See also
| Husband: | Edward WITHY (1844-1927) | |
| Wife: | Anne TREADGOLD (1845-1925) | |
| Children: | Alfred James WITHY (1869- ) | |
| Arthur WITHY (1870-1943) | ||
| Marion WITHY (1871-1954) | ||
| Herbert WITHY (1875- ) | ||
| Bertha WITHY (1877-1959) | ||
| Harold WITHY (c. 1875-1946) | ||
| Florence WITHY (1881- ) | ||
| Charles WITHY (1883- ) | ||
| Walter WITHY (1885-1938) | ||
| Samuel WITHY (1886- ) | ||
| Amy WITHY (1887- ) | ||
| Eleanor WITHY (1887- ) | ||
| Alice WITHY (1889- ) | ||
| Marriage | 8 Feb 1868 | St Marylebone, London |
Edward WITHY, edward withy husband of annie treadgold
| Name: | Edward WITHY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | Edward WITHY (1812-1860) | |
| Mother: | Sarah ATREE (1810-1897) | |
| Birth | 22 Dec 1844 | Bristol, Gloucester |
| Death | 26 Mar 1927 (age 82) | St. Luke's, Jersey, Channel lslands |
Anne TREADGOLD, Annie_Treadgold_family
| Name: | Anne TREADGOLD | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | Thomas TREADGOLD (1805- ) | |
| Mother: | Jane BROWER (1817- ) | |
| Birth | 1845 | |
| Death | 21 Apr 1925 (age 79-80) | |
Alfred James WITHY, Ashville_College
| Name: | Alfred James WITHY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | Orinthea ( - ) | |
| Birth | 4 Dec 1869 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | ||
Arthur WITHY, Arthur Withy (possibly) (2)
Spouse: Kate HOULD (or ruth gould?), arthur and bertha withy weddings 13 feb 1897
| Name: | Arthur WITHY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | Kate HOULD (or ruth gould?) ( - ) | |
| Birth | 9 Feb 1870 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | 24 Sep 1943 (age 73) | Eastbourne, New Zealand |
| Name: | Marion WITHY | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Theodore WEST ( - ) | |
| Birth | 16 Feb 1871 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | 15 May 1954 (age 83) | Mt Eden, Auckland |
| Name: | Herbert WITHY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1875 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | ||
Bertha WITHY, 1895, age 18, Bertha Withy ship launch 1895
| Name: | Bertha WITHY | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Frederick Maskell KING (1860-1925) | |
| Birth | 1877 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | 1959 (age 81-82) | |
| Name: | Harold WITHY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | Eunice LEWIS ( - ) | |
| Birth | c. 9 Apr 1875 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | 17 Jan 1946 (age 70) | Whakatane, New Zealand |
Florence WITHY, florence withy school 30 dec 1891
| Name: | Florence WITHY | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Birth | 1881 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | ||
| Name: | Charles WITHY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1883 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | ||
| Name: | Walter WITHY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1885 | West Hartlepool, Durham |
| Death | 1938 (age 52-53) | |
| Name: | Samuel WITHY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1886 | New Zealand |
| Death | ||
Amy WITHY, amy withy birth
| Name: | Amy WITHY | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Birth | 21 Sep 1887 | Avon Villa, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Death | ||
| Name: | Eleanor WITHY | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Birth | 1887 | New Zealand |
| Death | ||
| Name: | Alice WITHY | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Francis George GUTHRIE ( - ) | |
| Birth | 1889 | New Zealand |
| Death | ||
Edward Withy, was born in Bristol, of Quaker stock, in 1844, and was educated at the Friends' School, Sidcot (see: http://www.sidcot.org.uk/) which he attended between 1854 and 1859.
After leaving Sidcot School, Edward Withy became a "Ship Draftsman Apprentice", to Messrs. Richardson and Duck, Shipbuilders, Stockton-on-Tees. Whilst away from his family in Bristol, he was boarding with William Marwood, at: York Street in Thornaby, Durham.
On completing his apprenticeship, he entered the iron industry being employed by the Stockton shipbuilder Richardson, Duck in which he was very successful. He soon rose to be manager of the yard and for some time he acted as inspector to the P. & O. Steamship Company, travelling extensively in Eastern waters.
Returning home in 1867, he married Miss Annie Treadgold, of Stockton-on-Tees. About this time, he also took a trip to Australia for the benefit of his health with his wife and eldest son, and there conceived a liking for the Colonies.
In 1869, Edward Withy formed a shipbuilding partnership in Hartlepool, with Edward Alexander, who had been head cashier at Denton, Gray (WITHY, ALEXANDER & Company - HARTLEPOOL - 1869 – 1874). They took over Denton Gray’s former Middleton shipyard and their first ship was the Maria Ysabel, launched in May 1869.
