The gardens included numerous terraces and a On 17 April 1874, after a two-year engagement, they were married at the Church of St Andrew and St George (then Congregational, now United Reformed) on St Georges Road, Bolton. and in 1917 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Leverhulme, the latter part This led to a dispute with Hampstead Borough Council over Lever's intentions to take over a public right of way to join the two plots; an issue that was not resolved to his satisfaction. Philip Lever, the third and last Viscount Leverhulme, who has died aged 85, was a successful racehorse owner and pillar of the Jockey Club. One of the more remarkable Below The Line projects was the Sunlight Year Book, which was a type of almanac first introduced in 1895. 1851 in the town of Bolton, Lancashire. Within two years of its opening, however, representations were made to change its status to a licensed house. [71] The Lady Lever Art Gallery opened in 1922 and is in the Port Sunlight conservation area. especially generous to his home town of Bolton. Left with so much of the Island he no longer wanted, Leverhulme sold off as much as he could, but many of the buyers were interested principally in shooting and fishing. William married Elizabeth Ellen Hulme at Bolton in 1874.[6]. boating lake. [27], Lever's desire to directly influence the consumer led to the employment of "District Agents" whose tasks involved engaging directly with members of the public in order to advance the merits of the company's products, as well as to act as undercover agents who reported on anything they observed that could be useful to Port Sunlight. ornamental doves and pigeons. Robert Munro, himself a Highlander, believed passionately in the reinstatement of the crofts and he also felt strongly that the Imperial Parliament at Westminster was unlikely to tolerate any departure from the implementation of land reform, but he saw no reason why Lewis should not have Leverhulme's industrial schemes as well as more crofts. Some 30 architects were commissioned to create a complete garden village in what was unapologetically called the old English style Genealogy profile for Margaret, Viscountess Leverhulme. [57][58], In 1904, Lever purchased The Hill, an Edwardian mansion at Hampstead. the story of the Rivington Terraced Gardens, referred to as one of the largest The Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 had empowered the Scottish Secretary, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, to acquire certain farms in the Highlands and Islands by compulsory purchase and to have them divided up to provide more crofts. Lever Park, Rivington - Chorley - Parks & Gardens wealthiest and most powerful English industrialists of the era. Other allegations included claims that the Trust was trying to control the available supplies of raw materials and that it was preparing to use 'unsavoury substances' in its soaps. He paid for two stained glass windows, one illustrating the Parable of the Talents in memory of his father, and another, The Resurrection Morning, in memory his mother. On 15 July 1907 the case came up at Liverpool before Mr Justice Lawrence. Geni requires JavaScript! Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love. Also Specially Written Story by Sir Walter Besant. The prominent In 1936, William, 2nd Lord Leverhulme, paid for many improvements to the church, including widening the chancel and providing choir stalls, a communion table and a pulpit. From 1918 on, he spends around a million pounds in an attempt to transform the Isle of Lewis, an island off the west coast of Scotland, but local opposition slowly sinks his vision. In accordance with nonconformist tenets, the Lever family held frequent bible readings at home, and were regular worshipers at the local chapel. [64] He is buried in the churchyard of Christ Church in Port Sunlight in what was then Cheshire, now Merseyside. Sister of John Hulme and James C Hulme. Father of William Hulme Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme Thornton Manor was restructured and the gardens greatly extended. BEALL, MARTHA DAISY. Although many such people preferred to find their own accommodation, there were others who, for whatever reason, were never given an opportunity to reside in Port Sunlight. and the property was put up for sale. But this didn't extend to his African workers, with fatal consequences. