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John Byrom, John Byrom of Kersal, or John Byrom of Manchester (29 February 1692 – 26 September 1763) was an English poet, the inventor of a revolutionary system of shorthand and later a significant landowner. He is most remembered as the writer of the lyrics of Anglican hymn "Christians, awake, salute the happy morn", which was supposedly a Christmas gift for his daughter.
Byrom was born at what is now The Old Wellington Inn (part of the Old Shambles), Manchester, in 1692. The property was then used as an office for market tolls, with accommodation on the upper floors. The inn, now a tourist attraction, has a plaque in the bar area which commemorates his birth. However, some sources claim that he was born at Kersal Cell in Kersal in the township of Broughton, near Salford, just outside Manchester.
According to BaileyBailey, Albert Edward (1950). The Gospel in Hymns. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 112–114. he was one of the tallest men in the kingdom.
His privileged background enabled him to obtain an excellent education, including The King's School, Chester, and Merchant Taylors' School, London. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, becoming a fellow there in 1714. He subsequently travelled abroad and studied medicine at Montpellier in France.
On 16 June 1742, the (15 Geo. 2. c. 23) secured to John Byrom, M.A., the sole right of publishing for a certain term of years (21) the art and method of shorthand invented by him.
His system of shorthand was posthumously published as The Universal English Shorthand which, although superseded in the nineteenth century, marked a significant development in the history of shorthand. It was used by John Wesley (1703–1791) and Charles Wesley (1707–1788), founders of Methodism, who recorded their self-examinations in coded diaries.
He lived here from time to time, but seems to have largely resided in a town house in Manchester and at Kersal Cell.
Byrom had three daughters and a son. His eldest child was the diarist and Jacobite supporter Elizabeth Byrom and his son was named Edward. His favourite was his daughter Dorothy, known as Dolly. In December 1745, after a romp with Dolly, he promised to write her something for Christmas; it was to be written especially for her and no one else. The delighted Dolly reminded her father of his promise each day as Christmas grew nearer. On Christmas morning, when she ran down to breakfast, she found several presents awaiting her. Among them was an envelope addressed to her in her father's handwriting. It was the first thing she opened and, to her great delight, it proved to be a Christmas carol entitled "Christians, awake, salute the happy morn". The original manuscript, headed with "Christmas Day for Dolly", was first published in Harrop's Manchester Mercury in 1746.
Ralph Tomlinson authored a parody of John Byrom's poem called A Slang Pastoral. It begins "My Time, O ye Muses, was happily spent," and it was originally published in The Spectator.
Byrom died in 1763 and is buried in his family's private chapel, which is now known as Jesus Chapel in Manchester Cathedral. His papers, though preserved for some time after his death, were mysteriously destroyed in the nineteenth century. A freemason, This Wooden O, at The Economist few surviving items have suggested that he may have belonged to an early quasi-masonic society, known as the "Cabala Club", similar to the Gentleman's Club of Spalding, and pursued occult interests.
He was survived by his wife who died in December 1778. All of his estate and the family home of Kersall Cell, Salford was left to Elizabeth Byrom.
His library of books and manuscripts were donated to Chetham's Library by his descendant Eleanora Atherton in 1870.
Byrom's papers were accumulated by the John Rylands Research Institute and Library throughout the 20th century and referred to as the Thomson-Byrom following donations by Rev. W. H. Thomson of Manchester in 1961 and 1963, and the third by his niece, Miss V. Keable, in 1971.
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Categories: 1692 Births, 1763 Deaths, John, Creators Of Shorthand Systems, Writers From Manchester, People Educated At Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Fellows Of Trinity College, Cambridge, English Anglicans, British Fellows Of The Royal Society, Alumni Of Trinity College, Cambridge, People Educated At The King's School, Chester, English Male Poets, Freemasons Of The Premier Grand Lodge Of England
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