- Richard Peacock
Richard Peacock (
April 9 ,1820 -March 3 ,1889 ) was an Englishengineer , one of the founders oflocomotive manufacturerBeyer-Peacock .Early Life and Education
Born in
Swaledale , Richard Peacock was educated atLeeds Grammar School but at 14 left to beapprentice d atFenton, Murray and Jackson inLeeds .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 underDaniel Gooch atSwindon , but reputedly fled to escape Gooch's wrath. In 1841, he became the locomotive superintendent of theSheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway , subsequently theManchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway .In 1847 Peacock was present with
Charles Beyer at a meeting at Lickey Incline which it is generally acknowledged gave birth to theInstitution of Mechanical Engineers .George Stephenson was elected as first president and Charles Beyer as a vice president. Peacock became a member of theInstitution of Civil Engineers in 1849 ref|Hills.In 1853, he joined
Charles Beyer to found the celebrated locomotive companyBeyer-Peacock . Peacock had originally met Beyer through the acquisition of locomotives from Sharp Brothers, and as mentioned earlier through both being among the founders of theInstitution of Mechanical Engineers in 1847ref|Lloyd.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.During his period in parliament Peacock was in favour of Home Rule, of the reform of the House of Lords, the disestablishment and disendowment of the church and the establishment of local self government.Family
Peacock was the son of Ralph Peacock a mines supervisor from Swaledale, Yorkshire and Dorothy Robinson. He 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 ofPhilip 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.
References
#Lloyd, "Backtrack", 2004, 18 710
*Rayment
*Beyer Peacock Quarterly Review July 1927
*"Who's Who of British Parliament Volume 2 1886-1918"
#"Beyer Peacock Locomotives to the World" RL Hills and D Patrick page 10Bibliography
*Ahrons, L.E. (1927) "The British Steam Railway Locomotive 1825-1925"
*Obituary - "The Engineer", March 8, 1889.
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