Pub Sign Study - The Sir Henry Tate - Chorley

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Sir Henry Tate was one of the most famous and philanthropic businessmen of the later stages of the Industrial Revolution. Born in Chorley, which celebrates his life with this Wetherspoons pub and its portrait sign, Tate spent much of his working life in Liverpool and London. He was a sugar magnate, and an avid art collector, bequeathing his collection to the Tate Gallery in London (which now also has a branch in Liverpool). After Tate’s death in 1899 his factory merged with that of one of his leading rivals, Abram Lyle & Sons, to become Tate & Lyle’s one of the biggest sugar-sellers to the present day. Henry Tate was a keen social reformer, always eager to improve the conditions his employees worked and lived in, and he was a patron to many charities. He was modest and not too keen on the monarchy. He turned down a Baronet honour several times before reluctantly accepting one shortly before his death. His greatest legacy is his promotion of the arts. The Wetherspoon sign presents a portrait of the great man, a fitting reminder of his Chorley origins. Arthur Chappell