{"id":1539,"date":"2020-11-29T18:03:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-29T18:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=1539"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:25:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:25:56","slug":"dr-anthony-peat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/29\/dr-anthony-peat\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr Anthony Peat, the Workington obelisk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Anthony Peat spent his life \u2018in incessant toil for the relief of human suffering\u2019. He was \u2018the doctor of all classes, and his kindness to the poor was a notable feature of his character\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some 200 hundred years after his birth, I hopped on a bus to see how the folk \u2018of all classes\u2019 who \u2018loved and esteemed him\u2019 paid tribute to this fine Cumbrian Character.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Dr Anthony Peat, the Workington obelisk<\/h2>\n

Yesterday, an obelisk of polished Dalbeattie granite, executed.. at a cost of \u00a3279, and erected in Portland Square, Workington, was unvelied by Mr William Fletcher, of Brigham Hill, in the presence of an assemblage of several thousand people, formed chiefly of the inhabitants of Workington.\u00a0The monument, which is of a plain character, is 23 feet in height from the base, the length of the shaft being 13 feet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So wrote the Carlisle Journal<\/em>, on Tuesday June 28, 1881.<\/p>\n

\"Dr
The wording on the obelisk. I took the main photo from the bottom of Portland Square.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A committee of 12 had overseen the collection of funds, commission and so on of the obelisk. And its unveiling was a huge occasion for the town.<\/p>\n

Shops and businesses closed for the afternoon, and there was a big parade, whose ranks included Workington Rifle Band, Workington Rifles, \u00a0 <\/span>Oddfellows, St. John’s Drum and Fife Band, Forresters, Free Gardeners, West Cumberland Iron and Steel Company\u2019s Drum and Fife Band, St Michael and Joseph Sick and Benefit Society, and West Cumberland Brass Band.<\/p>\n

Crowds lined the streets and filled Portland Square, where William Fletcher made a speech before the unveiling.<\/p>\n

In it, he asked (and answered): what was so special about Dr Anthony Peat?<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

Dr Anthony Peat \u2013 who was he?<\/h2>\n

Anthony Peat was born on August 31, 1819. The first son of John Peat and Margaret, n\u00e9e Fletcher. John Peat had, five years earlier, inherited Salmon Hall, Seaton, from his father (another Anthony). John died in 1838, leaving Salmon Hall to Margaret \u2013 Anthony was still a minor. But when Anthony came of age, he chose a different path in life.<\/p>\n

In 1841, he passed his exams at the Royal College of Surgeons in London.<\/p>\n

And by 1851, he was renting accommodation in Portland Square, Workington. He was still doing so when he died on June 4, 1877 \u2013 the memorial obelisk is almost directly in front of number 11, where he was listed as a boarder.<\/p>\n

Anthony Peat had interests beyond his work as a doctor. He was a good shot, and held a volunteer commission with 7th Cumberland Rifles (Workington). In 1851, he was president of Workington Oddfellows, and a member of Workington Cricket Club. He was also a leading supporter of Workington Mechanics\u2019 Institute.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Workington Mechanics\u2019 Institute\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Anthony Peat\u2019s support of this institution is part of why he was \u2018loved and esteemed by all classes\u2019. For mechanics institutes were set up to provide \u2018the working man\u2019 with opportunities to improve his lot. They housed lending libraries, lecture theatres, class rooms and laboratories. (You can read more here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In 1864, Dr Anthony Peat was chairing a \u2018Penny Reading\u2019 in the Assembly Room at Workington Mechanics Institute. A lot of people were present to hear him say it was mistake to say that the working classes were not fond of reading\u2014they were fond of reading, but the books they perused \u201cshowed low and vitiated taste. They were full of murder, horrors, and sentimental nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the library of the Mechanics they could get the works of the greatest dramatists and novelists of the past and present age, as well as works of a higher or instructive character; and he hoped that these readings, so numerously attended as they were, would impart a healthier tone, and more elevated standard to the reading of the public.<\/p>\n

\u2018No trolling\u2019<\/h2>\n

He urged those present to remember the speakers and singers were amateurs.\u00a0They came forward to promote a good cause, for the benefit of the public generally, and the labouring classes particularly. It was, therefore, neither just nor expedient to direct against them, either in letters to newspapers or in any other way, severe, sarcastic, or ironical criticism.<\/p>\n

The audience then heard a mix of songs and readings from Shakespeare and Tennyson.<\/p>\n

Dr Anthony Peat, doctor and surgeon<\/h2>\n

\"Dr<\/p>\n

At the unveiling of the obelisk memorial, William Fletcher (a magistrate and coal owner) asked why the townsfolk so mourned the loss of his old friend.<\/p>\n