Overview
- O’Keeffe located what he believes is the only surviving copy of Byfield’s 1851 pamphlet at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland.
- The rediscovered text reveals sustained pain, poverty, police entanglements, and a relentless push to secure pensions and patronage.
- Archival records revise the record on Byfield’s death, showing he lived until January 1874 rather than dying around 1850.
- Evidence documents his self-devised prosthesis for weaving, varied work, and assistance from figures such as William Napier and the Duke of Beaufort.
- Newspaper and legal sources tie Byfield to a Gloucestershire chapel dispute that escalated into lawsuits, vandalism, and an 1853 riot with allegations of an assault using his iron hook.