Hibbert-Ware Papers

Date range: 1770–c.1880

Medium: Manuscript

The Hibbert-Ware family produced a number of noteworthy individuals in the late 18th and 19th centuries, the most prominent of whom was Dr Samuel Hibbert-Ware (1782–1848), geologist and antiquary.

Hibbert (he assumed the additional surname Ware in 1837) studied medicine in Edinburgh and resided in the city for many years, pursuing his interest in the geology of Scotland and contributing papers to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; he also travelled extensively in Europe. His chief antiquarian work was the three-volume History of the Foundations in Manchester of Christ’s College, Chetham’s Hospital, and the Free Grammar School (1833-4).

The collection includes:

• Over 2,000 family letters and papers, the majority relating to Dr Samuel Hibbert-Ware;
• Notes and papers of his son Dr William Hibbert, surgeon in the Second Queen’s Royals, relating to his service in India, 1836–38;
• Papers of Lt. Col. George Hibbert (1790–1847),commander of the 40th Regiment in Afghanistan, 1838–48;
• Letters from Captain G. H. Hibbert-Ware during the Crimean War, 1854–56, including fourteen written before Sebastopol;
• A household account book of Titus Hibbert, merchant of Manchester, 1770–95;
• A commonplace book of Samuel Hibbert junior, 1799–1815;
• A collection of over two hundred Lancashire tradesmen’s bills, 1802–15;
• Documents concerning the history of Ireland and the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715;
• Other historical and topographical notes, including papers of Mary Clementina Hibbert-Ware,biographer of both Samuel Hibbert-Ware and the Quaker divine, Thomas Ellwood.

Further information:

Catalogue available online via ELGAR.

Location:

• The John Rylands Library, Deansgate  [Map]
• Find out how to use the reading rooms in the John Rylands Research Institute and Library