Joseph Nightingale (26 October 1775 – 9 August 1824) was a prolific English writer and preacher. He was particularly noted for his

topographic Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scie ...

writing and his interest in

shorthand 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 ...

Life

He was born at Chowbent in Atherton, Lancashire and became a

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 ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

in 1796. He acted occasionally as a local preacher, but never entered the Methodist ministry, and ceased to be a member in 1804. For some time he was master of a school at

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, Cheshire, but moved to London in 1805, at the suggestion of

William Smyth William Smyth (or Smith) ( – 2 January 1514) was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield from 1493 to 1496 and then Bishop of Lincoln until his death. He held political offices, the most important being Lord President of the Council of Wales and t ...

. By this time he was a Unitarian. He became a Unitarian minister, preaching his first

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

on 8 June 1806 at Parliament Street Chapel,

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bishop ...

, but he never held any pastoral charge, and supported himself chiefly by writing. He contributed frequently to early volumes of the ''

Monthly Repository The ''Monthly Repository'' was a British monthly Unitarian periodical which ran between 1806 and 1838. In terms of editorial policy on theology, the ''Repository'' was largely concerned with rational dissent. Considered as a political journal, it ...

''. After the publication of his ''Portraiture of Methodism'' (1807) he was exposed to much criticism. An article in the ''

New Annual Register The New Annual Register (subtitled, "Or General Repository of History, Politics and Literature for the Year...") was an annual reference work, founded in 1780 by Andrew Kippis in London, England. It recorded and analysed the year's major events, de ...

'' for 1807 characterised him as "a knave" and he brought an action for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

against John Stockdale, the publisher, recovering £200 in

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

on 11 March 1809. In 1824 he was again received into membership by the Methodist body.

Private life

He married Margaret Goostry on 17 November 1799 and they had four children. His son, Joseph Sargent Nightingale, became an independent minister. In private life "he was of a kind disposition, lively imagination, and possessed a cheerfulness that never deserted him." He died in London and was buried at

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

Works

Charles Sutton, the author 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 ...

article on Nightingale, states that "His works extend to about fifty volumes; those on topography have much merit." Among them are: *Elagnitin, J. . Nightingale(1822) ''Mock Heroics on Snuff, Tobacco, and Gin''; *Nightingale, J. (1797) ''Elegiac Thoughts on the Death of Rev. David Simpson'', Manchester; *— (1804) ''The Election, a Satirical Drama'', Stockport; *— (1807) ''A Portraiture of Methodism''; *— (1809) ''Nightingale versus Stockdale''; *— (1811a) ''A Guide to the Watering Places''; *— (1811b) ''A Letter to a Friend, containing a Comparative View of the Two Systems of Shorthand, respectively invented by Mr. Byrom and Dr. Mavor''; *— (1812) ''A Portraiture of the Roman Catholic Religion''; *— (1813) ''Accounts of the Counties of Stafford, Somerset, and Salop'', 3 vols., forming a continuation of ''

The Beauties of England and Wales ''The Beauties of England and Wales'' (1801–1815) is a series of books describing the topography and local history of England and Wales. Produced by a variety of London publishers, the work appeared in 18 multi-part volumes arranged by county, ...

'' by

Edward Wedlake Brayley Edward Wedlake Brayley (177323 September 1854) was an English historian and topographer. Brayley collaborated with his life-long friend, John Britton, on the first 6 volumes of ''The Beauties of England and Wales''. Early life Brayley was ...

; *— (1814–1815) ''Surveys of the City of London and the City of Westminster'', 4 vols ** *— (1816a) ''English Topography, consisting of Accounts of the several Counties of England and Wales''; *— (1816b) ''The Bazaar, its Origin, Nature, &c., considered as a Branch of Political Economy''; *— (1818) ''History and Antiquities of the Parochial Church of Saviour, Southwark''; *— (1820–1822) ''Memoirs of Caroline, Queen of England'', 3 vols; *— (1821a) ''An Historical Account of Kenilworth Castle''; *— (1821b) ''The Religions and Religious Ceremonies of all Nations faithfully and impartially described''; *— (1822a) ''Trial of Queen Caroline'', 3 vols; *— (1822b) ''An Impartial View of the Life and Administration of the late Marquis of Londonderry''; *— (1822c) ''The Ladies' Grammar''; *— (1822c) ''Rational Stenography, or Shorthand made Easy ... founded on ... Byrom,''; *— ''Historical Details and Tracts concerning the Storekeeper-General's Office''; *— ''The Portable Cyclopædia''; *— ''Report of the Trial of Thistlewood''; *— ''The Political Repository and Magazine''; *— ''A Natural History of British Singing Birds''; *— ''The Juvenile Muse, original Stories in Verse''; *— ''A Grammar of Christian Theology''.

Notes

References

* * (') ;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nightingale, Joseph 1775 births 1824 deaths Burials at Bunhill Fields English writers People from Atherton, Greater Manchester English male writers