Nat Gould

Richard Edensor Heathcote 1780-1850

Richard Edensor Heathcote was born in 1780-1850, the eldest son of Sir John Edensor Heathcote 1757-1822 and his wife nee Anne Gresley 1755-1797.

"His mother died giving birth to his youngest brother Charles when he was only seventeen. His was to be an eventful life was full of triumphs and tragedies. His great strength of character saved him from breakdown in the most difficult days. He built on the inheritance from his father and became an even greater figure in the industrial history of Staffordshire, developing coal mining, iron making, and canals. He was also a keen promoter of railways (1), although he did not live to see the realisation of his cherished plan that was to become the North Staffordshire Railway.

Apedale Hall

"His childhood was spent at Longton Hall. In 1801 he graduated from Oxford University with a law degree, which was to stand him in good stead in his many legal battles in later life ... Upon the death of his father in October 1822, Richard Edensor Heathcote inherited Longton Hall and the rest of his father’s estates. Unfortunately the next ten years brought him great unhappiness, marked by bereavements, litigation, the treachery of trusted servants, political disappointments, and family quarrels. In May 1824 work began on his new home Apedale Hall ... In 1826 he became Member of Parliament for Coventry. He is said to have been a very gifted and effective speaker both inside and outside parliament, but he lost his seat at the General Election in 1830" (2).

On 15 September 1808 he had married his cousin Emma Sophia Gresley at Scarborough (3). They had the following children:

John Edensor Heathcote. He was born in 1810, and died in 1869. He married Mary Anna Sandford on 31 October 1837 at Carshalton in Surrey. She was the daughter of the Reverend Thomas Sandford of Sandford Hall in Shropshire (4).

Nigel Thomas Edensor Heathcote. He died on 18 April 1844 in Guernsey (5).

Their mother died in 1813 aged only 28 years. Her widower moved back to Longton Hall, where his sisters cared for his young family.

On 18 January 1815 their father Richard Edensor Heathcote married Lady Elizabeth Keith Lindsay at Wigan in Lancashire (6). She was born in 1781, the daughter of the Earl of Balcarres, who was present at the ceremony and signed the register. Richard Edensor Heathcote and his second wife lived in Wimpole Street in London. They had the following children:

Elizabeth Keith Heathcote. She was born in 1817 and died in 1819.

Elizabeth Anne Heathcote. She was born on 18 October 1820 in Marylebone parish and was baptised there on 18 November 1820 (7). She was married on 31 May 1842 to Edward James Justinian George Edwards, who was born on 26 December 1811 at Harrow in Middlesex and died on 27 November 1884 at Stafford. They lived at Trentham in Staffordshire, and had two sons and six daughters.

Their mother died in 1825.

"Richard Edensor Heathcote became embroiled in trouble with relatives over royalties from the coal mines and also with agents who were swindling him. Eventually he paid his relatives £36,000 to buy the entire freehold of Apedale Hall, but thus became settled with a huge debt. At his Lancashire estate, inherited through his father from John Heathcote of Salford, he discovered that the agent managing his mines at Clifton was defrauding him. Litigation followed, but eventually in 1836 he sold all his interests there to his agent for £94,500 (8). With this sudden wealth, he paid off the Apedale debt and a mortgage on the nearby canal. The rest of the money he reserved for an exciting scheme close to his heart."On 13 January 1835 Richard Edensor Heathcote chaired a meeting at the Swan Hotel in Hanley to bring the railway into the towns of the Potteries. A plan was drawn up by George Stephenson for a line to Harecastle from Norton Bridge on the Grand Junction Railway, with a branch to Newcastle-under-Lyme and his Apedale canal. But several rival schemes were promoted, and he never saw his railway completed. He was returned unopposed as a Member of Parliament in 1835. However his health deteriorated and he had resigned by the following year. He withdrew increasingly into Apedale Hall (9)."

He married Susan Cooper (10) on 19 June 1838 in Manchester Collegiate church, now the Cathedral . She was the daughter of John Cooper, a farmer (11).

They had a son Michael Edensor Heathcote. He was born in 1840, and baptised on 24 November 1840 at Audley in Staffordshire. In 1860 he married Maud Lane 1841-1929, and died on 9 January 1864, aged only 23 years, at Kingswear in Devon. (12).

