Stocks House

Stocks House was built around 1750 and had been the residence of Manchester notables like Hugh Beever, the wealthy cotton spinner, and Gilbert Winter, a prosperous solicitor, who was also a wine merchant and a director of the Liverpool and Manchester railway. By the time Crossley became the tenant, Stocks had already seen its finest days, but his principal concern was for the storage of his vast book collection, rather than establishing a sumptuous lifestyle. See James Crossley: A Manchester Man of letters, chapter 9 for more details of the house and Crossley's occupation of it. What you will not find in the book is this poem written by Crossley, shortly after taking up residence in 1878: STOCKS HOUSE In former days the House of Stocks Was famous for its fighting cocks,- An old diversion rough and manly That cheered the heart of noble Stanley When tenanted by Gilbert Winter, All said of Port there was no stint here, with a host who both low to high Was the best of all good company But now the place deserted looks; it is made a magazine of books, Whose owner long ago himself Was fitly placed upon the shelf. There are no cocks now worth showing, No brimming bumpers full and flowing, No radiant dames, no pleasant stories, No hearty toasts from fine old Tories. The clock that overlooked the way No longer tells the time of day, But seems to say, - What need of clocks To count the last few hours of Stocks. I apologise for the format of the poem. I tried to set it out in verses, but this is the way it emerged. If there's a way of formatting it, I haven't been able to figure it out. The 'noble Stanley' is of course a reference to the landlord, Lord Derby, and port was dear to Crossley's heart, being his favourite tipple, of which he was said to consume a bottle every evening. The author, aged 78, looks back wistfully and remembers happier days. He was to remain in the house until his death in 1883.

Annie Crossley Clough

If you look closely at the Crossley family tree, you will see, on the bottom row, Anne Crossley Clough, daughter of Charlotte Ann Crossley (1799-1831) and Robert Clough, and 'author of Cranleigh of Cranleigh'. About 10 years ago, I began to search for this rare book, written by Crossley's niece, but could locate only one copy, in the British Library. I eventually tracked down another copy, through Internet searches, in a San Francisco bookshop, and immediately bought it. Since then, the BL has released the text, along with many thousands of others, and it is freely available from Amazon and other booksellers. This is a good thing of course, but I little imagined that such an obscure title would be reprinted and on sale. It's a fairly light country house tale, with a slightly moralising tone, but certainly worth a read especially if you're interested, as I am, in the pedigree of the author. My copy is signed in pencil, and contains a dedication to James Crossley, which makes it all the more interesting.

Annie also wrote poetry and song lyrics, as well as short stories, many of which were published in the US, often under the initials A.C.C. One example, which is still to be found in song catalogues is curiously titled Big Ben Song no. 1 in B minor for Low Voice with music by Henry Theodore Pontet (1833-1902), first published in Boston, 1892. As can be seen from the dedication to Cranleigh of Cranleigh, Annie was very proud of her uncle, and eventually became the executrix of his will. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that her feelings were reciprocated, but I like to think that he looked upon her in a kindly, avuncular way.

Crossley family tree

 

This is an shorter version of the Crossley pedigree, done by Samuel Crompton as part of Crossley's obituary in the Palatine Notebook, vol.III (1883), pp. 221-8 (click to enlarge). The complete pedigree is in Chetham's Library, MUN E.3.5, endorsed by his friend and fellow antiquary, Francis Raines. Regarding the Palatine Notebook, I have a set of this short-lived but fascinating journal, which devoted itself to matters Lancastrian, handsomely bound in half-calf. The binding is still tight, so that is why the scan above is not evenly lit, for which I apologise. It's interesting to note that, of James Crossley's four siblings, the only one with any progeny was Charlotte Ann (1799-1831). Of her five children, two were married and so it may be that descendants of the Crossley family are alive today.

