Description:One weekend in April/May 2007 I was back home from my caravan, as myself and my wife had been invited to my wife’s nephew’s baby’s Christening on the Sunday at Stoke Minster.
The North Staffordshire Mining History Group meets at Hanley on a Friday morning when we have been examining documents in the Sutherland Papers. Some of the documents are difficult to read and I had struggled all morning on just three letters, then, to my relief, there was one which I could read very easily. It was a letter to the Marquis of Stafford threatening him with court action. The signature on the letter was John Tomlinson. As our meeting was almost over I returned the documents and thought no more of the letter signed by John Tomlinson.
On the Sunday morning along with wife and my camera I went to Stoke Minster where the Christening was to take place. I had not been to St. Peters for more than sixty four years. (St. Peters is the church I was christened in). After the ceremony had taken place, people were taking photographs of the babies being held by Father Paul, relatives and Godparents, so I had a wonder around the Minster. To my astonishment on the north wall of the chancel among such notorieties as Josiah Wedgwood and Josiah Spode was a large memorial to John Tomlinson solicitor. Was it the same John Tomlinson whose letter I was reading on the previous Friday morning?
I tried to acertain information about John Tomlinson know one could help me, even Father Paul didn’t know who John Tomlinson was, so I decided to investigate further.
John Tomlinson was born in 1772 and he died on the 19th November 1838 in his 67th year. His remains are interned in the family vault beneath the church. This burial chamber was paid for by John's children as a tribute to their Father.
By 1794 Tomlinson had established a successful solicitors practice in Hanley. In 1801 he was appointed a public notary by the Archbishop of Canterbury. This enabled him to take oaths.
In 1817 John Tomlinson had bought the advowson of Stoke parish church. That is to say he had benefice of the church which enabled him to yield an income from the church lands. He obtained the lease of the tithes from the rector, and by his legal knowledge recovered the dormant rights of the church in the commodities such as agistment, (land which is rented out for cattle and other animals to graze on) hay and milk.
Tomlinson succeeded in getting the Stoke Rectory Act through Parliament in 1827 - this pre-dated the tithes Communities Act of 1836. The Stoke Rectory Act was incorporated in the Communities Act. This authorised the sale of the tithes and Glebe lands and produced £50,000. This money went towards the funding of two churches, one at Shelton, St. Marks, and one at Longton, St. James.
Tomlinson was the returning officer for the new Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent in 1833 and 1837. He bought the Castle Cliff estate in 1810 and built Cliffville, a two-storey mansion with a classical porch. It was set in about 70 acres and was the only freehold estate of any size in Penkhull. In 1365 the land was held by John of Gaunt and later by Hugh Bowyer and William Brompton in a fee farm. Since the 1920’s it has been a Girls school but it has since been demolished.
John Tomlinson was associated with raising money to fund the building of other properties in the area including the Market in Hanley, and the North Staffordshire Infirmary. But, by far the most important building with which John Tomlinson was associated with is St Peters in Stoke.
In 1829 a new church was built adjacent to the previous Parish Church which was taken down in the same year, but the new church was not consecrated until 1830. Stoke St. Peters church was originally dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle and not to St. Peter the Hermit. Later it was dedicated to St. Peter ad Vincula. (St. Peter in Chains)
While the demolition was taking place, a corbel head of stone was found embedded in the walls, on it, what appeared to be, but not very clear Roman numerals (DCCC1) carved on it, was there a church here then.? Assuming this date to be correct, it would appear to be in the Mercian Kingdom of that time, and under the rule of Kenwulph. In the Churchyard is a Saxon Preaching Cross which was used as a door lintel in the old church. Mass graves of people who died of the plagues, in varying times from the 12th to 17th centuries were also found. During the construction of the A500 which took part of the church lands, graves of those who died in cholera epidemics of the 19th century were found. There is also a Saxon font more than 1,000 years old.
The said date stone was, as far as I can ascertain, last in the possession of John Wilkes Tomlinson. John Tomlinson himself gave £300 to the rebuilding of the church, only Josiah Spode gave more, £500, even King George IV gave only £250 from his revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster. Besides the money John Tomlinson also gave the fine octagon shaped Font, in Italian Marble with a capacious laver.
When John Tomlinson was 27 he married Margaret Wright and had at least four children by her, his first son John Wilkes Tomlinson was born on 4th August 1800 he took over the incumbency of Stoke church on 31st October 1831, remaining the said incumbent until his death in 1857.
John Tomlinson's youngest son Fredrick Wright Tomlinson took over the property of Castle Cliff on his Father's death.
Before his death John Tomlinson was the Commission of the Peace for the county of Staffordshire.
John Tomlinson's eldest Daughter Caroline married Major Sir Lovelace Stamer. Their son, The Right Reverend Sir Lovelace Tomlinson Stamer became on the 24th February 1888 the suffragan bishop of Shrewsbury.
The image above shows the letter referred to in Len's article, dated 3rd July 1821.