Joseph Pease, Darlington,County Durham, UK
N 54° 31.559 W 001° 33.304
30U E 593513 N 6043005
A statue to Joseph Pease stands at the junction of High Row and Bondgate in the centre of Darlington. It was unveiled in 1875 to mark the Golden Jubilee of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
Waymark Code: WM5E8D
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/27/2008
Views: 12
Joseph Pease was born in a Quaker family on the 22 June 1799 and died 8 February 1872. He is buried in the burial ground behind the Society of Friends meeting house in Skinnergate, Darlington. He was the first Quaker elected to Parliament. Joseph was married in 1826 to Emma Gurney, daughter of Joseph Gurney of Norwich. They had sixteen children, amongst them was Arthur Pease (1837-1898). Pease's ninth child, Elizabeth Lucy married the agricultural engineer and inventor, John Fowler. Fowler was a pioneer in the application of steam power to agriculture.
Joseph Pease joined with his father Edward and other members of his family in the creation of the famous Stockton and Darlington Railway. By 1829 Joseph was managing the Stockton and Darlington Railway. He was also involved with coal mining in south Durham and by 1830 was the largest owner of mines in the area. That same year Pease, Joseph Gurney, and some other Quaker businessmen bought a large tract of land at Middlesbrough. This they turned it into a port for exporting coal. In December 1830 a new railway was opened on the Stockton and Darlington line to connect Middlesbrough to the coal mines to get Pease's coal to the ships.
In 1832 Pease was elected as a Member of Parliament for South Durham. As a Quaker, he was not immediately allowed to take his seat because he would not take the oath of office. A special committee considered the question and decided that Pease could affirm, rather than swear and he took his seat as a member of the Parliament. He was also unusual in that, like most Quakers of the day, he refused to remove his hat as he entered the House of Commons. Pease supported the Whig governments of Earl Grey and Lord Melbourne. He joined Thomas Fowell Buxton in the anti-slavery movement. He supported the removal of bishops from the House of Lords. He was also in support of shorter Parliaments and the secret ballot. He retired from politics in 1841.
In 1860 Pease became the president of the Peace Society, a post he held until his death in 1872.
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