Henry William Ripley
Sir Henry William Ripley (1813-1882) of Edward Ripley and Sons
Sir Henry William Ripley (1813-1882) was a British businessman, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician who switched to the Conservative Party.
Born the son of Edward Ripley
He became a principal partner in Edward Ripley and Son, an important dyeing company based at Bowling Dyeworks, established by his grandfather in about 1806.
1836 Married Susan Milligan of 'Acacia', Rawdon. West Yorkshire where he was living in 1881 with his family and a household of thirteen servants.
In the late 1870s he bought an estate at Bedstone, Shropshire and in about 1882-4 he built a new mansion house Bedstone Court in Shropshire which became the family seat.
1882 Obituary [1]
Sir HENRY W. RIPLEY, who died at his residence, Bedstone House, Shropshire, on the 9th November last, was born at Bradford in 1813, and was thus in his seventieth year. His father was Mr. Edward Ripley, of Bowling Lodge, Bradford, where he received his early training.
The deceased was head of a large manufacturing firm in Bradford, with which town he had all his life been prominently connected. In general commercial and industrial affairs he took a deep interest, and from 1862 to 1870 he acted as president of the local Chamber of Commerce. He was also a director of various industrial concerns of importance in the West Riding.
At the general election of 1868, the deceased gentleman was returned to Parliament as member for Bradford, but he had only filled that position a few months when he was unseated on petition. He became a candidate again in 1874, and was returned on that occasion as the colleague of the Right Hon. W. R Forster, but at the election of 1880 he was defeated, and from that time he took little part in public affairs. In acknowledgment of his public services, the deceased received the honour of a baronetcy in 1880.
He became a member of the Institute in 1876, but he never took any active part in its proceedings.