John Man (1749

John Man was born in 1749 on Mansel Street, Whitechapel, Middlesex, the second son of John and Mary (Balchen) Man, and was baptized on 3 December 1749, at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel. He married Sarah Baker on 5 June 1775 at St Mary the Virgin, Reading (shown left). John died in April 1824 while residing on Castle Street, Reading, and was buried on 24 April at St. Mary the Virgin, Reading. He left a WILL.

Sarah Baker was born in 1739 or 1740 in Reading, the daughter of William and Jane (Cox) Baker, and was baptized on 25 February 1740 at St Mary, Reading. Sarah died on 8 May 1808 and was buried on 14 May at St Mary.

[References: John's birthplace and baptism - FHL Film # 0094603; his marriage - FHL Film # 1040615; his death and burial - FHL Film #1040620. Sarah's baptism and burial - FHL Film # 1040614; her death from her daughter's will. The family also appears on the 1783 census for Reading]

It was once believed that there were no descendants from this branch of the family, however it has been discovered that William Man married very late in life and had a daughter. This daughter was found still living but unmarried at the age of 36 on the 1901 census.

Like his brother Henry, John was educated by the Reverend John Lamb of Croydon and he then became a schoolmaster and author. A poem John wrote celebrating the New Year of 1798 can be read HERE and one describing his place of work after retiring from his position of schoolmaster can be read HERE. Also, posthumously by his son William, an article of John's on the state of Reading pavements appeared in the Reading Mercury.

On hearing the news of John's death his cousin Richard Dennison Cumberland comments in a letter to his brother George of his: ' ... going to Reading to see poor Maria after the loss of her father ... and to do something for his poor blind sister as you suggested I may once more see her ...' (see letter Add 36510f87). The question remains as to which of John's two sisters, Ann or Frances, was blind? The last part of the extract might lead one to think that the sister might not live much longer. Ann died two years after John and perhaps she is the one to whom Richard Cumberland is referring. Sarah (Baker) Man's death date is taken from the will of John and Sarah's daughter Anna Maria.

See also John's two letters concerning the disappearance of his father John Man. The first is addressed to his brother James and can be read HERE. The second is to his cousin George Cumberland and can be read HERE. For more details on John Man's father's disappearance and life as Thomas Roberts click HERE.

We also have several letters from John to his cousins Richard and George Cumberland and a letter written by John's son William to George Cumberland describing his father's death. In Reading Library there are two volumes titled 'Anecdotes' which John had written out by hand and which were given to the library by a Mr. Stevens. These volumes can be read here: Volume One and Volume Two.

John Man wrote two books. The first was published in 1810 and titled 'The Stranger in Reading' and the second was titled 'The History and Antiquities of Reading: being a history of the town of Reading' and published in 1816. On the latter, one critic wrote:

Our great local historian, Charles Coates, whose " History and Antiquities of Reading," published in 1802, is so invaluable, must be mentioned. It is far superior to any other history of the town, and is a great contrast to Man's History, which is poor, unreliable, and full of silly conjecture. (!)

John's first book 'The Stranger' was re-published in 2006 and has been edited with an introduction by Adam Sowan, a Reading historian. The introduction to the new edition can be viewed here. When the book first came out it was not well greeted as the following shows:

In the year 1810, a book appeared from the press of Messrs. Snare and Man, which made considerable impression on the minds of the people of this town, and touched severely some of their weak points. I refer to " The Stranger in Reading," a series of letters from a traveller to his friend in London. I do not think that the identity of the Stranger has ever been discovered; and perhaps it was as well for him that he remained incognito, or he might have suffered severely at the hands of the enraged townspeople. Amongst other playful reflections upon the state of the roads, the incapacity of corporations, etc., he remarks that he agrees with a traveller, who, after residing at Reading for a few days, said, "that the further he travelled westward the more he was convinced that the wise men must have come from the East ! " He gives a sketch of the literature of Reading; but you will gather from the following statement that his remarks are not always to be depended upon : " The soil of Reading has not been very productive of men of genius, and the few names here recorded have added very little to the general stock of literature of the country. He rightly mentions that Robert Grosetete (Anglice Thickhead), Bishop of Lincoln, was consecrated here in 1235 : but adds the spiteful remark that the family of Thickhead must have been originally numerous, as many of their descendants are still to be found in various parts of the town."

He concludes his sketch by a tribute of praise to Mr. Le Noir, who published several poems and prose works in 1825, among which were Village Anecdotes (3 vols); and to Miss M. R. Mitford, who, in the words of the Stranger "is a young lady of great poetical talents, whose purity of sentiment and elegance of diction are equal to those of our best poets, while she excels most of them in the chastity of her style, and the harmony of her verse." For once the Stranger appears to have been right in his judgment.

Having published his book, John was roundly attacked by Henry Gauntlett who angrily rebutted John's views on religion. This relentless attack consists of over 200 pages of pent up anger and can be read HERE. In a memoir by Gauntlett's daughter, Catharine, a brief reference is made to the conflict between John Man and her father which can be read HERE.

Another reference to 'The Stranger' can be found in the 'Reading Handbook for 1906, listing historical accounts of the town' and which says '...there are Miss Mitford's sunny sketches in 'Belford Regis', and there are the grey shadows thrown by 'The Stranger'.'

