Samuel Timmins (27 February 1826 – 12 November 1902
) was a British Shakespearean scholar and
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
. He was invariably known as Sam Timmins, and signed himself "Sam: Timmins", using a
colon for abbreviation in
early modern style.
He inherited a family business, founded in 1790 by his grandfather Richard Timmins, and based in
Hurst Street, as a manufacturer of steel "
toys" (i.e. small items such as hinges, buckles and hooks).
[Roberts 2013.] His true passion, however, was literature; and towards the end of his life he depended for his income as much on his literary output as on his business.
In about 1858, Timmins, the nonconformist preacher
George Dawson George Dawson may refer to:
Politicians
* George Dawson (Northern Ireland politician) (1961–2007), Northern Ireland politician
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* George Oscar Dawson (1825–1865), Georgia politic ...
,
J. T. Bunce,
J. H. Chamberlain
John Henry Chamberlain (21 June 1831 – 22 October 1883), generally known professionally as J. H. Chamberlain, was a British nineteenth-century architect based in Birmingham.
Working predominantly in the Victorian Gothic style, he was one o ...
,
William Harris, and others in their circle, began to meet for literary and cultural discussions. By 1860, these meetings had been regularised into a more formal club, which in 1862 was named "Our Shakespeare Club". H. R. G. Whates calls Our Shakespeare Club "the intellectual centre of the community,
ndthe nineteenth century equivalent of the famous
Lunar Society". One of the principal achievements of the club, and of Timmins in particular, was the establishment of the Shakespeare Memorial Library within the
Central Library in 1864 (the tercentenary year of
Shakespeare's birth). The library included a portrait bust of Timmins by
F. J. Williamson.
The original contents of this library were lost in a fire during 1879, when Timmins was seen sobbing at the destruction.
A new Shakespeare Library was created within the new Reference Library built in 1881, and a copy of the bust restored there.
Timmins died on 12 November 1902, aged 76, and was buried in
Key Hill Cemetery,
Hockley, Birmingham.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110716184036/http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/BM/WMbiBIxx250.htm
1902 deaths
Place of birth missing
Place of death missing
Shakespearean scholars
1826 births
Burials at Key Hill Cemetery
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