The Beever Collection

A miscellaneous collection of documents including broadsides, letters and title deeds, collected by James Frederic Beever.

The solicitor, James Frederic Beever, was probably born on 10 April 1806, and baptised at St Peter's Church, Manchester, as the son of William Beever and his wife, Mary. James Frederic Beever entered the legal profession as a solicitor, and practiced law in Manchester. He appears to have entered into a partnership with Darwell and Taylor to form Beever, Darwell, and Taylor. By 1867, the solicitors' chambers were located at 36 Princess Street, Manchester, and at 8 John Dalton Street from 1869. James Frederic Beever was a friend and correspondent of The Rev. Canon Francis Robert Raines (1805-1878).

The presence of a number of Beever families in Manchester and elsewhere during the nineteenth century makes further identification of James Frederic Beever's family and activities difficult to discern. James was involved in the administration of the estates of John Holt Beever (d.1863) and The Rev. Frederick John Holt Beever (d.1863), but the exact nature of any family relationship to James remains uncertain.

• The London Gazette, 8 Nov 1864.

The collection is arranged into 1 series: Miscellaneous documents collected by James Frederic Beever.

There are no restrictions on access to this collection. Viewing is by prior appointment. Please contact archivist@chethams.org.uk.

The collection was deposited at Chetham's Library at some time before 1951. It comprises the contents of a parcel found in a cupboard in the old Library office, which was transferred to the Muniment Room on 21 July 1951. The contents had included some newspapers and these were removed from the collection and added to the Library's newspaper collection in 1951. A note of which newspapers was not made.

No further accruals are expected.