A scion of the Byroms of Byrom Hall in Lowton, Lancashire, John Byrom was born and lived in Manchester and Salford for much of his life. Educated at Cambridge, Byrom become a member of the Royal Society and a leading poet of his day.

In addition to his poetical works, he invented a system of shorthand, composed the Christmas carol "Christians awake! Salute the happy morn", and coined the phrase "Tweedledum and Tweedledee". Byrom's work included three early poems in the Lancashire dialect, for which he was well remembered by the Lancashire dialect writers of the 19th century, in the form of satirical dialogues on topics of current political interest. - Summary by Phil Benson