Thomas Hardcastle Sykes was an English bleacher and businessman and was High Sheriff of Cheshire.

Sykes was born at Edgeley

Edgeley

Edgeley is a residential area within the town of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The suburb is characterised largely by Victorian close-packed terraced housing and council estates with some larger properties around Alexandra Park. Edgeley includes Edgeley Park, home of Stockport County F.C...

 House Stockport

Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

, the third son of Richard Sykes, owner of the Sykes Bleaching Company

Sykes Bleaching Company

The Sykes Bleaching Company was a cotton bleaching business established in Edgeley, near Stockport in 1792 which grew to become one of the largest bleaching enterprises in the United Kingdom.-Origins:...

, and his wife Jane Hardcastle. He went to Rugby School

Rugby School

Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

 and then joined the family bleaching business. He was involved in several successful business speculatons. Sykes was a J.P.

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 and Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 of Cheshire and was High Sheriff of Cheshire

High Sheriff of Cheshire

The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions...

 in 1899. He was also a Captain in the 20th Cheshire Royal Volunteers.

Sykes lived at Cringle House on Schools Hill Cheadle

Cheadle, Greater Manchester

Cheadle is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It borders the districts of Cheadle Hulme, Gatley, Heald Green and Cheadle Heath in Stockport, and the East Didsbury area of Manchester. As of 2001 it had a population of 14,261.-Early history:There has...

 where he died aged 68. He was buried in a family vault with his wife in Cheadle St Mary's Parish Church graveyard

Sykes married Mary Platt, daughter of John Platt

John Platt (MP)

John Platt ) was an English manufacturer of textile machinery and Liberal politician.Platt was born at Dobcross, Lancashire, the son of Henry Platt who founded Platt Brothers textile machinery manufacturers in 1770...

, of Platt Brothers

Platt Brothers

Platt Brothers & Co Ltd, was a British company based at Oldham, in North West England. They were textile machinery manufacturers, iron founders and colliery proprietors, and by the end of the 19th century, had become the largest textile machinery company in the world, employing over 12,000 workers...

 textile manufacturer and MP for Oldham.She was born 3 February 1844 and died 22 August 1875. Their son Alan Sykes

Sir Alan Sykes, 1st Baronet

Sir Alan John Sykes, 1st Baronet was an English businessman in the bleaching industry and Conservative politician in Cheshire....

 continued the family business and was MP for Knutsford. Sykes brother Richard Sykes was a pioneering rugby player and landowner in Dakota. His nephew Percy Sykes

Percy Sykes

Brigadier-General Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes KCIE, CB, CMG was a soldier, diplomat and scholar, with a considerable literary output. He wrote historical, geographical, and biographical works, as well as describing his travels in Persia. Sykes was born in Brompton, Kent, England the only son of Rev...

was a soldier and explorer of Central Asia.