Barrow-in-Furness
Civic and Local History Society
WILLIAM CLOSE OF FURNESS (1775-1813)
FOREWORD
My portrait biography of William Close relates the story of a gifted Furness man who was born in 1775, in north - west England during the reign of George III. This was the era of Nelson and Napoleon, and, nearer home, William Wordsworth and George Romney.
Close was a Dalton surgeon, apothecary, historian, writer, musician and inventor – a polymath. He lived at 2 Castle Street, now my home, from about 1800 – 1813. He paid an annual rent of £4.4s.0d (£4.20p), to his landlord, John Thompson; agent for the iron ore mines.
A stable for the doctor’s horse once existed at the back of the house, then known as Holt’s Yard. The house has a roofed, side entry. Dr. Close had a large hole bored through the beams of this structure for storing the tubes of his brass musical instruments to catch the wind. The hole is still visible but no longer serves a useful purpose. However, the beams provide summer nesting homes for successive families of swallows.
Close was a Dalton surgeon, apothecary, historian, writer, musician and inventor – a polymath. He lived at 2 Castle Street, now my home, from about 1800 – 1813. He paid an annual rent of £4.4s.0d (£4.20p), to his landlord, John Thompson; agent for the iron ore mines.
A stable for the doctor’s horse once existed at the back of the house, then known as Holt’s Yard. The house has a roofed, side entry. Dr. Close had a large hole bored through the beams of this structure for storing the tubes of his brass musical instruments to catch the wind. The hole is still visible but no longer serves a useful purpose. However, the beams provide summer nesting homes for successive families of swallows.
William Close
N.B. Click on a thumbnail picture to obtain a larger image
One of my most treasured books is “The Antiquities of Furness” by Thomas West (1805). The editor was William Close who added his own 86 page supplement. The work was prepared for publication by Close at 2 Castle Street, Dalton–in–Furness.
Alice Leach © 2010.
Alice Leach © 2010.