Sir Christopher Lowther, 1st Baronet (d April 1644) was an
English merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
and landowner, responsible for the initial development of
Whitehaven as a port.
He was born at
Skirwith Hall, the second son of Sir John Lowther of Lowther (d. 1637) and Eleanor Fleming of Skirwith. Admitted to the
Inner Temple in 1627, he apparently studied the mercantile trade with his uncle Robert (d. 1655) as well as legal studies. It was apparently intended that he run the Irish portion of the family enterprises from Whitehaven, which was well situated for trading with
Dublin.
Lowther proved to be a good merchant, trading a variety of goods in
Ireland and the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, including textiles, beef, salt, coal and herring. He also developed salt works around Whitehaven in conjunction with
Sir George Radcliffe, then influential in Irish politics. This led to the construction of the first pier at Whitehaven, which much improved its value as a port.
Lowther was in
Hamburg on a textile venture in 1637, the year that his father died. After Sir John's death, Christopher inherited the manor of St Bees in Whitehaven, and he and his brothers appear to have separated their mercantile concerns, notwithstanding the family principle of cooperation in business. He married Frances Lancaster (c. 1624–1647) on 6 September 1638, with whom he had two children:
*
Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet (1642–1706)
*Frances Lowther (b. 1644), married Richard Lamplugh
Lowther served as
High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1641, and suffered losses that year when the
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...
destroyed his iron furnaces in that country and generally disrupted trade. He was created a baronet on 11 June 1642 in return for raising a
troop of horse for Irish service. A
Cavalier, his declining health prevented him from active campaigning, although he was in nominal command of a
regiment of foot under
William Cavendish (later 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne) and governor of Whitehaven and
Cockermouth Castle. He arranged a trusteeship for his estate in February 1644, as his health worsened, and died at Whitehaven in April 1644.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowther, Christopher, 1st Baronet
Baronets in the Baronetage of England
High Sheriffs of Cumberland
1611 births
1644 deaths
Christopher
Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge