William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme
Politician
1851 – 1925
Who was William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme?
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician.
Lever started work at his father's grocery business in Bolton but as a businessman, he is noted for founding the soap and cleaning product firm, Lever Brothers, with his younger brother James in 1885. He began manufacturing Sunlight Soap and built a business empire with many well-known brands, such as Lux and Lifebuoy. In politics, Lever sat as a Liberal MP for Wirral and then as a Peer. He was an advocate for expansion of the British Empire, particularly in Africa and Asia, which supplied palm oil, a key ingredient in Lever's product line.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Sep 19, 1851
Bolton - Also known as
- William Hesketh Lever Leverhulme
- Spouses
- Children
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Died
- May 7, 1925
London
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/william_lever_1st_viscount_leverhulme>.
Discuss this William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In