Sir Alfred Bird, 1st Baronet
Sir Alfred Frederick Bird, 1st Baronet (27 July 1849 – 7 February 1922)[1] was an English chemist, food manufacturer and Conservative Party politician. He is best remembered as the proprietor of Alfred Bird & Sons, a company founded by his father Alfred Bird, the inventor of baking powder and the powdered custard that bears his name.
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Early life and career
Bird was born in Birmingham and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham. In 1867 he joined his father's company. In 1878 he took full control of the company following the death of his father, and began an ambitious programme of modernisation and expansion. Bird also continued to innovate with new products such as a powdered egg substitute, jelly crystals and tablet jellies. In 1900 Alfred Bird & Sons Ltd became a public limited company.
Bird retired as chairman and managing director of the company in 1905. He stood unsuccessfully as the Unionist candidate on Wednesbury at the 1906 general election,[2] and at the January 1910 general election he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton West,[3] a seat which he held until his death.[1] He was knighted in the 1920 New Year Honours for his services to the reorganisation of Overseas Officers' Clubs and to discharged servicemen and old age pensioners[4][5] and created a baronet, of Solihull in the County of Warwick, in the 1922 New Year Honours for his patronage of art and for donating paintings to the Houses of Parliament.[6][7] However, he died a few days after the Letters Patent were issued for his baronetcy.
Death
Alfred Frederick Bird died on 7 February 1922, aged 72, shortly after being run over by a car in Piccadilly, London. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son Robert, who also won the March 1922 by-election to succeed him as MP for Wolverhampton West.
Acquisition
The company continued as a family run business until 1947, when the American company General Foods Corporation acquired control of the company. Birds remains to this day a major food brand, although its products are no longer made in Birmingham. Premier Foods assumed ownership of the brand in the mid-2000s.
Burial
Alfred Frederick Bird is interred in a large family vault within the grounds of Robin Hood Cemetery, Streetsbrook Road, Shirley, Solihull.[citation needed]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)[self-published source][better source needed]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Craig, page 214
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31712. p. 2. 30 December 1919.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 31830. p. 3431. 19 March 1920.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 32563. p. 10710. 30 December 1921.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 32668. p. 2916. 11 April 1922.
References
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bird, Alfred Frederick by T.A.B.Corley
- Leigh Rayment's list of baronets [self-published source][better source needed]
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Alfred Bird
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton West Jan. 1910–1922 |
Succeeded by Sir Robert Bird |
Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
New creation | Baronet (of Solihull) 1922 |
Succeeded by Robert Bland Bird |
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- 1849 births
- 1922 deaths
- English businesspeople
- People from Birmingham, West Midlands
- Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
- Knights Bachelor
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1910
- UK MPs 1910–18
- UK MPs 1918–22
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