Everything about Richard Peacock totally explained
Richard Peacock (
April 9,
1820 -
March 3,
1889) was an
English engineer, one of the founders of
locomotive manufacturer Beyer-Peacock.
Early Life and Education
Born in
Swaledale, Richard Peacock was educated at
Leeds Grammar School but at 14 left to be
apprenticed at
Fenton, Murray and Jackson in
Leeds.
Career
At 18 Peacock was a precocious locomotive superintendent on the
Leeds and Selby Railway. When the line was
acquired by the
York and North Midland Railway in
1840 he worked under
Daniel Gooch at
Swindon, but reputedly fled to escape Gooch's wrath. In
1841, he became the locomotive superintendent of the
Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, subsequently the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.
In
1853, he joined
Charles Beyer to found the celebrated locomotive company
Beyer-Peacock. He had met Beyer through the acquisition of locomotives from
Sharp Brothers, and through both being among the founders of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers in
1847.
Politics and Religion
From the
1885 general election until his death in 1889, Peacock was Liberal Party
MP for
Manchester Gorton.
Peacock was an
Unitarian, and one of his contributions to the community in Gorton was the construction of Brookfield Church; a place of worship which still stands today, and whose bells are named after his children.
Emily Faithfull the Victorian printer and women's rights activist dedicated her book "Three Visits To America" to her "Friend Richard Peacock Esq of Gorton Hall" in 1882.
Family
Peacock was married twice, firstly to Hannah Crowther, and secondly to Francis Littlewood. At the time of his death his eldest son Colonel Ralph Peacock V.D (1838-1928) of the Manchester Volunteer Artillery succeeded him at Gorton Foundry. Of his daughters the eldest one, Jane Peacock, (1855-1928) married William Taylor Birchenough J.P., a silk manufacturer who was elder brother of Sir
Henry Birchenough. Peacocks grandson Richard Peacock Birchenough married Dorothy Grace Godsal, daughter of
Philip Thomas Godsal, the inventor of the Godsal anti tank rifle. Peacocks youngest daughter, Eugenie, married George P. Dawson, who succeeded Colonel Peacock as Managing Director on the formation of the new Beyer, Peacock and Company Limited in 1902. Colonel Ralph Peacock died without issue as did Richard Peacocks only other surviving son Frederick William Peacock (1858-1924).
He died in Manchester and is buried in the graveyard of Brookfield Church which he built and where the remains of Ralph Peacock and an earlier deceased son Joseph Peacock also lie.
Further Information
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