Sir Joseph Whitwell Pease, 1st Baronet (23 June 1828 – 23 June 1903) was a British Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1903.
Pease was a member of the Darlington Pease family, being the son of Joseph Pease and his wife Emma Gurney, daughter of the Joseph Gurney of Lakenham Grove, Norwich. His father was a quaker merchant of Darlington and was M.P. for South Durham from 1832 to 1841. Pease was educated privately and was an owner of coal and ironstone mines in Durham and Yorkshire and a director of North Eastern Railway. He was a J.P. for Durham and a Deputy Lieutenant and J.P. for the North Riding of Yorkshire.[1]
At the 1865 general election Pease was elected Member of Parliament for South Durham. He held the seat until the seat was reorganised under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.[2] He was created a baronet of Hutton Lowcross and Pinchinthorpe in 1882. At the 1885 general election he was elected MP for Barnard Castle. He held the seat until his death in 1903.[3]
Towards the end of his life, Pease's business had problems and in 1902 the Pease Bank failed. He was forced to sell his art collection. He died the following year in Falmouth, Cornwall aged 75.
Pease married Mary Fox daughter of Alfred Fox of the Fox family of Falmouth on 23 August 1854. They had two sons; Alfred Edward Pease, 2nd Bt and Joseph Albert "Jack" Pease, 1st Baron Gainford.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry Pease James Farrer |
Member for South Durham 1865 – 1885 With: Charles Freville Surtees 1865–1868 Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont 1868–1880 Frederick William Lambton 1880–1885 |
Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member for Barnard Castle 1885 – 1903 |
Succeeded by Arthur Henderson |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baronet (of Hutton Lowcross and Pinchinthorpe) 1882–1903 |
Succeeded by Alfred Edward Pease |