Cumbrian Lives

𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐓𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐘 (𝟏𝟕𝟑𝟐-𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟒)
The 18th century craze for collecting exotic shells was widespread among the upper middle classes. Bridget Atkinson who was born in Lanarkshire, became a passionate collector of shells and coins. When her father Michael Atkinson, an engineer, died, her mother Dorothy returned to her home at Kirkoswald. Her two daughters were educated at Mrs Paxton’s Academy at Durham. Bridget married George Atkinson, later receiver general for Cumberland and lived at Temple Sowerby.

Bridget never travelled abroad and rarely left Cumbria but she amassed an important collection of 1200 specimens with the help of her family and friends. She had a genuine curiosity about the natural world and some of the items in her collection are among the most sought-after.

She collected widely including from an officer on Captain Cook’s voyages and her brother-in-law Richard ‘Rum’ Atkinson (1739–1785), a government contractor and director of the East India Company as well as from her son and grandson who had business interests in the West Indies. The collection was inherited by her grandson John Clayton and is now part of the Clayton Collection at Chesters Roman Fort. Almost lost in the 1980s when it was thrown on the skip during a clear-out at Newcastle university, it was rescued from the skip by a passing marine zoologist and later donated to English Heritage to be eventually returned to Chesters Roman Fort and Museum. Bridget Atkinson’s collection is a remarkable record of Britain’s global trade and colonies.
𝐂𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲, 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. See www.cumbrianlives.org.uk

WILLIAM FREEMAN THE FIRST BLACK PUBLICAN AND A WELL-KNOWN FIGURE IN BARROW

William Freeman (1860-1933) was born in Barbados and in early life was a coal miner in Yorkshire. Before 1893 he was a popular hackney cab driver in Barrow. He was known for his impeccable manners and dress style (he used to wear a velvet dinner jacket and bow tie). He lived in Duncan St, Barrow. In 1891, William married Margaret a Scot and they had three children. When he became the licensee of the Old Swan in Rawcliffe St (built 1864, later called Scott St), they took in lodgers above the bar and lived next door. He was chairman of the local Licensed Victuallers Association which had 60 members.

William Freeman was well regarded by his many clients who were frequently sailors. He accommodated the crew of the gunboat HMS Hazard in 1902 before the sea trials. They repaid his generosity by giving him ‘an illuminated military salute’. In 1904 when he moved to run the Duke of York in Preston, he was given a celebratory dinner in Barrow at which he was presented with a purse of gold while his daughter Edith who assisted in the pub was given a gold brooch. William Freeman’s funeral was at Barrow Island in 1933. He is one of the many men and women who have been significant in Cumbrian history. Read more on this page and at www.cumbrianlives.org.uk (free access website)
Photo below published in Whitehaven News mentions the White Swan Hotel in Barrow.

Join us on June 13th for this talk at the Yew Tree Hall in Lorton.

𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡, 𝗝𝗔𝗡𝗘, 𝗗𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗬, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗠: 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗟𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦
Illustrated talk by Dr Derek Denman
𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟭𝟯 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝟳.𝟯𝟬 𝗽𝗺 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝘄 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 in Lorton

The life-long friendship between Dorothy Wordsworth and Jane Pollard was the key relationship in this story. Without it, John Marshall, the wealthy Leeds mill owner who married Jane in 1795, would not have created the Lake District estates which would later come to the National Trust.

From 1810 Marshall bought extensive estates in the Lakes and built a family seat on Ullswater, establishing his family as landowners in the area. The talk will discuss the curious relationship between John Marshall and William Wordsworth during their unlikely co-operation in building the Marshall estates around Buttermere, Crummock, Loweswater, and Derwentwater. Dr Denman has been part of the L&DFLHS for many years, and has researched the Marshalls at Lancester University. The talk will be preceded by a brief AGM. Visitors welcome, £4 cash payable at the door, including refreshments. Image: Jane Marshall, née Pollard (1770-1847).

𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐊𝐘 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐫. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬. W𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.𝐨𝐫𝐠.𝐮𝐤

Ossalinsky (nee Jackson), Mary, Countess (c.1821-1902), landowner, daughter and only child of Edward Washington Jackson (died v.p. 1825, aged 33), of Keswick, attorney (son of Wilson Jackson (1756-1844), who was son of John Jackson, of Armboth). She married (1839) Count Vladimir Boris Ossalinsky (d.1859), of Chestnut Hill, Keswick, who was by 1843 declared bankrupt and unmasked as a fraudulent Russian. He committed one serious fraud in 1839; a £600 loan falsely obtained from Wilson Jackson. Post bankruptcy he fled to the continent, never returning, and died in the South of France in 1859, aged 51. They had 1 son (Vladimir Boris Jackson Ossalinsky (1840-1893), who assumed surname Jackson, was of Skiddaw View, 121 Main St. Keswick) and 1 daughter (Nathalie, who marr (1862) William Harrison, of Penrith, solicitor). After her husband’s bankruptcy, the Countess lived firstly in Penrith and latterly in London.

She carried out resolute rearguard action against Manchester Corporation Waterworks Committee’s proposal to flood Thirlmere for reservoir. Her Armboth estate was valued by Manchester at £25,000, which she disputed and after legal action was awarded £70,000 as compensation, but could not prevent construction of waterworks going ahead in 1890-91. She died in 1902, aged 81.

DR DAVID A. CROSS is the Editor of CUMBRIAN LIVES and an art historian. He won Lakeland Book of the Year awards for his biography of George Romney, 'A Striking Likeness' and one of his editions of the letters of Percy Kelly. He is a vice-president of The Romney Society. The Arts Society Cumbria welcomed him yesterday when he gave the Opening Lecture ROMNEY, RIVAL OF REYNOLDS at the society's new venue at the Braithwaite Institute near Keswick.

George Romney (1734–1802) has been hailed as the greatest Cumbrian-born artist. After moving to London, he had great success as a portrait painter rivalling Reynolds and Gainsborough. He was brilliant at taking a likeness, especially of women and children. A member of London’s radical intelligentsia, he became a founding father of neo-classicism and a harbinger of romanticism. Emma Hamilton was his favourite model and muse. Today his paintings are admired all over the world and held in the most important musem collections.

George Romney's self-portrait was painted in 1784 and is on show at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Charles Saumurez Smith, a former Director of NPG, said it was his favourite portrait in their collection.

RICHARD WILLIAMSON, SHIPBUILDER AND PHILANTHROPIST (1855-1939)

Richard Williamson came from a family of shipbuilders whose shipbuilding works were the longest in existence on the West coast of Cumberland. His grandfather, Richard Williamson of Whitehaven (1800-1859), owned a shipbuilding yard in Harrington in partnership with his brother William until the latter’s death in 1847. In 1854, Richard took his son Thomas Williamson (1830-1909) into partnership and the firm became known as Richard Williamson & Son. After his father’s death, Thomas took over the running of the firm, which built vessels for many shipping lines including Brocklebank, Leyland & Co, Robertson Cruikshanks, W.S. Kennaugh & Co, the West Coast Shipping Line and Lancaster Ship Owners Company.

Thomas Williamson and his sons, Richard and Robert Hardy Williamson (1857-1938), realised early on that the future of shipping lay in ships propelled by steam engines, initially made of iron and later of steel. In 1880 they moved their shipyard to Workington, where several ironworks were in operation. Their main supplier was the West Cumberland Hematite Iron and Steel Company, which produced steel of suitable quality. Thomas retired shortly after the shipyard’s move to Workington, giving the business to his two sons, Richard and Robert Hardy. The brothers worked in partnership with Richard as the senior partner.

The Williamsons were important employers in Workington and the town took pride in their ships. Grassendale, an 1800-ton full-rigged three-master, was the Williamsons’ first ship built there, with its launch in 1881 attracting thousands of spectators to the harbour.

Many of their vessels were named after Cumbrian locations such as Embleton, Aira Force, Lowther Castle, Greystoke Castle and Cumberland. By 1930, over 240 ships had been built in the Williamson shipyard. Their last ship was the Sodality, launched in 1938, which took part in the evacuation of Allied soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940.

Richard Williamson was born in Harrington in 1855, to Thomas Williamson and his wife Sarah Hardy (1826-1882). Sarah’s father Robert Hardy (1797-1857) was also a shipbuilder, operating in Whitehaven. Richard most likely attended the Croft House School in Brampton, like his younger brother. Next, he served a four-year apprenticeship at Fletcher, Jennings and Co., a well-known engineering company in Lowca, Whitehaven and also spent a short time at sea. In 1876, aged 21, Richard became manager of the family’s shipbuilding works and the senior partner in 1880. He achieved distinction in his professional career, being elected to the membership of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1883, and serving on its Council from 1917 to 1930. He was also a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Naval Architects and the Institute of Marine Engineers.

