| Notes |
- Described, Catherine Beale p. 65. His father mentioned p. 44. Educated at Kibworth p. 44, 46. Tory and Royalist, p. 67.1785, house attacked by a mob because he introduced machinery in his factory: Beale p. 88, 89. 'Of Leicester' - RuthDenton. Place of birth from Ruth Denton's letter c. 1975.
- Founder of the Book Society. [4]
- Friendship with Dr Priestley [4]
- A history of the Coltman family from "Catherine Hutton and her Friends":
THE COLTMAN FAMILY.
The Coltman family, like many of our old families,
had their sad experiences in the troublous times of Charles I. and his Parliament. I cannot find that they fought in the Civil Wars, like the ancestors of the Cartwright and Hutton families, but they came very disagreeably in contact with those who did. The following interesting extract is taken from " Historical Notices of Events Occurring Chiefly in the Reign of Charles I." By
Nehemiah Wallington, of St Leonards, Eastcheap,
London, edited from the original MSS., 1869, Bentley.
Vol ii., p. 93 :?
" 1642, September 9th. One Mr. Coltman, being by
God's providence at his country house at Fleckney in
Leicestershire, having another farm house in Gumly,
2 miles from the said Fleckney, one of his servants came
unto him like one of Job's messengers, with a relation that Prince Rupert with his troops were in their fields, and had taken 5 of his horses and had burned houses and barns. But it fell out otherwise by the power and Providence of God, though it was attempted and earnestly endeavoured on this wise. Captain Sands, pulling a note out of his pocket, made us stop till he came to the said Mr. Coltman 's house, then he commanded his servants (or soldiers) to go into the house and fire it ; who accordingly went into the house, fetched out fire, raised the thatch, and put the fire in and kindled it (the thatch being extraordinary dry and combustible). But so soon as the wretched persons were down, the fire went out, and fell after them upon their heads, and thus they did 3 several times, with the same
success as at the first. Then the captain assayed to fire
it himself, on this manner : he went to a poor man's house, from whence he brought a wisp of straw, put fire into it, then put it into the thatch again, the fire flaming. But the captain no sooner came down from the ladder but the fire went out and fell upon his head again. This not taking effect he went into the said house, where a woman was brewing, took 2 great firebrands of fire, went up the ladder {like a hangman to do execution), again put in the burning brands into the dry thatch, and kindled it with fanning his hat to and fro, till it did burn as he thought to consuming, but with the same success as before, this being the 5th time of their ungodly attempt, for the captain was no sooner down from the ladder, but the brands fell after him
as before. Then with hideous oaths he commanded his
soldiers to shoot their carbines in several places of two
haystacks together, one of them being very old hay, yet
God would not let it fire. Then they returned, only
burning and slamming themselves in rage and malice.
One of the neighbours asked why he would burn that
house. His answer was because he was a Roundhead.
There were many spectators who were exceedingly
astonished at this miraculous preservation, saying they
never knew in their lives before but when fire was joined
unto dry stubble it would burn to consumption. So this
servant of God escaped only with the loss of 4 horses ;
but if his house had been burnt he had lost about 600
pounds, his barns being full of corn and other things. All praise and glory be given unto God. This wonderful work of God I did hear Mr. Coltman relate it himself, and that revd. minister of God's word, Mr, Perke, wrote it from his mouth."
In his will (proved 1643) William Coltman directs
his body to be buried at Fleckney, Leicestershire, where
he was born, if in those times of trouble it could be accomplished. He bequeathed ;f 100 towards the settling of a preaching ministry at or in the church or chapel of
Fleckney. He left 5 (pounds) each to two ministers, Francis Perke and Nicholas (?) Byfield. He left two daughters, but no
son. His brothers and nephews are named in his will, and
from them there is reason to believe the Coltmans of
Hagnaby Prior, Lincolnshire, the family of the late Sir
Thomas Coltman, Judge of Common Pleas, and the
Coltmans of these memoirs are descended. William
Coltman would then be residing in London, hence the
anticipated difficulty about his body being buried at
Fleckney, He was eventually interred at All Hallows,
Barking. The arms of the Coltman family are : ? az., a
cross patonce pierced of the field or, between four mullets,
pierced ar. ? Crest, a nag's head erased sa., maned and
bridled an, tasseled or.
