Hugh Hornby Birley

Who was Hugh Hornby Birley?

Hugh Hornby Birley was a leading Manchester Tory who is reputed to have led the fatal charge of the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry at the Peterloo Massacre. He was also instrumental in founding the Royal Victoria Gallery of Practical Science in 1839. He was associated with the Royal Manchester Institution and a moving force in the establishment of Owens College. He was a director of the Manchester Gas Works and became a business associate of Charles Macintosh with the intention of putting the works' waste products to profitable use in the manufacture of waterproof fabrics.

His father was Richard Birley, merchant, who had four sons and four daughters. Hugh's brother, Joseph Birley, was the father of Hugh Birley who served as Member of Parliament for Manchester from 1868 to 1883.