George Harwood
British politician (1845–1912)
George Manus Harwood I (14 September 1845 – 7 November 1912) was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician. He was born the second son of Richard Harwood who founded a firm of cotton spinners and who was at one time Mayor of Bolton and twice Mayor of Salford.
Education
George Harwood went to school locally in Lancashire and then entered his father's cotton business while still finding time to continue his education at Owens College, the establishment founded with a bequest left by John Owens, a successful Manchester cotton merchant and first set up in a house in Deansgate, Manchester, once occupied by Richard Cobden. Owens College developed into the Victoria University of Manchester, which later combined with UMIST to become the University of Manchester.
Religion
Harwood loved learning and, while still running a cotton mill as his main source of income, (he eventually became chairman of Richard Harwood & Son, Ltd, cotton spinners, Bolton) devoted himself to studying the classics and political economy, eventually gaining an MA degree from the University of London. He declined an offer of a professorship of political economy in South Australia to begin a study of theology and combined with others, including Dean Stanley, to found the Church Reform Union which attempted to introduce democratic principles into the Church of England by giving every member of a congregation a share in the government and finance of the church; it also aimed to unite the various denominations of Protestantism. Harwood was active in the British and Foreign Bible Society. Ordained a deacon of the Anglican Church in 1886 by James Moorhouse, Bishop of Manchester, he preached regularly across the north of England over the next two years as well as acting as curate of St Ann's Church, Manchester.
Law
Worried that the cotton business might not continue to prosper, Harwood studied law to provide an alternative profession. He read for the Bar and was called to Lincoln's Inn in 1890.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “George Harwood” as british politician (1845–1912). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5540299. VIAF identifies the subject as 93697741. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1845, 1912, 1886 and 1890.
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This entry incorporates text from “George Harwood” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.