View source for Michael Thomas Bass

{{short description|English brewer and politician}}
{{For|his father|Michael Thomas Bass (1760–1827)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|name        = Michael Thomas Bass
|image       = Michael Thomas Bass MP.jpg
|image_size  =
|caption     = Bass' bust in [[Derby Museum and Art Gallery|Derby Museum]], which he funded.
|birth_date  = {{birth-date|6 July 1799}}
|birth_place = [[Burton-on-Trent]], [[Staffordshire]], England
|death_date  = {{death-date and age|29 April 1884|6 July 1799}}
|death_place =
|education   =
|occupation  = Brewer
|party       = [[Radicals (UK)|Radical]] (1848-1859)<br>[[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] (1859-1884)
|spouse      = Eliza Jane Arden
|parents     = [[Michael Thomas Bass (1760–1827)|Michael Thomas Bass]]<br />Sarah Hoskins
|children    = [[Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton]]<br />[[Hamar Alfred Bass]]<br />Emily<br />Alice
}}
'''Michael Thomas Bass''', [[Deputy Lieutenant|DL]] (6 July 1799 – 29 April 1884) was an English [[brewer]] and a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]. Under his leadership, the [[Bass Brewery]] became the largest brewery in the world, and Bass the best known brand of beer in England. Bass represented [[Derby (UK Parliament constituency)|Derby]] in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] between 1848 and 1883, first as a [[Radicals (UK)|Radical]], and then as a member of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] upon its founding in 1859, where he was an effective advocate for the brewing industry. He was a generous benefactor both in [[Derby]], and in [[Burton-on-Trent]] where his company was based.<ref name="Oxford">''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', "Michael Thomas Bass"</ref>
==Early life and career==
Bass was born at Burton-on-Trent in [[Staffordshire]], the son of [[Michael Thomas Bass (1760–1827)|Michael Thomas Bass]], who had expanded the brewery founded by his father [[William Bass (brewer)|William]] and made it a major exporter to Russia. Michael's mother, Sarah Hoskins, was the daughter of Abraham Hoskins, a prominent Burton lawyer.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1881londuoft#page/12/mode/2up Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881]</ref>
Bass attended what was then known as [[Abbot Beyne School|The Grammar School]] in Burton and finished his schooling in [[Nottingham]]. At the age of 18, he joined the family business as an apprentice when business was not going well because the [[Napoleonic Wars]] had disrupted trade with Russia.<ref name="Oxford"/> However, the sales of [[India Pale Ale]] in India and Southeast Asia were taking off by the 1820s.
==Master brewer==
[[File:"Un Bar aux Folies-Bergère" by Édouard Manet (1882).jpg|thumb|''[[A Bar at the Folies-Bergère]]'' ({{lang|fr|Un Bar aux Folies-Bergère}}), completed in 1882 by [[Édouard Manet]]. Several bottles of Bass beer and its distinctive triangular logo can be seen on the counter of this ''[[Café-chantant|café concert]]'' in Paris]]
Bass took over control of the company in 1827 and continued the export focus on Asia. By 1832–33, the company was exporting 5,000 barrels of beer representing 40% of its output in that year.<ref name="Oxford"/>
The coming of the railway to Burton in 1839 helped the growth of the business by reducing transport costs. The company had four agents in the 1830s in London, [[Liverpool]], [[Stoke-on-Trent]] and [[Birmingham]]. By the 1880s, this had grown to twenty-one in Britain and another in Paris. The export trade was supplied by the agencies in London and Liverpool.
Under Bass's leadership, company production and sales had grown enormously. Production of ale had grown to 340,000 barrels in 1860 and to almost a million barrels in the late 1870s. By 1881, the company had three breweries and 26 [[malthouse]]s covering {{convert|145|acre|km2}} in Burton upon Trent. The company was Britain's biggest brewery and was one of its best known companies.
