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Author: Rotton, Richard

Biography:

ROTTON, Richard (1805-33: ancestry.co.uk)

He was born Richard Gibbs Rotton on 7 June 1805 and baptised on 8 Oct. at St. Mary’s, Birmingham, the second surviving son of John Rotton, a metals manufacturer and partner in Rotton and Scholefields Birmingham Bank (1806-34), and his wife Hannah Gibbs. His father had been educated at St. Mary’s Hall, Oxford (later incorporated into Oriel College). Richard Rotton went to school in Brewood, Staffordshire, and proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge (matric. 1822), but it is unclear if he completed his degree. His elder brother, John, matriculated at Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1819, but there is also no record of his completing a degree. Another brother, Thomas, attended Trinity (matric. 1822, BA 1829). On his return to Birmingham, Richard joined his father’s bank. He married Selina Thornley, the eldest daughter of Samuel Thornley of Gilbertstone House, Yardley, Birmingham, on 3 Sept. 1829 at Sheldon, Warwickshire. They had a daughter, Selina, born in 1830, and lived in Bull Street, Birmingham. He drowned at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, on 22 June 1833, along with his brother-in-law John Thornley, when their boat was swamped during an excursion. His body was recovered and returned to Birmingham. He was buried on 9 July 1833 at St. Giles, Sheldon, Warwickshire. His widow, Selina, remarried in 1846 and died in 1870. Herban, A Poem. In Four Cantos (1825) is attributed to him only in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, catalogue; other libraries list it as anonymous. Circumstantial evidence supports the Bodleian attribution: the work was printed by T. and W. Wood, Birmingham; the Preface gave his age as nineteen; reviews noted his classical learning. (ancestry.co.uk 30 Nov. 2023; findmypast.co.uk 30 Nov. 2023; Aris’s Birmingham Gazette 7 Sept. 1829, 1 July 1833) AA

 

Books written (1):

London: G. B. Whittaker, 1825