Nat Gould

John Heathcote

John Heathcote was the son of Michael Heathcote of Derby and his wife Elizabeth (maiden surname unknown). He may have been the John Heathcote, son of Michael Heathcote, who was baptised on 6 June 1701 at All Saints' church (now the Cathedral) in Derby.

He married (forename unknown) Radcliffe of Glossop in Derbyshire, and lived at Salford in Lancashire and also at Eaves Knowl in Glossop, which was presumably an estate that she inherited from her father.

They had the following children:

Anthony Heathcote. He was born in 1725 and educated at Derby School (1). He matriculated at Brasenose College at Oxford on 24 March 1743 aged 18 years, and attainted the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1746 and Master of Arts in 1749. He was ordained deacon on 14 June 1747 at Chester, and was assistant curate at Didsbury chapel in Manchester from 15 June until 4 July 1747. He was appointed Rector of Compton Abbas in Dorset from 4 February 1787 until his death on 31 December 1772 (2). He married Mary, daughter of Captain Baliol.

Elizabeth Heathcote. She was married to Henry Longden of Buxton, Derbyshire. Their son, also named Henry Longden, succeeded his uncle the Reverend Anthony Heathcote as Rector of Compton Abbas on 31 December 1772.

He was the owner of the Wet Earth colliery at Clifton in Lancashire (3), who is said to have first heard of the talented millwright and canal pioneer James Brindley while attending the wedding of his nephew Michael Heathcote who married Rachel Edensor on 13 March 1751 at Youlgreave in Derbyshire. The mine was well named and had become severely flooded. James Brindley solved the problem by ingenious waterworks, and the colliery was able to be worked commercially.

By 1751 it had come into the possession of Richard Edensor of Congleton, brother-in-law of his nephew Michael Heathcote and Richard Ireland, a merchant of London, who leased it to Jacob Fletcher of Bolton in Lancashire, a coal merchant for £55 10s rent and engine rent of £100 for 99 years (4). The colliery was situated only a short distance from the Worsley coal mine of the Duke of Bridgewater.

(1) The Derby School Register B. Tacchella (editor) (1902) page 14. Among his fellow pupils was Joseph Wright of Derby 1734-1797, who became a famous artist.

(2) Church of England Database (CCED) and Alumni Oxonienses volume 2( 1715-1886) page 639.

(3) A full and authoritative account of the Wet Earth colliery is given in Brindley at Wet Earth Colliery : an Engineering Study by A.G. Banks and R.B. Schofield (1968).

(4) "Copy of lease of messuage and lands in the manor of Clifton, Lancashire (for coal mining)" dated 5 October 1751 : Stafford County Record Office D4452/1/14/15/1.