Thomas Spencer (7 November 1851 – 25 July 1905) was an English businessman, known for being the co-founder with Michael Marks of

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

, a major British retailer.

Early life

Spencer was born on 7 November 1851 in

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. He moved to

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

before he was 21 and worked as a book-keeper for a wholesale company started by Isaac Jowitt Dewhirst.

Marks & Spencer

Spencer and Michael Marks met when Dewhirst lent Marks money to run his stalls in Leeds. In 1894, when Marks had opened a permanent store in Leeds market, he invited Spencer to become a partner in what became Marks & Spencer. Spencer decided that the £300 required for a half-share in the business would be a good investment. The running of the business was split between Spencer, who managed the office and warehouse, and Marks, who continued to run the market stalls. Spencer had developed some important contacts while working for Isaac Dewhirst and these allowed him to get the best prices for goods by dealing directly with the manufacturers. In 1903, Marks & Spencer became a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

: Spencer retired later that year.

Personal life

Spencer met and married Agnes Spencer, ''née'' Whitfield, at St Saviour,

Cross Green Cross Green is an area in the east of Otley, England, and the location of a multi-use sports stadium. The stadium is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home ground of Otley R.U.F.C. It is on the eastern edge of the town ...

, in 1892. Whitfield was born in the village of Marton, now a part of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. Together they had a son named Thomas Spencer Jr. Spencer died on 25 July 1905, in Whittington,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. His wife continued to fund charitable work such as the Church of St Agnes in Easterside, Middlesbrough, after his death, and died in 1959, now buried in the graveyard of St Cuthbert's Parish Church in Marton.

References

External links

Marks and Spencer website
1851 births 1905 deaths British retail company founders People from Skipton Burials in Staffordshire 19th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-1850s-stub