Edward Allen Brotherton, 1st Baron Brotherton, (1 April 1856 – 21 October 1930), known as Sir Edward Brotherton, Bt, between 1918 and 1929, was an industrialist in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, England and a benefactor to the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

and other causes. He was also a Conservative Party politician, and sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1902 and 1922.

Early life and education

Edward Allen Brotherton was born 1 April 1856 at 2 Tiverton Place, Ardwick Green,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

to Theophilus Brotherton, a yarn agent, and Sarah née O'Donnell. He was also related to educational reformer Edward Brotherton and to the first MP for

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, Joseph Brotherton. At the age of 14 Brotherton made an unsuccessful attempt to go to sea which lasted only two days. He left school at 15 working at a hardware store before finding a position as an assistant at a chemical laboratory. At this time, he also attended evening classes in chemistry taught by Henry Roscoe at Owens College, Manchester. At 19 he began work at a chemical works in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

Business career

In 1878 Brotherton, with backing from his family, became the founding partner of

company Dyson Brothers and Brotherton. The company manufactured ammonium sulphate, taking advantage of plentiful supplies of ammoniacal liquor produced by the local coal and gas industry and supplied

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

to the textile industry and for use in the extraction of gold. In 1889 Brotherton's partnership with the Dyson brothers ended and he continued the business alone under the name Brotherton and Co. The company would go on to become one of the largest private chemical companies in the country expanding into coal tar distillation and manufacturing products such as pitch,

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

and

creosote Creosote is a category of carbonaceous chemicals formed by the distillation of various tars and pyrolysis of plant-derived material, such as wood, or fossil fuel. They are typically used as preservatives or antiseptics. Some creosote types w ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The business also moved from headquarters in Wakefield to City Chambers,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. Brotherton's nephew Charles Ratcliffe, husband of

Dorothy Una Ratcliffe Dorothy Una Ratcliffe (20 April 1887 – 20 November 1967), often known as D.U.R., was a socialite, heiress and author. She wrote in the Yorkshire dialect, despite being born in Sussex and brought up in Surrey. She published 49 books, edited a ma ...

, later succeeded his uncle as head of the business and took the name Brotherton. The company continued after Brotherton's death until 1957 when it was acquired by British Chrome and Chemicals. The company later traded under various names such as Brotherton Chemicals Ltd, Brotherton Speciality Products Ltd and Brotherton Esseco Ltd.

Political career

Brotherton was

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP for

from 1902 to 1910 and again from 1918 to 1922. He was first elected at a by-election in March 1902, after his predecessor Lord Milton (subsequently the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam) inherited a peerage and became a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. Brotherton was elected as

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

for Leeds City from 1911 to 1915 and was Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1913–14. He was also an Alderman of

from 1901. During the time Brotherton served as Lord Mayor of Leeds, his niece, Dorothy Una Ratcliffe, took the role of

Lady Mayoress Lady mayoress is an official female companion to the lord mayor of a major city in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland, or a capital city of an Australian state. Traditionally this was the wife of a male mayor. It is not an elected offic ...

. As Lord Mayor he raised the

West Yorkshire Regiment The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was ...

(Leeds Pals) at his own expense, in return receiving the title of Honorary Colonel.

Collecting

During his lifetime Brotherton amassed a collection including books, manuscripts and letters. His first foray into collecting was, however, unsuccessful. In February 1922 he attempted to buy a 15th-century Towneley manuscript of

Wakefield Mystery Plays The Wakefield or Towneley Mystery Plays are a series of thirty-two mystery plays based on the Bible most likely performed around the Feast of Corpus Christi probably in the town of Wakefield, England during the Late Middle Ages until 1576. It is ...

but was outbid by the American book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach. His niece, Dorothy Una Ratcliffe, was so disappointed by the loss that Brotherton took her to the bookseller

Bernard Quaritch Bernard Alexander Christian Quaritch ( ; April 23, 1819 – December 17, 1899) was a German-born British bookseller and collector. The company established by Bernard Quaritch in 1847 lives on in London as Bernard Quaritch Ltd, dealing in rare ...

where they bought a first edition of

Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...

's Miscellaneous Poems instead. Aided and encouraged by Dorothy, Brotherton continued to add to what would become a large and varied collection and later employed J Alexander Symington as librarian. In 1926 Brotherton published a catalogue of the highlights of the collection. Brotherton enjoyed showing his treasures to visitors to his home and welcomed many scholars to his private library.

Brotherton Library

In 1927 Brotherton donated £100,000 to the

for a new library. In June 1930, in one of his last public acts, he laid the foundation stone for the building, at the same time announcing that he would bequeath his collection of books and manuscripts to the university. The Brotherton Library opened in 1936 and still houses his collection which includes 35,000 books, 400 manuscripts, 4,000 deeds and 30,000 letters. On his death Brotherton's will also revealed a further bequest of £100,000 to the university. Today the Brotherton Circle honours the generosity of alumni and friends who include a gift to the University of Leeds in their will.

Marriage and child

In 1882 Brotherton married Mary Jane Brookes, daughter of artist and designer Warwick Brookes. Their marriage was short-lived as Mary died in childbirth in 1883. The child, a daughter, also died. Brotherton never remarried and kept in contact with Mary's family for the rest of his life.

Honours

Brotherton was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Wakefield in the West Riding of the County of York, in 1918. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Brotherton of Wakefield in the County of York in 1929 for "political, public and charitable causes". As he had no son, both titles became extinct upon his death.

Death

Brotherton spent his later years at Roundhay Hall, Leeds (now Spire Leeds Hospital) and Kirkham Hall, Yorkshire where he died on 21 October 1930 at the age of 74. His burial at Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds on 24 October 1930 was attended only by the male members of his family, at his stipulation.

References

External links

*
Biography on website of Brotherton Esseco

A podcast about a 14th-century manuscript from the Brotherton collection at the University of Leeds

Audio Podcast from Astrotalkuk.org
. A rediscovery of a copy of the Almagest in the special collections of the Brotherton Library in the University of Leeds.
Lord Brotherton of Wakefield (1856-1930), Leeds University Library's greatest benefactor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brotherton, Edward Brotherton, 1st Baron 1856 births 1930 deaths English businesspeople People from Ardwick People associated with the University of Leeds Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs who were granted peerages English book and manuscript collectors Politics of Wakefield Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Mayors of Leeds Barons created by George V