William Hesketh Lever
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The Right Honourable The Viscount Leverhulme |
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William Lever
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| Member of Parliament for Wirral |
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In office 1906–1909 |
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| Preceded by | Joseph Hoult |
| Succeeded by | Gershom Stewart |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
William Hesketh Lever 19 September 1851 Bolton, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 7 May 1925 (aged 73) |
| Nationality | English |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Hulme |
| Relations | James Lever (brother) |
| Children | William Hulme Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme |
| Education | Bolton Church Institute |
| Occupation | Industrialist, philanthropist and politician |
| Known for | Lever Brothers |
| Religion | Nonconformist |
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician.
Lever started work aged fifteen at his father's wholesale grocery business in Bolton but, as a businessman, he is noted for founding the soap and cleaning product firm, Lever Brothers, with his younger brother James in 1885. He began manufacturing Sunlight Soap and built a business empire with many well-known brands, such as Lux and Lifebuoy. In politics, Lever sat as a Liberal MP for Wirral and then as a Peer (as Lord Leverhulme). He was an advocate for expansion of the British Empire, particularly in Africa and Asia, which supplied palm oil, a key ingredient in Lever's product line.
William Lever was born on 19 September 1851 at 16 Wood Street, Bolton, Lancashire, England. He was the eldest son and the seventh child born to James Lever (1809–1897), a grocer, and Eliza Hesketh, daughter of a cotton mill manager. He was educated at Bolton Church Institute between 1864 and 1867 and worked in the family grocery business from 1867 until he was given junior partnership in 1872.
Lever was a member of the Congregationalist Church and applied its ideals in his business life. On 17 April 1874, he married Elizabeth Ellen Hulme, daughter of a draper and neighbour from Wood Street, at the Church of St Andrew and St George (then Congregational, now United Reformed) in Bolton. William, their only surviving child, was born at Thornton Hough in 1888.
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