Benjamin Brierley

Benjamin Brierley (often known as Ben Brierley) (26 June 1825 – 18 January 1896) was an English weaver, who took up writing in Lancashire dialect. He became a prolific journalist.

Life He was born in the Rocks area of Failsworth, Lancashire, the son of James Brierley (born 1795), hand-loom weaver, and his wife, Esther Whitehead (died 1854). He started life in a textile factory, educating himself in his spare time. At about the age of thirty he began to contribute articles to local papers, and the republication of some of his sketches of Lancashire character in A Summer Day in Daisy Nook (1859) attracted attention.

In 1863 he definitely took to journalism and literature, publishing in the same year his Chronicles of Waverlow, and in 1864 a long story called The Layrock of Langley Side (afterwards dramatised), followed by others. In April 1869 Brierley began the publication of Ben Brierley's Journal, first as a monthly and afterwards as a weekly magazine.

Today, Brierley is remembered in a 2006 bronze statue by Denise Dutton outside the public library, near his birthplace in the Rocks area of Failsworth. A local pub, the Ben Brierley at Moston, was named after him, but has long since closed. The building now houses the Ben Brierley Legal Advice Resource Centre.

Partial bibliography Chronicles of Waverlow, 1863 The Layrock of Langley-side: a Lancashire Story, 1864 (Google Books) Irkdale, or, the Odd House in the Hollow: a Lancashire Story, 1865 Traddlepin Fold; and Other Tales, 1867 Red Windows Hall; a Lancashire Story, 1868 Ab-o'th' Yate in London: or, Southern Life from a Northern Point of View, 1881 Ab-o'th'-Yate in Paddy's Land: From his Own Goose-wing, 1881 Ab-o'th'-Yate in Yankeeland: the Results of Two Trips to America, 1885 (Google Books) Tales and Sketches of Lancashire Life, 1886 Cotters of Mossburn, 1886 Spring Blossoms and Autumn Leaves, 1893