John Hick

Who was John Hick?

John Hick JP, DL, MP, FRSA was an English industrialist, art collector and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1880.

Hick was the eldest son of Benjamin Hick, a civil engineer, and his wife Elizabeth Routledge, daughter of William Routledge of Elvington Yorkshire. Elizabeth's brother, Joshua Routledge also an engineer living in Bolton, designed the Engineer's Improved Slide Rule and in February 1818 patented improvements to the Rotary Steam Engine.

Educated at Alderley in Cheshire and Bolton Grammar School Hick became a partner in the engineering firm of B. Hick and Sons, later Hick, Hargreaves, & Co and a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1845.