a township and chapelry in the parish of Middleton and hundred of Salford, in the county of Lancaster. Pop. in 1841, 1598, and in 1851, 1,781.
Dr Henry, an eminent nonconformist divine, who about the year 1590 distinguished himself among the Brownists, which involved him in so much trouble that he was obliged to retire to Holland, and became minister of a church at Amsterdam. His skill in the Hebrew language, and his excellent Annotations on the Holy Scriptures, which are still highly esteemed, gained him great reputation. He also wrote several pieces in defence of the Brownists, and some other works.
Robert, born at Woodyale in Lancashire in 1660, was master of a boarding-school at Bethnal Green, from whence he removed to Hackney, and to other places in the neighbourhood of London. After acquiring a moderate fortune, he retired, and lived privately to the time of his death, which happened in 1743. We are indebted to his industry for a Latin and English Dictionary, which has been much used in schools. It was first published in 1736, and was, after the author's death, enlarged by various hands to 2 vols. 4to, in which form it has been several times reprinted.