William Barrett (1733–1789) was an English surgeon and antiquary.

Life

He was born early in 1733 at Notton, Wiltshire. He passed his examination as a surgeon on 19 February 1755, and settled in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in practice of his profession. On 9 November 1775 he became a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

. On 13 October 1789 he died at

High Ham High Ham is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. Within the parish of High Ham are the villages of High Ham and Low Ham and the hamlets of Bowdens, Henley, Paradise and Picts Hill. History Within the parish of High Ham there have be ...

, Somerset.

Works

His ''History and Antiquities of Bristol'' was announced early: an engraving of him, by William Walker, from a portrait by

Jan van Rymsdyk Jan van Rymsdyk (also Rijmsdijck, Riemsdyk, Remsdyke) (c. 1730 – 20 February 1790)Jan van Rijmsdyck
at the

, ‘ætatis 31’ (i.e. in 1764), was issued 25 years before the book itself was printed. and he is there described as ‘William Barrett, Surgeon and Author of the "History and Antiquities of Bristol."’ In his research, though acquaintances of his such as Catcott and Burgum, the pewterers, he met

Thomas Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Althoug ...

the forger. He accepted all the youth's statements, and Chatterton produced many documents for him. In 1788, he put out his proposals for the publication of his ''History'' by subscription. Many of Chatterton's fabrications did make their way into his ''History'' (1789) when it finally came out long after the forger had died, damaging Barrett's reputation severely. After Barrett's death the antiquarian forgeries of Chatterton passed to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, via Robert Glynn.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, William 1733 births 1789 deaths English surgeons English antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London