The Curious Case of Peter Birtwistle
I have a reference to this gentleman for reasons I don't recall. He was a successful jeweler in London, Ontario in the early part of the last century. When I went searching for information about him, I found some, but nothing from local sources or newspapers. My search was limited to electronic resources that are available from my chair.
Perhaps someone associated with The London & Middlesex Historical Society might try firing up a microform machine and having a look through the local papers. One of the references I provide below (from a Florida newspaper), cites a London Free Press article from 1920(1). A cursory search has not yielded any historical articles about him.
Why should one bother with Mr. Birtwistle?
One reason would be to try and figure out why this wealthy bachelor decided to leave all his money to Colne in Lancashire rather than London in Ontario.
Here is what I have found from the sources provided below.
Birtwistle emigrated (twice) from England. According to the brief history found on the Colne website, he partnered with a Joseph Pickles here in London. He became one of this city's most successful jewelers and was a well known diamond merchant. His business was at 113 Dundas Street, the ground floor of which was occupied by the Winslow Brothers shoe store. He later moved to 116 Dundas and lived above the shop(3d). If the current street numbers are similar, the location would be in the block where Kingsmill's used to be. Like most rich Canadians, he spent the winters in the south.
What did the wealthy bachelor plan to do with his money when he died?
There is one reference which indicates his niece was to be his beneficiary, but they quarrelled and she left for Australia (3d).
The next suggestion is that the inheritor was to be the St. George's Society. It is found in the source mentioned just above, which also states that he was president of the London society from 1901 to 1907. Apparently he had a disagreement with the Society as well. When Birtwistle died in 1927, the Border Cities Star reported that: "According to the Trust and Guarantee Company, it had originally been Mr. Birtwistle's intention to leave this sum in trust for the benefit of the aged poor of London, Ontario, but certain disagreements which occurred later, notably what is known as the St. George's Society incident caused him to alter this determination(2).
Although Birtwistle was a charitable chap, he must have been a bit touchy since there was also an incident with his next intended beneficiary, the city of London. In the 1935 Border Cities Star article it says that "the city of London was reported to be named the sole beneficiary in his will, but following disagreement with the city officials his home town was named to receive the estate."
In 1941, when officials from his hometown of Colne showed up to attempt to get the money, the headline of a related article refers to the dispute with someone representing the city of London: "London Estate Is Sought Now For Colne, Eng.: Late Jeweler's Fortune Lost to Adopted City Because of Old Slight," Globe and Mail, Mar. 11, 1941.It begins with this sentence: "A real or fancied offense of certain citizens of London, Ont. in 1907, cost that city's aged and needy poor a sum of over $600,000 , which may now be turned over to a town in England..." It is further noted that, "The nature of the "offense" is not known. Some claim that it was a disagreement between a wealthy bachelor jeweller and city officials over city audits."
Colne was the heir chosen as you will see by looking at the related websites. Apart from his alleged argument with the city, or the "incident" with the St. George's Society, perhaps he just wanted to leave the money to a place in his homeland, since an affection for it is suggested by his membership in the Society. It appears that the local branch still exists and if their records do as well, maybe more can be learned from them.
Birtwistle had the money placed in trust for 21 years which explains the rationale for some of the articles provided which are listed in chronological order. There are four articles from 1935 because officials from Colne came asking that the money be released because of the depression. In 1941 they came again because the money was needed because of the damages caused by the war.
The Supreme Court judgment from 1938 concerns the tax issues related to the Birtwistle Trust and a link to it is provided.
It may be that an historian (or a historian, if you prefer American usage) has studied this issue and was overlooked by me. If not, and you decide to do a little investigating, make sure you search for "Birtwistle" since it can easily be replaced in searches by "BirDwHistle."
Current Colne Websites
Sources:
1. 1920
"Lakeland Visitor Gives Old Folks of His Town a Tea Each Year," The Lakeland Evening Telegram, Feb. 23, 1920. Here is a screen shot and it indicates that the Free Press is the source.
2. 1927
"Million Left to Poor Folk: Former London Man Wills Estate to Native Town," Border Cities' Star, April 27, 1927. [ The Border Cities Star was a Windsor, Ontario newspaper. An apostrophe sometimes appears in the title - Cities' .]
3. 1935
a) “Colne Dignitaries Here Today Seeking Bequest For Town," Toronto Star, May 30, 1935.
b) “$1,000,000 Bequest For English Town: London, Ont. Jeweler Left Money To Accumulate Interest,” The Globe, May 31, 1935.
c) “Mayor of Colne in Canada,” The Manchester Guardian, June 1, 1935.
d) "Seek Estate of Londoner: Thousands Bequeathed to Lancashire Town by P. Birtwistle - Payment Deferred: Delegation Asks Money In Advance Because of Depression," Border Cities' Star, May 31, 1935.
4. 1938
5. 1941“London Estate is Sought Now for Colne, Eng.: Late Jeweler’s Fortune Lost to Adopted City Because of Old Slight,” The Globe & Mail, Mar. 11, 1941
6. 2018Millionaire's Legacy Lives on With 12 New Bungalows in Colne," Nic Marko,
Lancashire Telegraph, March 18, 2018.
"Pendle Enterprise And Regeneration Ltd (PEARL) has completed the construction of the £1.4million housing development at Carry Lane for the Peter Birtwistle Trust.
The Trust was founded by Peter Birtwistle who emigrated from the UK to Canada but left his entire fortune to provide housing for people in his home town of Colne when he died in 1927."
Post Script
In
Mulcahy's Miscellany I have provided a few historical posts about London, none of which would constitute much of a threat to the real historians of this city. Two of them relate to London during the period when Birtwistle resided here (at least during the summer.) This, slightly frivolous one, at least illustrates how one can find out about London by searching papers from places far away - those places where more resources from the past have been digitized - "
Lonely in London c.1920." Another is about the KKK - "
Verminous Missionaries."
I mentioned Kingsmill's above and was pleased to see that the picture of the inside of that store, buried in one of my posts, still exists. If you click on the image in "
Detour", you will see an example of the elegance that once existed on Dundas Street.