In 1871 Census, was staying with James & Gertrude Tanner (Cousin) in Cheddar - listed as "master from Shipbuilder of west Hartlepool".
On November 2, 1872, a patent (No. 3252) for Improvements in mixing, charging, and smelting iron ores was taken out by Edward Withy and William Gibson, of West Hartlepool, Durham. The object of this invention was to save fuel as much as possible. In effecting this, in the first place, the ores are crushed and ground, and the smaller they are ground the less fuel they take to smelt them. Second. The pulverised ores are mixed with the required quantity of lime and water to a stiff paste, which paste is forced into moulds or through dies, in a similar manner to drain tiles, the dies being made to give such shape or form to charging sections as will afford the greatest amount of heating surface, according to the weight and strength of the materials. With these sections are charged blast furnaces, puddling-furnaces, cupolas, and vibratory-furnaces, in manner described in Letters Patent No. 2672, A.D. 1872, and more especially they are used in the improved puddling-furnaces described in said Letters Patent.
The Company prospered well in the good times that followed the Franco-German War and in 1873, they enlarged the shipyard, allowing the firm to undertake the construction of up to five vessels at one time and at the end of this year, Edward Alexander retired. Following Alexander’s retirement, Edward Withy carried on with the business alone and he founded Edward Withy and Company shipbuilders in 1874, being joined by his brother Henry. In 1880, the yard launched the Cyanus which was the first steel ship to be built in Hartlepool. Before this, all ships were made of wood or iron.
One of the firm’s customers was local businessmen Thomas and Christopher Furness who had commenced ship owning in 1878 and in 1881. In 1883, with an established and profitable shipping line behind him, Christopher Furness was able to buy a controlling interest in shipbuilders Edward Withy and Company, of West Hartlepool.
When Edward Withy decided to move to New Zealand in 1884, Christopher Furness bought his shares in the shipyard. He made Edward Withy’s brother, Henry, managing director.
In 1885, Christopher Furness collaborated with Thomas Wilson to form the Wilson-Furness Line to operate services between Newcastle and New York and by 1891 the fleet contained 18 ships. The company continued under its own name until 1891, when Edward Withy and Company was merged with some of Christopher Furness’ other businesses and became part of Furness, Withy and Co. with Christopher Furness as chairman, R. B. Stoker as ship director, Henry Withy and R. W. Vick as shipyard representatives, plus Thomas King and G. L. Wooley. From 1891 to 1908, the yard operated as Furness, Withy & Company Ltd.
Furness Withy was incorporated as a company in 1891 upon the amalgamation of Christopher Furness' business in West Hartlepool and London with Edward Withy's shipbuilding yard in Hartlepool. By 1914 the company had acquired interests all over the world in liner and tramp shipping and in shipbuilding, but from 1920 they concentrated on liner services. In addition to the North Atlantic service, they developed other American routes based principally on New York and including Bermuda and the West Indies. The Furness family sold its interests in the Company to a consortium led by Frederick Lewis, a Director in the business, in 1919.
On retiring from ship-building and emigrating to New Zealand, while still in his prime, Edward Withy took up residence in Auckland. He now decided to become a Parliamentarian and contested the Newton East seat against the Hon. J. A. Tole who at that time was Minister of Justice. Mr. Withy's committees were admirably organised and, as a result, to the astonishment of many people, the newcomer won the seat. He had previously been a member of the British House of Commons, and his long association with politics stood him in good stead.
For years Mr. Withy had been a Land Nationalist, a follower of Professor Alfred Russell Wallace, but on reading "Progress and Poverty" in the early eighties he became a disciple of the Prophet of San Francisco. However he quickly tired of the Parliamentary life, as he retained his seat for only three years, between 1887 and 1890.
He then went to live in the Taranaki district, and in 1893, he again ran for Parliament, but mainly with the object of doing a stroke of propaganda work for the Single Tax, and, owing to the prominence that he gave to this plank of his platform, he failed to reach the top of the poll. For years he was Acting President of the Auckland Anti-Poverty Society, Sir George Grey being Honorary President. He was also for some time President of the National Single Tax League, and a Vice-President and member of the Executive of the New Zealand Land Values League, and a generous subscriber to its funds.
Edward Withy reproduced several of his lectures on the Single Tax in pamphlet form, and wrote numerous letters to the Press. He also wrote an article, "Daylight on the Land Question," in the Westminster Review and has written more ambitious pamphlets on the question, the best known of which is "Ground Rent, The True Source of Public Revenue: How to Secure It for this Purpose by Means of the Single Tax."
Many years later, he returned to the ‘Old Land’ and went to live in Jersey, where Mrs Withy died on 21st April 1925. Edward Withy died on 26th March 1927 in Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Mr. Arthur Withy, of Wellington, a member of the "Hansard" staff, is the eldest son of the deceased.1
| 1 | "Labour's Path to Political Independence". |