Walter William Law

Walter William Law
Walter Law c. 1910
Born	Walter William Law (1837-11-13)November 13, 1837 Kidderminster, England
Died	January 17, 1924(1924-01-17) (aged 86) Summerville, South Carolina
Resting place	Woodlawn Cemetery
Residence	Yonkers, Briarcliff Manor
Nationality	English, American
Occupation	Businessman
Employer	W. & J. Sloane
Known for	Founding Briarcliff Manor
Spouse(s)	Georgianna Ransom Law (m. 1866; d. 1910)
Children	Georgia R. Penman Carrie Law-Fotterall Walter W. Law, Jr. Edith Bird Brockelman Henry Herbert Law Arthur Law Martha Janet Macey
Parent(s)	John and Elizabeth Bird Law

Walter William Law (November 13, 1837 – January 17, 1924) was a businessman and the founder of the 8,000-person village of Briarcliff Manor, New York. He was a vice president of furniture and carpet retailer W. & J. Sloane, and later founded the Briarcliff Lodge, the Briarcliff Table Water Company, Briarcliff Farms, and the Briarcliff Greenhouses. He founded or assisted in establishing several schools, churches, and parks in the village, and rebuilt its train station in 1906. In the early 1900s, Walter Law was the largest individual landholder in Westchester County.

Walter Law was born in Kidderminster, England, and was one of ten children of a carpet dealer. He relocated to the United States in 1859, where he lived until his death. Throughout his life, he was employed at various places, including at W. & J. Sloane, where he worked for 24 years. After retiring to a house on Scarborough Road in the small community of Whitson's Corners, New York, he developed the surrounding farmland into a suburban village. Law died in 1924 in Summerville, South Carolina, during rest cure treatment.

Walter Law was born on November 13, 1837 in the English town of Kidderminster. He was one of ten children born to John and Elizabeth Bird Law, who were strict Nonconformists. His father sold carpets and dry goods; at the time, Kidderminster was a center of carpet manufacturing in Britain. Law was educated in private schools in Kidderminster; however, he left school and began working as a for a draper at the age of fourteen. Shortly after the United Kingdom's election of 1859, the Law family left Kidderminster, many to Australia. That year, Law moved to the United States, having gained an interest in the US after reading about it. He left England with letters of introduction written by his father, which were addressed to friends in the American carpet business; he also had enough money to last for about two weeks. He arrived in New York City on January 22, 1860.