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George Benjamin Thorneycroft, 1848 - 1849 Although born in the parish of Tipton on the 20th August 1791, George Thorneycroft moved to Leeds with his parents where most of his childhood was spent. He worked at a local forge until his return to Staffordshire at about eighteen. He gained employment with Moorcroft Ironworks at Bilston, and it was here that he established his abilities as a confident leader. The experience he gained at Moorcroft enabled him to go into partnership with his twin brother Edward, and together they established the Shrubbery Ironworks at Horseley Fields in 1824. Thorneycroft was a self-made man who built up his business in the 1840s. He was well respected as a successful ironmaster and an employer. Even though he was friendly, generous and familiar with his employees, as an outspoken Conservative his political views were often unpopular with working men. Nevertheless his reputation as a confident speaker and an upright citizen saw him selected as the first Mayor of Wolverhampton after the town's incorporation in 1848. A financial contribution to charity and the donation of a silver gilt mace to the Corporation marked his accession to office. He married Eleanor Page of Moxley and they resided at Chapel Ash House. They had four daughters: Mary, Emma, Harriet and Ellen; and one son, Thomas. Thorneycroft was seriously injured in a works accident from which he never completely recovered; and he died on April 28th 1851, at the age of sixty. Funeral
and Sermon Wolverhampton Chronicle 7th May 1851 |
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