PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

FAMOUS PEOPLE

ARCHDEACON HENRY FEARON:
HENRY FEARON was to have a profound effect on the life of LOUGHBOROUGH and it's inhabitants. He was born on June 20th 1802 in Cuckfield, Sussex, a son of the local rector. He wads educated at the town's grammar school before attending Emmanuel College, Cambridge at the age of 19. After graduating, he stayed on at Cambridge to work as a private Classics tutor. It was at this time that he began his lifetime interest in water supply and sanitary science.

His career in the church began in 1834 when he began studying for a Bachelor of Divinity degree. His first parish was back in Cuckfield where, in 1841, he took over fro his father as Rector of the village. Following further posts as honorary Canon of Peterborough Cathedral and as a rural Dean, he became Rector of ALL SAINTS PARISH CHURCH, LOUGHBOROUGH on May 3rd 1848 at the age of 46. THis was just two days after the death of the previous incumbent REV WILLIAM HOLME, who had held the parish for 22 years. FEARON's arrival also coincided with the division of LOUGHBOROUGH Into two parishes - ALL SAINTS and EMMANUEL.

On his arrival, he found the church in a very poor state of repair and characteristically set about putting things right. Using £1,000 of his own money - a year's stipend - he gave the building a thorough overhaul and restoration, so much so that some of his congregation were horrified at the changes. It is to him that we owe the existence of ALL SAINTS CHURCH as it is today.

Although he had a comfortable existence - well paid and with three domestic servants - he was acutely aware of the poverty and squalor all around him. The decline in the lace industry had led to much hardship in LOUGHBOROUGH and the town's framework knitters could not compete with the steam frames used in and around Nottingham. Despite this, the population had increased dramatically, expanding the town rapidly but in a haphazard way. Houses were huddled on top of each other without drainage and untreated sewage and open cesspools were placed close to water sources. Unsurprisingly, Cholera was as rampant as poverty - and claimed as many lives..

FEARON was convinced that the solution to these problems lay in a safe, clean water supply and good drainage. Surprisingly, this view was fiercely opposed by local medical opinion which held it was only necessary to remove the smell of the problem, not the problem itself! FEARON was undaunted and with DR JOHN PALMER, his one medical supporter, he petitioned the General Board of Health in London. They launched an inquiry and sent WILLIAM LEE to lead the investigation. LEE's conclusions were almost identical to FEARON's; LOUGHBOROUGH needed a clean water supply and an efficient drainage system.

Such wide reaching decision, however, could only be taken by a local Board of Health - and LOUGHBOROUGH didn't have one. So before changes could be made, a Board had to be elected, which, after much argument, was done with JOHN CARTWRIGHT in the Chair. Progress was painfully slow and debates were often heated, with FEARON usually the most heated of all. But by 1855, the town's new drainage system was competed at the then huge cost of £10,000. The water supply, however, was a different matter. The Board claimed this was being made impossible due to the ratepayers refusal to pay higher taxes to finance the scheme.

After another eleven years of stalemate, FEARON again decided to take matters into his own hands by forming a Limited Liability Company with his associates. The aim of this was to obtain water from damming the BLACKBROOK to form a reservoir and piping it into the town. Possibly shamed into action, the Local Board told FEARON's new company that they had their own scheme, needing £15,000 of shared capital. But there would be no need to raise rates as only those who requested water would pay for it. The water itself was to come from a reservoir at NANPANTAN and, in 1870, water from this source began to flow into LOUGHBOROUGH for the first time. To mark the occasion, FEARON (who by this time had been made ARCHDEACON) donated to the town a drinking fountain to be placed in the market place. The fountain was designed by a local sculptor named FORSYTH and was built at a cost of £160, every penny of which was paid by FEARON himself. It was unveiled on August 31st, 1870 and stands there to this day, recently restored to full working order.

Ironically, the town's demand for water proved to be so high that in 1900, extra supplies had to be obtained by building BLACKBROOK reservoir, as FEARON had first proposed twenty years previously!

In the years following the introduction of clean water and efficient drainage, the population of LOUGHBOROUGH increased by almost 40%. The constant supply of fresh water also attracted new industry into the area, especially those dealing with cloth dyeing.

Although most renowned for his public health works, HENRY FEARON was also closely involved with LOUGHBOROUGH education. Soon after his arrival in the town, he became Chair of the Board of Governors of the Endowed Schools, became involved with the Burton Charity and opened an infant school! Although he adhered to the attitudes of his time by regarding the education of girls as less important than that of boys, he was a great champion of education for all, regardless of social position. However, the kind of curriculum he favoured for working class boys was geared very much towards the requirements of work, rather than education for its own sake.

Nevertheless, all of the town's schools seemed to flourish under his supervision. When Churchgate School needed to expand, half of the £400 needed was raised by FEARON himself.

When he died on June 12th 1885, HENRY FEARON had been working and living in LOUGHBOROUGH for 37 years. Unfortunately we know little of his private thoughts and ideas as he instructed that his papers, letters and sermons should be destroyed after his death. Contemporary descriptions, however, show him as a generous, kindly man with a practical approach to problem solving. He valued the opinions and contributions of all, regardless of religious beliefs or social standing. Such was the esteem in which he was held that virtually the whole town came to a standstill on the day of his funeral. Shops and factories closed and silent crowds lined the streets from the parish Church to the cemetery. Everyone in the town seemed to want to show their respect and affection for a man who had had such a profound and positive effect on all their lives.

LOUGHBOROUGH has not only a street but also a community centre named after ARCHDEACON HENRY FEARON and a lectern in ALL SAINTS CHURCH is dedicated to his memory.