Newspaper reports give a glowing impression of the relations between the employers and the workforce in the Williamson Shipyard. On festive occasions, the workmen and their wives were entertained for suppers and dancing, often late into the night. However, in 1889 the carpenters and riveters at the shipyard went on strike over pay. The dispute was eventually settled on the workers’ terms and the men returned to work. As a consequence of the strike, the workers joined the Shipwrights Association and Richard Williamson acknowledged the union. READ MORE about Richard Willamson's life and work at
https://www.cumbrianlives.org.uk/lives/richard-williamson.html

Below, Richard Williamson in 1873; The Grassendale, the first ship built in the Williamsons' shipyard in Workington,1885; the Sodality was built in 1838.

THE CUMBRIAN ARTIST PERCY KELLY, born in Workington in 1918.
[Extract from Cumbrian Lives] ....To Percy, drawing was as natural as walking and he was said to have been able to draw even before he could talk. Family and neighbours praised his skills from early childhood but his father was understandably cross when he sketched on the flyleaf of a book. He attended Victoria Road primary school and then the Central Secondary School until he was fourteen. During this period he was an enthusiastic sketcher and painter and excelled in calligraphy. In his early teenage years he enjoyed playing with friends in the dockland area of Workington, watching cranes and steam engines and capturing stark studies of winding gear and chimneys. His uncle Walter, in Douglas, had an elegant vintage motor and later on Percy was lucky enough himself to run a fragile little MG called George, which appears in several letters.

Gradually he explored the coastal environment and cycled inland where he discovered the beauties of the lakes and fells, having a particular love of Loweswater. He was certainly able enough to have continued at school but his father insisted on employment and so Percy joined Workington Post Office, initially as a telegraph boy. Following a single private lesson with the established artist Albert Rosser [1899-1995], it became clear that Percy had natural ability and that such tuition could teach him nothing. Soon after this, in a GPO handwriting competition he was voted the ‘best in the country’. Percy was a keen footballer, cricketer, fell runner and a member of the Marron Cycling Club. In the mid-1930s he was transferred to Kendal Post Office, as a qualified telegraph officer and he soon joined the newly formed Kendal Artists, exhibiting with them until 1939. His early work mostly depicts churches and other buildings with very pale washes of colour. READ HIS BIOGRAPHY published in www.cumbrianlives.org.uk/lives/percy-kelly.html

Welcome to CUMBRIAN LIVES or the online DICTIONARY OF CUMBRIAN BIOGRAPHY. It is a record of men and women who have been significant in Cumbrian history and culture. It is freely accessible online at www.cumbrianlives.org.uk
“Pay a visit, and I guarantee you’ll find fascinating people and facets of our local history you never knew about before” writes Dr Christopher Donaldson of Lancaster University in the February 2023 issue of the Cumbria Life Magazine.
The project is ongoing and currently includes nearly 3,000 short entries and over 100 long biographies. Among the women and men featured are climbers, huntsmen, cattle breeders, cheese makers and crafts people, as well as writers, artists, teachers, industrialists, engineers and people from many other walks of life.
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Welcome to CUMBRIAN LIVES, the online DICTIONARY OF CUMBRIAN BIOGRAPHY. It is a record of men and women who have been significant in Cumbrian history and culture from the time of the Romans to the 21st century. It is freely accessible online at www.cumbrianlives.org.uk

“Pay a visit, and I guarantee you’ll find fascinating people and facets of our local history you never knew about before” writes Dr Christopher Donaldson of Lancaster University in the February 2023 issue of the Cumbria Life Magazine.

Cumbrian Lives is modelled on the prestigious Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. It features the lives of a wide range of individuals, some who were prominent in their field, others less well-known. The project is ongoing and currently includes nearly 3,000 short entries and over 100 long biographies. Among the women and men featured are climbers, huntsmen, cattle breeders, cheese makers and crafts people, as well as writers, artists, teachers, industrialists, engineers and people from many other walks of life.

Below: GERTRUDE BACON (1874-1949), aeronaut, writer, lecturer, author of 'Balloons, Airships and Flying Machines' featured on the frontispiece of her book published in 1905.

Our cover photo portrays CECIL LEATCH (1891-1977), a champion golfer born in Silloth and one of the finest women golfers of her generation. She won the French Ladies Amateur five times and the British women's Amateur four times. She was famous for her powerful swing.