, an eminent Grammarian and lexicographer, was born at Woodyale,
, an eminent Grammarian and
lexicographer, was born at Woodyale, in the parish of Eccles, in Lancashire, four miles from Manchester, in September 1660, and was educated at Bolton in that county, where
he afterwards taught school. On coming to London, he
opened a considerable boarding-school at Bethnal-green,
and in 1698 published a short treatise on grammatical instil
tution, inscribed to sir William Hustler, and reprinted in
1736, 8vo, under the title of “The most natural and easy
way of Institution, &c.
” He soon after removed to Hackney, and successively to other villages near London, where
he taught with good reputation many years, and at length
having acquired a moderate fortune, he left off teaching and
lived privately. He had a turn both for Latin and English
poetry, some single poems of his having been printed in
each of these languages, but are not now known. He was
remarkably near-sighted, but wrote a beautiful hand. In
the latter part of his life, he employed himself in searching
the shops of obscure brokers in every quarter of the town,
by which means he often recovered old coius. and other valuable curiosities at a small expence, and became possessed
of a very fine collection of English coins, which he sold
singly to several gentlemen a short time before his death.
This happened at London, April 4, 1743, at the age of
eighty-three. He was buried, according to his own desire,
in the cemetery of Poplar, under the following monumental inscription, composed by himself: