John Whitehead Greaves (21 June 1807 – 12 February 1880) was an English businessman who was instrumental in developing the

slate industry in Wales The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then rapidly during the Industria ...

Early life and family

Born near

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, he was the third son of John Greaves (1774–1849), a Quaker banker, and his wife Mary (1779–1864), daughter of John Whitehead. His older brother was Edward Greaves. His older sister Celina Greaves (1804–1884) married the brewer Edward Fordham Flower and a younger sister Rebecca Mary Greaves (1814–1892) became the mother of Sir Michael Henry Lakin, first of the Lakin baronets. John became a wanderer who ended up in 1830 at

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

, where he went into the slate business. Once well established, in 1843 he married Ellen (1816–1887), daughter of a Suffolk landowner Gill Stedman. They had ten children, including John Ernest Greaves, Richard Methuen Greaves, Helen Constance Greaves (1845–1932) who married General Sir Henry Augustus Smyth, Ellen Mabel Greaves (1851-1941) who was the mother of the architect

Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Military Cross, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate architecture, Italianate village of Portmeirion in North ...

, and Frances Evelyn Greaves (1864-1926) who married

Sir Osmond Williams, 1st Baronet Sir Arthur Osmond Wynn Williams JP DL (17 March 1849 – 28 January 1927) was a Welsh Liberal Party politician. He became Constable of Harlech Castle, and Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire. Early life He was born at Llanfihangel-y-Trae ...

Business career

Working existing slate deposits in partnership with other entrepreneurs, initially at Glynrhonwy but adding other sites, Greaves used the income this generated to prospect for new veins which he could exploit exclusively. He became convinced that there was a massive amount of slate underground at Llechwedd, opening the Llechwedd quarry in 1846 and in 1849 finding the enormous vein he had been seeking. His slate won a Class 1 Prize Medal at the

Great Exhibition of 1851 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

and orders flowed in, including a contract to supply

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence situated within Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has served as a residence for the British royal family since the 17th century and is currently the ...

. In addition to extracting slate, he was active on the board of the

Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway () is a heritage railway based on Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia#Snowdonia National Park, Snowdonia National Park. The ...

Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

, travelling on the first train in 1836 and later serving as treasurer and as chairman, and was also involved in developing a shipbuilding industry at Porthmadog. He also pioneered machinery for processing slate. In 1860 he served as High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire.

Legacy

John died at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and was buried at Lillington. His son John Ernest Greaves had taken over the slate business, which still operates on a reduced scale and has developed a major tourist attraction, the Llechwedd Slate Caverns.

References

External links

*http://www.lillingtonparishchurch.org/index.php?p=1_9_The-Slate-Connection Accessed 12 September 2015. *http://www.tqsi.info/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I1797&tree=stedman_uk Accessed 12 September 2015. *http://www.llechicymru.info/IQPEntrepreneurs.english.htm Accessed 12 September 2015. *http://www.llechwedd-slate-caverns.co.uk Accessed 12 September 2015. *http://www.welsh-slate.com/ Accessed 12 September 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Greaves, John Whitehead 1807 births 1880 deaths People from St Albans Welsh industrialists High sheriffs of Caernarvonshire 19th-century Welsh businesspeople