Hugh Mason married Sarah Buckley, the daughter of Abel Buckley, Esq, who was also the father of Abel Buckley Businessman and MP, another cotton mill owner who went on to be a millionaire businessman and landowner. They had one child, Arnold, who was born in 1851. Sarah died in 1852 at the age of 29. Mason next married Sarah's sister, Betsy, though it was illegal to marry one's sister-in-law in England at the time. To overcome this problem they married in Denmark on 7 June 1854. Their marriage was approved by special licence from the King of Denmark and was held at the Evangellic Reform Church, Altona in the Duchy of Holstein. They had four children: Bertha, born in 1855, Edith in 1857, Rupert in 1859 and Sydney in 1861. Betsy died after the birth of Sydney and Mason then married for a third time Annie, daughter of George Ashworth, Esq, of Rochdale in 1864. Bertha became known as a campaigner for women's suffrage and temperance. Hugh Mason died three days after his 69th birthday on 2 February 1886 at his home, Groby Hall. At his death, he had amassed a fortune worth £290,933 (now worth about £17M). He was the first person to have a statue (now protected as a Grade II listed building) erected in his honour in Tameside; it was financed by public subscription immediately after Mason's death. Notes References Bibliography External links D. A. Farnie, 'Mason, Hugh (1817–1886)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, October 2005 1817 births 1886 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1880–1885 People from Stalybridge British social reformers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ashton-under-Lyne