William Francis Gordon
William Francis Gordon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1820 West Bromwich, England |
| Died | September 11, 1901 (aged 80–81) Stowe House, Lichfield, England |
| Occupation(s) | Coal entrepreneur, railway board member |
| Known for | Coal mining in West Midlands, director of North Staffordshire Railway, Mayor of Lichfield (1880–81) |
William Francis Gordon (1820–1901) was a prominent English coal entrepreneur and railway board member based in the West Midlands area.
Life
He was born to the Reverend William Gordon (who passed away in 1857) of Christ Church, West Bromwich, and Louisa Jervis, daughter of the judge Thomas Jervis. His sibling Robert Gordon (1830–1914) pursued a clerical career, serving as rector of Hammerwich, while his sister Louisa became the wife of ironmaster Henry Smith.
Coal and rail
Gordon's mining portfolio encompassed Knutton Colliery and Old Oak Colliery. He maintained a 21-year lease on mining rights at Knutton, which covered the majority of the estate and required a minimum annual royalty payment of £1000. Together with the Stanier and Sneyd families, he supported the establishment of educational and religious facilities in Knutton. The Reverend Otho Steele, who played a role in fundraising efforts, subsequently relocated to Wolstanton. Additionally, Gordon made contributions toward constructing a new church at Porthill, including donating a stained-glass window.
By 1864, Gordon possessed mining rights at New Bucknall and offered his Lawn Colliery there for sale in 1870, anticipating the imminent completion of the Longton, Adderley Green and Bucknall railway.
In 1874, he presided over a meeting that organized the acquisition of C. & J. May’s shares in Sneyd Colliery, located in Burslem. For much of his later years, Gordon held a directorship with the North Staffordshire Railway.
Residences
During the 1840s, Gordon and his spouse resided at Spon House near West Bromwich. Subsequently, he lived at Oak Hill in Stoke-on-Trent before acquiring St Chad's House in Lichfield in 1876. He renamed this property Stowe House and remained there until his passing.
Local politics
From 1876 onward, Gordon served as a Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire and was an active member of Lichfield City Council. He fulfilled the role of Mayor of Lichfield during 1880–81.
Death
William Francis Gordon died on 11 September 1901 at Stowe House at age 81. The personal estate he left behind was valued at £172,705.
Family
In 1844, Gordon married Anna Matilda May, daughter of Charles Hughes May, a coal proprietor from Whittington, Derbyshire. The couple suffered the loss of two infant children in 1847.
Their surviving offspring included:
- Anna Louisa (died 1929), who wed Henry Copson Peake, manager of Walsall Wood Colliery Co.; their son F. G. Peake succeeded him.
- William Oliver Gordon (died 1907), eldest surviving son and one half of twins born in 1848; married Eliza Clara.
- John Herbert Gordon.
- Reverend Alexander Gordon (born 1854), an Oxford Trinity College alumnus; served as curate and later rector in Dorset and Wiltshire; father to Godfrey Jervis Gordon.
- Frances Alice, married Reverend Julian Edward Chichester Patterson; mother to Julian Patterson RN.
- George Gordon, who emigrated to New Zealand.
- Charles Gordon (deceased 1888 in Basel at age 33).
- Robert Gordon, married Caroline Dyson in 1894; his death resulted in a legal dispute over inheritance in 1903.
- Colin Gordon MB, youngest son; married Ethel Houghton in 1894.
Anna Matilda Gordon passed away on 29 December 1903 in Bournemouth.