Lesser Known Leverhulme (Ray Jefferson)

Upcoming Talk - September 2026

7.30pm at Harwood Methodist Church
Thursday 24th September 2026

Speaker: Ray Jefferson

William Hesketh Lever or Lord Leverhulme was probably Bolton’s, if not Britain’s, most successful self-made businessman of the early twentieth century.

He made many shrewd decisions in his business life and was a great philanthropist. He was obsessed with the development of land and the creation of communities alongside his business interests

However, like so many people in his position, he could also be determined and arrogant, and this, as we will see in this talk, led to some decisions which were less than successful.

William Hesketh Lever, 1888

Turton Boys at Chetham's Hospital School 1653 - 1943

The list below is reproduced from a typed summary compiled in 1952. It should be noted that the original registers contain additional information not included in this list, including the names of the father and, from 1767, the mother; dates of baptism in some instances; and, from 1810, details of the person to whom each boy was apprenticed. SJT.

A list of boys from Turton who have been admitted to Chetham's Hospital, Manchester with the dates of admission. Compiled to celebrate the opening as a museum of the Turton Tower, Wednesday, 25 June 1952. A total of 457 boys from Turton at Chetham's Hospital in 299 Years.

Chetham's Hospital School, Manchester, in 1905
Image source: Manchester Libraries
https://images.manchester.gov.uk/