St Ives Archive: Sir Edward Hain, shipping magnate, mayor and benefactor St Ives has many things for which we should be grateful to the Hain family, in particular Sir Edward Hain. Born in 1851, he was fourth in a long line of Edward Hains. The Hains were a well-established shipping family, and I imagine it was a disappointment to Edward’s father and grandfather that he was more interested in management and banking than going to sea. He was educated in various private schools in St Ives and then sent to the Bolitho Bank to train in accountancy and bookkeeping. The shipping business was flourishing, but at the turn of the 20th century, Edward persuaded his father to update from sail to steam. As a result, the steamship Trewidden was built for the Hain family by John Readheads Co Ltd of South Shields. This proved to be a brilliant investment, and Readheads went on to
28
build 73 steamships for the Hain family. The Hain Steamship Co Ltd was registered in 1901. Edward Hain was just as interested in politics as the management of the family business, and in 1883, he was elected to St Ives Town Council. He became mayor the following year –and again in 1885, 1886, 1889, 1895 and 1899. He was a councillor and alderman for 20 years and also served on Cornwall County Council. In 1910 he was elected President of the Chamber of Shipping and in 1912, was knighted and appointed to the position of High Sheriff of Cornwall. Edward Hain married Catherine Seward and they had three children. Over the years they had several grand granite buildings built in and around the town, primarily Treloyhan Manor, a house on Hain Walk (this has ‘EH’ inscribed high up
To advertise please contact us on 07444 199081 or hello@stiveslocal.uk
