VICTORIAN benefactor and mill owner Jonathan Peate lived a long and comfortable life with all the trappings of wealth and status.
But his affluence in later life was in stark contrast to his humble beginnings.
Born in 1837 to parents who were far from wealthy, he was already working at the age of eight - selling bread door to door and later working on the construction of Bramhope Tunnel.
He found employment in the textile trade and became a mill manager after educating himself using the facilities of the Mechanics Institute.
In 1868 he built Nunroyd Mill in partnership with his brothers Joseph and Caleb. The mill was demolished in 1987 and is now the site for West Side Retail Park.
Peate, who lived with his family at Nunroyd House, became a JP in 1890 and was a generous benefactor in the local area.
He gave the land for Kirk Lane Park in Yeadon and there was a huge turn out for its official opening in 1907. Peate can be seen standing to the right of the clergyman. In 1919 he handed over the deeds for Nethermoor Park to the Chairman of Guiseley UDC.
He died in 1924 aged 87and is buried in Yeadon Cemetery, where a Celtic cross marks his grave.
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