Charles Inman (1791–1858) was an English merchant, businessperson and banker, a director of the
Bank of Liverpool
The Bank of Liverpool was a financial institution founded in 1831 in Liverpool, England.
In 1918, it acquired Martins Bank, and the name of the merged bank became the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Ltd. The name was shortened to Martins Bank Ltd ...
.
Life
He was son of Robert Inman, merchant of
Lancaster, and his first wife Anne Salisbury, daughter of Thomas Salisbury of
Kirkham; and grandson of the slave-trader Charles Inman (1725–1767).
Inman was apprenticed to his cousin, a cotton broker in Liverpool.
The cotton merchants traded as Swainson & Inman in the 1820s. The partnership of Charles Inman and Anthony Swainson was dissolved in 1831. Anthony Swainson (born 1782) was brother to
Charles Swainson of Preston, and their mother was Susannah Inman, daughter of Charles Inman the elder.
In 1818 Inman left Liverpool for
Leicester: he was one of three partners who put in capital from 1817 to re-finance the
Pickfords
Pickfords is a moving company based in the United Kingdom, part of Pickfords Move Management Ltd.
The business is believed to have been founded in the 17th century, making it one of the UK's oldest functioning companies, although the similar ...
firm of carriers. One of the other partners was
Joseph Baxendale
Joseph Baxendale (1785–1872) was an English entrepreneur, known for rebuilding and expanding the Pickfords carrier company in the middle of the 19th century.
Early life and background
He was born in Lancaster, the elder son of Josiah Baxendale ...
. From 1809 he had been a partner in the Bannister Hall company headed by Charles Swainson.
With Inman at Leicester, the other management was Matthew Pickford and Baxendale in Manchester, and Zachary Langton in London. Over time Baxendale bought out Inman and Langton, obtaining complete control in 1847.
On withdrawing from Pickfords, in 1838 over
Sabbatarian
Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments.
The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...
concerns, Inman returned to Liverpool.
A director of the Bank of Liverpool, Inman was first on the board in 1838. He then served from 1840 to 1858, in parallel with
Adam Hodgson
Adam Hodgson (1788–1862) was an English merchant in Liverpool, known also as a writer and abolitionist.
Life
He was the son of Thomas Hodgson, a Liverpool merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Lightbody (1758–1795). His father Thomas (1737–181 ...
who outlived him.
Later in life, Inman moved from Netherfield Road,
Everton, to Spital Hall,
Bebington
Bebington () is a town and unparished area within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it lies south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula. ...
, in the
Wirral. He died there on 11 November 1858.
His funeral service was given by the Rev. Edward Hatch Hoare of
Barkby
Barkby is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated north-east of Leicester, and only a short way from Leicester's urban sprawl in Thurmaston and Syston. Nearby villages are Beeby and ...
, an associate from the
Church Missionary Society
The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...
in Leicester. He was buried in Bebington churchyard. The site of the large Netherfield Road house was put to use with the Institution for Infectious Diseases. It was a hospital, having some finance from
Liverpool Town Council to fulfil the terms of the
1866 Contagious Diseases Act.
Family
Inman married in 1817 Jane Clay, daughter of Thomas Clay of Liverpool; her sister Mary married Anthony Swainson.
They had eight children, including
Thomas Inman, the second son, and
William Inman
William Inman (6 April 1825 in Leicester – 3 July 1881 in Upton, Wirral) was the owner of the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steamship Company. Also known as the Inman Line, it ran services from Liverpool to New York and Philadelphia, ...
.
*Robert Inman, eldest son, died 1871 aged 52.
*Charles Inman, third son, married in 1853 Decima Davies, daughter of Thomas Lancaster Davies MD of Jamaica.
*Their daughter Elizabeth married in 1852
Charles Swainson.
Jane Inman died in 1865 at Spital Hall, at age 72.
Legacy
![St Peter's Church Everton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/St_Peter%27s_Church_Everton.jpg)
St Peter's Church, Sackville Street, Everton (Church of England) was completed in 1849. Inman donated the land, laid the foundation stone in a ceremony where the architect Mr Hay (of Hay of Liverpool) showed the plans, and gave much of the building cost. His daughter Elizabeth's marriage took place there, in 1852.
The church was destroyed in 1942.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inman, Charles
1791 births
1858 deaths
English merchants
English businesspeople
English bankers
People from Lancashire