John Parsons Earwaker

John Parsons Earwaker (1847–1895) was an English antiquary.

Life The son of John Earwaker, he was born at Cheetham Hill, Manchester, on 22 April 1847; his father was a merchant from Hampshire, and a close friend of Richard Cobden. Educated at a private school in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, and then at school in Germany, he went on to study at Owens College, Manchester, where he took prizes in natural science. He moved to Pembroke College, Cambridge, but with a scholarship to Merton College, Oxford, he matriculated there in November 1868, and graduated B.A. in 1872 and M.A. in 1876. He entered the Middle Temple, but was never called to the bar.

Earwaker stayed at Oxford until 1874, with a few pupils there. He became interested in history and antiquarian studies, and studied ancient English manuscripts. He was elected honorary secretary of the Oxford Archaeological Society, and acted as deputy-keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in 1873–1874, during the residence of the keeper John Henry Parker in Rome. In January 1873 he was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Other works by Earwaker included:

Index to the Wills and Inventories at Chester from 1545 to 1760, Record Society, 1879–92, 7 vols. Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories, Chetham Society, 1884–93, 2 vols. A Lancashire Pedigree Case; or a History of the various Trials for the Recovery of the Harrison Estates from 1873 to 1886, 1887. The Recent Discoveries of Roman Remains found in repairing the North Wall of the City of Chester, a series of papers by various writers, edited by Earwaker, 1888. History of the Ancient Parish of Sandbach, 1890. The Cheshire Sheaf, new series, reprinted from the Chester Courant, 1891. History of the Church and Parish of St. Mary-on-the-Hill, Chester, completed by Rupert Hugh Morris, 1898.

Legacy Earwaker's library of printed books and manuscripts, including transcripts of original documents, was divided after his death. The Cheshire portion was purchased by Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, and presented by him to the Chester Museum. The Lancashire portion was acquired by William Farrer of Marton, near Skipton. A catalogue of the library was printed in 1895.

Family

Earwaker married, on 1 June 1875, Juliet, daughter of John George Bergman of Colinshays, Bruton, Somerset, and by her had three sons and three daughters. She illustrated his East Cheshire and other works.