James Butterworth also known as Paul Bobbin (28 August 1771 – 23 November 1837) was an English author, poet, antiquarian and topographer of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and the surrounding area.

Life

The youngest of 11 children, Butterworth was born on 28 August 1771 in the parish of

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. His parents, thought to be

handloom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...

weavers, sent him to school under John Taylor of

Alt Alt or ALT may refer to: Abbreviations for words * Alt account, an alternative online identity also known as a sock puppet account * Alternate character, in online gaming * Alternate route, type of highway designation * Alternating group, mathema ...

and there he took on some instruction of the lower classes. Butterworth attained some skill in ornamental penmanship. After many years spent in tuition, he acted for some years as postmaster of

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, and died on 23 November 1837.

Works

Despite expressing some early frustration with publishers, James Butterworth produced a series of books and pamphlets on local history, including his personal observations. His writings were: * ''A Dish of Hodge Podge, or a Collection of Poems by Paul Bobbin, Esq., of Alt, near Oldham, printed for the author, 1800''. * ''Rocher Vale'', a poem printed at Oxford 1804. *
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. * ''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 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''. *
History and Description of the Town and Parish of Ashton-under-Lyne and the Village of Dukinfield
', Ashton, 1823. * ''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. * ''A History and Description of the Parochial Chapelry of Saddleworth'', Manchester, 1828. *
An Historical and Topographical Account of the Town and Parish of Rochdale
', Manchester, 1828. * ''The Instruments of Freemasonry Moralised'', Manchester, 1829; a pamphlet. * ''Tabula Mancuniensis, chronological table of the history of Manchester'', Manchester, 1829; this pamphlet was the basis for

Charles Henry Timperley Charles Henry Timperley (1794–1869) was an English printer and writer. Life He was born in Manchester, and educated at the Manchester Grammar School. In March 1810 he enlisted in the 33rd Regiment of Foot, was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo ...

's ''Annals of Manchester'', and the ''Manchester Historical Recorder''. * ''A Gazetteer of the Hundred of Salford'', Manchester, 1830, a pamphlet. Some of Burton's manuscripts went, with those of his son Edwin, to the Oldham Lyceum. He is said also to have published ''Mancunium'', a poem.

Family

Burton married in 1792 Hannah Boyton, with whom he had ten children. The youngest,

Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (died ...

, was also known as a topographer.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Butterworth, James 1771 births 1837 deaths English antiquarians English topographers People from Ashton-under-Lyne English male poets English male non-fiction writers