St. Vincent Beechey

The Revd. Canon St. Vincent Beechey (7 August 1806 – 19 August 1899) was a 19th century parish priest of Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire. He is most famous for founding Rossall School in Fleetwood, Lancashire in 1844 and was also President of the Manchester Photographic Society. [ [http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/1_early/1_early_photography_-_societies_-_office_bearers_-_soc_mn.htm Early Photography - Photographic Societies - Committee Members in the 1860s - Societies M N ] ] At the time of his death it was believed that Beechey was the oldest clergyman in England, being 93 years old. [ [http://www.arp-geh.org/FileUpload_demo/BJPAsummary1.pdf Microsoft Word - BJPAsummary.doc ] ]

Early life

St. Vincent was the twenty-first child of William Beechey, court painter to King George III. He was also named after his godfather, John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, in recognition of his great naval victory in 1797. St. Vincent Beechey was also brother to Frederick William Beechey the great naval commander and Richard Brydges Beechey, painter and admiral. [The Centenary History of Rossall School, William Furness, (Gale and Polden, 1944) p.5] He was eductaed at Caius College, Cambridge [ [http://apling.freeservers.com/Villages/Hilgay.htm Hilgay - Kelly's 1883 ] ] but no record survives to inform us of his pre-university education - considering his background and the cost of educating all of William Beechey's children, St. Vincent's education must have been a private one.

Appointments

*Parish Priest of Thornton-Cleveleys
*1841 - Vicar of Fleetwood [ [http://www.arp-geh.org/FileUpload_demo/BJPAsummary1.pdf Microsoft Word - BJPAsummary.doc ] ]
*President of the Manchester Photographic Society
*1872 - Rector of Hilgay [ [http://www.arp-geh.org/FileUpload_demo/BJPAsummary1.pdf Microsoft Word - BJPAsummary.doc ] ]
*1876 - Rector of Newton [ [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41417 Townships - Newton | British History Online ] ]
*Honourary Canon of Manchester

Rossall School

St. Vincent was called to a meeting at the North Euston Hotel in 1844 by a young Corsican by the name of Zenon Vantini who was looking to make money through an educational insurance scheme. He had proposed two schools of five-hundred pupils in the Fylde area - one for boys, the other for girls. [The Centenary History of Rossall School, William Furness, (Gale and Polden, 1944) p.4] St. Vincent soon rose to prominence in the scheme when it became apparent that any schools founded would be of Anglican foundation. The idea for a girls school was dropped and it was decided that a school of 200 students was to open under the name of the North of England Church of England School - this later became Rossall School. [The Centenary History of Rossall School, William Furness, (Gale and Polden, 1944) p.5]

Beechey had to raise funds for the opening of the new school and managed to get the financial support of Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, The Earl of Derby as patron, the Duke of Devonshire as vice-president and Archbishop Sumner, then Bishop of Chester and later Archbishop of Canterbury, as visitor. The school opened on the 22nd August 1844 in the grounds of Hesketh's Rossall Hall, with a 21 year lease on the aforementioned property and an option to purchase after ten years for £7000. [The Centenary History of Rossall School, William Furness, (Gale and Polden, 1944) p.5] Beechey remained on the board of governors until 1856 at which point his association became a more informal suppervisory one. He continued this role until his death in 1899. His views on the early days of the school can be read in his book - 'Rossall School Its Rise and Progress.' ['Rossall School, Its Rise and Progress' - Canon St Vincent Beechy (1894)]

References

Further reading

'Rossall School, Its Rise and Progress' - Canon St Vincent Beechy (1894)
'History of Rossall School' - John Frederick Rowbotham (First ed. 1895, John Heywood)
'The Centenary History of Rossall School' - W Furness (1945, Gale and Polden)
'A Very Desolate Position' - Peter Bennett (1977, Rossall Archives)
'Rossall Will be What You Make it' - Peter Bennett (1992, Rossall Archives)
'The Tide Flows On' - Derek Winterbottom (2006, Manx Press)