Sir Joseph Verdin, 1st Baronet, (4 January 1838 – 28 December 1920) was a British salt

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

, philanthropist and the Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant and

County Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands ( wethouder) and Belgium ( schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking mem ...

for the County of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. He was elevated to the Baronetage on 24 July 1896 and knighted in 1897. He later became Justice of the Peace for

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

and High Sheriff in 1903.

Biography

Joseph Verdin (later Sir Joseph Verdin) was born in Witton,

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

, Cheshire on 4 January 1838 and lived at The Brockhurst; a Regency house in spacious grounds at

Leftwich Leftwich is a historic village, ward and southern suburb of Northwich in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. The name, given as merely 'Wice' in the Domesday Book of 1086, is written 'Leftetewych' in a document of 1278 an ...

, Northwich, Cheshire with his brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and sister Mary. He was a prominent figure in Northwich's affairs and was a Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant and

for Cheshire. He was elevated to the Baronetage on 24 July 1896 and knighted in 1897. When the Salt Union was formed in 1888 resulted in an end to his family salt business. Joseph continued to live in Cheshire for a while but brought Garnstone Castle in

Weobley Weobley ( ) is an ancient settlement and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Formerly a market town, the market is long defunct and the settlement is today promoted as one of the county's black and white village ...

, Herefordshire and eventually moved there with his sister Mary in 1900. He then became a Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire and High Sheriff in 1903. He was unmarried like his brother Robert and died at Garnstone Castle on 28 December 1920. Sir Joseph Verdin and his brothers,

and William ran a family salt business known as Joseph Verdin & Sons (formerly Joseph and Richard Verdin), co-founded by their father, Joseph and his brother, Richard. They owned six salt plants in various locations throughout Cheshire, including Marston, Witton, Moulton,

Over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England * Over, Cheshire, England **Over Bridge * Over, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England * Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Ov ...

, Wharton and

Middlewich Middlewich is a town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is located east of Chester, east of Winsford, south-east of Northwich and north-west of Sandbach. The population of the parish at the United Kingdom 2021 census, ...

. They employed over 1,000 people and produced approximately 353,000 tons of salt annually; it was the largest salt manufacturer in the United Kingdom by 1881. Having few descendants, they used their wealth to benefit the local community; they gave the Institute in Moulton which "provided facilities for the education of their workforce", the

Victoria Infirmary Victoria Infirmary is a small hospital located in the town of Northwich, Cheshire, England. It is managed by the Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The Infirmary originally opened in 1887 when a local MP, Robert Verdin, don ...

(presented by Robert) and Verdin Park in Northwich. In

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the River Weaver, south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining indus ...

, they provided the Albert Infirmary (formerly Highfield House, the home of The Verdin Family) which was presented by William and the first public swimming baths known as Verdin Baths; built to commemorate

Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 and 21 June 1887 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, and a banquet to which ...

in 1887 and was funded by Joseph and William. During the 1880s, salt production was thriving, but due to the increased pumping of

brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...

from beneath the ground led to huge problems of

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

, particularly in Winsford and Northwich. Fields sank, roads cracked and houses slipped leading to costly repairs. People whose property was affected sought compensation, but the difficulty arose in identifying who was to blame, as pumping can affect an area several miles away. In 1889, The Verdin Trust was established by Sir Joseph Verdin to compensate people for subsidence caused by brine pumping. However, in 1891 the ( 54 & 55 Vict. c. 40) was introduced to provide compensation for owners of property, thereby rendering the trust redundant. As a result, Joseph decided to use the money in other ways which includes the construction and development of the Verdin Technical Schools in Winsford and Northwich – the one in Winsford which is known as Verdin Technical School (later closed and developed into the present

The Winsford Academy The Winsford Academy (simply referred to as Winsford Academy and formerly The Winsford E-ACT Academy) is an 11–16 mixed secondary school with academy status in Winsford, Cheshire, England. It was established in September 2010 following the a ...

) was a prototype for a second and larger one in Northwich, that eventually opened in 1897 as Verdin Technical Schools & Gymnasium (latterly in use as Cheshire School of Art and Design, which closed in 2012). Some money was used to endow the two schools and the remainder was to be used by the Trustees to "provide for technical and manual instruction and the establishment and maintenance of gymnasiums, infirmaries, hospitals, museums, or other charitable institutions] of a like character".

Biography

See also

References

Further reading