Thomas Hazlehurst (chapel builder)

Thomas Hazlehurst
Thomas Hazlehurst
Born	17 April 1816 Runcorn, Cheshire, England
Died	14 July 1876 Runcorn
Nationality	British
Occupation	Chemical manufacturer, chapel builder
Spouse(s)	Eliza Howard, Ann Wall
Children	Mary, Howard, Thomas Alfred, George Steward
Parent(s)	Thomas Hazlehurst, Mary Greenwood

Thomas Hazlehurst (17 April 1816 – 14 July 1876) was known nationally as "the Chapel Builder" and more locally as "the Prince of Methodism" or "the Prince of the Wesleyans". He was given these titles because of his generosity in paying wholly or largely for the building of some 12 chapels and three schools in the area of Runcorn, Widnes and the villages in north Cheshire. His father, also called Thomas, had founded a profitable soap and alkali manufacturing business, Hazlehurst & Sons, in Runcorn in 1816.

His wealth was derived from two sources. In 1851 Thomas' first wife Eliza died from tuberculosis on her 28th birthday leaving a fortune which was said to be of the order of £60,000. In addition he had a substantial income from the family business. Between the years 1859 to 1875, when the partners in the business were the two youngest brothers Thomas and Charles, each took home around £6,000 each year. During that time the business was run mainly by Charles, leaving Thomas to concentrate on religious matters.

Like his father, Thomas was a pious Methodist. He held all the positions available to a layman in the church and was at one time the organist at Brunswick chapel. He chaired many committees for religious and charitable groups. During his life he wrote and distributed free a large number of sermons or "discourses". But he is best known for his generous donations to the Wesleyan Methodist movement, in particular his paying for the building of chapels and schools. In addition he was frequently invited to lay the foundation stones for chapels and schools both locally and further afield. On each occasion he was presented with a silver inscribed commemorative trowel or mallet. In all he collected almost 100 of these tokens and displayed them with pride, mounted in a large wooden frame in the lounge of his home.

Thomas' first known gift of a complete chapel was in 1848 in Farnworth, then a village north of what is now the town of Widnes. At that time the ancient Anglican parish church of Runcorn was being demolished and rebuilt. Thomas bought the pulpit from that church and donated it to the chapel at Farnworth. Some years later he donated an organ to Brunswick chapel. In 1857 he paid the greater part of the cost of a new chapel in the Appleton area of Widnes.