Frederick Nettlefold (6 April 1833 – 1 March 1913) was a British

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

, one of the Nettlefolds in

Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...

. He was a leader in the Unitarian Church, ending up as lay president of the international organisation. He was born in

Acton, London Acton () is a town and area in west London, England, within the London Borough of Ealing. It is west of Charing Cross. At the 2011 census, its four wards, East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 62,480, ...

John Sutton Nettlefold John Sutton Nettlefold (23 September 1792 – 12 April 1866) was a British industrialist and entrepreneur. Early life and family Nettlefold was born in London. Nettlefold was a Unitarian; he married a co-religionist, Martha Chamberlain (1794&n ...

, who founded the brass fixing company Nettlefold and Chamberlain with Frederick's cousin

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the ...

, father of Austen and Neville. After his father retired and cousin left the business to concentrate on politics, Frederick took over the running of the London part of the business as chairman, while his brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

was sent to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

to manage their new foundry. Nettlefolds Ltd. was launched as a

limited company In a limited company, the 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 company limited by ...

in 1880 and the Nettlefold brothers went on to establish a dominant position the British wood-screw market through many mergers and acquisitions, becoming

, now

GKN GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 ...

. In 1878 Frederick and his wife Mary Catherine moved into Streatham Grove (now called Norwood Grove), on its vacation by P&O magnate Arthur Anderson. Their residence is now noted by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

. Frederick retired from Nettlefolds in 1893 and helped develop Samuel Courtauld's silk and crepe company. He dedicated much effort to philanthropy. This included donating land for the original public library at Knights Hill

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...

, which was later commemorated by the name Nettlefold Hall given to a part of its successor in Norwood High Street. He devoted much of his energy to the Unitarian Church, was president of the

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. S ...

Association and later the

British and Foreign Unitarian Association The British and Foreign Unitarian Association was the major Unitarian body in Britain from 1825. The BFUA was founded as an amalgamation of three older societies: the Unitarian Book Society for literature (1791), The Unitarian Fund for mission w ...

, and was one of the main supporters behind the construction of the 1886

Essex Hall Essex Street Chapel, also known as Essex Church, is a Unitarian place of worship in London. It was the first church in England set up with this doctrine, and was established when Dissenters still faced legal threat. As the birthplace of British ...

, the headquarters building for the denomination. His daughter Edith was better known as Mrs Sydney Martineau, from 1929 the lay president of the

General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC or colloquially British Unitarians) is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christians, and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom and Ireland ...

,"The Ministry of Women", by Keith Gilley, ''The Guardian'', Saturday 25 September 2004
/ref> the successor to the organisations her father presided over. Mary died at Norwood Grove in 1906 followed by Frederick in 1913, and they are buried in

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

, although their monument is believed to have been destroyed sometime in the 1980s.

References

External links

Norwood Grove

Note on grave by Friends of West Norwood Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nettlefold, Frederick 1833 births 1913 deaths Burials at West Norwood Cemetery People from Acton, London English Unitarians 19th-century English businesspeople