Samuel Morton Peto built Lowestoft harbour and railway in the 1840s. This encouraged the massive growth of the fishing industry, and of the town - much of the development to the south of the harbour is due to him.
He inherited his uncle's building firm aged 14 and learned the trade. Early London contracts for his building firm included Nelson's column, the Lyceum, St. James's and the Houses of Parliament. Then in the early 1840s he got very interested in the railway system and railway works.
In 1843 Peto came to Lowestoft, and by 1847 had established a proper harbour and railway line so fish could be delivered alive to Manchester. Just imagine trucks full of fish swimming about inside them! As a result millions more fish were caught and sold to much wider markets. Lowestoft became a thriving fishing town of national importance.
In 1844 Peto bought Somerleyton Hall, near Lowestoft, which he lavishly extended & rebuilt as a huge mansion for himself.
Towards the end of his life Peto got badly into debt, (either his bank collapsed or his debtors didn't pay), and the worry affected his health. However he didn't let up with his schemes. He worked on the Victoria Docks project in london, and in 1855 was made a Baronet for building railways for the army in the Crimea.
Somerleyton Hall was sold to another wealthy self made industrialist, the Crossley family of Halifax, who made carpets. The present Lord Somerleyton is a descendant of that family, though I don't know if carpet manufacture still contributes to his fortune or whether the house and grounds are his only source of income now.
Visit the Somerleyton Hall website - then come back to mine!
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