Sir John Tomlinson Brunner, 1st Baronet, (8 February 1842 – 1 July 1919) was a British chemical industrialist and Liberal Party politician. At Hutchinson's alkali works in Widnes he rose to the position of general manager. There he met Ludwig Mond, with whom he later formed a partnership to create the chemical company Brunner Mond & Co., initially making alkali by the Solvay process. As a Member of Parliament he represented Northwich, Cheshire, in 1885–1886 and then from 1887 to 1910. He was a paternalistic employer and as a politician supported Irish Home Rule, trade unions, free trade, welfare reforms and, leading up to the First World War, a more sympathetic stance towards Germany. Brunner was a prominent Freemason, and a generous benefactor to the towns in his constituency and to the University of Liverpool. He is the great grandfather of the Duchess of Kent. Early life and career John Tomlinson Brunner was born in Everton, Liverpool, the fourth child and second son of John Brunner (b. 20 June 1800), a Swiss Unitarian and schoolmaster, and Margaret Catherine Curphey (d. 8 September 1847), who originated from the Isle of Man, daughter of Thomas Curphey and wife Margaret Leece. His father established a school in Netherfield Road, Everton, known as St George's House, to teach children along the lines advocated by Pestalozzi. Brunner's mother died in 1847, when he was aged five; his father married Nancy Inman in 1851. She had a shrewd business sense and Brunner gave credit to her for teaching him skills in practical matters. Brunner was educated at his father's school and then, at the age of 15, he decided to follow a career in commerce. He spent four years in a shipping house in Liverpool, but found it neither exciting nor lucrative, and so decided on a change of career. In 1861, Brunner took a clerical post at Hutchinson's alkali works in Widnes, where his older brother Henry was already working as technical manager. There, he rose to the position of general manager. Shortly after starting work at Hutchinson's, Brunner met the German-born chemist Ludwig Mond. Brunner Mond and Company In 1873 Brunner formed a partnership with Mond and together they founded Brunner Mond & Company. Their initial capital was less than £20,000 (£ in ), most of which was borrowed. In April 1872 Mond had been to Belgium to meet Ernest Solvay to negotiate terms