William Hutton (30 September 1723 – 20 September 1815) was an English poet and historian. Originally from Derby, he moved to Birmingham and became the first significant historian of the city, publishing his ''History of Birmingham'' in 1781.

Biography

A Unitarian

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

born in Derby, William Hutton went to school when five years old. Aged seven years he was employed in a Derby Silk Mill on a seven-year apprenticeship. In 1737 he took a second apprenticeship as a stocking maker in Nottingham under his uncle. In 1746, after his uncle had died, he taught himself bookbinding, and three years later opened a shop in Southwell, Nottinghamshire. This was not successful and he moved to Birmingham in 1750 and opened a small bookshop. Hutton married Sarah Cock from Aston-on-Trent in 1755 and they had three sons and a daughter, Catherine Hutton (1756–1846), who became a writer. In 1756, Hutton opened a paper warehouse – the first in Birmingham – which became profitable. He built a country house on Bennetts Hill in Washwood Heath, and bought a house in High Street. He published his ''History of Birmingham'' in 1782 and was also elected as Fellow of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland (F. A. S. S.). He was elected overseer of the poor, and in 1787, to the Court of Requests, a small claims court for 19 years, handling over 100,000 claims. Both Hutton's houses were destroyed in the Birmingham Riots in 1791 (the

Priestley Riots The Priestley Riots (also known as the Birmingham Riots of 1791) took place from 14 July to 17 July 1791 in Birmingham, England; the rioters' main targets were religious dissenters, most notably the politically and theologically controversial Jo ...

) leading to his historical account in ''Narrative of the riots''. He managed to recover £5,390 in a claim for damages against the town. William Hutton is generally held to be the first person in modern times to walk the entire length of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...

, producing an account of his 1801 journey in ''The History of the Roman Wall''. Walking 600 miles from his Birmingham home, along the wall, and back home again, he wrote in the preface, "I have given a short sketch of my approach to this famous Bulwark; have described it as it appears in the present day, and stated my return. Perhaps, I am the first man that ever traveled the whole length of this Wall, and probably the last that will ever attempt it ...". Hutton lived chiefly on a vegetarian diet.

Legacy

Hutton completed his autobiography '' The Life of William Hutton'' just before his death in 1815. He is commemorated by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

on Waterstone's bookshop on High Street, near the start of New Street, Birmingham and as a

Bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

on Derby's Exeter Bridge close to the Mill where he did his apprenticeship. A memorial exists in

St Margaret's Church, Ward End St Margaret's Church, Ward End is a Grade II listed former Church of England parish church in Birmingham. History The medieval church was erected in 1517 as a chapel of ease to SS Peter and Paul's Church, Aston funded by John Bond. The church ...

. There is a portrait of William Hutton by an unknown artist in

Derby Museum and Art Gallery Derby Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Derby, England. It was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collect ...

Works

*''An History of Birmingham'' (1781) *''Journey to London'' (1784) *''Courts of requests'' (1787) *''Battle of Bosworth field'' (1788) *''History of Blackpool'' (1788) *''A dissertation on juries with a description of the Hundred Court'' (1788) *''History of the Hundred Courts'' (1790) *''History of Derby'' (1791) *''The Barbers, a poem'' (1793) *''Edgar and Elfrida, a poem'' (1793) *''The History of the Roman Wall'' (1802) *''Remarks upon North Wales'' (1803) *''Tour to Scarborough'' (1803) *''Poems, chiefly tales'' (1804) *''Trip to Coatham'' (1808) *''The Life of William Hutton, F.A.S.S. including a particular account of the riots of Birmingham in 1791, and the history of his family, written by himself, and published by his daughter, Catherine Hutton'' (1816) *''The Life of William Hutton, Stationer, of Birmingham, and the history of his family, written by himself '' (1841).

References

Sources

Literary Heritage West Midlands
*Breeze, D.J. (2006) ''J. Collingwood Bruce's Handbook to the Roman Wall'' (Newcastle) * Jewitt, Llewellynn (1869) ''The Life of William Hutton, and the History of the Hutton Family''

External links

* *
''The life of William Hutton''
at archive.org

* * ''The History of the Roman Wall'' (1802) by William Hutton on Wikisource {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutton, William 1723 births 1815 deaths People from Derby 19th-century English historians English booksellers English Unitarians English male poets English male non-fiction writers 18th-century English historians