Joseph Watson, 1st Baron Manton

Joseph Watson, 1st Baron Manton (10 February 1873 – 13 March 1922) was an English industrialist from Leeds, Yorkshire.

He was chairman of Joseph Watson & Sons Ltd, soap manufacturers of Leeds, and a director of the London and North-Western Railway, in the late 19th century the largest joint stock company in the world. He became in later life a pioneer of industrialised agriculture in England and a successful racehorse owner. He was step-great-grandfather to David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.His 2nd son Hon. Robert Fraser Watson (1900–1975) married in 1961 (as his 2nd wife) Enid Levita (d.1995),(Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p. 739, Baron Manton; p. 577, Mount baronets) formerly wife of Ewen Donald Cameron, grandfather of David Cameron

Early life Watson was the only son of George Watson, soap manufacturer, of Donisthorpe House near Moor Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire. He was educated at Repton School and Clare College, Cambridge. He was recalled to the family firm before completing his degree, becoming chairman at a young age.

Soap business

Joseph Watson & Sons Joseph went to work at his grandfather's company, Joseph Watson & Sons, and turned the company from the medium-sized concern built up by his father and uncle Charles into one which ruled the soap market of North-East England, with national and international sales, becoming William Lever's biggest rival.Charles Wilson. (1954). The History of Unilever. London: Cassell. 1. pp. 13, 123.

Soap Trust monopoly

On 4 August 1906 Watson and William Lever, by then the largest manufacturer, met in the Grand Hotel in London to finalise a plan to set up a "Soap Trust" which would merge the major soap manufacturers into a monopoly, thereby gaining economies of scale in advertising and production costs. Watson favoured the use of a parent company whilst Lever preferred a scheme of exchange of shares between participating companies to bind them together. This occurred during a period of many corporate trusts in the United States. The scheme was strongly opposed by the Daily Mail newspaper which campaigned for a boycott by its readers of the trust brands. Profits at participating firms were thereby severely reduced. The Northcliffe Press in its expanding and highly popular campaign overstepped the mark by falsely asserting trust soaps were made from scented fish oil. Although Watson and Lever won substantial libel damages from the press, losses in reputation and profits had been suffered all round. On the proposal of Watson and Crosfield, another large manufacturer, the scheme was abandoned in November 1906. By then Watson had already disposed of much of his shareholding, previously all held by himself and his uncle Charles, to William Lever, in exchange for Lever Brothers shares to set up the trust.Charles Wilson. (1954). The History of Unilever. London: Cassell. 1. Chapter 6, The Crisis of 1906, pp. 72–88.

Lever Brothers and Jurgens

In 1912/13 Watson sold much of his remaining shareholding to Lever (Lever Brothers Ltd., later Unilever) and sold to him the remainder in July 1917, but remained as chairman. In July 1915 he had sold to Lever his half share in the Planter's Margarine Co Ltd, a joint venture established in November 1914 at Godley in Cheshire with Levers, in response to Government anxiety at the wartime loss of Dutch supplies, which by 1915 was the country's second largest margarine manufacturer.Wilson, I, pp. 227–9 He had supplied it from his Olympia Oil & Cake Co. Ltd. at Selby, Yorks which operated the largest linseed oil crushing and refining plant in Europe. It also hardened whale oil and in 1917 during WWI was allocated by the government 21% (later 25%) of British whale oil for hardening.Wilson, I, p. 239; Lever's had 47% and Crosfield's 32% Watson then suffered substantial losses in an unsuccessful speculation in linseed, and he sold Olympia Oil & Cake to the Dutch firm Jurgens, which had outbid Levers.Wilson, I, p. 249

Pioneer of industrialised agriculture Spurred on by wartime food shortages, Watson began pioneering industrialised agriculture, and he funded an "Agricultural Research Department" on his estate at Offchurch near Leamington Spa in Warwickshire. He founded the Olympia Agricultural Co Ltd and invested much of his money into agricultural and sporting estates totalling some at Selby in Yorkshire, Manton Down (5,500 acres) in Wiltshire, Sudbourne Hall (9,000 acresOral History - Aldeburgh Voices, 2008 interview with Michael Watson of Chillesford Lodge, near Sudbourne, a grandson of 1st Baron Manton ) in Suffolk; Compton Verney and nearby Offchurch Bury (2,700 acresUS Department of Agriculture, Experiment Station Record, Vol. XLII, Washington DC, 1921, pp. 799–800 via Google Books) both in Warwickshire;W.G. Rimmer. (1961). "Men Who Made Leeds." Leeds Journal. 32: pp. 143–6. and at Thorney in Cambridgeshire.McKie

His Olympia Oil & Cake Co. under the brand name "OCO" produced animal feed for dairy cows, calves, lambs and pigs, all from the new source of linseed oil. The company acquired sites near Selby within the parish of Barlby in 1909–10, and their buildings later dominated the road and river frontages. Victoria County History (VCH), County of York East Riding, Volume 3: Ouse and Derwent wapentake, and part of Harthill wapentake (1976), pp. 47–52 Hemingbrough: Barlby Soon after 1910 the company built the first "village estate" of workers' housing in the area, which was later expanded by other nearby employers. Before 1921 the Olympia Hotel opened near the site at Barlby Bank, taking its name from the company and using a sign showing seed-crushing machinery.VCH The company in 1952 became part of British Oil and Cake Mills Ltd.

