St. Vincent Beechey
Encyclopedia
The Revd. Canon St. Vincent Beechey (7 August 1806 – 19 August 1899) was a 19th century vicar of Fleetwood
and Thornton-Cleveleys
, Lancashire and later of Worsley, Lancashire. He is most famous for founding Rossall School
in Fleetwood
, Lancashire
in 1844 and was also President of the Manchester Photographic Society. At the time of his death it was believed that Beechey was the oldest clergyman in England, being 93 years old.
, court painter to King George III and Ann (née Jessup) Beechey. He was also named after his godfather, John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
, in recognition of his great naval victory in 1797. St. Vincent Beechey was also brother to Frederick William Beechey
the great naval commander and Richard Brydges Beechey
, painter and admiral. He was educated in Sidcup
under a Mr Knowles and at Caius College, Cambridge.
He married Mary Ann Ommaney in 1836. They had seven children, including St. Vincent jnr.
area - one for boys, the other for girls. St. Vincent soon rose to prominence in the scheme when it became apparent that any schools founded would be of Anglican foundation. The idea for a girls school was dropped and it was decided that a school of 200 students was to open under the name of the North of England Church of England School - this later became Rossall School
.
Beechey had to raise funds for the opening of the new school and managed to get the financial support of Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood
, The Earl of Derby
as patron, the Duke of Devonshire
as vice-president and Archbishop Sumner
, then Bishop of Chester and later Archbishop of Canterbury, as visitor. The school opened on the 22nd August 1844 in the grounds of Hesketh's Rossall Hall, with a 21 year lease on the aforementioned property and an option to purchase after ten years for £7000. Beechey remained on the board of governors until 1856 at which point his association became a more informal supervisory one. He continued this role until his death in 1899. His views on the early days of the school can be read in his book - 'Rossall School Its Rise and Progress.' There is a memorial to him in St Mark's churchyard, Worsley, Lancashire.
Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 Census. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era...
and Thornton-Cleveleys
Thornton-Cleveleys
Thornton–Cleveleys is an unparished area in the English local government district of Wyre, Lancashire, covering the towns of Thornton and Cleveleys. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool area....
, Lancashire and later of Worsley, Lancashire. He is most famous for founding Rossall School
Rossall School
Rossall School is a British, co-educational, independent school, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College which had been founded the previous year...
in Fleetwood
Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 Census. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
in 1844 and was also President of the Manchester Photographic Society. At the time of his death it was believed that Beechey was the oldest clergyman in England, being 93 years old.
Early life
St. Vincent was born in London the twenty-first child of William BeecheyWilliam Beechey
Sir Henry William Beechey , English portrait-painter, was born at Burford, the son of William Beechey and Hannah Read ....
, court painter to King George III and Ann (née Jessup) Beechey. He was also named after his godfather, John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
, in recognition of his great naval victory in 1797. St. Vincent Beechey was also brother to Frederick William Beechey
Frederick William Beechey
Frederick William Beechey was an English naval officer and geographer. He was the son of Sir William Beechey, RA., and was born in London.-Career:...
the great naval commander and Richard Brydges Beechey
Richard Brydges Beechey
Richard Brydges Beechey was an Anglo-Irish painter and Admiral in the Royal Navy. He was one of the 18 children of British painter Sir William Beechey and Ann Phyllis Jessop....
, painter and admiral. He was educated in Sidcup
Sidcup
Sidcup is a district in South East London in the London Borough of Bexley and small parts of the district in the London Borough of Greenwich.Located south east of Charing Cross, Sidcup is bordered by the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bromley and Kent County Council, and whilst now part of...
under a Mr Knowles and at Caius College, Cambridge.
He married Mary Ann Ommaney in 1836. They had seven children, including St. Vincent jnr.
Appointments
- 1829 – Curate of Aylesford, Kent
- 1831 – Curate of HilgayHilgayHilgay is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, outside of Downham Market.It covers an area of and had a population of 1,174 in 500 households as of the 2001 census....
, Norfolk - 1841 - Vicar of FleetwoodFleetwoodFleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 Census. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era...
and Thornton-CleveleysThornton-CleveleysThornton–Cleveleys is an unparished area in the English local government district of Wyre, Lancashire, covering the towns of Thornton and Cleveleys. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool area.... - 1850 – Vicar of Worsley with Ellenbrook
- 1869 – Honorary Canon of Manchester
- 1872 - Rector of Hilgay
- 1876 - Rector of Newton
- President of the Manchester Photographic Society
Rossall School
St. Vincent was called to a meeting at the North Euston Hotel in 1844 by a young Corsican by the name of Zenon Vantini who was looking to make money through an educational insurance scheme. He had proposed two schools of five-hundred pupils in the FyldeThe Fylde
The Fylde ; Scandinavian: "field") is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east...
area - one for boys, the other for girls. St. Vincent soon rose to prominence in the scheme when it became apparent that any schools founded would be of Anglican foundation. The idea for a girls school was dropped and it was decided that a school of 200 students was to open under the name of the North of England Church of England School - this later became Rossall School
Rossall School
Rossall School is a British, co-educational, independent school, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College which had been founded the previous year...
.
Beechey had to raise funds for the opening of the new school and managed to get the financial support of Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood
Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood
Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, 1st Baronet, was an English landowner, developer and Member of Parliament, who founded the town of Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England. Born Peter Hesketh, he changed his name by Royal assent to Hesketh-Fleetwood, incorporating the name of his ancestors, and was later...
, The Earl of Derby
Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby
Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby KG , styled Lord Stanley from 1776 to 1832 and known as The Lord Stanley from 1832 to 1834, was an English politician, landowner, builder, farmer, art collector and naturalist...
as patron, the Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire
William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire KG, PC , styled Marquess of Hartington until 1811, was a British peer, courtier and Whig politician...
as vice-president and Archbishop Sumner
John Bird Sumner
John Bird Sumner was a bishop in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury.-Life:Sumner was the elder brother of Bishop Charles Richard Sumner. He was born at Kenilworth, Warwickshire and educated at Eton College and Cambridge University. In 1802 he became a master at Eton and was...
, then Bishop of Chester and later Archbishop of Canterbury, as visitor. The school opened on the 22nd August 1844 in the grounds of Hesketh's Rossall Hall, with a 21 year lease on the aforementioned property and an option to purchase after ten years for £7000. Beechey remained on the board of governors until 1856 at which point his association became a more informal supervisory one. He continued this role until his death in 1899. His views on the early days of the school can be read in his book - 'Rossall School Its Rise and Progress.' There is a memorial to him in St Mark's churchyard, Worsley, Lancashire.
Further reading
- Canon St Vincent Beechy, Rossall School, Its Rise and Progress, 1894
- John Frederick Rowbotham, History of Rossall School, First ed. 1895, John Heywood.
- W. Furness, The Centenary History of Rossall School, 1945, Gale and Polden
- Peter Bennett, A Very Desolate Position, 1977, Rossall Archives
- Peter Bennett, Rossall Will be What You Make it, 1992, Rossall Archives
- Derek Winterbottom, The Tide Flows On, 2006, Manx Press)