James Thomson of Ellerthwaite

Thomas Sowler 

The following notice of Mr. Thomas Sowler, from the pen of the president of the Chetham society, appeared in the Manchester Courier of 28th November 1857.


"The late Mr. Sowler was too remarkable a man to be allowed to pass to the silent grave without any notice except in the brief columns of an obituary. As the successful founder and establisher of a journal which has now continued for upwards of thirty years a leading organ of the great conservative party, and as the father of the book trade in Manchester, he deserves a record amongst the worthies of his native city, in which no one was more generally known or more sincerely liked and respected. His father, Mr. Thomas Sowler, carried on business as a printer, in Manchester, in partnership with Mr. Samuel Russel, under the firm of 'Sowler and Russel,' and many publications issued from their press, some of a more ephemeral, and others of more important nature; amongst the latter of which may be numbered a large Bible, and a rather voluminous History of the late War. Thomas Sowler, the son, whose mother's maiden name was Mary Ainsworth, was born in Deansgate, Manchester, on the 2nd July 1789. He was sent in due time to the grammar school, over which Mr. Lawson then presided, and he ever afterwards entertained a sincere respect for that distinguished preceptor and the time-honoured institution of which he was the governing spirit. Few have taken more interest in those pleasant meetings, the Grammar school dinners, which bring together the 'old familiar faces,' and the memories of early days, than Mr. Sowler always did. From thence he was removed to a school kept by Mr. Stolterfurth, at Chester, and whilst he remained there he attracted the notice of Dr. Majendie, who was then bishop of Chester. On leaving school he was placed in the very extensive establishment founded by the energy of Mr. James Lackington, whose autobiography most of our readers will be acquainted with, in Finsbury square, then carried on under the appropriate name of 'The Temple of the Muses,' by Messrs. Lackington, AUen and Co. We well recollect a visit paid to that 'monster' bookselling establishment in our early days, and certainly 'the trade,' with all the appliances and enterprise of this period of progress, have nothing in the great metropolis so imposing as the first entrance into that gigantic book 'temple ' presented to a stranger. In 1814 Mr. Sowler came down to establish himself in his native town. On S. Thomas's day in the same year he married Helen, daughter of Mr. John Slack of Manchester, historical engraver, to whom he was most sincerely attached, and in memory of whom he put up a very handsome memorial compartment in the east window of S. Andrew's church.
His industry, perseverance and systematic habits ensured him success, and for
many years he devoted himself to the various branches of his business with an increasing measure of prosperity. In 1825, the great want of an organ to express the opinions of the conservative party in Manchester, induced him to try what might well appear a bold experiment. The Manchester Guardian, which had been five years in progress, and was acquiring great influence and a very extensive circulation from the support given to it, originally by the radical and afterwards by the whig party, and the ability and power with which it was edited, seemed to render necessary some more able and vigorous exponent of constitutional principles in church and state than could be met with in the Manchester tory journals of the day, conducted altogether on the old system, and with little regard to the increasing requirements of the times, and those caused by the formidable local competitor which had appeared in the arena. Accordingly, on the 1st January 1825, the first number of the Manchester Courier appeared, the proprietor being Mr. Sowler, and the first editor Mr. A. A. Watts, a writer of ready talent, but who will be remembered rather from his pleasing poetry than his prose contributions to periodical literature. From the commencement of the Courier to his dying day Mr. Sowler neither changed his own principles nor the principles of his paper :

'Unpractised he to fawn or seek for power
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour.'

Whether the fortunes of his party were under cloud or sunshine his adherence was equally firm, and it is truly gratifying to know that he had his reward in seeing his paper attain a position and acquire a degree of success far transcending any expectations he could originally have formed. To this success it is scarcely necessary to say how much, in the earlier part of its career, his sound judgment and constant attention to the various details which, taken in the aggregate, exercise such influence upon the destiny of a newspaper, must be admitted to have contributed. For some years past he did not take any active part in management of the Courier in any of its departments. But it was not by the establishment of the Courier alone that Mr. Sowler promoted the interests of the conservative party. His personal efforts and labours might always be relied upon, and those who remember the South Lancashire Conservative association, and the various county and borough contests in which he took so active a share, cannot fail to appreciate his claims to the grateful respect of the party with which he was associated.

Within the last two or three years his health had evidently been declining, and the loss of a favourite daughter, under peculiarly painful circumstances, had inflicted a severe blow upon his nervous system, which accelerated the progress of disease. It became obvious to his friends a short time ago that he was gradually sinking, but the conclusion was nearer than had been anticipated. On Wednesday morning week, while a medical friend was making a call at his house, at Bowdon, Mr. Sowler was taken suddenly worse, and almost immediately, on being assisted upstairs to his bedroom, expired, apparently without a struggle.

