Tony Cheal
Harrogate Historical Society and re-Population Study Group
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Extract from " Starbeck- A Journey through the Past"
Stephen G Abbott - 2001

Henry Peacock

The life of Henry Peacock, one of Starbeck's most interesting characters, was
one of controversy and intrigue. So much is known, yet so much is unknown. On
one hand, in some circles he was often a popular man, while held in contempt
by others. He was often in trouble as a debtor, but he was also capable of
acts of the utmost generosity. At times he could be ruthless, other times he
would show great compassion. He certainly had a way with the ladies, yet he
craved most of all the respect of his peers.

Henry Peacock was born in poverty, and spent his life not quite getting out
of it. He first came to Starbeck in 1825 with his wife Elizabeth, as master
and matron of the workhouse, for a joint salary of £50 a year. After having
run the Aldborough and Boroughbridge workhouse for the previous three years,
the Peacocks were noted to have viewed Harrogate as an opportunity to "better
themselves". Though not afraid of hard work, Elizabeth was a sickly woman,
and after a particularly poorly spell, she died in January 1827. After
Elizabeth's death the workhouse needed a new matron, and in August 1828 Henry
married Jane Dodd, a former maid of Sir Charles des Voeux of Woodhall. Jane
came to Starbeck with a healthy bank balance of £150, that was transferred
into Henry's name the following November, and spent in just over two years.
Not forgetting that a hundred and fifty pounds was, to the Peacocks, the
equivalent of three years' salary. Henry was also falling into debt after
taking out loans from wealthy friends, at one time escaping payment through
the Insolvency Act. However, this never seemed to bother the Peacocks, or at
least Henry, as they set about cutting the running costs of the workhouse.
Food rations and incoming bills were gradually reduced until the weekly cost
of keeping an adult pauper in the workhouse was down to half a crown (l2.5p).
It was also Henry's idea to charge the local tradesmen ten pounds for
refusing to take an apprentice, all going into the poor rate fund. Henry had
also become Assistant Overseer and Vestry Clerk as part of his
responsibilities.

Sometimes the Peacocks would act out of pity and charity, like when an
obviously educated and respectable man called Franklin, suffered a breakdown
and found himself in prison (for a minor crime), then the workhouse. The
Peacocks received him with sympathy and allowed him whatever freedoms they
could get away with, including tea and coffee. Another time Henry Peacock
found himself forever in the gratitude of a John Hagley, for arranging a loan
to get him out of debtor's prison.

Despite everything, Henry Peacock seemed a devoutly religious man, yet he was
never far from controversy and was in deep trouble in 1834 when his mother
died and was given a pauper's funeral. Soon it was also discovered that she
had been receiving poor relief for at least four years. She was supposedly
the mother of an affluent man. Problems arose when the township of Holbeck,
where she died and was buried, made a claim to Mrs. Peacock's home township,
Pateley Bridge, for funeral expenses. Pateley Bridge then made a claim
against Henry for the funeral and poor relief dating back to 1829. Henry,
himself in financial difficulties, couldn't, wouldn't, and didn't pay. He
managed to fend off the authorities for three years but, after Jane became
unwell and died in the autumn of 1837, Henry was served three months' notice
to leave the workhouse in February 1838. On the 20th May 1838, Henry Peacock
left the workhouse for good.

In those days, being heavily in debt, and out of work was enough to put any
man into the workhouse himself (or even prison), yet Henry Peacock fell on
his feet once again. At Knaresborough Parish Church, three months after
leaving the workhouse, he married for the third time. This time his bride was
Mrs. Waudby, widow of William Waudby, and owner of the Brunswick Hotel (now
the Prince of Wales Mansions). Very soon Henry was noted in the local press
as landlord of the Brunswick Hotel.

From here Henry could attempt to achieve his lifelong ambition to make
something of himself, gain respect as a gentleman, and control his own
circumstances. The Harrogate hoteliers were a powerful group, and it is as
one of them that Henry Peacock set about courting public favour. On the 14th
October 1841, Peacock was appointed (rather than elected) a member of the
Harrogate Improvement Commissioners - forerunners of the Borough Council.
Though he was re-elected in 1843, he was never a popular commissioner,
generally scraping through the ballot by a few votes. His self-elevation to
the status of "Gentleman" had alienated him from both sides. Both the gentry
and those of lesser status viewed him as a social climber, and not really
"one of them".

In the election of April 1846 Henry Peacock was defeated, only to be
re-appointed in June to serve until April, when he was again defeated. Of his
re-election in 1848, H.H. Walker, in his book History of Harrogate under the
Improvement Commissioners, writes: "His election, even at the bottom of the
list of successful candidates, in 1848, represents the triumph of persistence
over discouragement". Yet he wasn't all bad, it was on his insistence that
the commissioners cut the capacity of a Harrogate donkey cart to two adults
and two young children. A deed for which he deserves full credit.

Around this time Peacock was slipping, once more, heavily into debt. With the
recent opening of the Brunswick Station, just yards from his hotel, he should
have been on easy street. Instead Henry Peacock was mortgaging the hotel.
Though not up for re-election until April 1851, Peacock last attended a
meeting of the Improvement Commissioners on November the 5th 1849. No
explanation of this disappearance was ever given or noted in the Commission
meeting minutes, and he was replaced on the 10th January 1850.

By the spring of 1850 he had left Harrogate and his assignees ordered that
the Brunswick Hotel be sold. The mortgaging and the use of assignees suggest
that Peacock was once again in dire financial crisis. In June 1892 The
Advertiser ran an article about an unnamed local hotelier who, having failed,
had begun to repay his debts. From there Henry Peacock simply faded away.
What became of him is another mystery.