Thursby baronets

The Thursby Baronetcy, of Ormerod House in the Parish of Burnley in the County Palatine of Lancaster and of Holmhurst in the Parish of Christchurch in the County of Southampton, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 26 July 1887 for John Hardy Thursby, then honorary colonel of the 5th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment.[1]

The Rev. John Hargreaves (1732-1812), had entered the Burnley coal industry through marriage in 1755 and in 1797 he acquired the lease-holds for most of the mineral rights in the area. After his death, the company adopted the name 'The Executors of John Hargreaves'. His nephew Colonel John Hargreaves (1775-1834), who inherited the business, married Charlotte Anne (died 1806), the only child of Lawrence Ormerod of Ormerod Hall in Cliviger. Although they had a son, he had died young, and the property, including the Bank Hall Estate, was divided between two daughters. The younger, also named Charlotte Anne, married General Sir James Yorke Scarlett, a hero of the Battle of Balaclava, but the couple produced no offspring. The elder, Eleanor Mary, married the Rev. William Thursby and their son, John Hardy Thursby, was created a baronet in 1887. The company, later known as Hargreaves Collieries, was by far, the largest mine owner on the Burnley Coalfield, continuing the operate until coal mining in the United Kingdom was nationalised under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946.[2][3][4]

In 1883-84 the Rev. William Thursby gave three acres of land and £1000 toward the construction of Burnley's first hospital. The Victoria Hospital was opened by Prince Albert Victor on 13 October 1886.[5]