The Broxap Papers

Collection of notes, letters, press cuttings and illustrations connected with Ernest Broxap's book The Great Civil War in Lancashire (1642-51), first published in 1910 by Manchester University Press.

The historian, Ernest Broxap, was born in Higher Broughton, Salford, Manchester, in 1880. He read History at Owens College (which later became the University of Manchester) and attained his B.A. (1900) and M.A. (1901). It was through his studies that he became acquainted with Professor Thomas Frederick Tout (1855-1929), Professor James Tait (1863-1944), and Professor Sir Charles Harding Firth (1857-1936) with whom he enjoyed a lifelong friendship. His field of study was the Civil War and he published a number of works on various aspects of seventeenth-century Lancashire, such as a chapter on ‘The siege of Manchester in 1642’ in a collection of Historical Essays by Members of the Owens College, Manchester, published in commemoration of its jubilee (1851-1901), edited by T.F. Tout and James Tait (1902); and articles on ‘The sieges of Hull during the Great Civil War’ in the English Historical Review (1905), and ‘A Manchester assessment of 1648’, in Chetham Miscellanies II, Chetham Society, n.s., 63 (1909). His greatest work was his book on The Great Civil War in Lancashire (1642-51), (1910). Later, he also published ‘Extracts from Manchester churchwardens' accounts, 1664-1710’, in Chetham Miscellanies IV, Chetham Society, n.s., 80 (1921) as well as an introduction to H.G. James’s Manchester A Hundred Years Ago (1921).

After completing his studies, Ernest joined his elder brother, Henry, as a partner in the family yarn business. Henry Broxap had also been a graduate of Owens College and was the author of A Biography of Thomas Deacon, the Manchester non-juror (Manchester, 1911) and The later non-jurors (Cambridge, 1924). Ernest had married in 1912, and removed from Higher Broughton to live at Kersal, Salford. Whilst increasing family and business commitments prevented further research on the Civil War, Ernest retained an interest in cultural matters and was an associate of Charles William Sutton (1848-1920), the Chief Librarian at Manchester from 1879 to 1920. Broxap succeeded Sutton as Secretary of the Chetham Society in 1920, a position which he fulfilled until 1940. At some time after 1921 he had removed to Cheshire and lived at Hale before finally removing to Alderley Edge. He died, aged 83, in 1963. His widow presented his papers to Chetham’s Library on 2 October 1963.

• Broxap, E., The Great Civil War in Lancashire (1642-51), (1st edn, 1910; 2nd edn, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1973).
• Dore, R. N., ‘Introduction to the Second Edition’, in E. Broxap, The Great Civil War in Lancashire (1642-51), (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2nd edn, 1973), pp. v-ix.

There are no restrictions on access to this collection. Viewing is by prior appointment. Please contact archivist@chethams.org.uk.

No further accruals are expected.