Awnsham Churchill (d. 1728; fl. 1681–1728)

CHURCHILL (AWNSHAM), bookseller in London, (a) Black Swan, Ave Mary Lane; (b) at the lower end of Paternoster Row, near Amen Corner. 1681–1728. Son of William Churchill, bookseller of Dorchester. Apprenticed to George Sawbridge. His name first appears in the Term Catalogues in Mich. 1681, as the publisher of a law-book, The Touchstone of Precedents. [T.C. I. 460.] Another early publication of his was Dr. William Saywell's Evangelical and Catholick Unity, which bore the imprint, "Printed for Robert Scott and Awnsham Churchill, at the Black Swan, near Amen Corner, 1682." This Robert Scott was no doubt the bookseller of that name whose shop was in Little Britain. Churchill soon became one of the first publishers of the day, and in 1690 he took into partnership his brother John, the first work recorded under their joint names being A second Letter concerning Toleration. [T.C. II. 323.] Of their numerous publications, one or two only can be noted. In 1691 they shared in the publication of Sir R. L'Estrange's Fables of Aesop. With Jacob Tonson they shared Selden's Table Talk in 1696, and in the same year they published alone John Locke's Several Papers relating to Money. In 1704 they issued A Collection of Voyages and Travels, 4 vols. fol., and between 1704 and 1715 Rymer's Foedera, 16 vols. fol. Granger refers to Awnsham Churchill as the greatest bookseller and stationer of his time, while Dunton [p. 204] says of the brothers: "They were of an universal trade. I traded very considerably with them for several years, and must do them the justice to say that I was never concerned with any persons more exact in their accompts and more just in their payments." Awnsham Churchill amassed a considerable fortune and bought an estate in Dorset. He was M.P. for Dorchester between 1705 and 1710. He died unmarried on April 24th, 1728, his will being proved on May 11th. It contains the following clauses: "I give and bequeath my books at Henbury and my bound books in London and Westminster to be divided equally between my three nephews Wm. Churchill, Awnsham Churchill and Joshua Churchill. I give and devise my shop in Dorchester now in possession of the widow Wentworth, to my nephew Wm. Churchill, Esq." He also left a bequest to Mrs. Mary Churchill, widow of his brother John Churchill. [P.C.C. 142. Brook.]