People of Note
Joseph Hunter (1783-1861)
The Rev.Joseph Hunter F.S.A., the Historian of Hallamshire and South Yorkshire, was born at Sheffield on 6 February 1783, the son of Michael Hunter, a cutler. His mother died while Joseph was young and he was placed under the guardianship of the Rev. Joseph Evans, a Presbyterian Minister, who sent him to a school at Sheffield.
In 1805 he began to study for the Ministry under the Rev. Charles Wellbeloved at York, and in 1809 became the Minister of an Unitarian Congregation at Bath.
From an early period he devoted himself to antiquarian pursuits, and particularly to the history of his native county. He published in 1819 the 'History of Hallamshire' and in 1828 and 1831 the 'History of South Yorkshire', the latter work may perhaps be considered one of the best county histories in existence.
In 1833 he was appointed a Sub-Commissioner and in 1838 Assistant Keeper of Public Records. From that time he lived in London, where he died 9 May 1861, and was buried in Ecclesfield Churchyard.
After his death a large number of his Manuscripts became the property of the British Museum. Without a doubt the most important of these is Add. MS. 24,458, which he entitled 'Families Minorum Gentium' - a volume of some 650 pages completely filled with pedigrees, chiefly of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire families, though of course their branches extend over other counties.
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