John Beaumont, Dalton entrepreneur, was the man who bought the Ravensknowle Estate and had Ravensknowle Hall built in 1859. The letter was given to the Friends by Chris Heaven. This made the fifth Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle into a very special occasion. The Deputy Mayor, Cllr Christine Iredale, received this letter on behalf of the ‘Friends’ and Tolson Museum.
At the meeting Chris Heaven read out the letter, which could have been written in the room we were sitting, tells about buying shares of North British Railway Stock. Some of it is a bit technical but we did learn that John Beaumont had been a share holder for 45 years and a director for 26 years. Chris Heaven also told us how he came by it. He is a collector of Railway Memorabilia and it was in a ‘job lot’ of letters about the purchase of shares by the family who owned the Rowley Estates in Cumbria.
The AGM meeting was followed by a wine and cheese party at which a power point presentation was given showing the work of the Friends over the last five years.
