William Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme
William Hulme Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme,
He was educated at
Family
He married twice. His first wife was Marion Beatrice Smith (6 July 1886 – 30 August 1987),
Business
The 2nd Viscount Leverhulme was a co-founder of Unilever in 1930. His company, Lever Brothers, merged with Margarine Unie that year.
Masonic movement
Due to the merger of the two firms, many staff employed at the Warrington factory were moved to London, including senior managers. This had the effect of disturbing attendance at the Masonic lodges in the Lever Brothers factory town, and as a result a new lodge was formed named the Mersey Lodge, no. 5434. The Petition to form Mersey Lodge was signed by the Master and Wardens of the Royal Alfred Lodge on 8 September 1933. As a result, Mersey Lodge was consecrated on 19 January 1934.[4]
Belgian Congo
Lever Brothers operated from the Belgian Congo beginning in 1911. In response to civil unrest by the Congolese, the company "demanded more troops, more police and more brutality. When the railway lines around the Congo River rapids were rebuilt between 1923 and 1932 the regime mobilised 68,000 forced labourers of which 7,700 died".[5] Due to their involvement with the Belgian Congo, there was a stark contrast to how the Leverhulmes are remembered at home in England.[citation needed]
Legacy
United Reformed Church of St Andrew and St George, Bolton
The 2nd Viscount Leverhulme's parents married at the
Appointments and honours
- Territorial Army)
- High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1923
- Governor of Lever Brothers and Unilever
- 2nd Viscount Leverhulme, of the Western Isles, cos Inverness and Ross and Cromarty, 7 May 1925
- 2nd Baron Leverhulme, of Bolton-le-Moors, co. Lancaster, 7 May 1925
- 2nd Baronet Lever, 7 May 1925
- Knight of Justice, Order of St. John of Jerusalem(K.St.J.)
- Justice of the Peace(J.P.) for Cheshire
- Office of Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire
- Rank of Honorary Air Commodore in the service of the No. 919/923 (West Lancashire) Balloon Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force
- Pro-Chancellor of Liverpool Universitybetween 1932 and 1936
- Awarded of Osborne Reynolds Medal in 1937
- Office of Mayor of Bebington in 1937
- Honorary degree of Doctor of Law (LL.D.) by Liverpool Universityin 1937.
- Rank of Honorary Colonel in 1941 in the service of the 4th Anti-Aircraft Division, Royal Army Service Corps
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Death
Lord Leverhulme died on 27 May 1949 and is interred with his parents at Christ Church in Port Sunlight. A valuable bust, by Sir Charles Wheeler, of William, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme, was stolen in 2009 from the plinth near his parents' tombs in Christ Church, Port Sunlight. It is feared it may have been melted down for scrap.[8]
References
- ^ LEVERHULME, 2nd Viscount, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014
- ^ History of Thornton Manor
- ^ a b "Lord Leverhulme (William Hesketh Lever)". Links in a Chain: The Mayors of Bolton. Bolton Town Hall. n.d. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ "Mersey Lodge 5434". Mersey Lodge 5434. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
- ^ Kimber, Charlie (September 2008). "Lord Leverhulme's Ghosts". Socialist Review. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ The United Reformed Church of St Andrew and St George, Its Origin and History (PDF)
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1921. p. 557.
- ^ Murphy, Liam (3 July 2009). "Priceless bust of Lever stolen from memorial; Bronze sculpture may be melted down for scrap". Daily Post. Liverpool. Retrieved 15 June 2018 – via Free Online Library.