Philip Manfield

Sir Moses Philip Manfield (1819 - 1899) was an English shoe manufacturer and politician based in Northampton.

Manfield was born on 26 July 1819 in Bristol. He was the son of Moses Philip Manfield, who was also a shoemaker. His childhood took place in a poor working-class family. After his father became ill, the family was supported by the efforts of his mother.^[1] Manfield preferred to use his second name Philip, rather than Moses. Religiously, Manfield was a practising Unitarian.^[1]

He was home educated by his mother until the age of 12; at this age he was apprenticed to a local boot closer. He rose through the business to become the manager.

In 1843 he moved to Northampton to manage a business that soon failed. A year later, in 1844, with the help of the local Unitarian church he opened his own shoe manufacturing business, initially focusing on army contracts and the lower end of the market.^[1] The business founded by Manfield grew to be a national business of shoemakers and retailers. The company became a listed company in 1950, at that time having 93 shops in the UK and a number abroad.^[2].

In 1845 he married Elizabeth Cambridge Newman with whom he had a daughter who died in infancy. Elizabeth died in 1852 and two years later he remarried Margaret Milne, with whom he had two sons. Manfield was prominent in local politics. He became mayor of Northampton and later an MP for the Northampton constituency. He was knighted in 1894.^[1]

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