Francis Gibson (banker)

Francis Gibson (1805-1858), was a British banker and businessman.

Balder Grange

Early life

He was born in Saffron Walden, Essex, the son of the banker Atkinson Francis Gibson (1763-1829).

Career

Soon after his marriage, Gibson became a director of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Soon afterwards, he was one of the four Quaker founders of Middlesbrough.[1]

Although still base in Saffron Walden, Gibson and his wife spent two months every summer in County Durham and bought a house there, Balder Grange, in 1843.[1] The Victorian house is close to Cotherstone and overlooks the River Balder.

Personal life

On 7 May 1829, he married Elizabeth Pease, the youngest daughter of Edward Pease, "the father of the railways".[1] He enjoyed painting and, late in life, he built the Fry Art Gallery (1856), in Saffron Walden.[2]

They had two children:

  • Elizabeth Pease Gibson (1830-1870). She married the Quaker lawyer, politician and philanthropist Lewis Fry (1832-1921)
  • Francis Edward Gibson (1831-1862). He died of apoplexy in Florence, Italy.

References
  1. "Southern Quaker who helped to shape North". Northern Echo. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  2. Cook, O. (2012). The Fry Art Gallery. In Artists at the Fry: Art and design in the North West Essex Collection (pp. 7-14). Saffron Walden, Essex: The Fry Art Gallery.
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