==Member of Parliament==
[[File:Michael Thomas Bass (1799–1884), Brewer.jpeg|200px|thumb|Michael Thomas Bass]]
[[File:Statue to Michael Thomas Bass, Wardwick, Derby (6).JPG|thumb|Statue to Michael Thomas Bass, Wardwick, Derby]]
Bass was first elected as the member for [[Derby (UK Parliament constituency)|Derby]] in 1848 and served until 1883.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Dcommons1.htm | title=The house of commons constituencies beginning with "D" | access-date=31 July 2011 | url-status=usurped | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003160938/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Dcommons1.htm | archive-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> His obituary in the ''Brewers Journal'' stated that he was known more "in the House of Commons for his regular attendance than for any feats of oratory."<ref>''Brewers Journal'' 15 May 1884 as cited in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' "Michael Thomas Bass"</ref> He focused on being a national advocate for the brewing industry against efforts by [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformists]] within the Liberal Party to legislate against alcohol.
Bass was an orthodox Liberal supporting [[free trade]], low taxes and improving [[living standards]] for the working class. He promoted legislation to abolish [[imprisonment]] for small [[debtor]]s. His legislation against [[organ grinder]]s on the grounds that they were street nuisances was less successful.<ref name="Oxford"/>
Bass was a philanthropist both in Burton and Derby. His obituarists claimed that his contributions totalled £80,000,<ref name="Oxford"/> and that he had given Derby a new [[Derby Central Library|library]], [[Derby Museum and Art Gallery|museum]], school of art, recreation ground, and swimming baths.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.derby.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/CF4B0657-6792-43C8-BEAB-F12CB8BCD58E/0/SirMichaelThomasBass.pdf | title=Sir Michael Thomas Bass 1799–1884 | publisher=Derby City Council | access-date=31 July 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110034859/http://www.derby.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/CF4B0657-6792-43C8-BEAB-F12CB8BCD58E/0/SirMichaelThomasBass.pdf | archive-date=10 November 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was instrumental in the creation of the [[Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants]].<ref>*{{cite book |last=Raynes |first=J.R. |year=1921 |title=Engines and Men; the History of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen |url=https://archive.org/details/enginesmenhistor00rayniala |place=Leeds |publisher=Goodall & Suddick (1916) Ltd |pages=23–24}}</ref>
Bass represented Derby until the final years of his life. [[William Ewart Gladstone]] offered Bass a peerage, which he declined, preferring to stay in the House of Commons.<ref name="Oxford"/>
==Personal life==
Bass married Eliza Jane Arden in 1835. They had two sons and two daughters. His elder son [[Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton|Michael Arthur]] took over the responsibility for running the company, represented [[Stafford (UK Parliament constituency)|Stafford]] in Parliament, and was elevated to the peerage in 1897 as Lord Burton. His other son [[Hamar Alfred Bass|Hamar Alfred]] also served as a member of Parliament (for [[Tamworth (UK Parliament constituency)|Tamworth]]) but had gambling problems and was excluded from involvement in company affairs.<ref name="Oxford"/> One daughter, Emily, married [[William Chichele Plowden|Sir William Plowden]], MP for [[Wolverhampton West (UK Parliament constituency)|Wolverhampton West]], and the other, Alice, married [[Chetwode Baronets|Sir George Chetwode]] being the mother of [[Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode|Philip Lord Chetwode]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://thepeerage.com/p4839.htm#i48385 | title=Michael Thomas Bass | publisher=thePeerage.com | access-date=31 July 2011}} – Biography of junior</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Michael Thomas Bass}}
*{{Hansard-contribs|mr-michael-bass|Michael Thomas Bass}}
*{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Bass, Michael Thomas |short=x}}
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{{succession box
| title  = Member of Parliament for [[Derby (UK Parliament constituency)|Derby]]
| with = 7 others, in succession
| years  = 1848–1883
| before = [[Frederick Leveson-Gower (Bodmin)|Hon. Frederick Leveson-Gower]]<br />[[Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper|Edward Strutt]]
| after  = [[Thomas Roe, 1st Baron Roe|Thomas Roe]]<br />Sir [[William Vernon Harcourt (politician)|William Vernon Harcourt]]
}}
{{succession box |title=Oldest Member of Parliament?<br />(not Father of the House)|before=[[William Bulkeley Hughes]]|after=[[James Patrick Mahon]]|years=1882–1883}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Michael Thomas}}
[[Category:1799 births]]
[[Category:1884 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century English businesspeople]]
[[Category:British radicals]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants in England]]
[[Category:English brewers]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:People from Burton upon Trent]]
[[Category:Radicals (UK)]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1847–1852]]
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