John Brunner | |
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Born | John Tomlinson Brunner 8 February 1842 Everton, Liverpool, England |
Died | 1 July 1919 | (aged 77)
Education | St. George's House, Everton |
Occupation(s) | Chemical industrialist, politician |
Title | Baronet |
Spouses |
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Children | John Fowler Leece, 2nd Baronet, Grace, Harold Roscoe, Mabel Alicia, Hilda, Maud Mary, Ethel Jane |
Parent(s) | John Brunner Margaret Catherine Curphey |
Sir John Tomlinson Brunner, 1st Baronet, DL (8 February 1842 – 1 July 1919) was a British chemical industrialist and Liberal Party politician. At Hutchinson's alkali works in Widnes he rose to the position of general manager. There he met Ludwig Mond, with whom he later formed a partnership to create the chemical company Brunner Mond & Co., initially making alkali by the Solvay process. As a Member of Parliament he represented Northwich, Cheshire, in 1885–1886 and then from 1887 to 1910. He was a paternalistic employer and as a politician supported Irish Home Rule, trade unions, free trade, welfare reforms and, leading up to the First World War, a more sympathetic stance towards Germany. Brunner was a prominent Freemason, and a generous benefactor to the towns in his constituency and to the University of Liverpool. He is the great grandfather of the Duchess of Kent.