Charles Cheers Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield,

GCVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(12 December 1859 – 15 January 1941), was an English businessman who founded the

Castrol Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for com ...

lubricants A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...

company, was

lord mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

and was a significant philanthropist.

Early life and family

Wakefield was born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, the son of John Wakefield, and his wife Margaret, née Cheers, and was educated at the

Liverpool Institute The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys grammar school in the English port city of Liverpool. The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on ...

. He married Sarah Frances Graham.

Business career

Wakefield patented the Wakefield lubricator for

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s in the 1890s. In 1899 he founded the Wakefield Oil Company, but subsequently changed its name to

. The name Castrol was chosen because of the

castor oil Castor oil is a vegetable oil pressed from castor beans. It is a colourless or pale yellow liquid with a distinct taste and odor. Its boiling point is and its density is 0.961 g/cm3. It includes a mixture of triglycerides in which about ...

that was added to the company's lubricating oils. This title has since become a household name in the United Kingdom. The Castrol brand

lubricant A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...

s produced by Wakefield's company were used in the engines of

motor car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

s, aeroplanes, and

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s. A Castrol endorsement contract and the generous patronage of Wakefield provided the funds for

Jean Batten Jane Gardner Batten (15 September 1909 – 22 November 1982), commonly known as Jean Batten, was a New Zealand aviator, making a number of record-breaking solo flights across the world. She is notable for completing the first solo flight fro ...

to purchase the

Percival Gull The Percival Gull was a British single-engined monoplane, first flown in 1932. It was successful as a fast company transport, racing aircraft and long-range record breaker. It was developed into the Vega Gull and the Proctor. Design and devel ...

Six ''G-ADPR'' monoplane in which she set two world records for solo flight.

City of London

The Official Visits To the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q633

Wakefield was an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

, a member of the

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. Elections are held at least every four years. It is largely composed o ...

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

(1907), and for 1915–1916 Lord Mayor. He received a

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in 1908, for services to the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. He was involved with a huge number of City institutions and charities, and was a co-founder of the

Wakefield Trust Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, along with his friend the Rev'd "Tubby" Clayton, better known as the founder of the

Toc H Toc H (also TH) is an international Christian movement. The name is an abbreviation for Talbot House, "Toc" signifying the letter T in the signals spelling alphabet used by the British Army in World War I. A soldiers' rest and recreation centre ...

charity. On 16 February 1917 he was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Saltwood Saltwood is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe District of Kent, England. Within the parish are the small hamlets of Pedlinge and Sandling. Geography Saltwood is located immediately to the north of Hythe on the high land lo ...

in the

County of Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

. He was raised to the peerage as "Baron Wakefield", of

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

in the County of Kent on 21 January 1930, and on 28 June 1934 he was further honoured when he was created "Viscount Wakefield", of Hythe in the County of Kent.

Hythe (Kent)

In his day, Wakefield was one of the most prominent and well-known characters in the town of

Hythe, Kent Hythe () is a coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the district of Folkestone and Hythe on the south coast of Kent. The word ''Hythe'' or ''Hithe'' is an Old English word meaning haven or landing place. History The town has m ...

, and the official Year Book of Hythe Town Council, in its list of Freemen of the

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

describes him as "Hythe's greatest benefactor". He was created a Freeman of the Borough on 30 May 1930, under the provisions of the

Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885 The Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c.29) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave the councils of municipal boroughs in England and Wales the power to award the title of honorary freeman to "persons of ...

. His name appears on many memorial inscriptions in Hythe today, and also lives on as the name of one of the town's masonic lodges. Viscount Wakefield is buried at Spring Lane Cemetery, Seabrook, within the Borough of Hythe, from which he took his title.

Additional notes

It is often erroneously reported that Wakefield was commonly known by the nickname, or colloquial name, of "Cheers". Although he did prefer this name, it was in fact a given (baptismal) name, his middle name, having been the maiden name of his mother. Wakefield and his wife had a daughter, Freda Ware (née Wakefield). Freda accompanied her parents on many of their public engagements including Wakefield's business trip to America as part of the Sulgrave Institution. Wakefield left Freda, her husband Ivor and her four children a living each for their futures.

Sussex Motor Yacht Club

Wakefield was a member of Sussex Motor Yacht Club and in 1931 donated The Warwick Vase, "The International Championship of London, Challenge Trophy" to the club.

Czech Society of Great Britain

Wakefield was chairman of the Czech Society of Great Britain. He was awarded

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...

in 1923. Howard 'Grace' Cup In 1931 Lord Wakefield purchased a grace cup from the Howard family and donated it to the Victoria and Albert museum. The ivory bowl within the setting of the cup is said to have belonged to Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in Canterbury cathedral in 1170.

References

External links

British Delegation Pays Tribute to Former President and Puts Wreaths on Grave
on ''The New York Times'', 13 Sep 1922 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, Charles Cheers 1859 births 1941 deaths English philanthropists Wakefield, Charles Cheers, of Hythe Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Businesspeople from Liverpool People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys Sheriffs of the City of London 20th-century lord mayors of London 20th-century English politicians Burmah-Castrol British businesspeople in the oil industry Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Honorary Fellows of the British Academy Grand Officers of the Order of the White Lion Barons created by George V Viscounts created by George V