Mark Firth (25 April 1819 – 28 November 1880) 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 and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Biography

Firth was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, the son of Thomas Firth (1789–1850), of

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

, York, and Mary Loxley. He joined the

crucible steel Crucible steel is steel made by melting pig iron (cast iron), iron, and sometimes steel, often along with sand, glass, ashes, and other flux (metallurgy), fluxes, in a crucible. In ancient times steel and iron were impossible to melt using char ...

works of Sanderson Brothers where his father worked as head

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including Silver mining#Ore processing, silver, iron-making, iron, copper extracti ...

, but left in 1842 to set up his own business with his brother, Thomas Jr. Their father joined them shortly afterwards, and in 1852 Thomas Firth & Sons had expanded into larger premises at the Norfolk Works in Savile Street, which had the largest

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simil ...

in Sheffield. The Firth's business expanded into the armaments market, installing two large

steam hammer A steam hammer, also called a drop hammer, is an industrial power hammer driven by steam that is used for tasks such as shaping forgings and driving piles. Typically the hammer is attached to a piston that slides within a fixed cylinder, but i ...

s in 1863. In 1871, the company cast the thirty five ton "Woolwich Infant" gun. In 1875 they produced an eighty-ton gun. Firth was elected to the office of

Master Cutler The Master Cutler is the head of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire established in 1624. Their role is to act as an ambassador of industry in Sheffield, England. The Master Cutler is elected by the freemen of the company on the first Monday of ...

in 1867, which he held for the following two years. He was elected Mayor of Sheffield in 1874. In 1875, he presented a thirty-six acre estate to the town of Sheffield as

Firth Park Firth Park ward—which includes the districts of Firth Park, Longley, Parson Cross and parts of Wincobank—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England located in the northern part of the city and covering an area o ...

. He also built a mansion for himself on the outskirts of Sheffield at Oakbrook,

Ranmoor Ranmoor () is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England. It is an affluent suburb in the Fulwood ward of the city. It mostly developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it features a number of large houses that were built for th ...

, now part of Notre Dame High School. In 1879, he opened

Firth College , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

to teach arts and science subjects, which later became part of the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. Firth lends his name to the Firth Wing of the

Northern General Hospital The Northern General Hospital is a large teaching hospital and Major Trauma Centre in Sheffield, England. Its departments include Accident and Emergency for adults, with children being treated at the Sheffield Children's Hospital on Western Ban ...

, and

Firth Court Firth Court is a Grade II listed Edwardian red-brick building that forms part of the Western Bank Campus of the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Located on the northern side of Western Bank, it is the main administrative centre fo ...

of the University. He was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

and a

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 ...

.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography On 16 November 1880 Firth was at his Norfolk Works when he suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

, and died 12 days later. He is buried in

Sheffield General Cemetery The General Cemetery in the City of Sheffield, England opened in 1836 and closed for burial in 1978. It was the principal cemetery in Victorian Sheffield with over 87,000 burials. Today it is a listed Landscape (Grade II*) on the English Herit ...

on Cemetery Road, where his monument is Grade II listed.

Personal life

Firth was twice married and had twelve children. He first married Sarah Bingham Taylor (1818–1855) in Sheffield on 15 September 1841, and they had five children: * Sarah Bingham Taylor Firth (1843–1927), married Marriott Hall, , in Sheffield, 24 May 1866. * Thomas and Ann Elizabeth Firth (b. & d. 1845). * Mary Ellen Firth (1847–1848). * Margaret Maria Firth (1853–1869). Secondly, he married Caroline Gedling Bradley (1833–1894) at The Methodist New Connexion Chapel, Nottingham on 3 September 1857. They had seven children: * John Bradley Firth (1859-c.1930), father of Major John Charles Bradley Firth, , (1894–1931). * Mark Firth, , (1860–1929). * Alfred Firth (1862–1883). * Caroline Bradley Firth (1864–1949). * Lieutenant–Colonel Bernard Alexander Firth, , (1866–1929), CO, 4th Battalion,

York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of ...

. * Charles Henry Bramley Firth (1868–1959) * Rachel (1870–1940) Married George Charles Hague in 1897

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Firth, Mark 1819 births 1880 deaths Master Cutlers English philanthropists Lord Mayors of Sheffield English Methodists Burials at Sheffield General Cemetery 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century English businesspeople

Biography

Personal life

See also

References