PRIEST MAN

John (son of Joshua Priest man of Thornton, near Pick ering, Yorkshire). b. Thornton 1805; educ. Ackworth, Yorkshire; joined his brother-in-law James Ellis in the Old corn mill, Bradford 1824, they founded the first ragged school in Bradford 1846; a founder of the Friends’ Provident institution 1832; represented Bradford at many of the conferences called by the anti-corn-law league; refused to pay church rates which were found to be illegal, and abolished in Bradford 1835; manufacturer of worsted goods 1838, removed to larger premises 1845; gave up corn-milling 1855; a total abstainer from 1834; supported Cobden in opposing the Crime an war 1854. d. Whetley Hill, Bradford 29 Oct. 1866. H. Thompson’s Ackworth scholars (1879) p. xix ; Biographical catalogue of portraits at Devons hire house (1888) 527–32.