George Harwood
George Harwood (14 September 1845 – 7 November 1912) was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician. He was born the second son of Richard Harwood who founded a firm of cotton spinners and who was at one time Mayor of Bolton and twice Mayor of Salford.
Education
George Harwood went to school locally in Lancashire and then entered his father's cotton business while still finding time to continue his education at Owens College, the establishment founded with a bequest left by John Owens, a successful Manchester cotton merchant and first set up in a house in Deansgate, Manchester, once occupied by Richard Cobden.[1] Owens College developed into the Victoria University of Manchester, which later combined with UMIST to become the University of Manchester.[2]
Religion
Harwood loved learning and, while still running a cotton mill as his main source of income, (he eventually became chairman of Richard Harwood & Son, Ltd, cotton spinners, Bolton)
Law
Worried that the cotton business might not continue to prosper, Harwood studied law to provide an alternative profession. He read for the Bar and was called to Lincoln's Inn in 1890. Around this time he and his family moved to London, where Harwood began work as a barrister, although he still travelled often to the north to look after his cotton interests.
Politics
At the
Family
In 1868 he married Alice Marsh of Wigan and they had two sons and a daughter. Alice died in 1894 and Harwood was remarried in 1904 to Ellen Hopkinson, the daughter of the Vice Chancellor of Manchester University.
- One of Harwood's sons was Harold Marsh Harwood (1874–1959) who followed into the family cotton business but was also a playwright and theatre manager.[4]
- A daughter Margaret Harwood married in 1902 Frederick Kincaid Etlinger.[5]
- Another daughter Georgina Harwood (1905–2006) married Christopher Francis Battiscombe, OBE, FSA, Lt-Col. of the Grenadier Guards. She was the biographer of Queen Alexandra, John Keble, Mrs Gladstone, Christina Rossetti, Elizabeth Wordsworth and the Spencers of Althorp.
After his death at his Knightsbridge home at South Audley St, George Harwood was buried at West Norwood Cemetery.
References
- Obituary in the Times, 8 November 1912
- ^ "Owens College". Archived from the original on 14 March 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
- ^ "History and origins (The University of Manchester)". Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
- ^ Who was Who, OUP 2007
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography, Roger Lloyd-Jones, OUP 2004-5
- ^ "Marriages". The Times. No. 36952. London. 16 December 1902. p. 1.
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