'The Railway Menace'

In the course of over sixty years of adult life in Manchester, Crossley moved house only three times. His first and most enduring address was Booth Street (now Paton Street), Piccadilly. As early as 1820 Crossley was receiving mail at Booth Street, when he made his first contact with Henry Southern, of the Retrospective Review. He remained in Booth Street until 1869, when the area became threatened with redevelopment by the railway companies, which seemed to be consuming much of the city at that time. Grandiose schemes were afoot to rebuild the road systems around the two main stations, London Road and Victoria, at the railway companies’ expense, an arrangement that pleased the City Council greatly. Such was the rate of expansion that eventually even the hallowed stones of Chetham’s Hospital and Library were demanded by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway for their purposes. Crossley’s reaction was angry and combative: ‘we must be prepared for those insatiable directors … whose maw would swallow up all edifices, sacred and profane without mercy or compunction.' Many of these plans came to nothing, and Crossley’s anxiety was misplaced, but illustrates the unstable situation that the city residents had to endure at this time. It seems to have been the expansionist ambitions of the company directors who aroused Crossley's ire, rather than the form of transport itself, which was opening the country for travel by the mass of people. He modified his opinions eventually, however, and in a letter to Francis Raines in 1863 he revealed that:

A young friend of mine who is superintending the Branch Railway from Rochdale to Milnrow tells me that the next time I go in that direction he will give me a ride upon one of the Engines.

Going on to picture himself astride an elephant, Crossley is perhaps thinking of one of the earliest locomotives, 'The Steam Elephant' built in 1815 for use in the Wallsend Colliery, Tyneside, and illustrated above (from an 1820 painting).

Beyond the Biography

My biography of James Crossley was published by the Chetham Society towards the end of 2012, and this blog will contain snippets of material outside, over and above the information in the book. This will not be presented chronologically or in any way systematically, but just as it occurs to me. It will therefore be a haphazard supplement, but, I hope, of interest to anyone who has come across this eccentric Manchester man of letters whose life spanned most of the nineteenth century; a crucial period in the development of the world's first industrial city.

Chetham's Library

The wonderful Library founded by Humphrey Chetham in 1653, hidden in the heart of Manchester, has a blog featuring 101 of its many treasures. One of these is James Crossley, with a brief description of his life and some interesting illustrations. The link below will take you to this page, and from there you can go to the Library's home page and find out about all the delights that this amazing building has to offer. www.chethams.org.uk/treasures/treasures_crossley.html

Introducing James Crossley

Although James Crossley was a large figure in every sense, he has escaped the notice of many historians because he held no high political office, nor attracted much national attention. Yet he played a major role in the cultural development of Manchester, a city of huge importance in the nineteenth century. His unparalleled knowledge of literature and his extensive collection of books and manuscripts established his reputation in bibliographic circles, but he was also acquainted with most of the major literary figures of the time, and in the case of the popular novelist William Harrison Ainsworth, a lifelong friendship which extended to creative collaboration, with Crossley providing the source material for many of Ainsworth’s most successful works. He played host to Charles Dickens and other literary visitors, and helped to organise literary soirées at the Athenaeum Club for the edification of the well-heeled population of Manchester. More importantly, Crossley played a vital part in the great Victorian civic enterprise that was the Manchester Free Public Library in 1852, helping to select and purchase the initial book stock. The nineteenth century has been characterised as a ‘full-blooded dining age’ and a continuous programme of dinners and social events facilitated the maintenance of a network of individuals with common backgrounds and interests. These men (this social framework was exclusively male) were all in positions of influence, being largely drawn from the ranks of the law, medicine, banking and the clergy. It was at such a gathering, which took place at Crossley’s house in 1843, that the notion of a society to publish ‘remains historical and literary connected with the palatine counties of Lancaster and Chester’, and thus preserve the cultural heritage of the region, was conceived. This was of course the Chetham Society, which, for the larger part of his lifetime and beyond, Crossley’s name was associated, having been the Society’s president for forty years. In Crossley, then, we have a man who exerted considerable influence in various important areas of nineteenth-century urban life, but who was generally content to remain in the background. Consequently he has been overlooked in the larger historical picture, surfacing here and there as a footnote. It is the intention of this blog to highlight the achievements of this extraordinary man, and to emphasise his important part he played in establishing a literary and historical culture in the Manchester region.