William Roscoe (1753-1831) was a banker, lawyer, poet, historian, botanist and art collector. He was the founder of a number of Liverpool's cultural institutions in the latter part of the eighteen and early nineteenth centuries. his father was a market gardener and innkeeper of the Bowling Green Inn on Mount Pleasant on what is now the site of the Medical Institution building. Having left school aged twelve, he assisted his father before being articled to a local solicitor. He set up his own law practice in 1774 and during this time he was an outspoken critic of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and used his brief period of time as the MP for Liverpool - in 1806 - to vote in favour of its successful abolition. It was in the latter years of the eighteenth century that he became involved in restoring to good order the affairs of a local banking house. His involvement was to prove financially disastrous leading to his bankruptcy in 1820 and the break up of his extensive library and art collection. Roscoe's books were eventually bought by his friends and placed in the library of the Athenaeum Club, of which he had been a founding member in 1797. Many of his collection of paintings remained in Liverpool and would eventually find their way into the collection of the Walker Art Gallery, which was founded after his death. Other cultural endeavours he was involved with included the establishment of the Liverpool Botanic Garden - remnants of the botanical collection are now housed in the walled gardens of Croxteth Hall. In addition, Roscoe was closely involved with the establishment of the Liverpool Royal Institution on Colquitt Street, firstly as chairman of the General Committee and then as its first President. As an author and historian, whilst Horace Walpole might have overstated Roscoe's importance as - the best of our historians - his works on Lorenzo de Medici and Pope Leo X are nevertheless important contributions to historical literature. Roscoe also published various pamphlets on penal jurisprudence as well as collections of poetry, including The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshoppers Feast (1802) and a two part poem entitled The Wrongs of Africa (1787-88). His views on slavery outlined in this poem led him into a controversy with an ex-Roman Catholic priest who attempted - with the generous financial backing from certain members of the Liverpool business community - to justify the trade by reference to the Bible. Following his death in 1831, in order to memorialise his place as a founder figure in Liverpool's cultural life, a statue was placed in the newly erected St George's Hall. With the founding of University College, Liverpool in the late nineteenth century, one of the early chairs was named in his honour - the Roscoe Chair of Fine Art. The name was later amended to the Roscoe Chair of Architecture - making it one of the oldest and most prestigious chairs of the University of Liverpool.
Further Reading
The main deposit of Roscoe's letters, parers and manuscripts are held in the Record Office, Liverpool Central Library. Other papers are deposited in numerous university collections. Other biographical accounts of Roscoe are as follows:-
Chandler, George, William Roscoe of Liverpool, B T Batsford, 1953.
Holt, Anne, Walking Together - A History of Liverpool nonconformity 1688-1938, Allen & amp, Unwin, 1938. (A history of Roscoe's Unitarian congregation with a chapter devoted to Roscoe's contribution)
Macnaughton, Donald A, Roscoe of Liverpool: His Life Writings and Treasures 1753-1831, Countrywise Ltd, 1996.
- Dictionary of National Biography entry, 2004.
Mathews, Godfrey W, William Roscoe: A Memoir, The Mitre Press, 1931.
Murphy, Graham, William Roscoe His Early Ideals and Influence, 1981.
Roscoe, Henry, The Life of William Roscoe by his son Henry Roscoe, 2 vols, Nabu Press, 2012.
Wilson, Arline, William Roscoe: Commerce and Culture, Liverpool University Press, 2008.