Abraham Laverton
| Abraham Laverton | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Westbury |
|
|
In office February 1874 – April 1880 |
|
| Preceded by | Charles Paul Phipps |
| Succeeded by | Charles Nicholas Paul Phipps |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1819 |
| Died | 1886 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Occupation | Cloth mill owner |
Abraham Laverton (1819–1886), of Westbury, Wiltshire, England, was a cloth mill owner, philanthropist, and Liberal member of parliament for the parliamentary borough of Westbury from 1874 to 1880.
In 1849, Laverton leased the Angel Mill, Westbury, from the trustees of William Matravers and converted it to produce cloth. In 1852 he bought the mill, while in the same year James Wilson, the Whig Member of Parliament for Westbury, and his brother William bought Bitham Mill in the same town. In 1856, the Wilson brothers sold their mill to Laverton. For part of the middle of the 19th century he also owned Boyer's Mill, Westbury. As well as being a manufacturer, Laverton was a speculative buyer of cloth and wool.
In 1869, he built Prospect Square, Westbury, a development of thirty-nine houses, of which thirty-two were homes for his mill workers and seven were almshouses, around three sides of a large open space which was originally used as allotments.
In 1873, he founded and built the Laverton Institute in Bratton Road, Westbury, as a recreational centre; the building continues in use as a community facility, managed by the Town Council. The Institute included a room for a school which already existed, the Westbury Boys' British School, which moved in 1874 and remained at the Laverton Institute until 1925, when it was merged into what is now Matravers School, having changed its name to the Westbury Laverton Institute School in 1907.
In 1884, Laverton also built a new school in Bratton Road, near his Institute, and presented it to the town. This opened its doors in 1885 and was known as the Laverton Infants' School, then the Laverton County Infants' School, after being adopted by Wiltshire County Council. In 1958 it moved into premises in the churchyard, the former Church of England Junior School, and in 1968 moved to Eden Vale, becoming the Westbury Infants' School. The original building in Bratton Road is now a private house.
...
Wikipedia