Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart, 1st Baronet (9 May 1872 – 27 February 1951), was an English industrialist and philanthropist. He incorporated

The London Brick Company The London Brick Company, owned by Forterra plc, is a leading British manufacturer of bricks. History The London Brick Company owes its origins to John Cathles Hill, a developer-architect who built houses in London and Peterborough. In 1889, ...

in the 1920s which was at the time reputed to be the largest brick making company in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Early life

Stewart was born at

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston *St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St L ...

, Sussex, sixth of eight children of

Halley Stewart Sir Halley Stewart (18 January 1838 – 26 January 1937) was an English businessman, journalist, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician who sat as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1887 to 1895 and again from 1906 to 1910. Family and educati ...

. Stewart attended the University School, Hastings, the

King's School, Rochester The King's School, Rochester, is an English independent school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and, being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral, the Dean of Rochester serves as chair of the school's governing body. The sch ...

, and the

Royal High School, Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

, and was also educated in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He entered his father's business in 1891. The family lived in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

until the early 1900s at Bramingham Shott estate, their home went on to become

Luton Museum Wardown House Museum and Gallery formerly Wardown Park Museum and, before that, the Luton Museum & Art Gallery in Luton, is housed in a large Victorian mansion in Wardown Park on the outskirts of the town centre. The museum collection focuses ...

, and the estate

Wardown Park Wardown Park is situated on the River Lea in Luton. The park has various sporting facilities, is home to the Wardown Park Museum and contains formal gardens. The park is located between ''Old Bedford Road'' and the A6, ''New Bedford Road'' and i ...

Business

The cement business in which the family was interested - B. J. Forder & Son Ltd - became part of the British Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd in 1912, and Stewart became a managing director. He had remained managing director of the brick division of B. J. Forder & Son until it was amalgamated into

in 1923, and Stewart became chairman of its board. He became chairman of the board of the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd. (APCM) in 1924 and remained in that position until 1945 when he became company president. He was thus chairman of the two of the largest monopolistic companies in British industry.

Influence

Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart and his father, Sir Halley Stewart, believed in good working and living conditions for employees. They developed the model village of Stewartby in Bedfordshire from 1926 onwards. As a special commissioner appointed by

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

of 1934, he helped devise schemes to reduce

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

. In 1934, Sir Malcolm bought The Lodge at Sandy, which is currently the headquarters of The

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

. Stewart was created a Baronet, of

Stewartby Stewartby is a model village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, originally built for the workers of the London Brick Company. The village was designed and built to the plans of the company's architect Mr F W Walker, laid out on ‘Garden City� ...

in the

County of Bedford Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council was a ...

, in 1937. He was a governor of

The Peckham Experiment The Peckham Experiment was an experiment designed to determine whether people as a whole would, given the opportunity, take a vested interest in their own health and fitness and expend effort to maintain it. The experiment took place between 192 ...

in 1949. During the 1930s, the hamlet of Wooton Pillinge, Bedfordshire, near the largest concentration of brickworks, was rebuilt as a model village for brick workers, and renamed

Death

He died in February 1951, aged 78, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Ronald.

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

Bibliography

* *Shakespeare, Geoffrey, ‘Stewart, Sir (Percy) Malcolm, first baronet (1872–1951)’, rev. Chris Pickford
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 5 September 2007.

External links

Article on the village of Stewartby
1872 births 1951 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English philanthropists People from Luton Deputy Lieutenants of Bedfordshire English businesspeople People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh {{Philanthropist-stub