page_title: Widnes
section_title: Notable people
hierarchical_section_title: Widnes / Notable people
caption_attribution_description: Melanie C during Night of the Proms at SAP Arena, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 2017-12-22, Photo: Sven Mandel
context_page_description: Widnes is an industrial town in Cheshire, England, which in 2011 had a population of 61,464.
  Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn. Upstream 8 miles to the east is Warrington, and 4 miles downstream to the west is Speke, part of the city of Liverpool.
  Before the Industrial Revolution, Widnes was a small settlement on marsh and moorland. In 1847, the chemist and industrialist John Hutchinson established a chemical factory at Spike Island. The town grew in population and rapidly became a major centre of the chemical industry. The demand for labour was met by large-scale immigration from Ireland, Poland, Lithuania and Wales. The town continues to be a major manufacturer of chemicals, although many of the chemical factories have closed and the economy is predominantly based upon service industries.
  Widnes and Hough Green railway stations are on the Liverpool to Manchester line. The main roads through the town are the A557 in a north–south direction and the A562 east–west. The disused Sankey Canal terminates at Spike Island.
context_section_description: Religion
  Three men born in or near the village of Farnworth achieved prominent positions in the Anglican church. They were William Smyth (c.1460–1514) who became Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, then Bishop of Lincoln and who built the grammar school in the village, Richard Barnes (1532–1587) who became Bishop of Carlisle, then Bishop of Durham, and Richard Bancroft (1544–1610) who became Bishop of London and then Archbishop of Canterbury. John Tiarks (1903–1974) was a vicar in Widnes in the early 1930s and later became Bishop of Chelmsford.
  Science & Industry
  William Gossage (1799–1877) was a chemical manufacturer who established a soap making business in Widnes. James Hargreaves (1834–1915) was an English chemist who moved to Widnes in 1859 and worked for Gossage. During the late 19th century a number of prominent chemists and industrialists lived in Widnes. Amongst these was Ludwig Mond (1839–1909), co-founder of Brunner Mond & Company. He lived in The Hollies, Farnworth and there his two sons were born, both of whom became notable. There were three generations of Holbrook Gaskell's who were chemical industrialists. The first (1813–1909) was also an art and plant collector. The second (1846–1919) became a director of United Alkali Company and the third (1878–1951) was chief engineer of the United Alkali Company and was knighted.
  Henry Deacon (1822–1876) was a chemist and industrialist who established a chemical factory in Widnes. John Hutchinson (1825–1865) was a chemist and industrialist who established the first chemical factory in Widnes in 1847, it manufactured alkali by the Leblanc process. Henry Brunner (1838–1916) was an English chemist employed in 1861 by John Hutchinson in his chemical business. Ferdinand Hurter (1844–1898) was a Swiss industrial chemist who joined Henry Deacon and Holbrook Gaskell at their alkali manufacturing business, Gaskell, Deacon & Co., in Widnes in 1867. Neil Mathieson (1823-1906) was a Scottish chemist, he set up his own business, Matheison and Company in 1870 with Frederick Herbert Gossage, son of William Gossage. Sir John Tomlinson Brunner, 1st Baronet PC DL (1842–1919) was also a British chemical industrialist at Hutchinson's alkali works in Widnes where he rose to the position of general manager.
  Vero Charles Driffield (1848–1915) was a chemical engineer, he became an engineer at the Gaskell–Deacon Works in 1871. Sir Robert Mond (1867–1938) became a chemist and archaeologist and his younger brother Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett (1868–1930) became an industrialist, financier and politician serving as a Liberal MP for Chester 1906–1910, for Swansea 1910 to 1918 and for Swansea West from 1918 to 1923.
  Sydney Young FRS (1857 in Farnworth – 1937) was an academic English chemist. Charles Glover Barkla (1877 in Widnes – 1944) was the winner of the 1917 Nobel prize in physics for his work in X-ray spectroscopy  Charles Suckling CBE FRS (1920–2013) was a British chemist who first synthesised halothane, a volatile inhalational anaesthetic in 1951, while working at the ICI Central Laboratory in Widnes. Gordon Rintoul (born 1955) CBE FRSE was Director of the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre in Widnes between 1987 and 1998.
  Military
  Born in the village of Farnworth, Roy Chadwick (1893–1947) was the designer of the Avro Lancaster bomber. Also born in Farnworth (1948) Christopher Green BA,C.Eng,RAeS Aeronautical Engineer. Thomas Mottershead (1893–1917), also born in Widnes, joined the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War; he was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Conduct Medal posthumously for his gallantry. Another Widnes man, Thomas Wilkinson (1898–1942) of the Royal Naval Reserve, was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously in the Second World War. Air Marshal Sir Edward Gordon Jones, KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC (1914 in Widnes – 2007) was an officer in the Royal Air Force for 34 years, from 1935 to 1969. He commanded a squadron of obsolescent biplane Gladiator fighters during the Greek Campaign in WWII.
  Politics
  Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) was a British iron moulder and L
caption: Melanie C, 2017
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Melanie C during Night of the Proms at SAP Arena, Mannheim, Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg, Germany on 2017-12-22, Photo: Sven Mandel", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS-1D X Mark II", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 7.1 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2017:12:28 08:34:29", "Image Artist": "Sven Mandel", "Image Copyright": "Copyright 2017 Sven Mandel, all rights reserved.", "Image ExifOffset": "446", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1128", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11635", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "6400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "6400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0231", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:12:22 22:04:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:12:22 22:04:52", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1245723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "1485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "160", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "77", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "77", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1520", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1520", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "Sven Mandel", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "043011000208", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[70, 200, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000c0b96c"}