John Byrom - Family Life

Family Life

The ancestral home of the Byrom Family is Byrom Hall at Slag Lane in Lowton, (the lane facing the hall is called Byrom Lane). He lived here from time to time, but seems to have largely resided in a town house in Manchester and at Kersal Cell.

Byrom had several children, but his favourite was his daughter Dorothy, known as Dolly. In December 1745, after a romp with Dolly, he promised to write her something for Christmas; it was to be written especially for her, and no one else. The delighted Dolly reminded her father of his promise each day as Christmas grew nearer. On Christmas morning, when she ran down to breakfast, she found several presents awaiting her. Among them was an envelope addressed to her in her father's handwriting. It was the first thing she opened, and to her great delight, it proved to be a Christmas carol entitled "Christians awake! Salute the happy morn". The original manuscript is headed "Christmas Day for Dolly", and it was first published in Harrop's Manchester Mercury in 1746.

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    The touchstone for family life is still the legendary ‘and so they were married and lived happily ever after.’ It is no wonder that any family falls short of this ideal.
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