Joshua Barnes, antiquarian

Biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Barnes

Joshua Barnes FRS (10 January 1654 – 3 August 1712), was an English scholar. His work Gerania; a New Discovery of a Little Sort of People, anciently discoursed of, called Pygmies (1675) was an Utopian romance.[1]

Barnes was born in London, the son of Edward Barnes, a merchant taylor. Educated at Christ's Hospital and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he was chosen in 1695 as Regius Professor of Greek, a language which he wrote and spoke with facility.

One of his early publications was Gerania; a New Discovery of a Little Sort of People, anciently discoursed of, called Pygmies (1675), a whimsical sketch, to which Swift's Voyage to Lilliput may owe something. Among his other works is a History of that Most Victorious Monarch Edward III (1688), an epic of over 900 pages, which inserts elaborate speeches into the narrative. He also produced editions of Euripides (1694), Homer (1711), and Anacreon (1705), of which the last contains titles of Greek verses of his own, which he hoped to publish. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in November, 1710.[2]

Barnes married a widow named Mrs Mafon in 1700.[3] Barnes died on 3 August 1712 at Hemingford, near St Ives, Huntingdonshire where his widow erected a monument to him.[3]

Source cited below: “We are indebted to Mr. M. Ray Sanborn, of Yale University Library, for the following notes from Hearne’s Remarks and Collections. The J. Barnes mentioned was of course Joshua Barnes, the famous Greek scholar, He was the son of a London tradesman, was sizar Emmanuel College, Cambridge December 11, 1671, B.A. 1675, MA 1679, regius professor of Greek 1695. He died August 3d, 1712, and was buried at Hemingford, Hunts.”

J. Barnes wrote to T. Hearne, that “he is at Hemingford to meet his only brother Jacob, who after 32 years’ absence, made a voyage from Virginia, where his wife and children are, only to see the writer.” ...“Among a few scattered notes copied from Mss of J. Barnes relating to person of the name Barnes, is the following: “Edward Barnes, who marry’d first wife Anne Cock24, by whom he had 8 children, Eliz. & John, &c, both of whom dy’d of ye Great Plague 1664, with all their children. His second wife Mary Mills, daughter of John Mills, attorney of ye City of Salisbury, whose Brother was Mayor of Salisbury. Of her he had 13 children, Mary, now living, married to William Meredith, a Cheshire man, a Baker, Jacob, now living in Virginia, &c. Martha, wife of Felix Rhymes an Oxford man, by whom one daughter, Mary, marryed to Richard Millard, who has two sons, Rob. & Rich. Both living, and a daughter, dead, another daughter Martha, born 1705, Nov." (p. 203) "Joshua Barnes I, who dyed a 7 etat. Abrahams, two, both dead, Isaac, Daniel, Sarah, and Joshua, II, now 50 years old, 1704. The above seems somewhat involved and difficult, so is copied litteratum."25 (p. 204)

---

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Barnes
• Josuah Barnes in the London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 < AncestrySharing > Name: Josuah [sic: Joshua] Barnes Gender: Male Record Type: Christening (Baptism) Baptism Date: 22 Jan 1653 [old style] Baptism Place: Saint Giles Cripplegate, City of London, London, England Father: Edw Barnes Mother: Mary Barnes. [Note: the record is Old Style dating. Most biographical data used New Style, and translated Jan 1653 to Jan 1654]
• Joshua Barnes in the England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 < AncestryImage > Name: Joshua Barnes Gender: Male Death Date: abt 1712 Burial Date: 5 Aug 1712 Burial Place: Hemingford Abbots, Huntingdon, England FHL Film Number: 1040632
• Joshua Barnes in the England, Extracted Parish and Court Records, 1399-1795 < AncestrySharing >
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198128594/joshua-barnes: accessed 15 December 2022), memorial page for Joshua Barnes (10 Jan 1654–3 Aug 1712), Find a Grave Memorial ID 198128594, citing St Margaret of Antioch Churchyard, Hemingford Abbots, Huntingdonshire District, Cambridgeshire, England; Maintained by Eileen Cunningham (contributor 47612450).
• "Barnes, Joshua (BNS671J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. < link > S. of Edward, merchant-taylor, of London. B. Jan. 10, 1654 [New Style]
• Joshua Barnes in the Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22 < AncestrySharing > Name: Joshua Barnes Birth Date: 1654 Death Date: 1712
• “Remarks and Collections of Thomas Hearne, Volume 1” By Thomas Hearne. Page 278. < PDF >; GoogleBooks
• “Edward Barnes and Two Wives of London” (Revised 28 January 2014) < PDF >