Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 08.djvu/101

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dentally dispersed were purchased by Messrs. Platt Brothers, and by them presented to the Oldham Lyceum. Butterworth died of typhoid fever on 19 April 1848. In 1859 a monument to his memory was erected by public subscription in Greenacres Cemetery, Oldham. His books are now for the most part scarce and difficult to obtain.

[Local Notes and Queries from the Manchester Guardian, 1874–5; Index Catalogue of the Manchester Free Library, Reference Department, Manchester, 1879; Historical Sketches of Oldham, 1856; Fishwick's Lancashire Library, 1875.]

W. E. A. A.


BUTTERWORTH, HENRY (1786–1860), law publisher, was born at Coventry 28 Feb. 1786, being the son of a wealthy timber merchant of that place, and grandson of the Rev. John Butterworth [q. v.], baptist minister of Coventry, Warwickshire, and author of a ‘Concordance of the Holy Scriptures.’ Young Henry was educated first in the grammar school at Coventry, and afterwards at Bristol. When fifteen years old he entered the bookselling establishment of his uncle, Joseph Butterworth [q. v.], in Fleet Street, London. Living in his uncle's house he became acquainted with Lord Liverpool, Lord Teignmouth, William Wilberforce, Zachary Macaulay, Dr. Adam Clarke, and others, who were frequent guests at his uncle's table. In 1818 he went into business on his own account, obtained the appointment of law publisher to the queen, took a leading part in the management of the Stationers' Company, and became the chief London law publisher. In 1823 he was elected a member of the city council, but declined other municipal office. He supported generously church extension, and many social and christian institutions. He was an active member of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1813 Butterworth married Miss Elizabeth H. Whitehead, daughter of Captain Whitehead of the 4th Irish dragoon guards. He died at Upper Tooting, Surrey, 2 Nov. 1860, aged 74. A painted glass window was placed in the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral by his friends, as a mark of respect to his memory.

[Annual Register for 1860, p. 400, et seq.]

W. B. L.


BUTTERWORTH, JAMES (1771–1837), Manchester topographer, was the youngest of eleven children, and was born on 28 Aug. 1771 in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne. His parents were probably handloom weavers. They sent the boy to school under Mr. John Taylor of Alt. Taylor allowed him a share in the instruction of the lower classes. Butterworth attained some skill in ornamental penmanship. He married in 1792 Hannah Boyton, by whom he had ten children; the youngest, Edwin, attained, like his father, some distinction as a topographer. After many years spent in tuition, Butterworth acted for some years as postmaster of Oldham. He produced a lengthy series of books and pamphlets on the history of his native county, which record much that would have been forgotten but for his personal observation. He died on 23 Nov. 1837.

His writings are: 1. ‘A Dish of Hodge Podge, or a Collection of Poems by Paul Bobbin, Esq., of Alt, near Oldham, Manchester, printed for the author, 1800.’ 2. ‘Rocher Vale,’ a poem printed at Oxford 1804. 3. ‘An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Town and Parochial Chapelry of Oldham,’ Oldham, 1817; a second edition appeared in 1826, ‘The Rustic Muse, a collection of poems,’ Oldham, 1818. 4. ‘A Sequel to the Lancashire Dialect, by Paul Bobbin, Couzin German of the famous Tim Bobbin of merry memory,’ Manchester, 1819; professedly written in the local dialects of the parishes of Ashton and Rochdale. The frontispiece is a portrait of ‘Paul Bobbin,’ and represents a thin, sharp-featured, large-eyed man, with long and slightly curling hair. The plate is engraved by Slack from a drawing by Butterworth. 5. ‘The Antiquities of the Town, and a Complete History of the Trade of Manchester,’ Manchester, 1822; reissued in 1823 as ‘A Complete History of the Cotton Trade, &c., by a person concerned in trade.’ 6. ‘History and Description of the Town and Parish of Ashton-under-Lyne and the Village of Dukinfield,’ Ashton, 1823. 7. ‘History and Description of the Towns and Parishes of Stockport, Ashton-under-Lyne, Mottram-Long-Den-Dale, and Glossop, with some memorials of the late F. D. Astley, Esq., of Dukinfield, and extracts from his poems, with an elegy to his memory,’ Manchester, 1827. These four works appear also to have been issued separately; the ‘Memorials of F. D. Astley’ is dated 1828. 8. ‘A History and Description of the Parochial Chapelry of Saddleworth,’ Manchester, 1828. 9. ‘An Historical and Topographical Account of the Town and Parish of Rochdale,’ Manchester, 1828. 10. ‘The Instruments of Freemasonry Moralised,’ Manchester, 1829; a pamphlet. 11. ‘Tabula Mancuniensis, chronological table of the history of Manchester,’ Manchester, 1829; this pamphlet is the foundation of Timperley's ‘Annals of Manchester,’ and the ‘Manchester Historical Recorder.’ 12. ‘A Gazetteer of the Hundred of Salford,’ Manchester, 1830; a pamphlet.