Author: Broster, John
Biography:
BROSTER, John (1769-1852: ancestry.co.uk)
His father was Peter Broster (1741-1816), an author, printer, and bookseller in Chester, Cheshire. He married Elizabeth Maddock in St. Oswald’s, Chester, on 2 Feb. 1766; they had at least four sons. He was mayor of Chester 1790-91. John Broster was born on 13 Apr. 1769 and baptised in St. Oswald’s, Chester, on 4 May. He became a printer and bookseller; he was also an antiquary who designed his own Gothic house in Chester. His Edmond, Orphan of the Castle is based on Clara Reeve’s The Old English Baron (1777); he also published a historical novel, The Castle of Beeston, or, Randolph, Earl of Chester (1798). Broster’s wife was Sarah (1770-1837); they seem not to have had children. He joined the Freemason Lodge in Chester in 1802. By 1841 he had moved to the Isle of Wight where he focused on developing what he called “the Brosterian system” for treating speech impediments. The 1841 Census shows him living in Northwood on the Isle of Wight with a niece, Sarah Broster. By 1851 he was living at Chester Lodge, Sandown Bay, with Sarah and a nephew; for the 1851 Census he gave his occupation as “Elocution Professor.” He died at Chester Lodge on 20 Dec. 1852, naming Sarah as his executor and leaving effects of £889. He was buried with his wife in St. Mildred’s churchyard, Whippingham, Isle of Wight. His other works include new editions of his father’s Chester Guide (first published 1782), A Circular Tour from Chester Through North Wales (1814), and Progress of the Brosterian System for the Effectual Removal of Impediments in Speech (1827). (ancestry.co.uk 18 Sept. 2023; BBTI 18 Sept. 2023) SR