The Chetham name holds a great deal of significance in Greater Manchester.
Whether it’s a name you’re familiar with, a name you’ve seen mentioned before, but are unsure of its importance, or a name you’re just hearing for the first time right now, there’s no denying what it means to our region.
It’s a name you’ll find simultaneously bestowed upon a former public hospital turned world-leading independent music school, a 178-year-old text publication society concerned with the history of North West England founded in 1843 and commemorated in the window of Manchester Cathedral.
It also proudly features on the front of two local statues and a mural, heavily linked to both Clayton Hall near Droylsden and Turton Tower in Bolton (as well as a popular pub in a nearby village) and most notably, of course, the oldest public library in the English-speaking world right here in Manchester.
But who does this surname actually belong to? Just who is it that we have to thank for the integral part played in shaping the cultural landscape of our wonderful city and wider community that we so frequently enjoy today?
Humphrey Chetham made his name as an English textile merchant, financier, and philanthropist.
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He was born on 10th July 1580 in Crumpsalland was the son of Henry Chetham, a successful Manchester merchant who lived in Crumpsall Hall with his wife Jane, who was the daughter of Robert Wroe of nearby Heaton.
He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, and then in 1597, was the made the apprentice to Samuel Tipping, a well-known Manchester linen draper.
In 1605, Humphrey moved from Manchester to London with his brother George.
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The pair joined forces to trade in various textiles, primarily fustian — a strong woven fabric made of linen and cotton — and the business partnership went on to become highly successful, thanks to the fact that the fabric they were trading was bought in London and then sold for a higher price in Manchester.
Having made his fortune and now a shrewd and successful businessman, Humphrey began to purchase land and property in the Manchester area in the 1620s, with his first notable purchase being the acquisition of the 15th-century manor house Clayton Hall, close to his hometown, then followed by the purchase of the scheduled ancient monument and the Grade I-listed Turton Tower, which was bought from William Orrell in 1628.
After his huge wealth and success became known to the crown, Humphrey was asked to be knighted in 1631, but he declined the honour and was subsequently fined for his refusal.
But in 1635, he was offered a job he was unable to refuse and became the High Sheriff of Lancashire.
His continuing list of titles and roles didn’t stop there either, as in 1643 he was forced into the position of General Treasurer of Lancashire, but he was said to have found this one very difficult to manage as a result of his old age and therefore turned down a second term.
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For many years prior to his death in 1653, Humphrey Chetham had attempted to make provisions for a large charitable scheme, but as time went on, he also began to obtain debts from his multiple businesses and began to fear that when he eventually passed on, parliament would take his money.
He therefore donated money to form a blue coat school for forty poor boys, which later became Chetham’s Hospital, and then the institution we know today as Chetham’s School of Music.
He also left money to establish what many would consider his greatest legacy, the iconic Chetham’s Library, founded in 1653 under his will for the education of “the sons of honest, industrious and painful parents” and for the use of scholars.
A real gem in Greater Manchester’s cultural crown, it is globally renowned as the oldest public library in the English-speaking world and has a rich history all of its own.
Chetham’s Library is known for being the regular meeting place of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, when Marx visited Manchester in the summer of 1845, with the research they undertook during this series of visits to the library ultimately leading to The Communist Manifesto.
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This is just one of many examples of how the library has cemented itself site of historical importance for the region, as well as further etching the Chetham name into global history.
Humphrey Chetham also left additional funds to pay for books on his death, and it’s said that more libraries were also constructed later on from this money.
And it’s from those charitable efforts and goodwill that he will always be remembered by Mancunians.
He truly did leave a lasting legacy we can still feel today.
Football fans are debating whether Manchester City made a mistake selling Cole Palmer
Danny Jones
Football clubs are always going to have to roll the dice on players as we all know promising players who went on to become stars: Kevin de Bruyne, Gerard Pique, Mo Salah and so on just to name a few from the Premier League – but is that what Manchester City have done with Cole Palmer?
The 21-year-old from Wythenshawe was sold to Chelsea back in September 2023, having only managed to make a few scattered but impressive appearances for Man City, scoring crucial goals in the Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup, but was still ultimately deemed surplus to requirements.
Shown the exit through nothing other than the sheer quality of Pep Guardiola‘s starting XI, not to mention plenty of strength in depth and quality off the bench already, the West London club paid what looked to be a handsome £42.5 million for the still relatively unproven youngster at the time.
However, with another hattrick to his name – a perfect one scored all inside half an hour, no less – and a fourth for good measure thanks to a penalty against Everton, he’s quickly become by far and away Chelsea‘s star man.
In the same breath, many are now naturally wondering why he was sold in the first place. It’s no secret that City are spoilt for choice when it comes to talent amongst their ranks and certainly didn’t need the money from his sale; it was simply a case that Palmer wanted more minutes that Pep couldn’t promise.
