John Chambers (1780–1839) was an English antiquarian and topographer.

Life

Born in London in March 1780, Chambers began a career in the office of an architect. Having come into a fortune by the death of his father, he gave up work. In 1806 he became a member of the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, and from 1809 to 1811 acted as a chairman of the committee of polite arts. On 29 September 1814 he married Mary, the daughter of Peter Le Neve Foster of

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, south-west of Norwich, England, Norwich off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The River Tiffey runs through ...

in Norfolk. In 1815, the year after his marriage, Chambers left London for

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, where he remained for nearly eight years. He moved to his wife's home at Wymondham, and after about two years, settled at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, so that his sons could attend the grammar school there. Chambers died in Dean's Square, Norwich, on 28 July 1839.

Works

Chambers was the author of the following works: * ''A General History of Malvern'', Worcester, 1817. Another edition, Worcester, 1820. * ''A General History of Worcester'', Worcester, 1819. * ''Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire; including Lives of Persons, Natives or Residents, eminent either for Piety or Talent, to which is added a List of Living Authors of the County'', Worcester, 1820. * ''A General History of the County of Norfolk, intended to convey all the information of a Norfolk Tour, with the more extended details of antiquarian, statistical, pictorial, architectural, and miscellaneous information; including biographical notices, original and selected'', 2 vols. Norwich, 1829. This was published anonymously, Chambers having collaborated with Norfolk residents. Chambers wrote a ''Life'' of

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...

for ''Arnold's Magazine of the Fine Arts'', and contributed to the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'', and other periodicals.

Family

He left two sons and a daughter. The elder son was

John Charles Chambers John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, vicar of St. Mary's and warden of the House of Charity, Soho, from 1856 until his death in 1874; the younger son, Oswald Lyttleton, became in 1863 vicar of

Hook, Yorkshire Hook is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north-east of Goole town centre and lies on the west bank of the River Ouse. According to the 2011 UK census, Hook parish had a populat ...

, where he died in 1883.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, John 1780 births 1839 deaths Antiquarians from London English biographers