1. Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, 1st Baronet, was an English landowner, developer and Member of Parliament who founded the town of Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England.
40 Facts About Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood
1. 2.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood hired architect Decimus Burton to design his new town, which he named Fleetwood; construction began in 1836.
3.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood married twice and had several children, most of whom died in infancy.
4.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood left Lancashire and died in London, succeeded by his son Louis.
5.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood Hesketh was born in 1801 at Wennington Hall, in Wennington, near Lancaster, the second son of Robert and Maria Hesketh.
6.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood had an older brother, Edward, a younger brother, Charles, and a younger sister, Anna.
7.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood was descended from the Fleetwood family who had owned the large Rossall estate in West Lancashire for over 200 years.
8.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood holidayed in southern resorts including St Leonards-on-Sea, a new development in Sussex, where he admired the work of architect James Burton.
9.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood became close friends with Burton's son Decimus, who was an architect.
10.
Charles was ordained in 1828 and as patron of St Chad's Church in Poulton-le-Fylde, Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood presented his brother with that curacy.
11.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood 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.
In 1831 Hesketh changed his name by royal licence to Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, incorporating the better-known family name of his ancestors into his own.
13.
In 1837 in Belgium, Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood married Virginie Marie Garcia, the daughter of Don Pedro Garcia, a Spanish nobleman.
14.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood was interred in a glass coffin in the family vault at St Chad's, Poulton.
15.
In 1841, on the death of his aunt, Anna Maria Hesketh, Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood succeeded to Tulketh Hall in Preston.
16.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood had similar views to Tory statesman Robert Peel and readily agreed to stand.
17.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood opposed monopolies, slavery and capital punishment and was in favour of reforming the Corn Laws.
18.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood made his maiden speech to parliament in 1834.
19.
Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, and in June the following year Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood was knighted in the Coronation honours list and created Baronet Fleetwood.
20.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood remained MP for Preston until the 1847 general election, although towards the end of his parliamentary career he was recorded as a Liberal MP.
21.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood was concerned that the working classes of Lancashire could not afford to travel south for their holidays as wealthy people like him could.
22.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood initially planned to site his town and railway terminus near the village of Thornton, but it was not close enough to the coast for his liking.
23.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood eventually decided on Rossall Point, a small peninsula north of Rossall Hall, at the mouth of the River Wyre, which was then an uninhabited rabbit warren.
24.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood had competition from the residents of Lytham, a village about 13 miles south of Rossall, at the mouth of the River Ribble.
25.
Southport, a town he owned much of, was becoming a popular sea bathing resort, and Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood organised the construction of a promenade.
26.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood was becoming concerned over delays on the part of the Railway and Port Company and decided to get on with building Fleetwood.
27.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood hired his old friend Decimus Burton, who had become a successful architect, and together they discussed what buildings would be required.
28.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood wanted a church, docks, housing, a gas office, a school and a hotel.
29.
In 1835, still frustrated by the lack of activity on the part of the Railway and Port Company, Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood organised the formation of the Preston and Wyre Railway Company to raise the funds required to bring the railway to Fleetwood.
30.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood obtained Royal assent to start construction, with an underwritten guarantee from Hesketh-Fleetwood.
31.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood had sold far fewer shares than had been hoped.
32.
Frederick Kemp was collecting rents and rates from tenants, and Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood repeatedly asked him for money to pay some of the mounting bills.
33.
The railway was taking longer than expected and, with mounting debts, Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood grew increasingly depressed and began to withdraw from society.
34.
Fleetwood initially flourished, but Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood had run out of money and was compelled to take out mortgages.
35.
Kemp claimed that Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood owed him money, but Kemp refused to explain his book-keeping.
36.
In 1844 Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood auctioned off his personal possessions from Rossall Hall and left Lancashire.
37.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood moved to London with Virginie and their son Louis.
38.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood rarely visited Lancashire again, and in 1847 he retired from politics.
39.
In 1861 Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood expressed an intention to return to politics, but was prevented from doing so by his failing health.
40.
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood died at his home in Piccadilly, London on 12 April 1866, following a lengthy illness.