Michael Thomas Bass, DL (6 July 1799 – 29 April 1884) was an English

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and a Member of Parliament. Under his leadership, the

Bass Brewery Bass Brewery () was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an an ...

became the largest brewery in the world, and Bass the best known brand of beer in England. Bass represented

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

in the

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

between 1848 and 1883, first as a

Radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

, and then as a member of the

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. For example, while the political systems ...

upon its founding in 1859, where he was an effective advocate for the brewing industry. He was a generous benefactor both in

, and in

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

where his company was based.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', "Michael Thomas Bass"

Early life and career

Bass was born at Burton-on-Trent in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, the son of

Michael Thomas Bass Michael Thomas Bass, Deputy Lieutenant, DL (6 July 1799 – 29 April 1884) was an English brewer and a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. Under his leadership, the Bass Brewery became the largest brewery in the world, ...

, who had expanded the brewery founded by his father

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and made it a major exporter to Russia. Michael's mother, Sarah Hoskins, was the daughter of Abraham Hoskins, a prominent Burton lawyer. Bass attended what was then known as The Grammar School in Burton and finished his schooling in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. At the age of 18, he joined the family business as an apprentice when business was not going well because the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

had disrupted trade with Russia. However, the sales of India Pale Ale in India and Southeast Asia were taking off by the 1820s.

Master brewer

Bass took over control of the company in 1827 and continued the export focus on Asia. By 1832–33, the company was exporting 5,000 barrels of beer representing 40% of its output in that year. The coming of the railway to Burton in 1839 helped the growth of the business by reducing transport costs. The company had four agents in the 1830s in London,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. By the 1880s, this had grown to twenty-one in Britain and another in Paris. The export trade was supplied by the agencies in London and Liverpool. Under Bass's leadership, company production and sales had grown enormously. Production of ale had grown to 340,000 barrels in 1860 and to almost a million barrels in the late 1870s. By 1881, the company had three breweries and 26

malthouse A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foo ...

s covering in Burton upon Trent. The company was Britain's biggest brewery and was one of its best known companies.

Member of Parliament

Bass was first elected as the member for

in 1848 and served until 1883. His obituary in the ''Brewers Journal'' stated that he was known more "in the House of Commons for his regular attendance than for any feats of oratory." He focused on being a national advocate for the brewing industry against efforts by nonconformists within the Liberal Party to legislate against alcohol. Bass was an orthodox Liberal supporting

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

, low taxes and improving

living standards Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available to an individual, community or society. A contributing factor to an individual's quality of life, standard of living is generally concerned with objective metrics outside ...

for the working class. He promoted legislation to abolish

imprisonment Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

for small

debtor A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of this ...

s. His legislation against

organ grinder A street organ ( or ) played by an organ grinder is a French automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. The two most commonly seen types are the smaller German and the larger Dutch street or ...

s on the grounds that they were street nuisances was less successful. Bass was a philanthropist both in Burton and Derby. His obituarists claimed that his contributions totalled £80,000, and that he had given Derby a new

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

, school of art, recreation ground, and swimming baths. He was instrumental in the creation of the

Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom from 1872 until 1913. History The ASRS was an industrial union founded in 1871 with the support of the Liberal MP Michael Thomas Bas ...

. Bass represented Derby until the final years of his life.

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

offered Bass a peerage, which he declined, preferring to stay in the House of Commons.

Personal life

Bass married Eliza Jane Arden in 1835. They had two sons and two daughters. His elder son Michael Arthur took over the responsibility for running the company, represented

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

in Parliament, and was elevated to the peerage in 1897 as Lord Burton. His other son Hamar Alfred also served as a member of Parliament (for Tamworth) but had gambling problems and was excluded from involvement in company affairs. One daughter, Emily, married Sir William Plowden, MP for Wolverhampton West, and the other, Alice, married Sir George Chetwode being the mother of Philip Lord Chetwode. – Biography of junior

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Michael Thomas 1799 births 1884 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople

Michael Thomas Michael or Mike Thomas may refer to: Entertainment * Michael M. Thomas (1936–2021), American novelist of financial thrillers * Michael Tilson Thomas (born 1944), American conductor, pianist, and composer * Michael Thomas (actor) (1952–2019), B ...

British radicals Businesspeople from Staffordshire Deputy lieutenants in England English brewers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Burton upon Trent Radicals (UK) UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885