Sir John Brunner, 1st Baronet

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Sir John Tomlinson Brunner, 1st Baronet, PC (8 February 1842 – 1 July 1919) was a British industrialist and Liberal Party politician who represented Northwich, Cheshire, as a Member of Parliament. He was the grandfather of HRH The Duchess of Kent.

He was born in Everton, Liverpool, the son of John Brunner, a Swiss Unitarian and schoolmaster, and Margaret Curphey, who originated from the Isle of Man. He was educated at his father's school and then at the age of 15, he decided to follow a career in commerce. After four years in a shipping house in Liverpool, in 1861 Brunner gained a clerical post at Hutchinson's alkali works in Widnes. With this company he rose to the position of general manager. Shortly after starting work in Widnes he met the German-born chemist Ludwig Mond.

In 1873 Brunner formed a partnership with Mond and together they founded Brunner Mond & Company, with Brunner as chairman. They built Winnington Works at Northwich to produce soda ash by the recently developed Solvay process. After a slow start they were to become the wealthiest British chemical company in the late 19th century.^[1] When the company merged with three other British chemical companies to form Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1926 it had a market capitalization of over £18 million. His sobriquet "Chemical Croesus" was given to him by The Times.

He was a paternalistic employer and went to great lengths to improve the situation of his employees. Measures introduced by Brunner and Mond were shorter working hours, sickness and injury insurance, and holidays with pay. Outside his business he was a generous benefactor. His gifts included the provision of schools, guildhalls and social clubs. He provided a free library in Northwich, endowed three chairs at Liverpool University and funded many scholarships. Abroad he gave gifts to the Landesmuseum in Zürich and provided a hospital, also in Switzerland.

From 1885 to 1886, and from 1887 to 1910, Brunner was Member of Parliament (MP) for the Northwich constituency. As a Liberal MP he supported Irish Home Rule, trade unions, free trade and welfare reforms. Leading up to the First World War he argued for a less provocative British stance towards Germany, including naval disarmament.

Having a foreign-sounding name was difficult when standing for Parliament. Once when he was 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?"

In 1899 Brunner became chairman of the Runcorn and Widnes Transporter Bridge Company. He subscribed £25,000 towards its construction plus a loan of £12,000 together with a personal guarantee on a bank loan of £31,000. When the building of the bridge was complete in 1905 it was due to be opened by Edward VII but the king was unable to do so and the ceremony was performed by Sir John. By 1911 it had become apparent that the bridge would always operate at a loss and Sir John assigned his interest in it to Widnes Corporation. The Times stated that this action amounted to a "virtual gift of £68,000".^[2]

In 1864 Brunner married Salome Davies, the daughter of a Liverpool merchant with whom he had six children. Salome died in 1874 and the following year he married Jane Sanderson, the daughter of a Kettering physician and the governess to his children. From this marriage, three more daughters were born.

In 1895 he was made the Baronet of Druids Cross in the County of Lancashire and in 1906 he became a member of the privy council, but he declined offers of a peerage. He died in 1919 at his home in Chertsey, Surrey. His estate amounted to over £899,000. The baronetcy passed to his eldest son, who was also called John Brunner.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Dick.
2. ^ Starkey, pp. 213-217.

[edit] References

• This page incorporates information from Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page.
• Dick, Francis 'Brunner, Sir John Tomlinson, first baronet (1842-1919)', rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; [1] accessed 9 March 2007.
• Starkey, H. F. Old Runcorn, Halton Borough Council, 1990.

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
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by (new creation)	Baronet of Druids Cross, Lancashire 1895–1919	Succeeded by John Brunner