After what has been said it is almost needless to observe that Mr. Sowler was a sound conservative in politics, and a sincere member of the established church, attentive to its ordinances, and fully embued with the enlarged Christian spirit and feeling which it inculcates and promotes. Perhaps a kinder man never lived. A hundred instances might be produced of his readiness to assist and relieve others, but it is surely superfluous in a community where he was so well known, and where his character was so thoroughly understood. Friendly, social, and companionable, he possessed the art of attaching others to himself in an eminent degree, and when you saw him at the head of his own table he seemed the very impersonation of liberal and genial hospitality. No wonder that such a man should be popular, and few men have been more so among his townsmen, or that he should be looked up to, as he was, with fond affection by every member of his family. His knowledge of Manchester and Manchester men was unsurpassed, and it is lamentable to think how many a pleasant anecdote and striking sketch of character, which has called forth many a burst of merriment, will die with him. He was, in fact, one of the few remaining links which connected the new generation in Manchester with the old, with the pupils of Lawson, with the members of the Pitt club, with the more homely but perhaps not less enjoyable days — when mayor and corporation were in the womb of time — when the 'boroughreeve' was a reverential title, and the office of churchwarden remained intact 'in full-blown dignity.' Change, however, as it will, and expand as it must, this gx-and commercial emporium will not soon see amongst its sons a more estimable man than him we are now commemorating, and whose life may supply no unimportant moral as to the valuable results of consistent principle, sterling integrity, and kindly, social feeling. For, without concealing at any time his conscientious convictions, which no one gave expression to more openly, or truckling to the opinions of others ; and with all the necessities of difference which party conflict inevitably entailed, and no one more actively sought to promote the interests of his party ; and in the prominent situation for more than thirty years of his life of proprietor of a leading political journal, and affording, as such, a mark for jealousy and irritability to fasten upon ; he has now passed away from amongst us, not only without leaving an enemy, but without even one discordant sound to mar the universal sentiment of sympathy, respect and regret.

It may be added that the father of this scholar, came originally from Durham. Amongst the publications which issued from the press of Sowler and Russel was the great folio Bible, edited and annotated by the rev. Mr. Osterwald of Neufchatel. This work is beautifully and profusely illustrated by line engravings, most of them designed and engraved by Mr. John Slack, whose daughter Helen became the wife of this scholar. They published also, in folio, a largo Prayer Book, and Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress. These works were issued in numbers, and travellers went through the north of England canvassing for subscribers. Their trade increased so much that the old wooden presses, then in general use, were insufficient to supply the demand, and Thomas Sowler, senior, was the first

man to introduce iron presses into Manchester and the north. Their introduction cost him his life, for in assisting to remove one of them he met with an injury, from the effects of which he died shortly afterwards. He was the elder brother of Mr. George Sowler, an eminent surgeon, who practised for many years at the east end of London, and with particular success as an accoucheur, and was a great collector of various articles of vertu, and died at S. Leonards-on-sea, Sussex (whither he had retired to spend the latter years of his life), on the 16th August 1855, at the advanced age of 87 years. One of the daughters of Mr. George Sowler married the eldest son of this scholar, Robert Scarr Sowler, esq., Q.C. (for whom see Register, anno 1826). Thomas Sowler left by his wife Helen daughter of Mr. John Slack, historical engraver, who lived in a large house in Gravel lane, Salford, close to the west end of Trinity chapel, three sous and one daughter. Mrs. Sowler died on the 17th January 1S39, aged 50, and was buried in a vault, under S. James's church, Manchester.

No old scholar took his place among his contemporaries and juniors at the anniversary meetings more regularly than Mr. Sowler did, and he was frequently called upon to sing Mr. Edward Chesshyre's Grammar school song. His name appears for the last time in 1856.

He resided at Bowdon during the latter years of his life, where he died, on the 18th November 1857, aged 68, and was buried in the churchyard, leaving three sons and two daughters. His eldest daughter, Frances (the only surviving one), married James Thomson, esq., of Ellerthwaite, Windermere. His second daughter, Mary Helen, died unmarried on the 6th June 1855, in London, and is buried at Bowdon. His youngest daughter, Harriet, who married the rev. Bevis Green, son of Mr. B. E. Green, a partner in the great publishing house of Longman, Green and Co., of London, died at Bromyard, Herefordshire, on the 27th February i860, and was buried at Bowdon, her husband not long surviving her.

For his sons, Thomas and John, proprietors and publishers of the Manchester Courier, which has now become a daily paper, and is still the conservative organ of the city, see anno 1828.