Nat Gould

Peter Pichott Fidler 1798-1853

Peter Pichott Fidler was born in 1798 in Pimlico, then in Middlesex now in London (1). He was however related to a family established at Biggin Grange in Hartington parish in Derbyshire, that had originally come from Morton in the same county (2).

His surname had originally been Pichott, and he had a brother John Pichott (3). However on 22 September 1832 it was announced in the local press that "Mr. Peter Pichot, of Biggin Grange, in the county of Derby, hath added to his name, the name of Fidler in compliance with the request of his late uncle, Mr. Fidler of Biggin Grange, gentleman, deceased (4)".

A month later, on 23 October 1832, he married Mary Fletcher 1801-1861 at Tissington in Derbyshire. She was the daughter of William Fletcher 1755-1839 of nearby Newton Grange and his wife née Mary Bagshaw 1768-1857 the daughter of Anthony Bagshaw of Newton Grange. The surname became Pichot-Fidler.

They had the following children, all baptised at Hartington in Derbyshire:

Ann Pichot-Fidler. She was born in 1833, and baptised on 4 October 1833. She died aged three days, and was buried at Hartington on 8 October 1833.

Elizabeth Pichot-Fidler. She was born in 1835, and baptised on 1 September 1835. She was married on 18 June 1862 at Biggin church near Hartington to William Finney 1830-1873 of Boothlow near Longnor in Staffordshire (5). She died in 1908.

Mary Pichot-Fidler. She was born in 1837. She was married on 3 March 1863 at Biggin to Henry Bowyer Radford of Stanton House near Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire (6). Sadly she died suddenly on 24 May 1864 of diphtheria aged only 26 years (7).

Their father Peter Pichott Fidler was farming at Biggin Grange when the Census was taken in 1841. By 1851 he was there farming 380 acres and employing three men.

He was by then an important man in Biggin, prosperous, valued and respected. In 1838 he was appointed a trustee by Ann Goodwin of neighbouring Biggin Hall, and by her sister Margaret Goodwin in 1841. In 1840 he was made an executor of her Will by Margaret Gould, another near neighbour in Hartington parish at Pilsbury Grange.

In 1845 he was appointed a member of the provisional Committee of a proposed railway from Uttoxeter to Yorkshire, alongside such local worthies as the Earl of Shrewsbury of Alton Towers and Sir William Boothby of Ashbourne Hall, and directors of numerous other railway companies (8). In the same year he occupied a similar position for another proposed railway from Uttoxeter to Dudley in Staffordshire with links to south Wales and eastern England (9), and yet another from Sheffield and Nottingham to London (10). In 1849 at a more local (but nevertheless no less important) level he was elected a member of the prestigious Bakewell Farmers' Club (11).

Peter Pichott Fidler died on 10 August 1853 (12), and was buried at Biggin on 14 August 1853.

His Will had been made on 6 July 1852, and was proved on 6 January 1854, his widow being sole executrix.

(1) The birthplace Pimlico is recorded in the 1851 Census Return. The spelling of the name Pichott varied from time to time. It was valued by the Gould family of Pilsbury Grange who were their friends and neighbours : Nathaniel Gould 1824-1874 named his eldest son William Pichott Gould 1855-1857, the elder brother of Nat Gould.

(2) There is a monumental inscription in Hartington churchyard to William Fidler 1759-1831 of Biggin Grange and aunts Dorothy Fidler 1727-1803 and Mary Wood 1816-1803 both of Biggin Grange "Family burial place is Morton in this county". There are many of that surname in the Morton registers. Dorothy Fidler was baptised there on 15 November 1727 and Mary Fidler on 26 October 1715, both the daughters of William and Sarah Fidler of Woolley in Morton parish. William Fidler of Woolley married Sarah Wright at Morton on 20 November 1712.
William Fidler was the Secretary of the Hartington, Alsop-en-le-Dale,Thorpe, Tissington and Newton Grange Association for the prosecution of felons. "FELONY. Whereas some person or persons did on Saturday evening or early on Sunday morning 14th July 1905, kill a fat WETHER SHEEP, (belonging to Mr. Richd. Gould, of Pilsbury), in Haddon Field, and take the Carcase, leaving the Head and Skin. Whoever will give information to cause the Offender or Offenders to be apprehended, shall upon conviction receive FIVE GUINEAS Reward from the Hartington, Allsop-in-le-Dale, Thorpe, Tissington and Newton Grange Association.- And a further sum of FIVE GUINEAS, from the said Richard Gould, on conviction as aforesaid. WILLIAM FIDLER, Treasurer to the Association. Biggin-Grange, July 17th 1805.": Derby Mercury 25 July 1805. A similar notice appeared in 1818 concerning the unlawful killing of a fat ewe lamb belonging to William Gould of Hanson Grange, offering rewards of five guineas from the Association and two guineas from William Gould: Derby Mercury 30 July 1818.

(3) "On the 10th inst., at Biggin Grange, Mr. John Pichott aged 68, brother to the late P.P. Fidler, Esq." Derby Mercury 24 December 1862. When the Census was taken in 1861 he was a visitor in the household of William Mason of Wolverscote Grange in Hartington parish. He was then recorded as being aged 67, a widower and born in London. He was baptised in 1797 at St Anne's church, Soho in London, the son of John and Sarah Pichott, who also had a daughter Ann Pichott baptised there in 1792: Pallot's Baptism Index for England: 1780-1837. He married Mary Sanders (a widow) on 17 October 1828 at the church of St George the Martyr, Southwark in London.

(4) Staffordshire Advertiser 22 September 1832. His uncle William Fidler 1759-1831 of Biggin Grange died there aged 73 years on 23 February 1831 "much regretted by a numerous circle of friends and acquaintance. In him the neighbouring poor found a steady friend, and his death is lamented by every mark of grateful remembrance and affectionate respect." Derby Mercury 2 March 1831.

(5) Derby Mercury 25 June 1862.

(6) Nottinghamshire Guardian 6 March 1863; Staffordshire Advertiser 7 March 1863.

(7) Derby Mercury 1 June 1864; Staffordshire Advertiser 4 June 1864.

(8) The railway was proposed at the height of the "Railway Mania" of the 1840s to run from Uttoxeter in Staffordshire to Sheffield and Huddersfield in Yorkshire, linking the industries of South Staffordshire with those of Yorkshire, and also providing a route from Leeds to the south west of England. It had the grand title of "The Leeds, Huddersfield, Sheffield and South Staffordshire (or Leeds, Wolverhampton and Dudley) Direct Railway" with capital of £1,700,000 in 85,000 shares of £20 each, requiring a deposit of two guineas per share. Peter Pichott Fidler was listed in the advertised prospectus as an esquire, normally then signifying a gentleman having a university degree, but misspelling his address as "Higgin Hall, Derbyshire": Leeds Times 27 September 1845. Elsewhere it appeared correctly as "Biggin Grange, Derbyshire: Lincolnshire Chronicle 5 September 1845.

(9) "The Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Junction Railway": Lincolnshire Chronicle 12 and 26 September 1845.

(10) "The Sheffield, Nottingham, and London Direct Railway": Morning Chronicle 30 September 1845.

(11) Derby Mercury 24 January 1849,

(12) "On the 10th inst., at Biggin Grange, in the county of Derby, Mr. Pichott Fidler, deservedly and universally lamented by his relatives and friends." Staffordshire Advertiser 20 August 1853.