John is however fondly remembered in the autobiography of the Reverend Thomas Frognall Dibdin.

In 2009 further internet searches on John Man revealed three references that had not been previously known about, namely:

i) A contribution to 'The Beauties of Britain'; ii) a biographical sketch of John Wallis; and iii) a short history of Wallingford. Details of each of these is as follows:

i). In the early nineteenth century John Britton published 'The Beauties of England and Wales' which was a multi-volume set describing the landscape and the history of each county in England and Wales with Berkshire forming Volume One. In his biography - 'A Descriptive Account of the Literary Works of John Britton F.S.A. (from 1800-1849)' there is a section that refers to the various contributors to each volume of 'The Beauties ...'. The section on Berkshire runs as follows:

"It has been thought desirable to repeat in this place the names of some of the chief contributors to the work ['The Beauties... etc.'], amongst whom will be found many estimable authors, antiquaries, and topographers. Berkshire.? The Earl of Malmsbury; the Earl of Radnor; Rev. Clement Cruttwell; Rev. Dr. Brown; Benj. West, P.R. A.; George Cumberland; Henry Ellis; John Man; Matthew Robinson."

We do not know what John Man's contribution was except that in the section on Berkshire there is a passage on the town of Reading which may have been his. As for his cousin, George Cumberland, he lived for a time at Windsor and he may have contributed on that town. The section on Berkshire can be read HERE.

ii) Also uncovered are two references from catalogues of manuscripts on auction are the following:

Wallis (Dr. John) Letters decyphered by, Transcript of the original in the possession of W. Wallis, in the autograph of Mr. John Man, Author of the "History and Antiquities of Reading," portrait, 4o. with book-plate of John Richardson. Also:

Wallis (Dr. John) Collection of Letters and other papers intercepted in cypher during the late warres in England, decyphered by John Wallis, sm. 4vo. neatly written MS. transcribed from Wallis' own MS. in the Bodleian library, with his portrait engraved by Loggan inserted, hf. bd. £2. 10s Transcribed by John Man, 1786 The letters are preceded by an interesting account of the life of Dr. Wallis, by John Man, dated 1786. Man's name is known through his printed History of Reading.

A biographical sketch of Wallis can be found right at the very end of this page. Wallis also appears in the DNB.

iii) An entry from the Berkshire Ashmolean Society May 24, 1841 is as follows: "The History and Antiquities of Walingford from an unpublished MS by John Man (author of the History of Reading), in the collection of John Richards, jun. esq. F.S.A." to be edited, with additions, by Richard H. Allnatt, M.D.

This projected publication has not been found but in the book 'The History of Wallingford, in the county of Berkshire, from the invasion of Julius Ceasar to the Present Time. .. etc.' by John Kirkby Hedges, there are the following passages:

"From one of these books [the famous Doomsday survey] the late John Gough Nichols Esq, the famous antiquary and author, extracted various passages relative to Wallingford, made a translation, and appended some explanatory notes. They were prepared many years ago as a supplement to Man's manuscript 'Antiquaries of Wallingford' which under the auspices of the Berkshire Ashmoloean Society, and with the able assistance of Dr. Allnatt, it was intended to publish. The work had not progress beyond the printing of a few pages when the society collapsed, owing to the death of its most active members, the late John Richards, of Reading and consequently the intention was never carried out. I am greatly indebted to Messrs Nichols (sons of John Gough Nichols) for the gift of this printed matter, and permission to utilize it. That portion which bears the authority of their late distinguished father's name, reappears, with a slight alteration, in the following pages; it is full of interesting information respecting Wallingford, and, with some further detail, shows that this borough was, as he states, the most important possession of the Crown within the county."

'Soon after his (Henry II.) coming to the throne, he granted them a charter of liberties, in regard, said he, in his particular, of the good service they did for us in helping us to the crown.'

Man, in his brief manuscript, considers that the writer in the minute-book must have been under a mistake, because, as he states, there is no mention of any such inducement on the part of the monarch in the charter. But the mistake appears to rest with the author of the manuscript, who, it would seem, had access only to an imperfect translation of, or to an extract from, the charter, in which the recital in question did not appear.

Man also recognizes a grievous error in the entry in the corporation book, ante, p. 265, relative to the charter granted by Henry II., "in the time of a Parliament holden in Wallingford, anno 1155 ;" because, he [Man] says,

"Parliaments were not called till many years afterwards, and because Oxford, and not Wallingford, was the place where, according to the charter, it was signed." The term " Parliamentum " does not occur in the charter, but there is abundant authority for using the term ..... "

All the above quotes are from Hedge's 'History of Wallingford' and include an explanation as to why John Man's short manuscript never appeared in print. However Hedges imself is quoting from some version of Man's manuscript which appears to have been owned by Nichols. On wonders what happended to it.

Title: Rambles in the neighbourhood of Wallingford also some account relative to its ancient, medieval, and modern conditions by William Allnatt Publication: Wallingford : Printed and published by S Bradford, Year: 1873 100 p. ; 19 cm.

This publication appears 32 years after the entry about the Berkshire Ashmolean Society and Richard Allnatt's attempt to publish a history of Wallingford based on Man's manuscript; maybe William Allnatt was a son of Richard's and he completed his father's work. If so, did he acknowledge John Man's contribution?