Following Manton's death his executors claimed he had put £1 million into agriculture and received £750,000 from sales of the properties.

A 1921report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported: The Olympia Agricultural Company, Ltd., is a British syndicate which has purchased agricultural estates aggregating 20,000 acres in the counties of Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Warwickshire, and Wiltshire. A research department has recently been organized under the direction of Dr. Charles Crowther, professor of agricultural chemistry in the University of Leeds and director of the institute for research in animal nutrition in that university. ... The headquarters of the department have been located on the company's estate of about 2,700 acres at Offchurch, near Leamington, in Warwickshire, where the ancient mansion of Offchurch Bury is being adapted to provide the necessary laboratories and other improvements which are now approaching completion. ... It is stated that liberal financial provision for the research department has been made by the company."

Wartime munitions work

At the start of the First World War, Watson's industrial and organisational expertise was used to assist the government in the establishment and operation of national munitions factories, most notably at the First National Shell Filling Factory at Barnbow, Leeds.

Following the heavy consumption of munitions in the opening battles of WWI at the Somme, the Northcliffe Press (Daily Mail) brought to the public's attention what became known as "The Shell Crisis", signifying that the nation had given little thought to securing long-term munitions supplies needed to successfully wage an unprecedented protracted war. The Asquith government fell, to be replaced by that of Lloyd George, recently appointed Minister of Munitions to resolve the crisis. Watson, as chairman of a six-man "Leeds Munitions Committee" made up from local industrialists in August 1915, was charged by the government to immediately establish the first of 12 National Shell Filling Factories. A factory was promptly established on a greenfield site at Barnbow, close to Leeds. It resembled a small town of detached houses and huts more than a traditional factory, to contain and localise any accidental explosions. It remained the largest such operation in the country, having despatched 566,000 tons of finished ammunition overseas by the Armistice. At its height it employed 16,000 workers, 93% of whom were women and girls. Its fire brigade responded to three accidental explosions, the most serious of which occurred in 1916, killing 35 women and injuring many more.Tony Cox. "Barnbow Munitions Factory 1915–18." The Barwicker No. 47. Barwick-in-Elmet Historical Society.Eric Jackson. (2007). The Barnbow Lasses. Pontefractus Local History .

Racehorse owner

Watson hunted with the Bramham Moor foxhounds in Yorkshire, near his home at Linton Spring, Wetherby. He was a prominent racehorse owner and in 1918 acquired from Alec Taylor, Jr. the famous Manton training establishment near Marlborough in Wiltshire,History of Manton. Brian Meehan at Manton. Retrieved 7 July 2013. going on to spend £30,000 on yearlings.Argus Newspaper, Melbourne, Australia, 15 March 1922 "Death on Hunting Field" In 1921 he won The Oaks with Love in Idleness, and the Grand Prix de Paris, the world's richest racing prize (400,000 Francs), with Lemonora which also had gained third place in the Derby that year, all ridden by jockey Joe Childs. He was termed by the racing press Mr "Lucky" Watson.For movie footage of Lemonora winning the Grand Prix and Watson with his horse in the winner's enclosure, see British Pathe; you tube Item title reads: "World's Richest Racing Prize. "Lemonora" wins Grand Prix for Mr "Lucky" Watson. Paris, France. We see people milling about and a lot more sat in the stands. L/S of the horse race, we see them coming round the bend and racing up the track. M/S of the jockey on "Lemonora" after the race, M/S of Mr Watson who takes his top hat off to the camera, he holds the horses reins"

Philanthropy

In 1921 Watson donated £50,000 to the Leeds General Infirmary, of which he was a board member from 1906 to his death. The monies were used to replace some of its investments which had to be sold during WWI.British Medical Journal. 2 July 1921, p. 24 A half-length bronze bas-relief portrait of Watson in his baronial robes is displayed there in the George Street entrance hall, under which is inscribed A Wise Counsellor and Generous Benefactor.

Elevation to the peerage

On 25 January 1922 he was raised to the peerage for his war services as Baron Manton of Compton Verney in the County of Warwick. He had purchased the Robert Adam neo-classical mansion Compton Verney and its estate in 1921 from Lord Willoughby de Broke, intending to make his seat there, which intention was not realised due to his sudden death in March 1922, before having taken up residence. Whether his elevation, at the behest of Lloyd-George, was the result of a political donation, has not been proved but the title is not amongst those generally quoted by commentators as falling into this category.Michael De-la-Noy. The Honours System. London 1985. pp. 100–118.

Armorials