St. Vincent Beechey (7 August 1806 – 19 August 1899) was a nineteenth-century vicar of

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

and

Thornton-Cleveleys Thornton-Cleveleys is a conurbation consisting of the village of Thornton and the town of Cleveleys. The two settlements formed a joint urban district from 1927 until 1974, before becoming part of Wyre. The two settlements constitute part of t ...

, Lancashire, and later of Worsley, Lancashire. He is known for founding

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...

at Fleetwood in 1844, and he was also president of the Manchester Photographic Society. At the time of his death, it was believed that Beechey was the oldest clergyman in England, being 93 years old.Microsoft Word - BJPAsummary.doc

Early life

Beechey was born in London as the twenty-first child of

William Beechey Sir William Beechey (12 December 175328 January 1839) was an English portraitist during the golden age of British painting. Early life Beechey was born at Burford, Oxfordshire, on 12 December 1753, the son of William Beechey, a solicitor, an ...

, court painter to

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, and his second wife, Anne Jessop. He was also named after his godfather,

John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent (9 January 1735 – 13 March 1823) was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Jervis served throughout the latter half of the 18th century and into ...

, in recognition of his great naval victory in 1797. There is a painting of his godfather by his father. St. Vincent Beechey was also a brother to

Frederick William Beechey Frederick William Beechey (17 February 1796 – 29 November 1856) was an English naval officer, artist, explorer, hydrographer and writer. Life and career He was the son of two painters, Sir William Beechey, RA and his second wife, Anne ...

, the great naval commander, and

Richard Brydges Beechey Richard Brydges Beechey (1808 – 14 March 1895) was an Anglo-Irish painter and admiral in the Royal Navy. Early life Beechey was born to two British painters, Sir William Beechey and his second wife, Anne Jessop.John Wilson, ‘Beechey, ...

, painter and admiral. He was educated in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...

under a Mr. Knowles and at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

. Beechey married Mary Ann Ommaney in 1836. They had seven children.

Appointments

*1829 – Curate of

Aylesford Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, northwest of Maidstone. Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. Two pubs, a village s ...

, Kent *1831 – Curate of

Hilgay Hilgay is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England, from Downham Market. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,341 at the 2011 Census. For local government purposes, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. ...

, Norfolk *1841 - Vicar of

and

*1850 – Vicar of

Worsley with Ellenbrook Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there is evid ...

*1869 – Honorary Canon of Manchester *1872 - Rector of

*1876 - Rector of Newton *President of the Manchester Photographic Society

Rossall School

Beechey was called to a meeting at the

North Euston Hotel The North Euston Hotel is a hotel in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. It was built 1840–41, to a design by Decimus Burton. During the second half of the 19th century, the building was used by the War Department as a School of Musketry; by the end ...

in 1844 by a young Corsican by the name of Zenon Vantini who was looking to make money through an educational insurance scheme. He had proposed two schools of five-hundred pupils in the Fylde area - one for boys, the other for girls.The Centenary History of Rossall School, William Furness, (Gale and Polden, 1944) p.4 St. Vincent soon rose to prominence in the scheme when it became apparent that any schools founded would be of Anglican foundation. The idea for a girls' school was dropped and it was decided that a school of 200 students was to open under the name of the North of England Church of England School - this later became

. Beechey had to raise funds for the opening of the new school and got the financial support of

Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, 1st Baronet, (9 May 1801 – 12 April 1866) was an English landowner, developer and Member of Parliament, who founded the town of Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England. Born Peter Hesketh, he changed his name by ...

, The Earl of Derby as patron, the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has be ...

as vice-president and Archbishop Sumner, then Bishop of Chester and later Archbishop of Canterbury, as visitor. The school opened on 22 August 1844 in the grounds of Hesketh's Rossall Hall, with a 21-year lease on the aforementioned property and an option to purchase after ten years for £7000.The Centenary History of Rossall School, William Furness, (Gale and Polden, 1944) p.5 Beechey remained on the board of governors until 1856 at which point his association became a more informal supervisory one. He continued this role until his death in 1899. His views on the early days of the school can be read in his book - ''Rossall School Its Rise and Progress''.''Rossall School, Its Rise and Progress'' - Canon St Vincent Beechy (1894) There is a memorial to him in St Mark's churchyard,

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...

, Lancashire.

Early life

Appointments

Rossall School

References

Further reading