Joseph Pease was involved in the early railway system in the UK and was the first Quaker

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 elected to Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

.

Life

Pease joined his father Edward

Edward Pease (1767-1858)

Edward Pease , a woollen manufacturer from Darlington, England, was the main promoter of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which opened in 1825.-Background and education:...

 and other members of the Pease family

Pease family (Darlington)

The Pease family was a prominent English and mostly Quaker family associated with Darlington and County Durham and descended from Joseph Pease of Darlington, son of Edward Pease . They were 'one of the great Quaker industrialist families of the nineteenth century, who played a leading role in...

 in starting the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company

Stockton and Darlington Railway

The Stockton and Darlington Railway , which opened in 1825, was the world's first publicly subscribed passenger railway. It was 26 miles long, and was built in north-eastern England between Witton Park and Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, and connected to several collieries near Shildon...

. In 1826 Pease married Emma Gurney, daughter of Joseph Gurney of Norwich. They had sixteen children, amongst them Arthur Pease (1837-1898)

Arthur Pease (1837-1898)

Arthur Pease, DL was a British politician, son of [Joseph Pease .He was Member of Parliament for Whitby from 1880 to 1885, and for Darlington from 1895 until his death in 1898....

. Pease's ninth child, Elizabeth Lucy, married the agricultural engineer and inventor, John Fowler

John Fowler (agricultural engineer)

John Fowler was an English agricultural engineer who was a pioneer in the use of steam engines for ploughing and digging drainage channels...

, a pioneer in the application of steam power to agriculture.

In 1829 Pease was managing the Stockton and Darlington Railway in place of his father. In 1830 he bought so many of the collieries in his area that he became the largest owner of collieries in South Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

. That same year Pease, Joseph Gurney, and some other Quaker businessmen bought a large tract of land at Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

. They turned it into a port for exporting coal. In December 1830 a new railway line was opened on the Stockton and Darlington to Middlesbrough to get Pease's coal there.

In 1832 Pease was elected as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for South Durham

South Durham (UK Parliament constituency)

South Durham, formally the Southern Division of Durham and often referred to as Durham Southern, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

. As a Quaker, he was not immediately allowed to take his seat, because he would not take the oath of office. A special committee considered the question and decided that Pease could affirm, rather than swear, and he was accepted into the membership of the Parliament. He was also unusual in that, like most Quakers of the day, he refused to remove his hat as he entered the House of Commons.

Pease supported the Whig

British Whig Party

The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

 governments of Earl Grey

Earl Grey

Earl Grey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. He had already been created Baron Grey, of Howick in the County of Northumberland, in 1801, and was made Viscount Howick, in the County of Northumberland, at the same time as...

 and Lord Melbourne. He joined Thomas Fowell Buxton

Thomas Fowell Buxton

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet was an English Member of Parliament, brewer, abolitionist and social reformer....

 in the anti-slavery movement

Anti-Slavery Society

The Anti-Slavery Society or A.S.S. was the everyday name of two different British organizations.The first was founded in 1823 and was committed to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Its official name was the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the...

. He supported the removal of bishops from the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. He was also in favour of shorter Parliaments and the secret ballot

Secret ballot

The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...

. He retired from politics in 1841.

In 1860 Pease became the president of the Peace Society

Peace Society

The Peace Society, International Peace Society or London Peace Society originally known as the Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace, was a society founded on 14 June 1816 for the promotion of permanent and universal peace; it advocated a gradual, proportionate, and...

, a post he held until his death.

He wrote a poem in praise of Newington Academy for Girls

Newington Academy for Girls

The Newington Academy for Girls, also known as Newington College for Girls, was a Quaker school established in 1824 in Stoke Newington, then north of London. In a time when girls' educational opportunities were limited, it offered a wide range of subjects "on a plan in degree differing from any...

, founded by Quaker scientist and abolitionist William Allen.

Like his father before him, he is buried at the Friends Burial Ground, Skinnergate, Darlington, County Durham.

A statue to Joseph Pease stands at the junction of High Row and Bondgate in the centre of Darlington. It was unveiled in 1875 to mark the golden jubilee

Golden Jubilee

A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...

 of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

External links

• http://www.interactivitiesink.com/larps/brassy/parliament.shtml
• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REpease.htm
• Joseph Pease Statue, High Row, Darlington
• Statue of Joseph Pease
• Darlington Quaker Photographs

External links