Richard Edensor Heathcote suffered a stroke in 1847 which paralysed his right side. On medical advice he and Susan moved to a rented villa in eastern France, where he recovered sufficiently for them to travel further south. However, on their way to the Italian Riviera, he collapsed in his hotel room in Geneva and died on 29 May 1850. He was buried on 17 June 1850 in the churchyard at Audley, near his home at Apedale Hall.

(1) As early as 3 September 1824 Richard Edensor Heathcote was Chairman of "a meeting of the Committee of the Birmingham and Liverpool Rail-road Company" : Aris's Birmingham Gazette 6 September 1824; Birmingham Chronicle 9 September 1824; Staffordshire Advertiser 11 September 1824.

(2) The Turbulent Squire of Apedale: Richard Edensor Heathcote (1780-1850) by David Dyble : Audley Historian: the Journal of the Audley & District Family History Society (1995) No. 1. This is a scholarly but highly readable account of the life and career of Richard Edensor Heathcote.

(3) "MARRIAGES ... On Thursday se'nnight, at Scarborough, by the Rev. Thomas Levett, Richard Edensor Heathcote, Esq. of Longton-Hall, in the county of Stafford, to Emma Sophia, second daughter of the late Sir Nigel Gresley, Bart. of Drakelow Park, in Derbyshire." Hull Packet 27 September 1808.

(4) "Married ... On the 31st ult., at Carshalton, Surrey, John Edensor Heathcote, of Lincoln's Inn, eldest son of Richard Edensor Heathcote, of Longton Hall, Staffordshire, to Mary Anna, only surviving daughter of the late Rev. Thomas Sandford, of Sandford Hall, Salop." Leicester Chronicle 4 November 1827; Derby Mercury 8 November 1837; Lincolnshire Chronicle 10 November 1837.

(5) "DIED ... On the 18th inst in Guernsey, Nigel Thomas Edensor Heathcote, Esq., second son of Richard Edensor Heathcote, Esq. of Longton Hall, Staffordshire, and of Emma Sophia, daughter of the late Sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley, Bart., of Drakelow, Derbyshire." Morning Post 30 April 1844. Also reported in the Derbyshire Courier 4 May 1844, Aris's Birmingham Gazette 6 May 1844 and Derby Mercury 8 May 1844.

(6) "MARRIED ... On Wednesday se'nnight, at Wigan, by the Rev. T Pigot, A.M. Richard Edensor Heathcote, Esq., eldest son of Sir John Edensor Heathcote, of Longton Hall, Staffordshire, to the Right Hon. Lady Eliz. Keth Lindsay. edest daughter of the Earl of Balcarrass [sic]." Lancaster Gazette 28 January 1815.

(7) The dates of birth and baptism are transposed in the baptism register.

(8) His partnership with Charles and Sarah Harvey, Ann Hyatt and others was dissolved on 25 March 1829: London Gazette 13 November 1829; Aris's Birmingham Gazette 16 November 1829. An order was confirmed in the case of Woodyatt, Clerk and others v Richard Edensor Heathcote and others for partition of the Apedale estate and colliery, and for a manager and receiver, concerning "the alleged mismanagement and misconduct in the working of the estate and colliery by the defendant" : Worcester Herald 31 January 1829. Verdict for the plaintiff awarded by a Special Jury in the case of Sir Thomas Fletcher Fenton Boughey, bart. v Richard Edensor Heathcote concerning the cutting down of trees in a fence between their woods, the damages awarded being one shilling : Staffordshire Advertiser 17 March 1838.

(9) The Turbulent Squire of Apedale: Richard Edensor Heathcote (1780-1850) by David Dyble : Audley Historian: the Journal of the Audley & District Family History Society (1995) No. 1.

(10) She was also known as Susanna, and signed her name as such in the marriage register.

(11) The bride's father, John Cooper, was described in the marriage register as being a farmer. That he may have been, but the father of the bridegroom was also described as being a farmer, which is perhaps not how Sir John Edensor Heathcote would have described himself.

(12) "DEATHS ... HEATHCOTE - On the 9th inst., at Kingswear, Michael Edensor Heathcote, aged 23, son of the late Richard Edensor Heathcote, Esq., of Apedale Hall." Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal 22 January 1864.