Ralph Thoresby born in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 and is widely credited with being the first historian of that city. He was besides a merchant

Merchant

A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...

, non-conformist, fellow of the Royal Society

Royal Society

The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...

, diarist, author, common-councilman in the Corporation of Leeds, and museum keeper.

Upbringing

Ralph Thoresby was the son of John Thoresby, a Leeds merchant who for a time was an officer under Fairfax

Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron

Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron was a general and parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War...

 during the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, and was by inclination an antiquarian

Antiquarian

An antiquarian or antiquary is an 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 objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...

; and of his wife Ruth (b. Ruth Idle, from Bulmer

Bulmer, North Yorkshire

Bulmer is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 174. The village is about seven miles south-west of Malton....

, near York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

.

According to the preface of The Diary of Ralph Thoresby F.R.S., father and son were alike, deeply religious and both with strong attachments to antiquarian pursuits. John Thoresby established for himself a museum of coins and medals, purchasing at great expense two pre-existing collections owned by the Fairfax family and another family called Stonehouse.

Ralph was educated at Leeds Grammar School

Leeds Grammar School

Leeds Grammar School was an independent school in Leeds established in 1552. In August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physically united in September 2008....

, and on the death of his older brother became the eldest son of the family. He was sent at age eighteen to the house of a relation in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, as part of his grooming as a merchant. He maintained a diary from this point, fairly consistently, throughout the rest of his life; an edited version survives him in print. And for this reason there is easily available a detailed chronology of his life.

From July 1678 to February 1679, he resided in Holland to complete his mercantile training; from March onwards until the end of his life he was a resident of Leeds.

He inherited his father's business and museum upon the former's death on October 31, 1679, and provided for his younger brother and sister.

In 1683, he was prosecuted as a non-conformist; evidently this was not a great setback since in 1684 he "took his freedom" (joined) the Eastland

Eastland Company

The Eastland Company, or North Sea Company, was an English crown-chartered company, founded in 1579 to foster trade with Scandinavia and Baltic Sea states. Like the better-known Russia Company, this was an attempt by the English to challenge the Hanseatic League's dominance in the commerce of...

 and Hamburgh Companies, two of the five regulated companies for foreign commerce (the others being the Russian Company, the Turkey Company, and the African Company).

He was married on 25 February 1685 to Anna Sykes, daughter of Richard Sykes, one of the Lords of the Manor of Leeds.

In 1689 he established a mill for the preparation of rapeseed

Rapeseed

Rapeseed , also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rappi, rapaseed is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae...

 oil at Sheepscar

Sheepscar

Sheepscar is an inner city district of Leeds in West Yorkshire England, lying to the north east of Leeds city centre. It is overlooked by the tower blocks of Little London and Lovell Park to the west, and gives way to Meanwood in the north-west, Chapeltown in the north-east and Burmantofts in the...

; in which, as well as in his other mercantile concerns, he had little, or rather no, success.

Antiquarian

In 1690 he made the acquaintance of William Nicolson

William Nicolson

William Nicolson was an English divine and antiquary.-Life:He was born in Plumbland, Cumberland, the son of Joseph Nicolson, Rector of Plumbland and educated at the school in nearby Dovenby...

, an eminent antiquarian scholar and later Bishop of Carlisle

Bishop of Carlisle

The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York.The diocese covers the County of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District...

, and from this point turned his mind towards the production of a history of Leeds and environs. Throughout the last decade of the century, his fame as an antiquarian slowly rose, as did the public attention paid to his museum - an object of curiosity to strangers visiting the city. As a result of his studies of Roman remains, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1697; some of his communications appear in their transactions. In the same year he was elected an Assistant, or Common-Councilman, in the Corporation of Leeds. He abandoned his connections with the dissenters in 1699.

He appears to have retired altogether from business in 1704, with a small income, and devoted himself to this museum, literary pursuits, and his religious observances.

In 1715, he published his Topographical Survey of the Parish of Leeds, to which he annexed a descriptive catalogue of the curiosities of his museum.

In October 1724 he suffered a paralytic

Paralysis

Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...

 stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

, from which he recovered so far as to be able to speak intelligibly and walk without help. He lingered in a melancholy state until the same month in the year after, when he was carried off by a second stroke. He was buried in choir of the (now old) Leeds Parish Church

Leeds Parish Church

Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...

. He left a wife, two sons and a daughter, the survivors of his ten children. Both sons were clergymen, who gained preferments to Edmund Gibson

Edmund Gibson

Edmund Gibson was a British divine and jurist.-Early life and career:He was born in Bampton, Westmorland. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at Queen's College, Oxford...

, Bishop of Lincoln

Bishop of Lincoln

The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...

 and later of London

Bishop of London

The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...

.

Thoresby's museum did not survive his death. It was gradually dismembered until the remains were sold off at auction in March 1764. His collection of letters from celebrated men found its way into the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

, as did some of his bibliographic collection. However much of his correspondence and of his diary have suffered an uncertain fate and are feared irrevocably lost. What could be collected of both was published in edited form, in 1830 by Joseph Hunter

Joseph Hunter (antiquarian)

Joseph Hunter was a Unitarian Minister and antiquarian best known for his publications Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York and the two-volume South Yorkshire , still considered among the best works written on the history of Sheffield and South...

, in two volumes. The Monthly Review for April 1830, was scathing about the publication:
Such considerations appear not to have troubled Daniel Hopkin Atkinson, who in 1887 published Ralph Thoresby The Topographer - his Town and Times - "a useful and entertaining commentary on Thorseby's Diary and Correspondence".

Ralph Thoresby High School in Leeds is named after him, as was one of the houses of Leeds Grammar School. When the local historical society was launched on 10 July 1889, it was named The Thoresby Society to honour "one of the greatest worthies Leeds had known".

Publications

• Ducatus Leodiensis; or the Topography of the antient and populous Town and Parish of Leedes and parts adjacent in the West Riding of the County of York, 1715. A second edition was published by Thomas Dunham Whitaker
  Thomas Dunham Whitaker
  Thomas Dunham Whitaker was an English clergyman and topographer.-Life:Born at Rainham on 8 June 1759, he was son of William Whitaker , curate of Rainham, Norfolk, by his wife Lucy, daughter of Robert Dunham, and widow of Ambrose Allen...
  
   in 1816.
• Museum Thoresbyanum, or A Catalogue of his Museum, with the Curiosities Natural and Artificial, and the Antiquities; particularly the Roman, British, Saxon, Danish, Norman and Scotch coins, with Modern Medals, 1715
• Vicaria Leodiensis: or the History of the Church of Leedes in Yorkshire, 1724

External links

• The Correspondence of Ralph Thoresby, from Google Book Search
• Article on Ralph Thoresby in The Gentleman's Magazine
  The Gentleman's Magazine
  The Gentleman's Magazine was 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" for a periodical...
  
  , January to June 1830, from Google Book Search
• The Thoresby Society - The Historical Society for Leeds and District, founded in 1899 - includes a biography
• Ralph Thoresby, the Topographer, His Town and Times volume II, by D. H. Atkinson, 1889. From Microsoft Live Search Books
  Live Search Books
  Live Search Books was a search service for books launched in December 2006, part of Microsoft's Live Search range of services. Microsoft was working with a number of libraries, including the British Library, to digitize books and make them searchable, and in the case of out-of-copyright books,...
  
  .