Parnell, Francis
1799-1884

Francis Parnell was born in 1799 in Manchester, the son of a sergeant in the army. He began work in a cotton mill at the age of 8 and enlisted in the Royal Navy at 15. Returning to Manchester at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, he resumed mill work, first as a weaver and then as manager, partner, and proprietor, retiring to Blackpool in 1864.

Parnell joined the Wesleyan Methodist Society in Manchester around 1819, becoming a Sunday school teacher, Class Leader, and Circuit Steward. With growing prosperity, he was a generous benefactor, paying for the Ebenezer chapel and Sunday School in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, in 1849. Later, he funded the Rawcliffe Street chapel and Sunday School in Blackpool, and he donated 1100 guineas to the Wesleyan Thanksgiving Fund in 1879.

In civic life Parnell was a member of the Manchester Corporation and an elected Guardian of the Poor. He was a Commissioner of the Local Board in Blackpool, one of the first borough aldermen (1876), a magistrate, and the second Mayor of Blackpool (1879-80).He was also a major shareholder in the Winter Gardens.

Parnell was married twice: first, in 1818, to Ellen Howard (1800-59), and second, in 1859, to Mary Cook (1811-81).

Francis Parnell died in Blackpool on 1 July 1884.

Sources
  • 'Death of Mr Francis Parnell', Blackpool Gazette and Herald, 4 July 1884, page 8.
  • 'The Late Mr Francis Parnell', Blackpool Gazette and Herald, 25 July 1884, page 7.

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Person
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