William Sutton was a local forward thinking man from North Meols

North Meols

North Meols is a civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers the village of Banks and the hamlet of Hundred End...

 (North of Southport

Southport

Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...

) who, in 1792, took advantage of the fashionable new trend of sea bathing

Sea bathing

Sea bathing is swimming in the sea or in sea water and a sea bath is a protective enclosure for sea bathing. Unlike bathing in a swimming pool, which is generally done for pleasure or exercise purposes, sea bathing was once thought to have curative or therapeutic value. It arose from the medieval...

 by building a bathing house at South Hawes (2 miles [3 km] south of Churchtown

Churchtown, Sefton

- Education :Churchtown has one primary school which is situated on St Cuthbert's Road and access is also available via Botanic Gardens The school is a "community school" but is closely associated with St Cuthbert's Church...

) and, realizing the importance of the newly created canal systems, gambled with the idea of a hotel by the seaside just 4 miles [6 km] away from the newly constructed Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Leeds and Liverpool Canal

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...

 to and from which he arranged transport for potential guests.

Born in 1752, he was originally the landlord of the Black Bull Inn in Churchtown (now the Hesketh Arms) and known as a good natured, jovial gentleman who entertained his regulars by playing the fiddle.

He constructed his "Original Hotel" at the southern end of what is now the mile-long and much-admired Lord Street

Lord Street, Southport

Lord Street is the main shopping street of Southport, in Merseyside, England. It is one of the great shopping streets of Northern England and measures exactly 1 mile in length, with a roundabout marking each end of the street...

, but was nothing of the sort at the time. Rather, the project became a source of disbelief and amusement to the folk of Churchtown and Meols, who referred to William Sutton as "The Mad Duke" and the hotel as "Duke's Folly". The hotel was described as being 'in the southern hawes of nowhere' at that time, "hawes" (or "meols") being the local word for sand dunes.

Over time Lord Street grew, with the hotel anchoring the southern end, helping to create its own more respectable address.

A popular story about the naming of the town, claims that upon obtaining some success with the venture, Mr Sutton threw a party to which a certain solicitor named Dr Miles Barton from Ormskirk

Ormskirk

Ormskirk is a market town in West Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Liverpool city centre, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston.-Geography and administration:...

 (8 miles [13 km] inland) was invited. After good fare and enough drink, the solicitor stood up to make a toast, referring to the hamlet as "South..." However, having forgotten where he was and still focused on his glass of port, it was "...Port" that he finished with. "South Hawes" would have been the correct name at the time, but "South Port" took hold, with the latter name appearing in written records as early as 1798.

Nowadays, the town of 93,000 still pays tribute to its founder with a notable plaque set in a cornerstone at Duke Street/Lord Street West. His own later life is uncertain. It is understood that William "Duke" Sutton, who died on May 22, 1840, actually ended his life in Lancaster

Lancaster, Lancashire

Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...

 gaol for debtors - "on the fiddle or just fiddling?", as someone supposedly expressed it at the time. It is also believed that he is buried in St Cuthberts Church, (Churchtown)

St Cuthberts Church, (Churchtown)

St Cuthbert's Church is an Anglican church in Churchtown, Merseyside, a village that is now a suburb of Southport in the English county of Merseyside. It is an active parish church in the Diocese of Liverpool and the archdeaconry of Warrington. It has been designated a Grade II listed building by...

.

External links

• SeftonandWestLancs.co.uk - Southport's greatest men.
• Lord-Street.com - The history of the street with dates
• Dukesfolly.co.uk - A present day hotel located close to the Original Hotel's site.