Matthew Curtis (1807–1887) was an industrialist and civic leader in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. He was Mayor of Manchester three times. Born in Manchester in 1807, Curtis was initially apprenticed to the firm of Joseph Chessborough Dyer, subsequently becoming foreman, and then succeeding in 1836 to the ownership of Dyer's business, which became Curtis, Parr & Walton. By trade, Curtis was a wire-card manufacturer and a machine-maker. He was a partner in two businesses: Curtis, Parr & Walton, wire-card makers (with James Walton), and Parr, Curtis & Madely, machine-makers. These firms were involved in the manufacture of equipment for spinning

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

, the former in the production of Dyer's Frame and the latter producing Smith & Orr's Self-Acting Mule. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Curtis's firms were the largest manufacturers of cotton-spinning machinery in Britain. In December 1875, during his second term as Mayor of Manchester, Curtis put in place the copper ball on the summit of the Albert Square tower of the new

Manchester Town Hall Manchester Town Hall is a Victorian era, Victorian, Gothic Revival architecture, Neo-gothic City and town halls, municipal building in Manchester, England. It is the ceremonial headquarters of Manchester City Council and houses a number of local ...

, which was nearing its completion in 1877. Curtis was a council member of the Manchester Anti-Corn Law Association and a founding director of the

Manchester Athenaeum The Athenaeum on Princess Street in Manchester, England, now part of Manchester Art Gallery, was originally a club built for the Manchester Athenaeum, a society for the "advancement and diffusion of knowledge", in 1837. The society, founded in ...

. He resided at Thornfield in

Heaton Mersey Heaton Mersey is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on the north-western border of Stockport, adjacent to Didsbury and Burnage which are in the City of Manchester. The suburb is an affluent residential area and c ...

, south of the city, and died on 9 June 1887 or 11 June 1887, during his third term as Mayor.

Marriages and children

He married twice: *Firstly to Amelia Weaver (1810–1877), daughter of Richard Weaver of Tarvin in Cheshire, by whom he had 2 sons and 1 daughter, including: **John Curtis (1836–1878), eldest son, who predeceased his father, leaving 3 sons including the youngest Walter Septimus Curtis (born 1871) lord of the

manor of Denbury Denbury is an historic Manorialism, manor in Devonshire, England. The manor house, known as ''Denbury Manor'' is situated on the edge of the village of Denbury. Descent Reynell The Manorialism, manor of Denbury was long owned by the Reynell famil ...

in Devon, a barrister of

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. One of Walter's daughters was Lettice Curtis (1915–2014) an aviator, flight test engineer, air racing pilot, and sportswoman. **Richard Curtis, 2nd son; *Secondly he married Charlotte Laughton (1824–1918), 5th daughter of Edmund Laughton of Tickhill, Yorkshire. The lych gate (1927) of St John's Church, Heaton Mersey carries an inscription, much faded, dedicated to Curtis and other, later members of the Curtis family.C. Hartwell, ''Lancashire: Manchester and the South East'', Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England. (Yale University Press, 2004) . p. 230

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Matthew 1807 births 1887 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople English industrialists Lord mayors of Manchester