The Pease family is an English and mostly Quaker family associated with Darlington, County Durham, and North Yorkshire, descended from Edward Pease of Darlington (1711–1785). They were 'one of the great Quaker industrialist families of the nineteenth century, who played a leading role in philanthropic and humanitarian interests'. They were heavily involved in woollen manufacturing, banking, railways, locomotives, mining, and politics. Notable events in their history include; their support of abolitionism; the founding of the Peace Society in 1816; the establishment of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the 1820s and its later absorption into the North Eastern Railway; the establishment of Robert Stephenson and Company in 1823; the purchase and development of Middlesbrough from 1830; the abolition of bear-baiting and cockfighting through 'Pease's Act' (the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 ); a bid to avert the Crimean War through personal interview with Czar Nicholas in 1854; the building of Hutton Hall in 1866; the establishment of The Northern Echo newspaper in 1870; the assembly of an important art collection, and the failure of the family bank in 1902. The latter forced several of them close to bankruptcy. Nine members of the family were Members of Parliament, including the first Quaker Member of Parliament. Edward Pease (1711-1785) was the son of Joseph Pease (1663-1719) of Pease Hall, Felkirk, Shafton Green (now Barnsley), whose family had earlier come from Sikehouse, Fishlake, Yorkshire, and who had married Ann Couldwell (1681-1725), heiress of her uncles William Couldwell of Cudworth (near Shafton Green) and Thomas Couldwell of Darlington, yeomen woolcombers with family businesses established in the 17th (or possibly 16th) century. These wool businesses formed the basis of the Pease's later fortunes. Edward Pease's eldest son was Joseph Pease (1737–1808) who founded Pease Partners Bank (1761). His children included

Edward Pease's descendants

Edward Pease had five sons and three daughters, including:

Joseph Pease's descendants

The second Joseph Pease married Elizabeth Beaumont of Feethams and had two children:

More distant relations

Related Peases, but not considered Darlington Peases, were descendants of the first Joseph Pease's brother, Thomas Pease (1743–1811). His granddaughter, Hannah Ford née Pease was mother of Isabella Ford, the reformer, and Emily Susan Ford, the painter. His grandson Thomas Pease (1816–1884) married three times and had many children, with his third wife, Susanna Ann Fry, sister of the judge Edward Fry and aunt of Roger Fry. These children included Joseph Pease's sister Ann (died 1826) married Jonathan Backhouse (1747–1826) founder of Backhouse's Bank in 1774 and was mother of She was also great-grandmother of and ancestor of, among others,

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