Sir Jeremiah Colman, 1st Baronet, DL (24 April 1859 - 16 January 1942) was an industrialist who developed

Colman's Mustard Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited ran ...

into an international concern.

Career

Colman was the son of Jeremiah Colman (1807 - 1885) and Isabella Button.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003 Educated at

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London and ...

and

St. John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, Colman joined the J & J Colman

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

business and then served as its

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

from 1896.Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
/ref> He was also Chairman of

Commercial Union Commercial Union plc was a large insurance business based in London. It merged with General Accident in 1998 to form CGU plc. History Commercial Union was established following a conflagration near London Bridge in 1861, known as the Great Too ...

. He served as

High Sheriff of Surrey The list of known High Sheriffs of Surrey extends back to 1066. At various times the High Sheriff of Surrey was also High Sheriff of Sussex (1229–1231, 1232–1240, 1242–1567, 1571–1635). 1066–1228 (High Sheriffs of Surrey only) 1229– ...

from 1893 to 1894 and also became Lieutenant of the City of London. He 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 ...

in 1907.

Personal life

In 1885, he married Mary McMaster of

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ha ...

, Surrey. They had one son, also Jeremiah, who succeeded his father in 1942. In 1888 he purchased Gatton Park, a country estate in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. At Gatton Park he amassed one of the largest collections of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s in the country. He commissioned

Henry Ernest Milner Henry Ernest Milner (18 April 1845 – 10 March 1906) was an English civil engineer and landscape architect. Personal life He was the son of landscape architect Edward Milner and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Kelly, who had eleven children, of who ...

to design the

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

. He was also keen on

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and from 1916 to 1923 he was President of

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

. He also funded the ''Colman Library'' at the Department of Biochemistry at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In 1936 he was the recipient of the Silver Fish Award, presented by the founder of Scouting,

Lord Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...

, for "making possible" the extension to London's East End Scouting home, Roland House. Colman's brother in law was the lawyer

Charles Tyrrell Giles Sir Charles Tyrrell Giles King's Counsel, KC (2 February 1850 – 16 January 1940), was a British lawyer and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who represented Wisbech (UK Parliament constituency), Wisbech. Giles was the son of A ...

.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 859

References

1859 births 1942 deaths People educated at King's College School, London Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British businesspeople Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Deputy Lieutenants of Surrey High Sheriffs of Surrey Colman family {{UK-business-bio-1850s-stub