John Eglington Bailey (1840–1888) was an English antiquary, Secretary of the Chetham Society and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Life

Born at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, on 13 February 1840, he was the son of Charles Bailey, by his wife Mary Elizabeth, daughter of John Eglington of Ashbourne. His parents removed during his childhood to Lancashire. Educated at Warrington Grammar School, he entered in his teens the counting-house of

Ralli Brothers The five Ralli brothers, Zannis a.k.a. John (1785–1859), Augustus (1792–1878), Pandia a.k.a. Zeus (1793–1865), Toumazis (1799–1858), and Eustratios (1800–84), founded Ralli Brothers, perhaps the most successful expatriate Greek merchant ...

in Manchester, and continued there till 1886. He completed his education by attending evening classes at

Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Ow ...

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 ...

, learned

Pitman's shorthand Pitman shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman (1813–1897), who first presented it in 1837. Like most systems of shorthand, it is a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent lette ...

, and contributed articles to short-hand manuscript or lithographed magazines. He interested himself in

Thomas Fuller Thomas Fuller (baptised 19 June 1608 – 16 August 1661) was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his ''Worthies of England'', published in 1662, after his death. He was a prolific author, and ...

, delivered a lecture on him to the Manchester Phonographic Union, which was printed in Henry Pitman's ''Popular Lecturer'', and devoted his holidays to visiting Fuller's various places of residence. In 1881 Bailey started a monthly antiquarian magazine, the ''Palatine Note-Book'', which ran for just over four years and ceased with the forty-ninth number in 1885. He was a Member of the

Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society The Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society is a historical society and registered charity founded, on 21 March 1883, for the study of any aspects of the area covered by the Palatine Counties of Lancashire and Cheshire (and succeeding local ...

, serving as a Member of Council (1884–8). He was a Member of the

Chetham Society The Chetham Society "for the publication of remains historic and literary connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester" is a text publication society and registered charity (No. 700047) established on 23 March 1843. History Th ...

, and served as a Member of Council from 1876 and as Secretary from 1882. Bailey collected works on

stenography Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

with a view to writing its history, and built up a valuable library of antiquarian and general literature. In 1886 illness put an end to his studies and projects. He died at Manchester on 23 August 1888, and was buried at

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford and north-east of Altrincham. Str ...

church on 27 August.

Works

In 1874, as the fruit of his researches, Bailey published a life of Thomas Fuller, which gained him admission to the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

, and he was a contributor to the earliest volumes of the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. His collection of Fuller's sermons, completed and edited by W. E. A. Axon, was published in 1891. His other works included: * ''Life of a Lancashire Rector during the Civil War'', 1877 * ''The Grammar School of Leigh'', 1879 * ''John Whitaker'', 1879 * ''John Dee and the Steganographia of Trithemius'', 1879 He edited reprints of ''Manchester Al Mondo'', 1880;

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divinatio ...

's ''Diary'', 1880; and

John Byrom John Byrom or John Byrom of Kersal or John Byrom of Manchester FRS (29 February 1692 – 26 September 1763) was an English poet, the inventor of a revolutionary system of shorthand and later a significant landowner. He is most remembered as t ...

's ''Journal'', 1882.

References

Attribution

External links

Chetham Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, John Eglington 1840 births 1888 deaths English antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Edgbaston Burials in Greater Manchester Chetham Society