A SERIES of family events is planned to celebrate the 200th birthday of a town's founding father.

Ralph Ward Jackson was born in 1806 and began his career as a solicitor, later turning his attentions to developing the railway and docks at West Hartlepool.

By 1856, Mr Jackson's companies had built three docks in West Hartlepool - the Coal Dock, the Jackson Dock and the Swainson Dock.

The West Hartlepool Harbour and Dock Company, of which Mr Jackson was managing director, owned much of the land around the new harbour and laid out the first streets.

He was also responsible for the first shipbuilding yard in West Hartlepool.

Elected as Hartlepool's first MP, in 1868, he died in London on August 6, 1880.

To help celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth, Hartlepool Borough Council's arts, museums and events service has organised a number of free events.

The line-up includes:

Wednesday, June 7: Ralph Ward Jackson - Who Did He Think He Was? An informal talk and workshop led by Angela Whitecross, of Teesside Archives, and based on the Ward Jackson family tree. At Hartlepool Central Library, York Road, 3pm.

Saturday, June 10: In The Footsteps of Ward Jackson. A guided walk covering the areas of the town which existed during his life, including Christ Church, Scarborough Street and the docks. Meet in Hartlepool Art Gallery at 2pm. After the walk, meet at the art gallery for free tea and cake, followed at 3.45pm by The History of Christ Church, a talk and slide show by historian Liz Law.

There will also be an exhbition about Mr Jackson at Hartlepool Art Gallery, until June 18, and a Ward Jackson character will be at the gallery on Sunday, June 11, to lead a short tour of his town, at 2.30pm.