Henry Schneider

Henry William Schneider (12 May 1817 – 11 November 1887) was a British industrialist, and politician, who played a leading role in the development of the new town of Barrow-in-Furness.

His breakthrough in Furness was the discovery of the massive Burlington iron ore mine near Askam in 1851.

He and other investors including James Ramsden founded the Furness Railway, the first section of which opened in 1846.

Every morning he left home and travelled on his steam yacht SL Esperance, on which he had breakfast, across the lake to Lakeside.

He had other homes in the area at Roa Island, next to the lifeboat station, later used as a fisheries centre and at Oak Lea, near Sowerby Woods, which burnt down in mysterious circumstances in 1913.