William Meath Baker (1 November 1857 – 15 January 1935) was an English pottery owner, benefactor, landowner and High Sheriff. Hasfield Court Gloucestershire

He was born in

Hilderstone Hilderstone is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Staffordshire.OS Explorer Map 244: Cannock Chase & Chasewater: (1:25 000) :

, Staffordshire, the son of the Revd. Ralph Bourne Baker and his wife Francis Crofton Singer, daughter of Joseph Henderson Singer,

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Until the ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. In 1875, at the age of 18, he succeeded his father to the family pottery works of William Baker and Co in Fenton, Staffordshire and the country house of

Hasfield Court Hasfield Court is a Grade II* listed building in Hasfield, Gloucestershire, England. Hasfield Court was the site of a medieval manor house, the home of the Pauncefoot family from about 1200. It includes Tudor panelling with the initials of Ric ...

in Gloucestershire. His father had inherited both properties from his unmarried elder brother William in 1865. William Meath Baker established himself as a country squire at Hasfield, having little active involvement in the management of the Fenton pottery, and serving as a JP for Gloucestershire and High Sheriff for 1896–97. He was a keen mountain climber and his obitaury appeared in the 1935 edition of the Alpine Journal despite him never having been a member of the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

. He was loyal to his Staffordshire roots and in the late 1880s funded at his own expense the building of Fenton Town Hall and other buildings in the town. He was a close friend and patron of the composer

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

and is the "W.M.B." on whom Variation No IV of his ''

Enigma Variations Edward Elgar composed his ''Variations on an Original Theme'', Op. 36, popularly known as the ''Enigma Variations'', between October 1898 and February 1899. It is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on an original theme. Elgar ...

'', composed in 1899, was based. The variation reflected Baker's impetuous and volatile nature. Two other variations were based on other members of the Baker family. The Fenton Pottery business ceased trading in 1932 during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. He died in 1935. He had married twice, to Hannah Corbet in 1884 (who died in 1906) and secondly Sybill Wyrley-Birch in 1909. He had three sons by his first wife. Hasfield Court passed to his second son, Francis Ralph, his eldest son having become a Roman Catholic priest.

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Biographies of family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, William Meath 1857 births 1935 deaths People from the Borough of Stafford People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge High sheriffs of Gloucestershire