Shouldering the responsibility for the decision at the time, Guardiola said he completely understood the Manchester-born and bred star’s drive and ambition, admitting that “[With] young players, we always want them to stay but this is normal.
“After one season it is nice, and the second season, but the third season it is, ‘Oh guys, I want to play, I don’t want to sit on the bench’. It’s normal. We understand as a club. We got an offer from an incredible top club like Chelsea and I’m really happy for him. In all clubs these types of things happen.”
However, we dare say that if you were to tell the Catalan coach that same hungry prospect would end up being joint top-scorer with his Erling Haaland the following season and being, we think it’s fair to say he might at least hesitate before green-lighting his departure – and there are plenty more stats to boot.
Now, it’s impossible to know whether or not having the knowledge he has now would have made Pep second-guess his decision and take a chance on integrating Cole Palmer into City’s first team more regularly but put it this way, 25 goals and 13 assists in all competitions is hard to ignore.
Cole Palmer's 20th Premier League goal brings him level with Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot 🤝 pic.twitter.com/8Nq2Bn5bLH
That’s all inside what is for all intents and purposes his full debut season as a first-team starter (which isn’t even over yet), let’s not forget, and while they’ve had similar situations play out with the likes of Jadon Sancho in the past, it must be a little frustrating to see him playing this well in the same only league only in a darker shade of blue.
On the other hand, it’s still early days Palmer could also follow that same narrative even further and see that huge momentum trickle out depending on how his sophomore season goes. He’s also a boyhood Man United fan and not that we’re saying we can see him make that move down the line, but we all know how that switch sadly ended up for Sancho.
For many fans, City or otherwise, the logic seems to be that letting him go was the right decision for everyone, as it’s allowed him to get that crucial playing time and shine like he has this season, which may not have happened while waiting to grab his opportunity off the bench at the Etihad.
Moreover, it’s not like the treble-winners aren’t still looking like they could defend all three of their trophies this year – although it would be interesting to see what impact Palmer has when he comes up against his former club in the FA Cup semi-final this weekend.
What do you think, were City right to sell Cole Palmer or should they have held on to him and given him the minutes he was clearly more than ready for?
Remember when the Manchester Marathon used to be too short?
Danny Jones
One of the most popular runs in the UK returns this weekend as the 2024 Adidas Manchester Marathon gets underway on Sunday morning, but did you know the famous race was once too short to count as the full shebang?
Yes, it may very be one of the flattest and most accessible races anywhere in Europe but once upon a time the Manchester Marathon was technically a marathon, as those in charge of measuring the thing up didn’t quite nail it.
One job, guys. You had one job…
Here’s the story of for three whole years, tens of thousands of runners sadly didn’t technically complete the Manchester Marathon.
The 2024 Manchester Marathon boasts a record 32k racers.A 2013 finisher. We’ve got some bad news for you, mate…Manchester Marathon now and then (Credit: Supplied/Wikimedia Commons)
Manchester Marathon: The ‘ish’ years
As was widely publicised at the time, in 2016 it was found that roughly the three previous years of the race course that runs throughout Manchester city centre, into the likes of Trafford, Chorlton, Altrincham and beyond didn’t actually fulfil the complete distance needed to qualify as a marathon.
While the race route has to stretch for 26.2 miles, or approximately 42.195 kilometres if you prefer metric (always one that splits the crowd) to count as an official marathon, it turned out that in 2013, ’14 and ’15, Manchester’s biggest running event fell just short of that mark.
Due to a measuring error – for which blame was placed on the Association of UK Course Measurers (AUKCM), who said an accredited measurer had ridden the course in 2013 but fell foul to an error in the calibration of the bicycle wheel – those three years ended up being 380m too short.
As a result, roughly 24,000 runners who ran the Manchester Marathon during this three-year period essentially had their races voided, including plenty of elite athletes, as the official UK Athletics governing body simply could not recognise their times. How fuming would you be?
Speaking in an official statement at the time, AUKCM said they regretted the mistake, confessing: “Significant errors in measurement are rare – our procedures are designed to find them at the reporting or checking stages”.
Xtra Mile Events, who were still the organisers of the event at the time, went on to add: “We all understand the anguish and huge disappointment this creates and want to assure our runners that we share the upset and emotion from the AUKCM news regarding the race distance.”
Thankfully, such mistakes haven’t been suffered since and now under the umbrella of sporting giants Adidas, you won’t catch them making the same slips-ups.
Best of luck to all of you racing this Sunday and rest easy in the knowledge that while you might be absolutely dying by those last few miles, at least you can be sure those every one of those final yards is going to count. Now go and smash it!
Emily Sergeant -
10th February 2021 
