Augustus Peter Arkwright (2 March 1821 – 6 October 1887) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer and a Conservative Party politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1868 to 1880. Arkwright was the seventh son of Peter Arkwright J.P. of Rock House, near Matlock, and his wife Mary Anne Hurt, daughter of Charles Hurt. He was the grandson of

Richard Arkwright Junior Richard Arkwright junior (19 December 1755 – 23 April 1843), the son of Sir Richard Arkwright of Cromford, Derbyshire, was a mills owner, turned banker, investor and financier (creditor) of many successful state and private entreprises of the ...

. Between 1829 and 1832, he was educated at Seaforth near

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and in 1833 at the age of 12 went to Portsmouth Naval College. He left there in June 1835 and joined HMS ''Barham'' at the age of 14. He also served on HMS ''Curacoa'' and HMS ''Stag''. He passed his examination to become mate/sub lieutenant on 14 October 1840 and served as mate on HMS ''Pantaloon'' on the Africa, Mediterranean, and Home stations and on the survey ship HMS ''Bonetta''. He obtained his lieutenant's commission on 6 February 1845 and served on HMS ''Trafalgar'' and HMS ''Caledonia''. He became a commander on 23 June 1859 and retired as commander on 23 June 1869, becoming captain on the Retired List on 23 June 1874. In May 1852 Arkwright was a passenger on the

SS Great Britain SS ''Great Britain'' is a museum ship and former passenger steamship that was advanced for her time. The largest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1853, she was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), for the Great Western ...

, travelling between Liverpool and New York. Arkwright lived at

Willersley Castle Willersley Castle is a late 18th-century country mansion above the River Derwent at Cromford, Derbyshire, outside Peak District National Park. The castle has been a Grade II* listed building since April 2000. Standing in of grounds, the C ...

, Matlock and became a partner in

Agra Bank Agra Bank was an Indian bank that was founded in 1833 in Agra (now in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh), with a capital of £1,000,000 and was finally liquidated in 1900.Stuart Muirhead, Edwin Green. ''Crisis Banking in the East'', Ashgate Publ ...

Limited.Matlock & Matlock Bath Names in the London Gazette Nineteenth Century Entries : 1871 - 1880
He was elected at the 1868 general election as one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for North Derbyshire, and held the seat until his defeat at the 1880 general election. On 9 May 1888, funded from the gift of £675 from Mr F. C. Arkwright, JP of Willersley,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, and friends, the new

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...

(RNLI) lifeboat at in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, was named ''Augustus Arkwright'' (ON 137) in his memory.

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* * 1821 births 1887 deaths People from Matlock, Derbyshire Royal Navy officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 19th-century Royal Navy personnel {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1820s-stub