Joseph Butterworth (1770 – 30 June 1826) was an English law bookseller and politician.

Life

He was son of the Rev. John Butterworth, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

minister in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, where he was born. At an early age he went to London, where he learned the law-book trade, and founded a large and lucrative establishment in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

, in which his nephew Henry Butterworth later worked. Butterworth's house became a resort of the leading philanthropists of the day. There

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secret ...

John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth (5 October 1751 – 14 February 1834) was a British official of the East India Company who served as Governor-General of Bengal from 1793 to 1798. In 1798 he was created Baron Teignmouth in the Peerage of ...

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

and

Zachary Macaulay Zachary Macaulay ( gd, Sgàire MacAmhlaoibh; 2 May 1768 – 13 May 1838) was a Scottish statistician and abolitionist who was a founder of London University and of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and a Governor of British Sierra Leone ...

had discussions, and the first meetings of the

British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The Soc ...

were held. Butterworth liberally supported many philanthropic and Christian institutions. He was M.P. for

from 1812 to 1818, and for

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

from 1820 to 1826, and gave independent support to the government of the day. He was a broad-minded

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

, and in August 1819 was appointed general treasurer of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, a post he retained until his death. He died at his house in

Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, inclu ...

, London, 30 June 1826, aged 56.

Works

He was author of ''A General Catalogue of Law Books'' (1801).

References

;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butterworth, Joseph 1770 births 1826 deaths People from Coventry Publishers (people) from London Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1820–1826 Members of Parliament for Coventry