Annual Report of the Council. xxxvii 



which he piesented, together with the Art Gallery and Museum, 

 to his native town of Heywood. 



Mr. Kay took a keen interest in archaeology, geology, 

 botany and natural science. 



He was a man of strong individuality, quick in action ; no 

 sooner had he decided to do something than he at the same 

 moment commenced to materialise it. His business success 

 seems to have been largely due to his rapidity of conceiving and 

 carrying out any scheme which suggested itself to him. If he 

 received a letter, the answer was generally penned and made 

 ready for the post before the letter left his hand and within a 

 few minutes of its receipt. In travelling, he always carried with 

 him his sketching pads and colours, and when he found an 

 interesting subject he sketched it in a few minutes and afterwards 

 completed it, and many of his pictures are truly works of art. 

 He often regretted that he had not spent his whole life as an 

 artist. 



A few lines from a character sketch, written under the title, 

 " Stockport's New Mayor/' may be cited : — 



" Hearty, hospitable Thomas Kay has accepted the invita- 

 "tion of the Stockport Council .... Who in Stockport does 

 " not know that broad smiling face, does not recognise the bluff 

 "old-English style of the easy-going and warm-hearted man 

 " whose name is a synonym for philanthropy and good deeds ; 

 "anyone at first glance would pronounce Thomas Kay as a 

 "typical Briton. He does not stand on ceremony, does not 

 " mince his words, does not dilly-dally in his undertakings. He 

 " knows exactly what to do and does it. He is a keen business 

 "man, a scientist of no mean repute, and a patron of the 

 "arts." W.T. 



Robert Bewick Longridge, the fourth and last surviving 

 son of Michael Longridge, Esquire, J. P., was born at Bedlington, 

 in Northumberland, on the 2nd January, 182 1. He received 

 his education at Grange School, Sunderland, from private tutors, 

 and at Edinburgh University. After leaving the University he 



