Michael Thomas Bass

Michael Thomas Bass
His bust in Derby Museum which he funded
Born	6 July 1799 Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Died	29 April 1884 (1884-04-30) (aged 84)
Occupation	Brewer
Spouse(s)	Eliza Jane Arden
Children	Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton Hamar Alfred Bass Emily Alice
Parent(s)	Michael Thomas Bass Sarah Hoskins

Michael Thomas Bass, DL (6 July 1799 – 29 April 1884) was an English brewer and a member of Parliament. Under his leadership, the Bass Brewery became the largest brewery in the world and the best known brand of beer in England. Bass represented Derby in the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party between 1848 and 1883 where he was an effective advocate for the brewing industry. He was a generous benefactor of both Derby and Burton-on-Trent where his company was based.

Bass was born at Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire, the son of Michael Thomas Bass, who had expanded the brewery founded by his father William and made it a major exporter to Russia. Michael's mother, Sarah Hoskins, was the daughter of Abraham Hoskins, a prominent Burton lawyer.

Bass attended the grammar school in Burton and finished his schooling in Nottingham. At the age of 18, he joined the family business as an apprentice when business was not going well because the Napoleonic Wars had disrupted trade with Russia. However, the sales of India Pale Ale in India and southeast Asia were taking off by the 1820s.

Bass took over control of the company in 1827 and continued the export focus on Asia. By 1832–33, the company was exporting 5,000 barrels of beer representing 40% of its output in that year.

The coming of the railway to Burton in 1839 helped the growth of the business by reducing transport costs. The company had four agents in the 1830s in London, Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham. By the 1880s, this had grown to twenty-one in Britain and another in Paris. The export trade was supplied by the agencies in London and Liverpool.