Richard Garrett (12 October 1755 – 20 October 1839)
[R. A. Whitehead. ''Garretts of Leiston'' (London: Percival Marshall, 1965)] founded
Richard Garrett & Sons
Richard Garrett & Sons was a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, steam engines and trolleybuses. Their factory was Leiston Works, in Leiston, Suffolk, England. The company was founded by Richard Garrett in 1778.
The company was active ...
, the agricultural machinery manufacturing plant in
Leiston
Leiston ( ) is an English town in the East Suffolk non-metropolitan district of Suffolk, near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at th ...
in the
English county of
Suffolk. The company was the largest employer in Leiston in the 19th century. Part of the building is preserved as the
Long Shop Museum.
Family and career
Born the first of twelve children in
Melton, Suffolk
Melton is a village in Suffolk, England, located approximately one mile north east of Woodbridge. The 2001 census recorded a population of 3,718, the population increasing to 3,741 at the 2011 Census. The village is served by Melton railway sta ...
, Garrett married Elizabeth Newson on 1 October 1778. They had six sons and three daughters. When Elizabeth died in 1794, Garrett married Jemima Cottingham. Elizabeth came from Leiston and the couple settled there on their marriage. He became a
bladesmith and
gunsmith at a High Street forge rented from William Cracey.
Garrett was soon employing eight men and by 1830 the works had 60 employees. His son Richard, the third to bear the name, succeeded him as works manager in 1826. The fourth Richard transformed it into a nationally significant manufacturer of
steam engines and
traction engine
A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any t ...
s.
[
]
Descendants
Garrett's grandson Newson Garrett, founder of Snape Maltings
Snape Maltings is an arts complex on the banks of the River Alde at Snape, Suffolk, England. It is best known for its concert hall, which is one of the main sites of the annual Aldeburgh Festival.
The original purpose of the Maltings was the m ...
, was the father of several remarkable women: Agnes Garrett, the first woman to set up an interior design company, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) was an English physician and suffragist. She was the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon. She was the co-founder of the first hospital staffed by women, ...
, Britain's first female doctor, and Millicent Garrett Fawcett
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for women's suffrage by legal change and in 1897–1919 led Britain's largest women's rights associati ...
, a prominent suffragist
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
. Another descendant was the mycologist Denis Garrett.[J. W. Deacon (1992).]
Stephen Denis Garrett: Pioneer leader in plant pathology
, ''Annual Review of Phytopathology
The ''Annual Review of Phytopathology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about phytopathology, the study of diseases that affect plants. It was first published in 1963 as the result of a collaboration between the ...
'' 30: 27–36
References
1755 births
1839 deaths
Machine manufacturers
People from Leiston
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