Clement Ingleby

Clement Ingleby, (1786-1859), was a solicitor in Edgbaston, Birmingham. His father was William Ingleby, a county gentleman of Cheadle, Staffordshire. In 1812 he married Elizabeth Jukes (d. 1877), daughter of John Jukes of Birmingham.

Together they had two children, Clement Mansfield (1832-1886) and Elizabeth Anne. Ingleby became co-founder of a successful Birmingham law firm in 1834, which his son later worked for.

Clement Mansfield (1823–1886), literary scholar, was born on 29 October 1823 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, the only son of Clement Ingleby (1786–1859), a solicitor of Birmingham, and his wife, Elizabeth (d. 1877), daughter of John Jukes of Birmingham. His grandfather was William Ingleby, a country gentleman of Cheadle, Staffordshire.

Ingleby's son later wrote that Ingleby found the legal profession 'distasteful' (DNB), and although he remained with the family firm until 1859, he devoted much of his time to pursuing his interests in philosophy and literature.

By this time, following his father's death in 1859, Ingleby had severed his connections with the law and moved to London

A portrait of Clement Ingleby of Birmingham, father of Clement Mansfield Ingleby of Valentines, Ilford. Clement Ingleby married Elizabeth, the daughter of John Jukes in 1812 and they had two children, Clement Mansfield and Elizabeth Anne. Clement Ingleby worked as a solicitor in Edgbaston, becoming co-founder of a successful Birmingham law firm in 1834.

Clement Mansfield Ingleby  (Not Buried Here)

Clement Mansfield Ingleby (1823-1886) was a literary scholar and editor, born on the 29th October 1823 in Edgbaston, Birmingham. He was the only son of Clement Ingleby (1786-1859), a solicitor of Birmingham, and his wife Elizabeth (d.1877). His grandfather was William Ingleby, a country gentleman of Cheadle, Staffordshire.

Due to ill-health, which Ingleby suffered with for most of his life, he was educated at home, before attending Trinity College Cambridge in 1843. Here, he graduated BA in 1847, later receiving an MA degree in 1850 and LLD in 1850. He then returned to Birmingham and became a partner within his father’s law firm, where he remained for around 10 years. On the 3rd of October 1850 he married Sarah Oakes (d.1906), the only daughter of Robert Oakes, a magistrate of Gravesend in Kent.

During this time, Clement pursued his interests in philosophy and literature, giving classes in logic in the industrial department of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, in addition to publishing several textbooks on this subject. His main interest was Shakespeare, publishing articles on Shakespearian topics in the local press and giving a lecture entitled ‘On the Neology of Shakespeare’ at the Institute in 1856. This initiated his involvement with the ‘Perkins folio’ controversy, concerning emendations that John Payne Collier claimed to have discovered.

Ingleby was among the first to examine the ‘Perkins Folio’ at the British Museum in 1859 and published several pieces against Collier, ultimately charging him with forgery. He believed that Shakespeare’s texts should be protected against casual emendation or modernization, to preserve not only these works but the integrity of the English language in general.

Ingleby’s father died in 1859, at which point he ceased to work for the family law firm and moved to London, situating himself at Valentines, the seventeenth-century mansion and estate in Ilford owned by Sarah Ingleby’s uncle Charles Thomas Holcombe. In addition to publishing Shakespearian theoretical works, Ingleby explored philosophy, and wrote articles for the British Conversationalist on Bacon, Coleridge and De Quincey.

Perhaps his most controversial published piece was Shakespeare’s Bones in 1883, in which he argued that Shakespeare’s skull should be unearthed in order to verify his likeness. This proposal was attacked by the press and firmly rejected by the Stratford upon Avon town council.

Ingleby was a member of the Royal Society of Literature, serving as foreign secretary and later as vice-president in 1876. He was also a member of the first committee of the New Shakespeare Society, and one of the original trustees of Shakespeare’s Birthplace.

He was a gifted musician and published several songs in his lifetime, however ill-health hindered his progress in this area. Ingleby died at Valentines on the 26th of September 1886, and was survived by his wife and four children. Collections of his essays were published posthumously and edited by his second son, Holcombe Ingleby, who later became an MP for King’s Lynn and high sheriff of Norfolk.