Thomas Rossell Potter

Infobox Person
name = Thomas Rossell Potter

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image_size =
caption = The Hermitage in Wymeswold
birth_date = 7 January 1799Thomas Rossell Potter in Dictionary of National Biography now in the public domain]
birth_place = West Hallam,Derbyshire
death_date = 19 April 1873
death_place = Wymeswold
education = Risley and Wirksworth grammar school
occupation = Teacher and antiquary
spouse = Frances Fosbrooke of Shardlow
parents = John and Mary (nee Rossell)
children = nine

Thomas Rossell Potter (1799- 1873) was a British antiquary. He started a school in Leicestershire, but he is known for his publications about the history and of Leicestershire. He was the editor of a number of local newspapers.

Biography

Born at West Hallam on 7 January 1799, to John and Mary Potter of West Hallam, Derbyshire. Potter went to Risley grammar school, and later the grammar school at Wirksworth. When he was fifteen his parents removed to Wymeswold in Leicestershire, and there he resided until his death.

Potter's intention of entering the church was frustrated by his father's death, and Potter accordingly started a school on Elm Street in Wymeswold called "The Hermitage"(pictured). [http://www.hoap.co.uk/who/who02.htm A Boys Life by Carl Harrison] accessed 4 November 2007] The school proved successful, and, with the exception of a few years devoted entirely to literary work, he spent the remainder of his days in tuition. The account below is taken from a schoolbook by Thomas Wamer Lacey which was rediscovered in a record office in 1999. He wrote:

"... I then came to Mr Potters of Wymeswould, he is a very kind master, and Mrs Potter is a kind mistress, and was like a mother to us all, and will always be remembered by us. Mr Potter takes us a fishing, and bathing, and we have delightful walks, a pleasant playground, pretty little gardens, rabbithouses, &c. furnish amusements for us in the Summer evenings. In Winter we have a Library of Books to run to, a magic lantern to amuse us, and many a long hour do we spend in listening to Mr P~s tales round the cheerful fire..."

A notable student of his was the antiquarian John Joseph Briggs.J.J.Briggs in Dictionary of National Biography now in the public domain]

Potter had developed a taste for literature, and especially for antiquities and geology. In 1841 or 2 he temporarily removed from Wymeswold to a house in Charnwood Forest, and while there he collected notes about the history, antiquities, natural history, and geology of the area. This became, "The History and Antiquities of Charnwood Forest."

Potter attempted the reissue of Nichols's ' History of Leicestershire,'; but his effort proved abortive, and, though much was written, only the "Physical Geography and Geology of Leicestershire" was printed (in 1866).

Potter was fond of field sports, and a regular attendant at the meets of the Quorn Hunt, and he contributed a series of papers and poems for the Sporting Magazine from 1827 until 1840, under the nom de guerre of "Old Grey." He afterwards wrote for the ;"Sporting Review." He became editor of the "Leicester Advertiser" in 1849, of the "Ilkeston Pioneer" in 1856, and of the "Leicester Guardian" in 1858. In 1865 he was editor of the "Loughborough Monitor" (later the "Loughborough Monitor and News."

Potter married, on 14 Jan 1836, Frances Sarah Fosbrooke of Shardlow Hall, Derbyshire. They had five sons and four daughters. Potter died before his wife on 19 April 1873 in Wymeswold.

Besides the works mentioned, he published:
# " Walks round Loughborough," 1840.
# " The Genius of Nottinghamshire," 1849.
# " Rambles round Loughborough," reprinted from ' The Loughborough News,' 1868.
# "Poems", 1881 [Some lyrical ballads in which local legends were incorporated, were collected after his death by his son, Charles Neville Potter]

References