Samuel Rudder (c. 1726 – 15 March 1801)Nicholas Herbert, ‘Rudder, Samuel (bap. 1726, d. 1801)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 7 Jan 2012
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Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

topographer, printer and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

who was born at Uley and baptised 5 December 1726. He was the son of Roger Rudder (c. 1687–1771), a shopkeeper and pig-killer. Rudder ran a printing and bookselling business in

Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...

in the 1750s and wrote and published several works on the history of Gloucestershire. Samuel married Mary Hinton (1724–1800) on 22 June 1749, the daughter of a maltster, and it has been speculated that Mary might have been related to the Cirencester printer Thomas Hinton.

''A New History of Gloucestershire''

Rudder's ''A New History of Gloucestershire'' was compiled from printed questionnaires, which he said made him very troublesome to his friends, Sir Robert Atkyns' ''Ancient and Present State of Glostershire'' (1712), and an unpublished manuscript history of the City of Gloucester by the Rev. Richard Furney. The work was well received by critics and

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

described it as "the most sensible history of a county that we have had yet". The work had taken him twelve years to complete during which time a competing work had been published and Rudder was forced to deny rumours that he had abandoned the work. His later works on Cirencester (1780) and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

(1781) were extracted from his ''New History''. Some of the other works published by Rudder were of a less serious nature.

Selected publications

*''The History of Fairford Church, in Gloucestershire''. (1763) *
A New History of Gloucestershire
'. (1779) (free download) *''The History and Antiquities of Cirencester''. (1780) *
The History and Antiquities of Gloucester
'. (1781) (free download)

Other works printed by Rudder

*By an impartial hand. ''The Cirencester contest. : Containing all the letters, papers, verses, songs, &c. relative to the election, that have been printed on all sides, from the beginning of the opposition to this time. And some originals. Connected and disposed in the same order they came out; and each paper connected with the preceding one, in such manner as to make the whole a compleat narrative of the most material passages on that occasion. With an introductory preface, and a few remarks and observations.'' c. 1750. *Anonymous. ''A new fortune-book. Being a new art of courtship, open'd for young men and maids, widows widowers and batchelors, instructions for young men and maids''. c. 1770 *Anonymous. ''The new art and mystery of gossiping. Being a genuine account of all the women's club's in and about the city and suburbs of London, with the manner of their club orders.'' c. 1770. *Graham, Dougal. ''The comical sayings of Pady from Cork. Being an elegant conference between English Tom, and Irish Teague''. c. 1780.

''A New History of Gloucestershire''

Selected publications

Other works printed by Rudder

See also

References

Further reading