In 1853 Thomas and Martha Fresh were living in a much extended and improved former agricultural cottage on his 'model farm' in the
Formby district between Liverpool and Southport when, on behalf of local residents and the joint Lord of the Manor, he asked the directors of the
Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway to construct a station at that point on the line. He donated his own land for the purpose. Fresh's house is today 95 Freshfield Road, Freshfield. A blue plaque has been affixed to the house by the Formby Civic Society, and an application is to be made to have the house 'listed' to celebrate its significance as the home of the founder of Freshfield and one of the Liverpool public health pioneers. A nearby
public house is called 'The Freshfield'. Fresh's official duties included solving the problem of the disposal of Liverpool's "night-soil". He arranged for a part of it to be transported from Liverpool to Freshfield for use as fertiliser on hitherto unproductive nearby fields, helping to develop a local trade in potato and
asparagus cultivation. Freshfield is now an affluent residential district in the
Borough of Sefton.
Liverpool John Moores University organises an annual 'Thomas Fresh' public health lecture in his name. ==References==