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of theTerms and Conditions. employees, along the lines of the Town of Pullman in Chicago. The inspiration for the tower In 1907, while sitting as an MP, he was a founder of the Phoenix Lodge 3236, and in May 1912 he founded St. Hilary Lodge No. The community was designed to house and support the workers. It was acquired by Lever after Brownlow's death and was rented out until demolition in 1942, its land was used for coal mining. As a result, Mersey Lodge was consecrated on 19 January 1934. Other food industry enterprises were acquired including Wall's, a manufacturer of ice-cream and sausages, and various companies specialising in different segments of the fish business, as well as several fishing fleet owners and operators. Expecting Leverhulme's approval, the raiders were taken aback when he voiced his complete condemnation of their actions and asked them to withdraw from his land. In 1906 copying the trust set up by the American Robber Barons like JP Morgan, Rockefeller and Carnegie, William creates a soap monopoly. The painting was previously owned by his competitor, A & F Pears, who used paintings such as Bubbles by John Everett Millais to promote its products. [2][3][4], An aspiring patron of the arts, Lever began collecting artworks in 1893 when he bought a painting by Edmund Leighton. hopes of raising awareness for this little known treasure. United Reformed Church of St Andrew and St George, Bolton, Philip William Bryce Lever, 3rd Viscount Leverhulme, "Lord Leverhulme (William Hesketh Lever)", "Priceless bust of Lever stolen from memorial; Bronze sculpture may be melted down for scrap", Christ Church, Port Sunlight: Photograph of Leverhulme memorial, The United Reformed Church of St Andrew and St George, Its Origin and History, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Lever,_2nd_Viscount_Leverhulme&oldid=1088215827, Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 2nd Baron Leverhulme, of Bolton-le-Moors, co. Lancaster, 7 May 1925, Honorary degree of Doctor of Law (LL.D.) The mystery of the William Lever plaque is lost The main coordinating base was established at Leverville in what was then the district of Kwango, later part of the Province of Lopoldville. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. [5] Lever's rival in the soap industry, A & F Pears, had taken the lead in using art for marketing by buying paintings such as Bubbles by John Everett Millais to promote its products. He was invited to contest elections for the Liberal Party. Promotional literature, in the form of instructions about the best ways of using the company's products, was widely distributed, as well as allegorical accounts of their successful adoption by stylish and totally fictional upper-class ladies.[25]. Login to find your connection. The chancel walls and the organ gallery were lined with carved Austrian oak panelling. Wife of William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme. [49] Sir William Lever, Baronet, as he had become in December 1911, firmly believed that paid labour alongside the schools, hospitals and rations his company promised to provide would attract workers. Lord Leverhulme's secret history - Home - Facebook His wife, Elizabeth Hulme, not only lived on the same street as him, but attended the same church. For his private use, Sunlight, Lux, and Lifebuoy to name but a few. Unlike the robust William, James will suffer from ill health throughout his short life. Leverhulme refused to budge, believing that the break-up of his farms would lead to seriously inefficient, probably unsustainable, and ultimately abandoned smallholdings as crofters moved away in search of better incomes. And unlike the US Robber Barons, for Lord Leverhulme his workers' welfare was as important as his wealth. [5] Due to their involvement with the Belgian Congo, there was a stark contrast to how the Leverhulmes are remembered at home in England. They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson. [29], By 1905, many of the raw materials used in the manufacture of soap were being used by makers of margarine and other new products, and in early 1906 it was clear that this increased demand was not temporary and prices rose sharply. For women and girls, special classes are offered in cooking, dressmaking and shorthand. Robert Munro, the Secretary of State for Scotland, and Donald Murray, the MP for the Western Isles, as well as a number of supporting characters including most of the House of Commons, were anxious to redress past oppression of the Highlanders who had so recently served with outstanding bravery in the First World War. His first wife was Marion Beatrice Smith (6 July 1886 30 August 1987),[3] daughter of Bryce Smith and whom he married 13 April 1912 and divorced in 1936. Lady Lever also used the In the space of only a few years his company Lever Brothers grew to become a household name, and its products, which included Sunlight Soap and Lux, were sold around the world. The company town of Leverville was a project born out of the shared desire of the Belgian Government and of Lever Brothers to build a 'moral' form of capitalism in Central Africa. The Port Sunlight plant alone produces 5,000 tonnes of soap a week. [20], After much consideration, William began to consider the possibility of taking control of the manufacture, and thus the quality, of Sunlight soaps. The couple will have a number of children, but only one, also called William, will survive. Lord Leverhulme: Biography Science and Technology William Lever built Britain's largest company and in so doing, made the first modern multinational. And as the cottages are tied to employment, losing your job means losing the roof over your head. AETNUK. William Hesketh Lever, who later became the first Viscount Lord Leverhulme, was a renowned industrial entrepreneur who started his industrial success with a bar of soap. For Northcliffe, this was clearly a victory of liberty over iniquity, a view reflected in the Daily Mail's headline, "Public Opinion Smashed the Soap Trust". Having spent the later years of his life in London, aged 74, he ends his days there. His father ran a successful car business but his main interest was fishing. Taken 8 August 2006.Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3848481, William Hulme Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh 1st Viscount Leverhulme Lever, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lever,_1st_Viscount_Leverhulme. [7], William Lever was born on 19 September 1851 at 16 Wood Street, Bolton, Lancashire, England. [53], Typically, Leverhulme's business strategies were comprehensive and meticulously set out. Birth of Hon Rosemary Gertrude Alexandra Whetherly, Death of William Hulme Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme. 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. He set in motion a campaign of investigative journalism, some of which seems to have verged upon persecution; the clear objective of which was to smash Lever's soap combine. He was an advocate for expansion of the British Empire, particularly in Africa and Asia, which supplied palm oil, a key ingredient in Lever's product line. Lady Lever was born Elizabeth Ellen Hulme, the daughter of Crompton Hulme, a master draper who lived with his family over the shop at 2 Deansgate in Bolton. He builds on marshes and creates Port Sunlight. Geni requires JavaScript! The result was an accord to put in motion changes that would effectively cartelise the industry by stifling competition and controlling prices to the consumer. Rivington Gardens was one of a series of three major private gardens produced by Thomas Hayton Mawson (1861-1933) in collaboration with the industrialist and philanthropist William Hesketh Lever, Lord Leverhulme (1851-1925), the others being The Hill, Hampstead, London, begun in 1906, and Thornton Manor, Thornton Hough, Merseyside, also begun . Lever Brothers is born. [11][12], In 1902, when he became the first initiate of a lodge bearing his name (William Hesketh Lever Lodge No. He was Provincial Senior Grand Warden of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire, and founded many other Lodges. He subsequently acquired more land in the village and many of its picturesque, but outdated, houses were demolished and replaced with modern homes which were rented to Port Sunlight employees. Its a hugely costly diversion from his core business. Instead, he presented it all to Liverpool University, bestowing significant sums to the faculties of Town Planning, Tropical Medicine, and Russian Studies, while making sure that an enduring record of the litigation was ensconced in the University library.[45]. Would-be house buyers can buy a home for 170,000 in a tree-lined village - but they would have to agree to a number of strict rules before completing the deal. Genealogy for Margaret Ann Lever (Moon) (1916 - 1973) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme - Geni The expanded activity necessitated a search for new suppliers, taking William to Ireland, France and other parts of Europe, appointing local agents to safeguard the firm's interests. During this remarkable development James is felled by a bout of illness and resigns his directorship. Within 12 months, Lever had registered a series of trade marks, among them Sunlight, a house style that was later applied to a range of household soaps. By John Robertson, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6438332, William Hesketh Lever, Elizabeth Ellen Hulme Leverhulme, Elizabeth Ruth Lever, Hon, Phillip William Bryce Lever, Hon Rosemary Gertrude Alexandra Lever, Mar 25 1888 - Bolton, Lancashire, England, William Hesketh 1st Viscount Leverhulme Lever, Elizabeth Ellen Lever, William Hesketh Lever, Elizabeth Ellen Lever (born Hulme), Marion Beatrice Lever (born Bryce- Smith), Winifred Agnes Lever (born Lloyd), Rosemary Gertrude Alexandra Whetherly (born Lever), Elizabeth Ruth Lever, Philip William Bryce Lever. Leverhulme's participation in this system of formalised labour has been documented by Jules Marchal, who contends that, "Leverhulme set up a private kingdom reliant on the horrific Belgian system of forced labour, a program that reduced the population of Congo by half and accounted for more deaths than the Nazi holocaust". Survey finds 1 in 8 Brits believe they could pull off the perfect bank robbery? Rivington Terraced Gardens, Lancashire - The Gardens Trust Later needing more space, in 1888, the brothers constructed a new factory at Port Sunlight. Much of the Sunlight brand "message" focussed on the alleviation of drudgery in the lives of working class housewives, targeted no doubt because of the increased spending power and improved education of that large section of the British population, the skilled workers. ment Harmony Cemetery. Schools are built to educate 500 children. That same year he was elected to Parliament, Consequently, Leverhulme's plans advanced there with very few problems. Lord Leverhulme asked them to take