Lupton, William Charles

This item is active and ready to use

Portrait of William Charles Lupton, J.P. by Sowden.
Sowden's note in notebooks -
'Mr Wm C. Lupton was the only son of Wm. John Lupton, a tanner and ? who came to Bradford in 1826. Mr John Lupton was an exhibitor at the Great Exhibition in 1857. He kept the Bowling Green Hotel from 1851 to 1868 when the old hostelry was removed to be replaced by the present Mechanic’s Institute. Mr W. C. Lupon was educated at Steeton Hall and afterwards in France, He was then placed in the office of Messrs Lees & Senior, Solicitors with a view to his taking Law as a profession, but the work was not congenial to his inclination and he ultimately ? his father’s business of wine & spirit merchant. The firm developed & absorbed the concern of W.H. Holloway. S. W. Newby & Co. Chesney & Co. and John Murray (all of Bradford) as well as that of Messrs Boyd & Haworth of Leeds and a large wholesale trade was built up. The form was appointed as Royal Warrant holders to the late King Edward VII and retained their position until H. M. King George V. Mr Lupton was one of the founders of the Anglo-French Club in Bradford. He joined the Freemasons in 1874 and has passed through all the offices of the ? Lodge. He is in addition a Past Provincial Senior Grand Warden and a past Chairman of the Charity Committee of West Yorkshire. He is an ? In March 1900 when he was Mayor, he accepted, on the invitation of the Prince of Wales (the late King Edward) the Grand Master of the Order, an appointment as Junior ?, the highest office that can be held by a commoner. He is the “Pope of Bradford Freemasons” and to detail his degrees as a craftsman would draw exhaustingly upon the alphabet. In 1904 the Lupton concern was into a private limited company. Mr Lupton has identified himself with the Bradford Royal Informiary and has done good work on the Board of Management, House Committee, Building Committee & Advisory Committee, and is a member of the New Infirmary Building Fund Committee. He was for some years Chairman of the Joint Hospital Fund and as Treasurer he maintains an active concern in the West Riding Galas, which are held in Peel Park during Whitsuntide. Amongst the numerous institutions with which he has associated himself may be mentioned the Gordon Boys’ Brigade, the Tradesman’s Benevolent Institution, the Charity Organisation Society and the Ambers’ Holiday Home. He is the President of the last named movement. He is the Treasurer of the Benevolent Trust Fund for Aged Work People of the City of Bradford, founded by Mr and Mrs Moser. Perhaps the Bfd Cinderella Club appeals to him more than many things and from its inception he has worked most indefatigably to brighten the lives of the poor children of the city. He had held the Presidency 18 years. Mr Lupton is the sole surviving trustee of the outstanding fund of £13,000 resulting from the relinquishment of the investment department of the East Morley Savings Bank which has been allocated to the different charities in Bradford ? Bfd Infirmary, Eye & Ear Hospital, Children’s Hospital & St. Catherines Home. Mr Lupton in the course of his first years service as Mayor became a Councillor as the representative of the Exchange Ward without opposition (in 1900). He was elected also unopposed in 1903 and 1906. His Mayoralty extended ? three years from 1899 to 1902. His gretest interest centred, however in the Library’s & Art Gallery & Museums Committee & after being deputy chairman he succeeded in 1907-8 to the chairmanship which he held for some considerable time. Mr Lupton was the ? genius of the Bradford Exhibition held in 1904 at the Cartwright Memorial Hall to celebrate the opening of the Hall. He was chairman of the executive committee. From the opening ceremony on May 4th 1904 by the Prince & Princess of Wales, now the King & Queen, until the close of the exhibition the undertaking was an unqualified success, the profit realised being £14,965, of which £10,000 was appropriated, invested and ? for the use from time to time of the Free Libraries, Art Gallery & Museums Committee in the purchase of work of ?. My Lupton was Mayor when the incorporation of Eccleshill, Idle, North Bierley, Thornton & Tong took place. So Mr Lupton is the ? attached to the ? of the Statues of Queen Victorian during his mayoralty. The ? of the Bradford Parish Church has an ? which he had ? much at ?. During the mayoral ? of Alder. & Mr Lupton, the happy dates occurred Aug 30th 1901 upon which they celebrated their silver wedding anniversary & the occasion was made one of cordial congratulations from the whole community. A series of presentations marked the event. Mr Lupton was for many years a director of the Bfd Third ? Building Society. He was a Churchman and a ? Mr Lupton was married in August 1876 the eldest daughter of Mr Wm. Bentley of Allerton, the family consisting of two sons & two daughters.'

Year

1897

Creator

John Sowden

Image filename

sowden-189

Other items like this