Fleetwood

Coordinates: 53°55′23″N 3°00′54″W / 53.923°N 3.015°W / 53.923; -3.015

Fleetwood is a town and civil parish within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 people at the 2011 census. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era. For most of the 20th century, Fleetwood was a prominent deep-sea fishing port, but, since the 1970s, the fishing industry has declined precipitously and the town has undergone economic difficulties. Fleetwood is also a seaside resort, serving as a quiet contrast to nearby Blackpool.

History

Ptolemy's Geographia in the 2nd century AD records a tribe known as the Setantii living in what is believed to be present-day West Lancashire, and a seaport built by the Romans called PORTVS SETANTIORVM ('the port of the Setantii') abutting Moricambe Aestuarium (presumably Morecambe Bay). There is also evidence of a Roman road running from Ribchester to Kirkham (12 miles (19 km) southeast of Fleetwood) which then makes a sharp turn to the northwest. Together, these suggest that Fleetwood may well have been the location of this Roman port. No direct evidence of the port has been found, but in 2007, an Iron Age settlement was discovered at Bourne Hill, just south of present-day Fleetwood, suggesting the area was populated in pre-Roman times.

Fleetwood (surname)

Fleetwood is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:

See also

Fleetwood (noble family)

Fleetwood is an Anglo-Swedish Baronial family, number 49 on the Swedish Riddarhuset. The family is descended from Lancashire in England. The oldest member known by name is William Fleetwood, mentioned 1320, however, documented information about the family starts in the 16th century.

Thomas Fleetwood

Thomas Fleetwood (1518-1570) originated from Heskin, Lancashire and purchased the manor of the Vache in Chalfont, Buckinghamshire in 1564. He was a member of parliament and a judge, and Master of the Royal Mint under King Henry VIII. He was granted the family's arms on 4 July 1548, which is still used by the family.

George Fleetwood, regicide and Cromwellian lord

The Vache was inherited by Sir George Fleetwood who died December 1620. It passed to his son Charles Fleetwood (died 1628) the father of George Fleetwood, who inherited the estate on the death of his father. George fought for Parliament during the English Civil War, and was one of the commissioners for trial of Charles I. He held various offices during the Interregnum, including a seat in Cromwell's House of Lords but after the Restoration was found guilty of regicide and although he was spared execution, his estate of The Vache confiscated and given to the Duke of York. After serving a number of years in prison he may have emigrated to America.