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Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Latham, Dr John

27 June 1740 - 4 February 1837

John Latham was born in Eltham, Kent. He went to Merchant Taylors’ School, London then trained as a surgeon and set up in practice at Dartford, Kent. An internationally recognised ornithologist, for which he was awarded a doctorate in 1795 for his proposed classification of birds by the University of Erlangen in Germany, amongst other awards. He moved to Romsey in 1795 to be near his son, and soon discovered the wealth of old documents relating to the town in the town hall and in local solicitors’ offices. His social standing was such that he was able to borrow and copy these. He also copied material relating to Romsey held in the National Archives (then in the Tower of London) and material from the medieval registers of the Bishops of Winchester. His son’s financial mismanagement and suicide ruined him and in 1819 he moved to live with his daughter in Winchester. The extensive notes that he made copying documents, and examining memorial inscriptions associated with Romsey Abbey remained as he left them in 7 manuscript volumes. His memorial slab is on the south chancel aisle wall of Romsey Abbey church.

Sources

Thornton Howard, Mary,  John Latham, Surgeon, Ornithologist and Antiquary (privately published, 2012)

Portrait

Thornton Howard’s book has several excellent portraits, all with their sources, of which a picture is shown below:

Dr John Latham

Contribution to county’s history

His extensive notes of Romsey’s documents and his transcriptions of memorials in Romsey Abbey and graveyard. 

Relevant published works

  • Merrick , Phoebe, ed (2017) John Latham, Collections for a History of Romsey, Hampshire, 4 volumes (Lower Test Valley Archaeological Study Group

  • Latham’s original notes are in the British Library ADD mss 26774-26780

  • The letters he sent to Rev. Samuel Denne are held by Derbyshire Record Office D6104/41/1-15 and D6104/40/1-16

Critical Comments

There is very little about contemporary Romsey as Latham would have known it, except in the letters to Rev. Denne. Some of the Latin transcriptions of bishops’ registers are flawed and it was found necessary to consult the original sources in order to obtain correct transcriptions from which translations could be made.

Other Comments

Latham was Romsey’s first local historian and he uncovered much about the town that has been used by all the town’s local historians since

Contributor

Phoebe Merrick (LTVAS) 26 Oct 2021

Key Words

Latham, Romsey, Romsey Abbey, Romsey Corporation, Sale of Romsey Abbey’s lands at Dissolution, Borough Charters of Romsey

Any queries or further suggestions for this part of the list should be addressed to celebrating@hantsfieldclub.org.uk.

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