Editing Samuel Bamford (section)

==Biography==
Bamford was one of five children born to Daniel Bamford (a muslin weaver and part-time teacher, and later master of the [[Salford, Greater Manchester|Salford]] workhouse), and his wife, Hannah. He was baptised on 11 April 1788 at [[St Leonard's Church, Middleton|St Leonard's Church]], Middleton.<ref>Ancestry.com. ''Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812''[database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. ''Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers''. Preston, England: Lancashire Archives.</ref><ref>Ancestry.com. ''Manchester, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1541-1812''[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. ''Anglican Parish Registers''. Manchester, England: Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives.</ref>

After his father withdrew him from [[Manchester Grammar School]], Bamford became a weaver and then a warehouseman in [[Manchester]].<ref name="ODNB" >{{Cite ODNB |title=Bamford, Samuel (1788–1872) |last=Spence |first=Peter |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/1256 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1256 |accessdate=2008-02-15}}</ref> Exposure to Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'' and to the poems of [[John Milton]] influenced Bamford to begin writing poetry himself.<ref name="ODNB" />

On 24 June 1810, he married Jemema (or Jemima) Sheppard, who he called 'Mima', at the Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in [[Manchester]], now known as [[Manchester Cathedral]].<ref>Ancestry.com. ''Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930 (Cathedral)'' [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. ''Anglican Parish Registers''. Manchester, England: Manchester Cathedral. Images produced by permission of Manchester Cathedral and Manchester City Council.</ref> 

Bamford and Mima had at least one child, born outside of wedlock. The "sweet infant, just of age to begin noticing things," was kept a secret and revealed to him the day after the couple married.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bamford |first=Samuel |title=Early Days |date=1849 |publisher=Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. |isbn=9781535803731 |location=London |pages=249}}</ref> According to Emma Griffin, Bamford and Mima's daughter, Ann, was six months old at the time and had been baptised in January 1810 under Jemima Sheppard's name.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Griffin |first=Emma |date=May 2013 |title=Sex, illegitimacy and social change in industrializing Britain |url= |journal=Social History |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=152–153 |doi=10.1080/03071022.2013.790236 |via=Taylor & Francis Online}}</ref> Griffin also notes that Bamford had another child out of wedlock to a "Yorkshire lass".<ref name=":0" />

In 1851 or thereabouts, Bamford obtained a situation as a messenger for the Inland Revenue at [[Somerset House]], but soon returned to weaving.<ref name="ODNB" /> The 1861 England Census records that Samuel, as a "public reader and agent" resided with Jemina in Hall Street, Manchester.<ref>Class: ''RG 9''; Piece: ''2974''; Folio: ''69''; Page: ''6''; GSU roll: ''543058.'' Ancestry.com. ''1861 England Census'' [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. ''Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861''. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861.</ref>