Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood | |
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Member of Parliament for Preston | |
In office 10 December 1832 – 29 July 1847 Serving with
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Preceded by | |
Succeeded by | |
Personal details | |
Born | Wennington Hall, Wennington, England | 9 May 1801
Died | 12 April 1866 Piccadilly, London, England | (aged 64)
Resting place | Kensal Green Cemetery, London, England |
Political party |
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Spouses | Eliza Debonnaire Metcalfe
(m. 1826)Virginie Marie Garcia
(m. 1837) |
Parents |
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Education | Oxford |
Fleetwood | |
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Country | England |
Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, 1st
Hesketh-Fleetwood married twice and had several children, most of whom died in infancy. His new town flourished, but the expense of building it left him close to bankruptcy and forced him to sell most of his estates including
Early life and family
Peter Hesketh was born in 1801 at
Hesketh was educated, along with his younger brother Charles, at
Hesketh enjoyed looking after the Rossall estate (which had no steward or agent), but struggled to keep on top of finances; he was an indulgent landlord.[11] He became an enthusiastic member of the Lancashire Agricultural Society and was concerned about the fate of local farm workers who were losing their jobs because of increased mechanisation.[12] Hesketh was gradually becoming more interested in the lives and conditions of the working classes.[13][14]
The Heskeths' first child, Anna Maria (known as Maria to distinguish her from three close relatives named Anna), was born in 1827.[8] Three more children—named Metcalfe Bold,[15] Debonnaire and Frances—all died in infancy.[16] In 1831 Hesketh changed his name by royal licence to Hesketh-Fleetwood, incorporating the better-known family name of his ancestors into his own.[17] Debonnaire contracted tuberculosis and died in early 1833.[18][19] Shortly before Debonnaire's death Hesketh-Fleetwood contracted scarlet fever. This was followed by erysipelas, a bacterial infection so severe that it necessitated the removal of one of his eyes.[20] At the end of the year, the Rossall estate was severely flooded and suffered damage costing about £3,000 to repair. Hesketh-Fleetwood subsequently spent very little time at Rossall.[21]
In 1837 in Belgium, Hesketh-Fleetwood married Virginie Marie Garcia, the daughter of Don Pedro Garcia, a Spanish nobleman.[2] Maria, his daughter with Debonnaire, contracted tuberculosis and died in 1838 at Regent's Park, aged 11.[22][23] She was interred in a glass coffin in the family vault at St Chad's, Poulton.[24] Around the same time as Maria's death, Virginie gave birth to a son, Peter Louis.[24] In 1841, on the death of his aunt, Anna Maria Hesketh, Hesketh-Fleetwood succeeded to Tulketh Hall in Preston.[4]
Politics
Hesketh was appointed
Development of Fleetwood
As a student holidaying in coastal towns, Hesketh had become aware of the lack of resorts in Lancashire.[6] He was concerned that the working classes of Lancashire could not afford to travel south for their holidays as wealthy people like him could.[14] The number of railways in Great Britain steadily increased in the first half of the 19th century, and Hesketh was impressed by the arrival in 1828 of the steam locomotive in Lancashire.[29] As High Sheriff of Lancashire, he attended the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway on 15 December 1830.[30] The event filled him with great excitement at the idea of bringing the railway to the coast and enabling Lancashire mill workers to take day-trips to the seaside.[31]
As he discussed the idea with his brother Charles, Hesketh soon realised that day-trippers would need certain facilities that were not yet available, and decided that a new town would need to be built. He initially planned to site his town and railway
Hesketh was influenced in the early planning stages by his friends, including mill owners Samuel Fielden and Benjamin Whitworth. They pointed out that mill workers would not wish to make day trips to the seaside all year round, and wondered how the people of the new town would be occupied during the winter months.
Charles met Frederick Kemp, a land agent newly arrived in Poulton from his native Essex, and introduced him to his brother, who was on the lookout for a steward or agent.
After Debonnaire's death in 1833, Hesketh-Fleetwood immersed himself in his development plans.
In 1835, still frustrated by the lack of activity on the part of the Railway and Port Company, Hesketh-Fleetwood organised the formation of the Preston and Wyre Railway Company to raise the funds required to bring the railway to Fleetwood. The estimated cost was £122,000. The company obtained Royal assent to start construction, with an underwritten guarantee from Hesketh-Fleetwood.[40] The following year Hesketh-Fleetwood and Burton oversaw the marking out of Fleetwood's first street, and the first railway lines were laid.[41]
By 1838 it had become clear that construction costs for the town were spiralling out of control. To make matters worse, the railway's engineer informed Hesketh-Fleetwood that the cost of the railway was expected to exceed £300,000. The company had also sold far fewer shares than had been hoped.[42] Frederick Kemp was collecting rents and rates from tenants, and Hesketh-Fleetwood repeatedly asked him for money to pay some of the mounting bills. Kemp, a more forceful character than his employer, kept claiming that there was no money. Hesketh-Fleetwood turned to his brother Charles and asked him to get £4,000 out of Kemp. Charles was more assertive, but Kemp said that the money had been spent on workers' wages and produced yet more invoices that needed to be paid.[43] During Hesketh-Fleetwood's many absences from the Fylde, Kemp managed to involve himself in a number of enterprises in the town, to his own financial advantage.[44] The railway was taking longer than expected and, with mounting debts, Hesketh-Fleetwood grew increasingly depressed and began to withdraw from society.[45]
Construction of the railway was finally completed in 1840, and in July the
Fleetwood continued to grow without its principal investor, albeit slowly. As a port, it soon faced competition from Lytham and Preston.
