Secrets of Blackburn mayor’s shady life (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Secrets of Blackburn mayor’s shady life

9:20am Monday 16th February 2009

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A 140-YEAR-OLD mystery surrounding a Victorian mayor’s affairs has revealed a tale of bankruptcy, fraud and suspicion.

Blackburn Museum reseacher Carla Harwood was asked to find out more about former town mayor Thomas Lund as part of an examination of objects given to the museum when it first opened in 1874.

A number of the objects belonged to Lund, of whom the museum had a painting, but little was known about his life except that he had been an important figure in the town who had then fallen into disgrace.

Now, thanks to Miss Harwood’s research and the help of accountancy group Pierce, it has been discovered that Lund escaped the long arm of the law over alleged fraudulent activities because officials were unsure how to apply the then newly-created law.

They discovered that cotton trader Lund had married into the famous Thwaites brewery family only to be accused of fraud by his own in-laws. He was declared bankrupt in 1868.

Now his story will go on to the popular Blackburn local history website, Cotton Town www.cottontown.org, which is run by the council.

Stephen Irwin, a Black-burn with Darwen Council education officer, said Carla, from Great Harwood who helps voluntarily at the museum while studying for her A-levels, had uncovered a fascinating story of Victorian times.

He said: “Carla was researching an article for us on a collection of objects that were the very first to be given to the museum after it opened in 1874.

“She went on to discover a reference to Blackburn’s Mayor, Thomas Lund, and then found a darker side to his story.

“In 1868, Thomas was declared bankrupt. Then as now, this was a personal tragedy, but in Thomas’s case the newspaper reports were confusing and suggested a fraud involving his own family.

After an appeal for help, Andrew Stephenson, of Pierce, was able to confirm that Thomas’s brothers-in-law had suspected him of trying to defraud them and, as he had refused to give up all his papers, they had good grounds for their suspicions.”

Andrew Stephenson, senior tax manager at Pierce, in Richmond Terrace, Blackburn, said he was delighted to help with the research.

He said: “This was a fascinating story, and I was more than happy to help when the museum contacted me.

“I was able to discover that despite being a generous Victorian gentleman and volunteer with the armed forces, it is thought Lund had indeed been involved in fraudulent activities.

“However, he got away scot-free because the bankruptcy law of the time was very new and there was some confusion over how it was to be applied.”

The public can learn more about Lund by visiting the gallery in Museum Street.

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