John Topham facts for kids

John Topham (1746–1803) was an important English official, librarian, and historian. He spent his life working with old documents and records, helping to preserve and understand history. He was known for his careful work with state papers and ancient texts.

John Topham's Early Life and Career

John Topham was born on January 6, 1746, in a place called Elmly, near Huddersfield, England. He was the third son of Matthew Topham, who was a vicar (a type of priest) in Withernwick and Mappleton, Yorkshire.

When he was young, John moved to London. He started working in a minor role for Philip Carteret Webb, who was a solicitor for the Treasury. Later, he got a job in the State Paper office, working alongside famous historians like Sir Joseph Ayloffe and Thomas Astle.

Topham's Important Roles and Achievements

John Topham became a member of Lincoln's Inn, a famous legal society, on February 5, 1771. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on April 5, 1779. This is a very old and respected group for scientists.

In May 1781, he became a deputy-keeper of the state papers. This meant he helped look after important government documents. In April 1783, he was made a commissioner in bankruptcy, helping with legal cases about people who couldn't pay their debts.

On March 19, 1787, he became a bencher of Gray's Inn, another important legal society. On November 29, he was elected treasurer of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He had been a member of this society, which studies old things, since 1767.

Around 1790, John Topham became the librarian for the Archbishop of Canterbury, taking over from Michael Lort. He also held other important jobs. He was a registrar for a charity that helped poor widows and children of clergymen. He was also a treasurer for an orphan charity school.

Later Life and Legacy

John Topham passed away on August 19, 1803, in Cheltenham. He was buried in Gloucester Cathedral, where a marble monument was put up to remember him. He had no children.

On August 20, 1794, he had married Mary Swinden from Greenwich, Kent. Her personal account book, from 1810-1825, was found in the collection of Chawton House in 2015.

John Topham's Published Works

John Topham wrote articles for Archæologia, a journal about ancient history. He also worked a lot with state papers, which are official government documents.

He helped collect and organize the Rotuli Parliamentorum. These were records of Parliament from 1278 to 1503. This huge project was published in six volumes between 1767 and 1777. He was the secretary for the Record Commission, which oversaw this work.

In 1775, he edited two important books:

• Francis Gregor's translation of Sir John Fortescue's De Laudibus Legum Angliæ.
• Sir John Glanvill's Reports of certain Cases … determined … in Parliament in the twenty-first and twenty-second years of James I. For this book, Topham added a historical account about how cases of disputed elections were decided long ago.

In 1781, the Society of Antiquaries published his work called A Description of an Antient Picture in Windsor Castle. This book described a painting of King Henry VIII getting on a ship at Dover in 1520. In 1787, he also helped with a book called Liber Quotidianus Contrarotulatoris Garderobæ. For this, he wrote "Observations on the Wardrobe Accounts of the twenty-eighth year of King Edward I" (which was from 1299–1300).

After Topham died, his personal library was sold in 1804. The British Museum bought many of his old manuscripts. These included the Topham charters, which were 56 volumes of documents about lands given to religious houses in England.