John Tomlinson Brunner

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Sir John Tomlinson Brunner (8 February 1842 – 1 July 1919) was a British industrialist, and the grandfather of HRH The Duchess of Kent.

He co-founded Brunner Mond & Company in 1873, in partnership with Ludwig Mond. They built Winnington Works at Northwich, Cheshire, and produced their first soda ash in 1874 by the Solvay process. The company grew and eventually merged with three other British chemical companies to form Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).

He was a paternalistic employer and went to great lengths to improve the situation of his employees. His sobriquet "Chemical Croesus" was given to him by The Times.

Having a foreign sounding name was difficult when standing for Parliament, once when heckled, he replied "My father was a Swiss, my mother was a Manx woman, I was born in Liverpool, my nurse was Welsh: is that Cheshire enough for you?"

Also Member of Parliament for Northwich.

A liberal MP he staunchly supported Irish Home Rule, welfare reforms and naval disarmament in the build up to the First World War.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by: (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Northwich 1885–1886	Succeeded by: Robert Verdin
Preceded by: Robert Verdin	Member of Parliament for Northwich 1887–1910	Succeeded by: John Fowler Leece Brunner