Later life and death
Hesketh-Fleetwood moved to London with Virginie and their son Louis. He rarely visited Lancashire again, and in 1847 he retired from politics.[54] The family spent some time living in Virginie's home country, Spain.[57] In 1861 Hesketh-Fleetwood expressed an intention to return to politics, but was prevented from doing so by his failing health.[58] He died at his home in Piccadilly, London on 12 April 1866, following a lengthy illness.[2][58] He is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.[59] His son Rev. Peter Louis Hesketh-Fleetwood (1838–1880) succeeded to the baronetcy, which became extinct on his death.[2] What was left of Hesketh-Fleetwood's land in Lancashire was bought by the Fleetwood Estate Company in 1875.[60]
References
Notes
- ^ Sutton, Charles William (1889). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 19. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Matthew (2004)
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 13
- ^ a b "Obituary – Sir P. Hesketh-Fleetwood, Bart.", The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 220, F. Jefferies, pp. 906–907, 1866
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 18
- ^ a b c Curtis (1994), p. 19
- ^ a b Curtis (1994), p. 21
- ^ a b Curtis (1994), p. 22
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 23
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 24
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 25
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 27
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 12
- ^ a b Curtis (1994), p. 20
- ^ "Deaths", The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 102, no. 1, F. Jefferies, p. 571, 1832
- ^ Curtis (1994), pp. 44–46
- ^ Curtis (1986), p. 17
- ^ a b Curtis (1994), p. 44
- ^ "Deaths", The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 153, F. Jefferies, p. 91, 1835
- ^ Curtis (1994), pp. 47–49
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 49
- ^ a b Curtis (1994), p. 66
- ^ "Deaths", The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 165, F. Jefferies, p. 338, 1838
- ^ a b Curtis (1994), p. 68
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 29
- ^ a b c d Curtis (1994), p. 42
- ^ a b Curtis (1994), p. 50
- ^ "No. 19631". The London Gazette. 3 July 1838. p. 1488.
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 30
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 31
- ^ a b c Curtis (1994), p. 34
- ^ Porter (1876), p. 81
- ^ a b c Curtis (1994), p. 35
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 36
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 37
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 38
- ^ a b Curtis (1994), p. 40
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 41
- ^ Curtis (1994), pp. 52–53
- ^ Curtis (1994), pp. 55–56
- ^ Curtis (1994), pp. 58–59
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 69
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 71
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 76
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 72
- ^ Porter (1876), p. 82
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 77
- ^ Porter (1876), p. 224
- ^ a b c Parry (1983), p. 55
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 82
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 87
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 88
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 89
- ^ a b c Curtis (1994), pp. 90–91
- ^ Lancashire County Council & Egerton Lea Consultancy (2005), p. 18
- ^ Storey (2001), p. 72
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 93
- ^ a b "Death of Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, Baronet", The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser, no. 2858, Preston, Lancashire, p. 5, 14 April 1866
- ^ "Kensal Green Cemetery—Famous / Notables", Official Kensal Green Cemetery website, General Cemetery Company, archived from the original on 13 July 2011, retrieved 9 May 2011
- ^ Curtis (1994), p. 94
Sources
- Curtis, Bill (1986), Fleetwood: A Town is Born, Terence Dalton, ISBN 0-86138-043-6
- —— (1994), The Golden Dream: The Biography of Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, Life Publications, ISBN 1-68874-371-5
- Lancashire County Council and Egerton Lea Consultancy (April 2005), "Fleetwood Historic Town Assessment Report" (PDF), Lancashire Historic Town Survey Programme, Lancashire County Council Environment Directorate, archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2012, retrieved 12 July 2011
- Matthew, H. C. G. (2004). "Fleetwood, Sir Peter Hesketh-, first baronet". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9688. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Parry, Keith (1983), Resorts of the Lancashire Coast, David & Charles, ISBN 0-7153-8304-3
- Porter, John (1876), History of the Fylde of Lancashire, W. Porter, ISBN 1-4370-0913-1
- Storey, Christine (2001), Poulton-le-Fylde, ISBN 0-7524-2442-4
Further reading
- OCLC 32019627
External links