Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 2nd Baronet

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Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 2nd Baronet (1 May 18084 May 1886) was a prominent English Roman Catholic.

Born at Croston Hall near Chorley, Lancashire on 1 May 1808, he was the eldest son of Sir Thomas de Trafford. In 1821 he was entered as a pupil at the Manchester Grammar School and became a boarder in the high master's house.

In 1826 he entered the Royal Dragoons, becoming a lieutenant in 1830, and retiring in 1832. On the death of his father, on 10 October 1852, he succeeded him as the 2nd Baronet de Trafford and 25th Lord of Trafford, and took up residence at the family home of Trafford Hall, in Trafford Park.

On 17 January 1855, he married Lady Annette Mary Talbot, eldest sister and co-heiress of Bertram Arthur Talbot, 17th Earl of Shrewsbury. The ceremony took place at the Catholic Church, Rugby and was performed by Dr. Ullathorne, Bishop of Birmingham. It was the first marriage since the Reformation to be performed with full Catholic ceremony. They had five daughters and three sons[1], including:

The national land survey of 1873 recorded Sir Humphrey as holding 1,990 acres in Cheshire, producing annual gross rental income of £3,361.[3]

In 1882, a meeting held at the Didsbury home of engineer Daniel Adamson resulted in the creation of the Manchester Ship Canal committee. Sir Humphrey de Trafford was an implacable opponent of the proposed canal, which the committee proposed would cross his land at Trafford Park.[4] He objected, amongst other things, that it would bring polluted water close to his residence, interfere with his drainage, and render Trafford Hall uninhabitable, forcing him to "give up his home and leave the place".[5] In spite of Sir Humphrey's opposition, the Ship Canal Bill became law on 6 August 1885, after two previous Bills had failed to get through Parliament.

In 1884, Sir Humphrey was seized with paralysis, from which he never recovered. He died at 10 am on Tuesday, 4 May 1886 having just completed his 78th year. Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal began on 11 November 1887.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Lodge, Edmund (1877), The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing, Hurst and Blackett, p. 732, <http://books.google.com/books?id=gLEKAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA732&dq=Trafford>. Retrieved on 22 October 2007 
  2. ^ Charles de Trafford entry at CricketArchive.com (HTTP). Retrieved on 2007-10-18.
  3. ^ The Trafford Family (HTTP). Retrieved on 2007-10-18.
  4. ^ The Arrival of the Manchester Ship Canal (HTTP). The Transport Archive. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
  5. ^ Nicholls, Robert (1996). Trafford Park, The First Hundred Years. Phillimore & Co Ltd. ISBN 1860770134. 

[edit] References

  • A Catholic History of Eccles & Barton, James Slater 1897
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Sir Thomas de Trafford
de Trafford Baronets
1852–1886
Succeeded by
Sir Humphrey Francis de Trafford