Author: Butterworth, James
Biography:
BUTTERWORTH, James (1771-1837: ODNB)
Pseudonym Paul Bobbin
ODNB states that he was born on 28 Aug. 1771 in Pitses, near Oldham in Lancashire, to James Butterworth and his wife Jane Ogden. Possibly this information is derived from William Glover’s History of Ashton-under-Lyne (1884) but it is not fully supported by public records. These show that James Butterworth was baptised at St. John the Baptist Hey, in Lees near Oldham, on 28 Aug. 1771 and that he was “the son of James Butterworth of Alt weaver by Ann his wife.” He learned to read and write in a local school before becoming a weaver like his parents. On 24 June 1792 he married Hannah Bayton (ODNB gives Boyton or Royton) in St. Mary’s, Prestwich; Glover states that they had ten children but some of these died in childhood. Butterworth wrote prolifically across a range of genres: verse, local history, topography, and manufacturing guides. His books include A Guide to Universal Manufacture (1801), The Fustian Manufacturer and Weaver’s Draught Book (1812), An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Town and Parochial Chapelry of Oldham (1817), the Antiquities of the Town, and a Complete History of the Trade of Manchester (1822), History and Description of the Town of Ashton-under-Lyne (1823), The Manufacturer’s and Weaver’s Guide (1825), and Tabula Mancuniensis (1829). He was postmaster of Oldham (1812-18) and worked as a schoolmaster and Sunday school teacher. Hannah died in 1836, and he died a year later on 23 Nov. 1837. Their son, Edwin, became a noted topographer. (ODNB 8 Aug. 2023; W. Glover, History of Ashton-under-Lyne (1884); ancestry.co.uk 8 Aug. 2023) SR
Other Names:
- J. Butterworth