq
Killingbeck, Rev. John, B.D.
Kirke, Thomas, Esq., F.R.S.
Kirshaw, Rev. Samuel, D.D. ..
Kitchingman, Robert, Esq.
Knowles, Mr. Herbert
Lake, Rt. Rev. John, D.D.
Lascelles, Rt. Hon. W. S
Lawson, Rev. William, M.A. ..
Leatliam, William., Esq., &c
Lee, John, Esq., M.P 199, J
Leeds, First Duke of, E.G. . . 121 J
,, Eighth Duke of
„ Sixth Duke of, K.G. .. .
Leigh, Sir Ferdinand, Bart.
,, Roger Holt, Esq
Lever, Mr. John, R.N.
Lindsey, Rev. Theophilus, M.A. .
Linsley, Mr. Joseph
Lloyd, George, Esq., F.R.S., etc. .
,, Colonel Thomas
Londesoorough, Lord, F.R.S. .. 229,
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF LEEDS WORTHIES.
543
PAGE
ulge. Mr. William 116
msdale. Earl of, K.G 403
nrther, Sir William, M.P 119
i ,, Rev. Sir William, B: 186
Sir John, Bart., M.P. ..406
teas, James, Esq 253
iccock, Mr. John 305
aeavJmj. lit. Hon. T. B., Lord .. 477
g'Creagk, Colonel Sir Michael.. .. 353
aclea, Charles Gascoigne, Esq. . . 516
agney, Rev. Thomas, D. D 164
argerison, Right Rev. James, D.D. 109
arkham, William, Esq., Ac -45
Colonel 4.=.!
irkland, Edward, Esq 337
, Rear- Admiral . . . . 443
Ralph, Esq 489
irshall. Lieutenant James .. .. 455
John, Esq., M.P 411
John, jun., Esq.. M.P. 304
ztthewman, Mrs 44:;
| aude, Thomas, Esq 20S
William M., Esq . . 510
lexborough, First Earl of .. .. 177
Second Earl of .. .. 319
Third Earl of .. .. 489
! eynell, Admiral 52S
ilner, Charles, Esq 367
I „ Rev. John, B.D 117
I,, Rev. Joseph, M. A 205
Very Rev. Isaac, D.D., F.R.S. 277
i„ "William, Esq 150
S'tr William, Bart 151
|„ Sir William M., Bart. 242
lofefSWOrffc, Sir William Hart.. M.P. 4."..".
unfijuiitfrij, James, Esq
torgan, Rev. Thomas, LL.l). ....
Rev. Thomas
lurray, Mr. Matthew 298
usgrave, James, Esq 408
Rev. John, M.A Ill
Rev. John, LI..D. .. Ill, 533
■vile, (Jervas, Esq., &C 107
I ,, Lieutenant C.H 203
i i utenants 209
"chols, Mr. James 503
i-holson, Mr. John 896
,, Thomas, Esq. .. .. 461
Mr. Robert ."11
ER, Mr. Rii i : a i : i > 499
• • we] . Ralph 47
William
PAGE
Parsons, Rev. Edward . . . . . . 348
Passelew, Rev. Robert 69
Pease, Thomas B., Esq 416
I'l int. Mr. Thomas 471
,, Thomas Edward, Esq 497
Potter, Sir Thomas 417
Predham, Lieutenant Samuel . . 217
Priestley, Rev. Joseph. LL.D , F.R.S. 217
Rawden, Sir George, Bart 112
Reade, T. S. B., Esq 383
Rhodes, John X., Esq 3J|5
„ Mr. Joseph 456
William B., Esq 302
Robinson, Rev. Henry, B.D ino
,, Rev. Henry, M.A. .. 144
,, William, Esq., 387
Ryley, Mr. John 262
Sadler, M. T., Esq.. M.P., F.R.S. 354
Saville, Rt. Hon. Sir John . . . . 7S
,, Henry, Lord, tfcc 177
Saxton, Christopher 7(3, 532
,, Rev. Peter, M.A 88
Scales, Rev. Thomas 488
Scatcherd, N. C, Esq., F.S.A 453
Scholey, Alderman < reorge . . . . 376
Schroeder, Mr. Henry 453
Sehwanfelder, C. H., Esq 3S9
Scott, Rev. James, M.A 11.",. 254
„ Rev. James, D.D -254
Shaehleton, Mr. Jonathan 416
Shaw, John Hope, Esq 520
Sheepshanks, John, Esq 514
Rev. i:., M.A., F.R.S. 457
Rev. William. M.A. 239
(York), Whitiell, Esq. 239
Sisson, Rev. Thomas, M.A 372
Smales, Mr. Thomas 275
Smeaton, John, Esq., F.R.S 191
Smith, Henry, Esq 524
William, Esq., J.P 449
William Lyndon, Lsq. . . 540
Smithson, Colon* ' Wilh an .. .. 538
Spencer, Captain Henry 203
Stan /- Id, /»"'••' '. Esq., <fcc 174
Stansfteld, Robert, Esq 174
Storr, Mr. Gervas 227
-■■ 1 . Rev. William, M.A 97
Swain, Bev. Joseph, B.D
Sy'kes, !>., Esq , M.A., M P.. F.R.S. 3:j7
TaXBOT, Mr. M \THii'.v\ ,. .. 27'
1 ■■:•, Jo eph, E 'i
v. ale, E hoard John, E 9 459
Tennant, Tin •mas, Esq 349
544
BIOORAPHIA LEODIENSIS.
PAOE
Tliackrah, Charles Turner, Esq. . . 344
Tliompson, Mr. T. B 471
Thoresby, Ralph, Esq., F.R.S 128
Thorp, Robert W. D., Esq., M.D. 448
Titley, Anthony, Esq 417
Todd, Rev. Robert, M. A 98
Tottie, Thomas William, Esq 486
Trevelyan, Sir John, Bart 307
Turner, Alexander, Esq 263
Uppleby, J. <?., Esq 498
Vavasour, Sir Thomas, Bart 305
Vint, Rev. William 352
Wales, Rev. Elk an ah, A.M 109
Walker and Beckett, Captains . . 237
„ Rev. George, M. A 321
„ Thomas, Esq. 217
Watkinson, Henry, Esq., LL.D. .. 162
Watts, Alaric A., Esq 516
PAGK
West, William, Esq., F.R.S 451
Whder, G. Hastings, Esq., F.S.A. 306
Whitaker, Rev. T. D., LL.D., F.R.S. 286
Whiteley, Rev. Joseph, M.A 263
Wilkinson, John, Esq., J.P 462
,, Captain Joseph .. ,. 237
Williamson, James, Esq., M.D. .. 415
Willans, William, Esq., J.P. .. 512
Wilson, Benjamin, Esq., F.R.S. 185, 447
Gen. SirR. T., M.P., dc. 447
,, Richard, Esq 200
,, Rt. Rev. Christopher, D.D. 200
,, Richard F., Esq., M.P. .. 424
,, William James, Esq. .. .. 455
Wood, Mrs. (Vocalist) 518
„ George W., Esq., M.P 401
„ Rev. William, F.L.S 232
Wordsvjorth, Joshua, Esq 430
Wright, Griffith, Esq 417
Mr. Thomas 213
FINIS.
JOHN HAMER, PRINTER, 7, BRIGOATE, LEEDS.
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