John Whitehead Greaves
| John Whitehead Greaves | |
|---|---|
| Official positions held: | |
| FR Co. Chairman | 1844 - 1848 |
| FR Co. Director | 1843 - 1868 |
| FR People | WHR People | |
John Whitehead Greaves (1807-80), third son of John Greaves, a Quaker and banker from Radford, Warwickshire, was in charge of the Bowydd Quarry, a founder user of the Festiniog Railway, and acted as treasurer of the Festiniog Railway from 1843-47 and from 1856-1868. He was chairman from 1844-48.
Greaves soon realised that there had to be an abundance of slate under Llechwedd y cyd, the land that separated the Bowydd and Foty Quarries from the Rhiwbryfdir Quarry. He formed a partnership with the second Lord Newborough and William Edward Oakeley. But the prolonged search for the Merioneth Old Vein nearly destroyed him financially before he struck the elusive slate deposits in 1849. Like Holland, he developed slate machinery, and in 1851 enhanced the name of Llechwedd Slate by winning a Class 1 Prize Medal at the Great Exhibition. He also branched into the shipbuilding industry at Porthmadog.
High Sheriff of Carnarvonshire in 1860.
In 1870 he left his son, John Ernest Greaves, to manage Llechwedd Quarry and retired to his native Warwickshire. He had at least 3 other children, Richard Methuen Greaves, Edward Seymour Greaves and Frances Evelyn Greaves.
This information was taken from this external site, where more information on his life, and family, can be found Some further information found on The Peerage.com, a site tracing notable families