Robert Whitehead (Derbyshire)
Encyclopedia
Robert Whitehead
Robert Whitehead (1856 to 1938) was an English land owner, businessman and Justice of the Peace (1915-1916). He was chairman or director of many business in the area including Cammell LairdCammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
shipbuilders, Brodsworth Colliery
Brodsworth Colliery
Brodsworth Colliery was a colliery near Woodlands, South Yorkshire, England that closed in 1990. It was renowned for the superb model village of Woodlands that housed its workers...
Staverly Coal and Iron Company and Leeds Forge Company Ltd and many more. He was the 2nd cousin to the Robert Whitehead
Robert Whitehead
Robert Whitehead was an English engineer. He developed the first effective self-propelled naval torpedo. His company, located in the Austrian naval centre in Fiume, was the world leader in torpedo development and production up to the First World War.- Early life:He was born the son of a...
who invented the torpedo and great-great Grandson of John Kay
John Kay (flying shuttle)
John Kay was the inventor of the flying shuttle, which was a key contribution to the Industrial Revolution. He is often confused with his namesake: fellow Lancastrian textile machinery inventor, the unrelated John Kay who built the first "spinning frame".-Life in England:John Kay was born...
who invented the Flying Shuttle
Flying shuttle
The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in weaving that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution. It was patented by John Kay in 1733. Only one weaver was needed to control its lever-driven motion. Before the shuttle, a single weaver could not weave a fabric wider than arms length. Beyond...
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In 1901 he took over the Hargate Estate, near the village of Wormhill
Wormhill
Wormhill is a village in Derbyshire, England, situated east by north of Buxton.Wormhill was mentioned in the Domesday book as belonging to Henry de Ferrers and containing of meadow. The name is said by the English Place-Name Society to be derived from the Old English 'Wyrma's hyll'.There was a...
, Derbyshire, where he lived until he died in 1938. He added massively to the estate which by 1910 comprised Hargate Wall, Hargate Hall, a lodge house, stables and huge centrally heated orangery. Hargate Wall and Hargate Hall actually swapped names. Robert Whitehead lived in the original Hargate Hall while Hargate Wall was being built. When it was completed he moved into it but renamed it Hargate Hall and his original house then became Hargate Wall.
A previous occupant of Hargate Hall was the notorious mill owner Ellis Needham who owned Litton Mill
Litton Mill
Litton Mill is a textile mill at Millers Dale, near Tideswell in Derbyshire.The original 19th century mill became notorious during the Industrial Revolution for its unsavoury employment practices, luridly described by the commentators of the day, and the testimony of Robert Blincoe, a parish...
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He was also a keen breeder of Shire Horses and in 1937 presented a cup to the Ashbourne Show - The Ashbourne Silver perpetual challenge cup which is awarded to the best mare or filly one year old and upward shown at the show.