William Barrett (antiquarian)
Encyclopedia
William Barrett was an English surgeon and antiquary.
, Wiltshire
. He passed his examination as a surgeon on 19 February 1755, and settled in Bristol
in practice of his profession. On 9 November 1775 he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. On 13 October 1789 he died at Higham, Somerset.
the forger. He accepted all the youth's statements, and Chatterton produced many documents for him. In 1788, he put out his proposals for the publication of his History by subscription. Many of Chatterton's fabrications did make their way into his History (1789) when it finally came out long after the forger had died, damaging Barrett's reputation severely.
After Barrett's death the antiquarian forgeries of Chatterton passed to the British Museum
, via Robert Glynn
.
Life
He was born early in 1733 at NottonNotton
Notton is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 880. Until 1974 it was part of Wakefield Rural District.-External links:...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. He passed his examination as a surgeon on 19 February 1755, and settled in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
in practice of his profession. On 9 November 1775 he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. On 13 October 1789 he died at Higham, Somerset.
Works
His History and Antiquities of Bristol was announced early: an engraving of him, by William Walker, from a portrait by Jan van Rymsdyk, ‘ætatis 31’ (i.e. in 1764), was issued 25 years before the book itself was printed. and he is there described as ‘William Barrett, Surgeon and Author of the “History and Antiquities of Bristol.”’ In his research, though acquaintances of his such as Catcott and Burgum, the pewterers, he met Thomas ChattertonThomas Chatterton
Thomas Chatterton was an English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry. He died of arsenic poisoning, either from a suicide attempt or self-medication for a venereal disease.-Childhood:...
the forger. He accepted all the youth's statements, and Chatterton produced many documents for him. In 1788, he put out his proposals for the publication of his History by subscription. Many of Chatterton's fabrications did make their way into his History (1789) when it finally came out long after the forger had died, damaging Barrett's reputation severely.
After Barrett's death the antiquarian forgeries of Chatterton passed to 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...
, via Robert Glynn
Robert Glynn
Robert Glynn, afterwards Clobery was an English physician, known as a generous eccentric.-Life:Glynn was the eldest and only surviving son of Robert Glynn of Brodes in Helland parish, near Bodmin, Cornwall, who married Lucy, daughter of John Clobery of Bradstone, Devon, was born at Brodes on 5...
.