VERDIN - a name which can be found in many places around Mid Cheshire, and here we look at three notable members and the impact they have had on the area.

Robert Verdin inherited the family salt business from his father Joseph and by 1880 the company Joseph Verdin & Sons was the largest salt manufacturer in Britain producing 353,000 tons of salt annually.

The company had salt works and mines in various locations including Marston, Over, Wharton, Middlewich and Witton. He was a Northwich businessman and politician. He never married and lived with his brother Joseph and sister Mary at The Brockhurst, a Regency house that still exists in Leftwich. He was a prolific philanthropist and in 1886 he gave the house that is now The Victoria Infirmary to the town. He also gave Verdin Park and the Verdin baths that were built on it. A statue in his memory is still there in Verdin Park. He died at The Brockhurst in 1887.

His brother Joseph, another partner in the family firm was also a prominent figure in Northwich’s affairs and lived at The Brockhurst. He was made a Baron in 1896 and knighted in 1897. He was a JP and Deputy Lieutenant of the county and gave the Technical Schools to Northwich and Winsford to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.

When subsidences started to occur he set up the Verdin Trust in 1889 to compensate those affected. Just two years later the Brine Pumping Act was introduced rendering the Verdin Trust redundant. The money put to one side was then used for many charitable works in the area. Then with his brother William Henry Verdin he gave the Verdin Brine Baths to Winsford. When the Salt Union was formed in 1888 it brought an end to the Verdin family business. Joseph bought and moved to Garnstone Castle in Herefordshire with his sister Mary. He became a JP and High Sherriff of Herefordshire in 1903, like his brother Robert he never married and died in Herefordshire.

Finally there was his brother, the aforementioned William Henry Verdin who was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Cheshire, he was High Sheriff in 1897. He lived with his family at Highfield House, Winsford and later moved to Darnhall Hall, Winsford, donating Highfield House to the town to become The Albert Infirmary.