In Fleckney Churchyard, under a yew tree, close to
the church porch, is a slab of slate, partly buried in the
earth, with the following inscription (copied literally) : ?
" Here Lyeth the bodyes of
Robert Coltman and jone* his
wife he dyed ye 14th and she 22nd
of August 1 70 1 both in the 48
year of their age
Under this Earth : A loveing
Pal re doth ly : who was adorned
with Faith and Piety : when jesus'
Cumes though they now Sleep
in dust : heel Raise and Share
their joyes Amongst ye just."
? Joan Iliffe.
The names recorded on this old tombstone were
ancestors of the Coltmans of these memoirs. Miss M. A.
Coltman remembered hearing her mother speak of them.
There are many old tombstones in country churchyards
with similarly arranged inscriptions. It is possible that the erection of them, and the arrangement of the epitaphs, may have been left to the village stonemason, whose strong point was certainly not orthography. In Fleckney Church-yard there are many members of the Coltman family buried, who seem to have been yeomen or small freeholders.
It was in or about the year 1757 that Miss Cartwright
first met Mr. Coltman at the temporary residence of their
mutual friend, Mr. Unwin, at Matlock. John Coltman was
born at Leicester, December 20th, 1727, at Castle House, an antique edifice adjoining St. Mary's Church, and which had been erected (probably) out of the ruins of John of Gaunt's Castle, the site of which was close by. Of the father of John Coltman, Mr. Samuel Coltman, his grandson, has preserved the following recollections : ? Castle House was rented of the Duchy of Lancaster ; during a Borough Election the Steward of the Duchy, finding his tenant unwilling to vote with his party, gave him notice " to quit and leave," but the election over, caused him to understand that he might remain if he chose ; he did not choose to be thus trifled with, nor to subject himself to what might possibly occur a second time, and therefore he quitted and left John of Gaunt's House, as it was called at that time.
During the persecutions of the Nonconformists in the
days of Charles II, a band of humble but sincere Christians fled for refuge to a village called Sutton-in-the-Elms, about a dozen miles from Leicester; here they formed themselves into a church of the Baptist persuasion. About
a century after this event seventeen members of that
church, in a time of great commercial depression, came to
Leicester in hope of improving their temporal concerns,
and to assist their spiritual ones, they united in Church
Fellowship, in a building belonging to Mr, Coltman, which
was situated at the corner of Harvey Lane ; this site he
presented them with, and upon it was erected the chapel
wherein Dr. Carey and Robert Hall successively ministered.
The chapel is still standing and in use, but the church
commenced by the seventeen members from Sutton-in-the-
Elms has been removed to a more commodious edifice in
Belvoir Street.
When the husband of Miss Cartwright was quite a
youth his father took him to a bookseller*s shop, " The
Bible and Crown," in the Market Place, purchased a book
and presented him with it ; he said, " Father, write something in it" His father wrote, " My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." These solemn words of Scripture, traced by the hand of paternal affection, were never obliterated from the memory of his boy, but exerted a kindly restraining influence over him in the hour of need.
John Coltman received his education at Kibworth,
where his father placed him under the care of the
Rev. John Aikin, the father of 'Dr. Aikin, and of
Mrs. Barbauld ; * for his tutor, Mr. Coltman retained
throughout life the greatest love and veneration ; he
remained with him until he was nineteen years of age,
* Eminent literary characters.
and imbibed from him that love of study and sense of
moral rectitude which, uniting with his innate refinement
of feeling and desire of knowledge, laid the foundation of that sterling character which he bore through life, and which imparted even in his early days a certain degree of gravity to his manners, and caused Miss Cartwright to distinguish him among the variety of her admirers as " The Philosopher." John Coltman had had Mrs. Barbauld, as an infant, many times in his arms. The Academy, after flourishing some years at Kibworth, was removed to Warrington in Lancashire.
- Article from Leicester University about John Coltman.
"The reluctant businessman: John Coltman of St Nicholas Street, Leicester (1727-1808) by David L. Wykes
https://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/WykesvolumeLXIX-6sm.pdf
Some biographical information included too.
(added by Raewyn)
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1727 - 1808 (80 years)
[1, 2] 