Sir Henry William Ripley, 1st Baronet (23 April 1813 – 9 November 1882), was a British businessman, philanthropist and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician who switched to the Conservative Party. Bedstone Court (1294905)

Ripley became a principal partner in Edward Ripley and Son, an important dyeing company based at Bowling Dyeworks, Bowling, Bradford established by his grandfather in about 1806. In 1836 he married Susan Milligan of 'Acacia', Rawdon. West Yorkshire where he was living in 1881 with his family and a household of thirteen servants. In the late 1870s he bought an estate at Bedstone, Shropshire and in about 1882-4 he built a new mansion house Bedstone Court in Shropshire which became the family seat. He was active in local politics and sat as a town councilor for the Borough of Bradford. He was also a JP, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and took an active role in founding and running the Yorkshire Penny Bank. In 1866 he commenced construction of

Ripley Ville Ripley Ville or Ripleyville was an estate of model houses for the working classes in Broomfields in the West Bowling ward of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Started in 1866 the development was built for the industrialist ...

an estate of "model houses" for the working classes. When completed it had many of the aspects of an "industrial model village" – though residents were not limited to H.W. Ripley's employees. Ripley Ville can be compared with Akroydon (Halifax, built by H.W Ripley's friend and former schoolmate

Edward Akroyd Lieutenant Colonel Edward Akroyd (1810–1887), English manufacturer, was born into a textile manufacturing family in 1810, and when he died in 1887, he still owned the family firm. He inherited "James Akroyd & Sons Ltd." from his father in 1 ...

) and with Saltaire From 1868 he was also active in national politics. He was returned to Parliament for Bradford as a Liberal at the 1868 general election, but his election was overturned on petition in 1869. He was re-elected at the 1874 general election as an Independent, but was defeated at the 1880 general election when he stood as a Conservative. In 1880 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 14t ...

, of Rawdon in the County of York and Bedstone, Shropshire. He died in November 1882, aged 69, and was succeeded as second Baronet by his eldest son Edward. His third son Frederick was created a Baronet in his own right in 1897. A month after his death in 1882, the chimney at Newlands Mill in Bradford (owned by Sir Henry), collapsed killing 54 people, many children were among the dead. Although a jury at an inquest exonerated Sir Henry, an in depth report by the Telegraph and Argus launched a scathing attack on Sir Henry for the way the chimney was built under his instruction.

Notes

References

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

External links

Rediscovering Ripley Ville

My West Bowling
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley, Henry 1813 births 1882 deaths Ripley, Sir Henry, 1st Baronet Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1868–1874 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 Politicians from Bradford