Sir William Mather (15 July 1838 – 18 September 1920) was a British industrialist and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

between 1885 and 1904.

Life

Mather was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, the son of William Mather and his wife, Amelia ( Tidswell), and was educated privately. He became chairman of the engineering company of

Mather and Platt Mather & Platt is the name of several large engineering firms in Europe, South Africa and Asia that are subsidiaries of Wilo SE, Germany or were founded by former employees. The original company was founded in the Newton Heath area of Manchester ...

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

who owned the Salford Ironworks.Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
/ref> As an employer he was notable for introducing the eight-hour working day for his workers.''Obituary: Sir William Mather'', The Times, 20 September 1920, p. 13 He was also a J.P. Mather was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

in 1885, before being removed at the 1886 election. In 1889 he was elected as MP for

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century Hi ...

in a

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, a position he held until his defeat at the 1895 general election. He returned to the

in February 1900 when he won a

in the Rossendale division of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, where he remained until his

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in 1904. Apart from his parliamentary and commercial activities, Mather had an interest in the promotion of education, including pioneering the idea of standardised testing. He utilised the results of academic testing in the development of Apprenticeship schemes, at

British Westinghouse British Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company was a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh, USA based Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. British Westinghouse would become a subsidiary of Metropolitan-Vickers in 1919; and after Metr ...

. It resulted in a selection programme based on tested intelligence. He was on the council of

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

and of

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, and was chairman of the

Froebel Educational Institute Froebel College is one of the four constituent colleges of the University of Roehampton. History The college was founded as a women's teacher training college in 1892 by followers of Friedrich Fröbel. The Froebel Society had been formed in 1874 ...

. He was also in charge of the British education section of the Franco-British Exhibition of 1908. In 1902 he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

1902 Coronation Honours The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...

for his help reorganising the

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during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, receiving the accolade from King

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on 24 October that year. He was made a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1910.L. E. Mather: ''Sir William Mather, 1838–1920'' Mather married Emma Watson, daughter of Thomas Watson of Highbury, in 1863 and they had five children. Mather is buried in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Prestwich.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mather, William 1838 births 1920 deaths Knights Bachelor Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Academics of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Roehampton Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Salford South

Life

See also

References

External links