1692, May 16th.—Stallinged and installed Edward Byrom, of Manchester, milliner, in one stall, stallinge, or standing roome at or neare the Crosse, in the Market Place, in Manchester aforesaid, formerly in the possession of Francis Rydings, deceased, being next to Robert Pelton’s, towards the Crosse, conteyning in breadth two yards, and length three yards.
The spot thus indicated was in close proximity, if not, indeed, actually in front of the shop—the quaint black and white structure in the Market Place, which has been for many years a licensed house, and is now known as the “Wellington.” The building has ever since continued in the possession of the family, the present owner being Mr. Edward Byrom, who assumed that name in lieu of Fox on his succeeding at her death to the property of his godmother, Miss Eleanora Atherton, the great granddaughter of Edward Byrom’s distinguished son, John Byrom. The “milliner’s” business was in reality that of a mercer or haberdasher. It must have prospered, for subsequently the two adjoining stalls were absorbed; and it would seem to have been carried on after Edward Byrom’s death by his youngest daughter, Phœbe, for in Mrs. Raffald’s “Directory” for 1773 the name occurs, “Miss Phœbe Byrom, milliner, 1, Shambles,” and in that for 1781, “Miss Phœbe Byrom, milliner, Market Place.” The lady, who was five years younger than her brother John, died on the 20th February, 1785, at the ripe old age of 88.
It seems strange in these days to read of a merchant or trader having a stall in the Market Place, but the mode in which business was conducted in the earlier years of the last century was very different to that with which the present generation is familiar. Dr. Aikin, in his “Description of the Country Round Manchester,” says that “When the trade began to extend, the chapmen used to keep gangs of pack-horses, and accompany them to the principal towns with goods in packs, which they opened and sold to shopkeepers, lodging what was unsold in small stores at the inn. The pack-horses brought back sheep’s wool, which was bought on the journey and sold to the makers of worsted yarns at Manchester or to the clothiers of Rochdale, Saddleworth, and the West Riding of Yorkshire.” When at home the trader was invariably in his warehouse or place of business at six o’clock in the morning; at seven he and his children and apprentices had a “plain breakfast” together, the “plain breakfast” being “one large dish of water pottage, made of oatmeal, water, and a little salt, boiled thick and poured into a dish.” “A pan or basin of milk” was placed by the side, and each, using a wooden spoon, dipped first into one and then into the other. The shops in the Market Place which were occupied by clothiers, mercers, and the better class of tradesmen were for the most part open to the street, and a loose stall or standing in front, where their wares could be more advantageously displayed, was not thought at all derogatory.
In the “Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom,” edited for the Chetham Society by the late Canon Parkinson, we have pleasant glimpses of the daily doings of the worthy linen-draper or milliner, as he was indifferently styled, Edward Byrom, and an admirable picture of the habits and modes of life in the household of a well-to-do trader as well as of the literary and social characteristics of the better class of people in Manchester a century and a half ago. Edward Byrom had a numerous family—seven daughters, six of whom died unmarried, and, in addition, two sons. Edward, the eldest son, who was brought up to the business which had been carried on with so much success for so many generations, was born March 4, 1686–7. John was baptised at the Collegiate Church, 29th February, 1691–2, and was his junior therefore by about five years. Having, as good old Bishop Oldham expressed it, much “pregnant witte,” he was trained for one of the learned professions, and in due course was sent to Chester and placed under the tuition of his relative, the eminent schoolmaster, Mr. Francis Harper, preparatory to his being entered at Merchant Taylors’—then famous as a seminary of learning—in which it was expected that his father’s influence with the city traders would secure him admission. He proceeded from Chester to London in January, 1707–8, and in the following month he writes to his father:—
London, Feb. 1707/8,
Hond. Sir [such was the form in which a young gentleman addressed his “governor” in the days of Queen Anne] I received yours in answer to mine of the 10th and 27th inst. Our feast was on Tuesday last; the boys went to school, had wine and biscuit, then walked to Bow Church, where one Mr. Dunstan preached on Prov. xix. 8; from thence they walked to Leathersellers’ Hall, where the gentlemen had a feast. The boys who were my schoolfellows at Chester came up soon to London, which turned to their advantage. I think it not prudence to go to University too soon, both for Mr. Ashton’s opinion, and because I believe that when they come there they are expected to know enough of school learning so as to read authors, compose exercises, &c., with their own help and the instruction of a tutor. I cannot have the opportunity of seeing the Register Book till doctor’s day, which will be about Easter, when I shall take particular notice how I stand as to election; in the meantime strive to improve myself in virtue, knowledge, and learning. We went to Bow Church on Sunday to hear the Archbishop of York.—I am your dutiful son,
J.B.
In another letter he writes:—
My master is very kind to me, and never yet spoke a cross word to me, and I think I never gave him occasion, which is an encouragement and satisfaction to me, and I will strive to preserve it.
Young Byrom’s progress in the classics was so satisfactory that in 1709 he was admitted a pensioner of Trinity College, Cambridge, and in a letter, dated 14th May in that year, he gives his father a detailed account of the examination and the circumstances attendant upon his election. His career at the university was anxiously watched by his father, whose letters, many of which have been preserved, contain many admonitions and much excellent advice. Thus, apparently in response to a request for a copy of Locke’s great work, he writes,
I have not Mr. Locke’s book of “Human Understanding,” it is above my capacity; nor was I ever fond of that author, he being (though a very learned man) a Socinian or an atheist, as to which controversy, I desire you not to trouble yourself with it in your younger studies. I look upon it as a snare of the devil, thrown among sharp wits and ingenious youths to oppose their reason to revelation, and because they cannot apprehend reason, to make them sceptics, and so entice them to read other books than the Bible and the comments upon it.