Byrom, John (1692-02-29 - 1763-09-26)

John Byrom was born on 29 February 1692 at Kersall Cell, Broughton. He attended Merchant Taylors' School. Subsequently, he was admitted pensioner at Trinity College, Cambridge on 6 July 1708, graduating B.A. in 1712 and proceeding M.A. in 1715. During his years at Cambridge, he contributed to The Spectator. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1714 (Michaelmas Term). However, he declined to take holy orders, thereby losing his Fellowship. Four years later, he was offered the post of Library Keeper by the feoffees of Chetham's Library, which he declined. In 1724, Byrom was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Byrom also studied medicine at Montpelier. Byrom developed a new system of shorthand in the 1720s, which was later adopted by the likes of John Wesley and Horace Walpole. Byrom is also remembered today as a poet. He died on 26 September 1763. In 1870, his collection of approximately forty manuscripts and some 2,800 printed books was presented to Chetham's Library by Eleanora Atherton, a descendant.