Whig governments of Earl Grey and Lord Melbourne
What was the position of Joseph Pease (railway pioneer) from Jul 1837 to Jun 1841?
Joseph Pease ( railway pioneer ) Joseph Pease ( 22 June 1799 – 8 February 1872 ) was a proponent and supporter of the earliest public railway system in the world and was the first Quaker permitted to take his seat in Parliament . Life . Joseph Pease joined his father Edward and other members of the Pease family in starting the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company . In 1826 he married Emma Gurney , youngest daughter of Joseph Gurney of Norwich . They had twelve children , amongst whom , were Sir Joseph Whitwell Pease , his eldest son and Arthur Pease ( 1837-1898 ) , who was his fourth son . Josephs fifth child , Elizabeth Lucy Pease , married the agricultural engineer and inventor , John Fowler , a pioneer in the application of steam power to agriculture . In 1829 , Pease was managing the Stockton and Darlington Railway , in place of his father . In 1830 , he bought a sufficient number of the collieries in the area , to become the largest owner of collieries in South Durham . That same year , along with his father-in-law Joseph Gurney of Norfolk , and other Quaker businessmen , they bought a large tract of land at Middlesbrough , which they projected as a port for exporting coal . In December 1830 , a new railway line was opened on the Stockton and Darlington railway , to Middlesbrough , for transporting the coal to the new port . In addition to collieries , he was interested in quarries and ironstone mines in Durham and North Yorkshire , as well as in cotton and woollen manufactures , and he was active in educational and philanthropic work . In 1832 , Pease was elected Member of Parliament for South Durham . As a Quaker , he was not immediately allowed to take his seat , because he refused to take the oath of office . A special committee considered the question and decided that Pease could affirm , rather than swear and thus , he was allowed to take his seat in Parliament , the first Quaker so to do . He was also unusual , in that , like most Quakers of the day , he refused to remove his hat , even when he entered the House of Commons . Pease introduced as a bill the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 , being a member of the committee of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals . The law was passed in part due to lobbying by the Society ( founded 1824 , since 1840 the RSPCA ) . The 1835 Act amended the existing legislation to prohibit the keeping of premises for the purpose of staging the baiting of bulls , dogs , bears , badgers or other Animal ( whether of domestic or wild Nature or Kind ) . The Act also banned ( but failed to eradicate ) dog fighting and cockfighting . Pease supported the Whig governments of Earl Grey and Lord Melbourne . He joined Thomas Fowell Buxton in the anti-slavery movement . He supported the removal of bishops from the House of Lords . He was also in favour of shorter Parliaments and the secret ballot . He retired from politics in 1841 . In 1860 , Pease became the president of the Peace Society , a post he held until his death . He wrote a poem in praise of Newington Academy for Girls , founded by Quaker scientist and abolitionist , William Allen . Like his father before him , he is buried at the Friends Burial Ground , Skinnergate , Darlington , County Durham . A statue to Joseph Pease stands at the junction of High Row and Bondgate , in the centre of Darlington . It was unveiled in 1875 , to mark the golden jubilee of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway . Joseph Pease also paid for the building of the Clock Tower in Darlington as a gift to Darlington .