the land and make their system work, but only Stornoway, always on Leverhulme's side, accepted the gift, set up the Trust, and to a large extent made it work for the benefit of the town. Massively successful products such as Lifebuoy, Lux and Vim are launched and subsidiaries are set up in the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Germany. piqued our interest. His remuneration was "a shilling a week all found" which meant that his board and lodgings were provided, making the financial aspect of the contract more-or-less pocket money. They drove off the farmers' livestock, demolished boundary walls, and staked out six-acre plots: by the summer sixteen out of the twenty-two farms on the island had been affected. Roynton Cottage. A press campaign by the Daily Mail orchestrates a consumer boycott. [8][1], At some stage, William was moved to the administration department where he learned about and subsequently reorganised the firm's accounting and bookkeeping systems. Lord Leverhulme commissioned a replica of Liverpool Castle to be built on his Rivington estate of Lever Park, near Horwich. Margaret Ann Lever (Moon) (1916 - 1973) - Genealogy The success of this aspect of Lever's marketing strategy led to the first overseas manufacturing plant being established in Switzerland. space as a sewing room and music room. Boltons largest park is created on land donated by him in 1914. On returning from a trip to Africa, Lord Leverhulme goes down with pneumonia. [19], The Lever soap campaign began with a range of Sunlight branded soaps differentiated mainly by colour: Pale, Mottled and Brown, with a fourth variant presented as a product that was especially formulated for washing clothes. There is no evidence that Lever or Mawson would have known the Glessner Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851-1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854-1916). One subtle proposition introduced from America was designed to persuade women that the toil of housework was responsible for an accelerated aging process, and that Sunlight Soap offered a form of liberation. In1885, with his brother James Darcy Lever, William established Lever Brothers and began manufacturing Sunlight Soap, the world's first packaged branded laundry soap, using a formula of glycerin and vegetable oils, rather than animal fats, invented by Bolton chemist, William Hough Watson. "[55] A further building he purchased was Rockhaven in 1899 in Horwich. Leverhulme definition, English soap manufacturer, originator of an employee profit-sharing plan, and founder of a model industrial town. Grocer 1867-86, soap manufacturer from 1886; founder of Port Sunlight and Chairman of Lever Brothers plc; Member of Parliament (Liberal) for Wirral 1906-10; High Sheriff of Lancashire 1917; Mayor of Bolton 1918-19; Junior Warden, Grand lodge of England 1918. The story of Rivington Terraced Gardens begins with Lord Leverhulme, born William Hesketh Lever in 1851 in the town of Bolton, Lancashire. This week, we share The park, which covers about 160 hectares, includes terraced gardens with walks, water features, a Japanese garden with pool, a scale model of Liverpool Castle, and an ornate pigeon tower with a sewing room on the top floor. Seven hundred men from Port Sunlight signed up for the WWI madness. William Lever built Britains largest company and in so doing, made the first modern multinational. [8], The Lever family were Congregationalists and James Lever, a teetotaller and a non-smoker, applied its principles in his business life as well as in his personal life. Lever had been justice of the peace for Cheshire, he was also High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1917. Home > User Trees > Ray-Roberts-1. Suffragette Confesses to Deeds of Violence, Says She Fired Sir W. Lever's Bungalow", "The Hill Hampstead at the Thomas Mawson Archive website", "Heritage: Soap-boiler, social reformer, MP and tribal chieftain the life of William Lever", "Hubris and colonial capitalism in a "model" company town. Lord Leverhulme | | The Guardian (The company survives today under the name Unilever). Liverpool Castle Replica, Rivington, near Horwich - Lancashire Past semi-circular tower of the structure. It seems clear, therefore, that Northcliffe was in the wrong and, moreover, he knew that he would most probably lose the case: he reportedly offered Lever a public apology shortly before the start of the trial. Nevertheless, Leverhulme planned to entice them into becoming carbon copies of his Lancashire artisans by offering them an attractive alternative to their meagre smallholdings. [10][59][55], Suffragette Edith Rigby claimed to have set fire to Leverhulme's bungalow at Rivington on 7 July 1913, although it is suspected her confession was false. . In 1913, four farms on Lewis had been scheduled for take-over, but the action had been opposed by the proprietor at that time, and when the war with Germany broke out it was left in abeyance. At the same time, a good workman may have a wife of objectionable habits, or he may have objectionable habits himself, which make it undesirable to have him in the (Port Sunlight) village.