Sir Josiah Mason (23 February 1795 – 16 June 1881) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
industrialist, engaged in
pen
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...
manufacture and other trades, and a philanthropist. He founded
Mason Science College
Mason Science College was a university college in Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of Birmingham University. Founded in 1875 by industrialist and philanthropist Sir Josiah Mason, the college was incorporated into the University o ...
in 1875, which later became the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
.
Biography
He was the son of a carpet-weaver, and was born in Mill Street,
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...
. He began life as a street hawker of cakes, fruits and vegetables. After trying his hand in his native town at shoemaking, baking, carpentering, blacksmithing, house-painting and carpet-weaving, he moved in 1816 to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. Here he found employment in the
gilt-toy trade. In 1824 he set up on his own account as a manufacturer of
split-rings by machinery, to which he subsequently added the making of steel pens.
Owing to the circumstance of his pens being marketed through James Perry (founder of
Perry & Co., the London stationer whose name they bore, he was less well known than
Joseph Gillott
Joseph Gillott (11 October 1799 – 5 January 1872) was an English pen-manufacturer and patron of the arts based in Birmingham.
Pen manufacturing
After a brief period of schooling, Gillott began working in the cutlery trade in his home t ...
and other makers, although he was really the largest producer in England, contributing heavily to the
Birmingham pen trade.
In 1874 the business was converted into a limited liability company. Besides his steel-pen trade, Mason carried on for many years the business of electro-plating, copper-smelting, and India-rubber ring making, in conjunction with
George Elkington.
Mason was almost entirely self-educated, having taught himself to write when a shoemaker's apprentice, and in later life he felt his deficiencies keenly. It was this which led him in 1860 to establish his great orphanage at
Erdington
Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...
, near
Sutton Coldfield, some 6 miles from Birmingham. Upon it he expended about £300,000, and for this munificent endowment he was knighted in 1872. He had previously given a dispensary to his native town and an almshouse to Erdington. In 1880
Mason College
Mason Science College was a university college in Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of Birmingham University. Founded in 1875 by industrialist and philanthropist Sir Josiah Mason, the college was incorporated into the University o ...
, since incorporated in the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
, was opened. The total value of the endowment was about £250,000.
In commemoration of him, his
bust
Bust commonly refers to:
* A woman's breasts
* Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders
* An arrest
Bust may also refer to:
Places
* Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France
*Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically
Media
* ''Bust'' (magazin ...
stands at the centre of the
roundabout
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...
at the junction of
Chester Road &
Orphanage Road
Orphanage Road is a road in Erdington and Wylde Green, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. Orphanage Road runs froErdington Library just before Erdington High Street, to Penns Lane, Sutton Coldfield and leads to Berwood Farm Rd and Welwyndale Rd. ...
in Erdington (). This bronze bust was cast in 1951 by
William Bloye
William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II.
Life
Bloye studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by World War ...
from a marble statue by
Francis John Williamson
Francis John Williamson (17 July 1833 – 12 March 1920) was a British portrait sculptor, reputed to have been Queen Victoria's favourite.
Career
After studying under John Bell he was an articled pupil of John Henry Foley for seven years, ...
in 1885, which stood opposite Mason Science College in
Edmund Street
__notoc__
Edmund Street is a street located in Birmingham, England.
Edmund Street is one of a series of roads on the old Colmore Estate which originally stretched from Temple Row in the city centre, around St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham, St ...
, but which has since been destroyed.
Williamson's statue was erected posthumously, Mason having vetoed its creation during his lifetime.
The bust is often "dressed" on special occasions and seasonal holidays.
References
''Josiah Mason: A Biography'' John Thackray Bunce
John Thackray Bunce (11 April 1828 – 28 June 1899) was a British journalist and author. He served as editor of '' Aris's Birmingham Gazette'' from 1860 to 1862, and of the ''Birmingham Post'' from 1862 to 1898.
Early years
Bunce was bo ...
, 1882
*''A History of Kidderminster'', Rev. John Richard Burton, 1890
*''Solid Citizens – Statues in Birmingham'', Bridget Pugh, 1983,
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Josiah
1795 births
1881 deaths
People from Kidderminster
English philanthropists
People associated with the University of Birmingham
Knights Bachelor
19th-century British philanthropists
19th-century English businesspeople