1898, August 29th

Mr. Arthur Pease, M.P., died on Saturday night at Callington, Cornwall. Latterly he had not enjoyed good health, and spent some time abroad. He then went to Cornwall to assist Sir F. Wills, the Unionist candidate for the Launceston Division at the recent by-election, and was seized with indisposition while addressing a meeting, his weakness being connected with the heart and kidneys. At first his illness was not regarded as serious, but he had a relapse, and on several occasions death was regarded as imminent.

Mr. Arthur Pease was the fourth son of Mr. Joseph Pease, who was the Liberal member for South Durham from 1832 to 1841, and who was the first Quaker to occupy a seat in the House of Commons, being allowed to affirm. It is recorded of this Mr. Joseph Pease that he "positively declined to uncover his head, even in the presence of the Speaker," and never used the word "Sir" in addressing the Speaker, but, notwithstanding these peculiarities, he was regarded as a useful member of the House. The Peases descend from a West Riding family, and Mr. Joseph Pease was born at Darlington in 1799, and married Emma, youngest daughter and co-heiress of Mr. Joseph Gurney, of Norwich. In 1828 an Act was obtained for extending the Darlington and Stockton railway — the first passenger railway — to Middlesbrough for the purpose of shipping coal nearer the sea and in deeper water. In 1829 the Middlesbrough estate was purchased by Mr. Joseph Pease and others. The site was then occupied only by an old farmhouse. The first house in modern Middlesbrough was built in 1830, and this was the origin of the present town, which, depending mainly on the iron trade, now has a population of about 100,000. For 16 years after Mr. Joseph Pease retired from Parliament in 1841 there was not a member of the family in the House, but in 1857 Mr. Henry Pease was returned, and since then there has always been a Pease in the House. The members of the family still in the House are Sir Joseph Pease (the late Mr. Arthur Pease's eldest brother), and Sir Joseph Pease's two sons — Mr. J. A. Pease and Mr. A. E. Pease.

Mr. Arthur Pease was born in Darlington in 1837, being nine years the junior of his brother Sir Joseph Pease, the head of the family. He was educated at Grove House School, Tottenham, a Quaker institution. He married, in 1864, Mary Lecky, daughter of Mr. Ebenezer Pike, of Bessborough, county Cork, by whom he had seven children — three sons and four daughters — Arthur Francis, Herbert Pike, Alice Mary, Rosa Elizabeth (deceased), Winifred Pike, Claude Edward, and Evelyn Ada. From his early manhood Mr. Arthur Pease took a prominent part in every local movement at Darlington. He was elected mayor in 1873, when only 36 years of age. Both as town councillor and guardian, he won high opinions from those with whom he worked. He made his entry into Parliamentary life in 1880, when he was returned for Whitby, representing that constituency in the Liberal interest until 1885, in which year he was defeated in the newly formed Whitby Division. As a Liberal Unionist he opposed Mr. (now Sir) Theodore Fry, in 1892, for the representation of Darlington, when he was defeated by 2,866 votes to 2,810 ; and he also came forward as a candidate for Kidderminster, but withdrew before the polling day. In 1895 he again contested Darlington, and succeeded in gaining the seat from Sir Theodore Fry by a majority of 657. During his representation of Whitby in Parliament he acted as the Parliamentary representative of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, of which he was president, but of late years that society has found its spokesman in Parliament in the person of his nephew, Mr. Joseph A. Pease, M.P. for Tyneside. During the existence of the society, a period of nearly 60 years, it has had only three presidents — Mr. Thomas Clarkson, Mr. Samuel Gurney, and Mr. Arthur Pease, who was elected to the office in 1882. Some three years ago he was appointed a member of the Opium Commission and spent a considerable time in India. He was an ardent temperance advocate, and held at one time the position of president of the North of England Temperance League and vice-president of the United Kingdom Alliance. As a member of the Society of Friends he laboured in many and varied ways to advance the interests of morality and religion. From his youth he conducted a Sunday school class, and for nearly 20 years he was a recorded minister of the Society of Friends. His freedom from sectarian bias was often shown in his taking services in various other places of Nonconformist worship, and it was his frequent custom when residing at Marske to read the lessons in the parish Church. For several years he regularly attended once a week at the Darlington Union workhouse, and took a simple service for the inmates. He was a generous supporter of the religious work of all denominations.

Everything in connection with his native town claimed his interest. When the Royal Agricultural Show visited Darlington in 1895 his estate at Hummersknott was offered to and accepted by the Royal Agricultural Society as their show ground. To the guarantee fund on the occasion of the visit, to the fund for the erection of the technical college, and to other local movements he was a handsome contributor. In conjunction with his brothers, Sir Joseph, Mr. Edward, and Mr. Charles Pease, he gave the ground for the north cemetery in Darlington, and also defrayed the cost of the erection of the chapel. In commercial matters also Mr. Arthur Pease was one of the prominent figures in the district. Upon him, in a great measure fell the responsibility of managing, in conjunction with his partner, Sir David Dale, the great industrial enterprises which bear the family name. He was a director and one of the principal partners in the firm of Pease and Partners, and a director of the Middlesbrough Owners' Estate, also of Henry Pease and Co., who carry on woollen mills at Darlington, and he was the owner of the Normanby Ironworks. He was a director of the old Stockton and Darlington Railway until its amalgamation with the North-Eastern, and after its absorption in the larger company he remained a director of the Darlington section until the board was merged in the meeting at York, when he ceased to occupy a seat on the directorate. He was also a director of the Weardale and Shildon Water Company, and was chairman of the South Durham and North Yorkshire Building Society. He was a justice of the peace and deputy-lieutenant for both the county of Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire, and was an alderman and vice-chairman of the Durham County Council, of which body he acted as chairman for the three years ended March last. He was also a member of the committee of the Darlington Training College, an unsectarian institution.

Throughout his illness he continued to take an interest in passing events. Much regret will be felt, especially in the North of England, at his death. References were made to it yesterday at the Friends' Meeting-house, Darlington, and at various churches and chapels in the town, and church bells were tolled.

The funeral has been fixed for Thursday, at Marske, Middlesbrough.

Source: The Times