30 Life and Times of " The Druid" 



Before moving to Carlisle early in the 

 present century, the Dixon family had lived 

 for a considerable time at Whitehaven, where 

 " The Druid's " grandfather (whose Chris- 

 tian name, like that of his father, was Peter), 

 amassed a very comfortable fortune. He 

 was a leading and successful merchant and 

 shipowner in Whitehaven, and became united 

 in marriage to Miss Mary Ferguson, the only 

 daughter of a prosperous citizen of Carlisle. 

 In consequence of this connection the elder 

 Mr. Peter Dixon emigrated from Whitehaven 

 to Carlisle, which circumstance was probably 

 the cause of as great a change in the char- 

 acter, prosperity, and general appearance of 

 that famous little town as any other event of 

 a like kind which ever befel it. At the time 

 when Peter Dixon the elder first settled in Car- 

 lisle, no such thing- as manufactories existed 

 there. Handicrafts there were on a small 

 scale, the result of which was that fish-hooks, 

 whips, and hats of a peculiar style were 

 turned out in abundance, and that a few 

 school books — principally of a geographical 

 nature — were printed in and about English 

 Street. In addition, there were a few 



