John Wakefield I (1738–1811) was an English

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

merchant and entrepreneur, financier and banker, based in

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

, at that time in

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

. His business interests grew to include brewing, cotton textile manufacture, and

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

Life

He was the son of Roger Wakefield III and Mary Wilson. Wakefield began life as a shearman-dyer, apprenticed to his father, in the mid-1750s.Chandler, pp. 28–32. His father however died young, in 1756; Mary Wakefield carried on what was a substantial business that included finance as well as dyeing. John was taken into partnership by the end of the decade. His mother's second husband was William Dilworth, a Quaker banker from Lancaster. Wakefield had an interest in the Gatebeck gunpowder mill, operating from 1764 in an existing family property set on the

River Bela The River Bela is a short (approximately ) river in the county of Cumbria, England. It is in the ancient county of Westmorland. The river is formed by the confluence of Peasey Beck and Stainton Beck at Overthwaite. It runs through Beetham wh ...

. As the result of a

tontine A tontine () is an investment linked to a living person which provides an income for as long as that person is alive. Such schemes originated as plans for governments to raise capital in the 17th century and became relatively widespread in the 18 ...

he became the sole owner. The company traded as Wakefield, Strickland & Co. In 1790 he obtained a licence for another gunpowder mill, in Sedgwick, Cumbria. In 1806 the Kendal Monthly Meeting of Quakers censured Wakefield because of his continuing involvement in the gunpowder trade. With a reputation for financial soundness, Wakefield's name was good over a wide area of northern England. He took on investments in a local

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

, and in shipping from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. He had five ships active in trade with the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, exporting Kendal cotton and importing sugar. Wakefield had his own cotton mill, at

Burneside Burneside () is a small village in South Lakeland in Cumbria, England. It is located to the north of Kendal and to the south east of Staveley, Cumbria, Staveley, on the River Kent, just upstream from the confluence of the River Sprint. It has a ...

. He set up a brewery, Wilson & Noble, in Kendal. On 1 January 1788 Wakefield set up a bank in Kendal. This establishment was simultaneous with the other initial bank in Kendal, set up by Joseph Maude, Thomas Crewdson and Christopher Wilson. The two banks merged in 1840.

Family

Wakefield married Margaret Hodgson of Carlisle. Their son John II (1761–1829) married Mary Beakbane in 1787. In all there were five sons and one daughter.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, John 1738 births 1811 deaths English Quakers English merchants English bankers