William Henry Wakefield (1828–1889) was an English banker. Wakefield was a partner in Wakefield Crewdson & Co., the family bank in to which his father brought him. He became the senior partner of the bank in 1864. Through the bank he was involved in railways and gunpowder manufacturing.

Early years

He belonged to the

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 ...

banking family of Wakefield, as the son of John Wakefield III.Chandler, p. 99. The Wakefields were Quakers, but his father had been disowned by the Kendal Society of Friends on marrying an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

. He was born at Broughton Lodge near

Cartmel Cartmel is a village in Cumbria, England, northwest of Grange-over-Sands close to the River Eea. The village takes its name from the Cartmel Peninsula, and was historically known as Kirkby in Cartmel. The village is the location of the 12th- ...

, on 18 May 1828, one of six children of John Wakefield and Fanny McArthur of Glasgow. Joseph Foster, ''The descendants of John Backhouse, yeoman, of Moss Side, near Yealand Redman, Lancashire'' vol. 1 (1894), p. 71–3
archive.org.
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Career

Wakefield was a partner in Wakefield Crewdson & Co., the family bank to which his father brought him in, during 1850; and a

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). ...

manufacturer. In 1863 the Wakefield family took on a majority share of the bank; in 1864 Wakefield became the senior partner. Wakefield was a director of the

South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway The South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway (SD&LUR) built a railway line linking the Stockton & Darlington Railway near Bishop Auckland with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (the West Coast Main Line) at Tebay, via Barnard Castle, Stainmore ...

, a cross-Pennine venture to connect Furness to the north-east in which Kendal men were well represented. He was also a landowner, with over 5000 acres 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 ...

in 1873. In 1858 Wakefield built a house at Prizett, 2.5 miles south of Kendal. After his father's death in 1866, he had a 7/16 share of the bank, and set about building

Sedgwick House Sedgwick House may refer to: ;in the United Kingdom *Sedgwick House, Cumbria Sedgwick House is located to the west of the village of Sedgwick, Cumbria, Sedgwick, Cumbria, England. It was built as a country house, was later used as a school, and ...

, nearby.Chandler, p. 101. It replaced the old house of the same name, just to the north-west on the same site. He also supported the building of

St Thomas' Church, Crosscrake St Thomas' Church is in the village of Crosscrake, Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the Deanery of Kendal, the Archdeacon of Westmorland and Furness, Archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the Diocese of Carlisle ...

, which used the same architects,

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...

, as Sedgwick House. With Sir Francis Powell he succeeding in turning round

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

, when it was close to collapse.

Death

Wakefield died while hunting. The gunpowder company W. H. Wakefield & Co. continued into the 20th century. The Kendal bank was bought by 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 i ...

in 1893.

Family

He married Augusta, daughter of James Hagarty, US Consul at Liverpool. Their children, four sons and three daughters, included

Mary Augusta Wakefield Mary Augusta Wakefield (19 August 1853 – 16 September 1910) was a British composer, contralto, festival organiser, and writer. Biography Early life Wakefield was born in Kendal, where her paternal ancestors had been members of the Quaker ...

(1853–1910), organiser of music festivals.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, William Henry 1828 births 1889 deaths English bankers People from Cartmel 19th-century English businesspeople