Person    | Male  Born 19/9/1851  Died 7/5/1925

William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme

Soap magnate and philanthropist, founder of Port Sunlight, near Liverpool. Born 6 Wood Street, Bolton, Lancashire. Known for his patronage of the arts and paternalistic social policies, he was also 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. By 1911 his firm had become associated with forced labour and atrocities in the Belgian Congo.

Died at his London home, Hill House, now Inverforth House. His company grew and merged to become today's Unilever.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme

Commemorated ati

Lord Leverhulme

William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, 1851 - 1925, soap-maker and p...

Read More

Other Subjects

Charing Cross Electricity Supply Company

Charing Cross Electricity Supply Company

This originated in 1882 from the power supply set up by Agostino and Stefano Gatti in the cellars of one of their restaurants. From Covent Garden: "... established in 1888 to provide lighting for ...

Group, Industry

2 memorials
Oakley Works

Oakley Works

In 1899 the Wilkinson Sword factory moved from the City to Chelsea where it was known as the Oakley works and in 1903-4 it moved to Acton, retaining that name. Chelsea Despite the name, the Chelse...

Group, Industry

1 memorial
Albion Mills

Albion Mills

Corn mill built by Matthew Boulton, James Watt and John Rennie.  Rennie moved from Scotland to London when invited to work on the construction of these Mills.  Burnt down in 1791 and Spitalfields L...

Building, Food & Drink, Industry

1 memorial
Gordon Usmar

Gordon Usmar

Gordon Usmar was born on 26 October 1881 in Chiswick, Middlesex (now Greater London), one of the six children of John Henry Usman (1847-1929) and Agnes Ness Usman née Grant (1851-1946). His birth w...

Person, Industry

1 memorial