Humphrey Chetham
(1580-1653)

merchant, General Treasurer of Lancashire, and High Sheriff of Lancashire (from 1635)

Died aged c. 73

Humphrey Chetham (10 July 1580 – 1653) was an English textile merchant, financier and philanthropist, responsible for the creation of Chetham's Hospital and Chetham's Library, the oldest public library in the English-speaking world.

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Commemorated on 1 plaque

Nick Harrison on Flickr
Manchester, United Kingdom

Chetham's Hospital Manor House of Thomas de la Warre given to the Collegiate Church (now Cathedral) in 1421. In 1653 Humphrey Chetham founded a school and free public library. Became a music school in 1969

Long Millgate, Manchester, United Kingdom where they founded a school and founded a free public library