Joseph Pease- Quaker Railway Pioneer & Businessman
N 54° 31.559 W 001° 33.304
30U E 593513 N 6043005
The statue of Darlington's famous son stands at the junction of High Row and Bondgate in the centre of town. He and his family help to start the formation of railway system in Great Britain which in turn spurred on the Industrial Revolution.
Waymark Code: WM5E8K
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/27/2008
Views: 15
Joseph Pease was born into 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. 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). Arthur was also an MP and coal owner. He also sat on the board of the North Eastern railway Co. amongst others. One of Pease's daughters, Elizabeth Lucy, married John Fowler the agricultural engineer and inventor. 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. He was the first Quaker elected to Parliament. As such 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 governments of Earl Grey and Lord Melbourne. He gave his support to Thomas Fowell Buxton in the anti-slavery movement. He was in favour of the removal of bishops from the House of Lords. He was also in favour of shorter Parliaments and the secret ballot. He retired from politics at the age of 42 to concentrate on his many business interests..
In 1860 Pease became the president of the Peace Society, a post he held until his death in 1872.
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