Sir William Mather was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 industrialist and Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1904.

Mather was born in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, the son of William Mather and his wife Amelia Tidswell and was educated privately. He became chairman of the engineering company of Mather and Platt, Salford who owned the Salford Ironworks. As an employer he was notable for introducing the eight-hour working day for his workers. He was also a J.P.

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

Mather was elected as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Salford

Salford South (UK Parliament constituency)

Salford South was a parliamentary constituency in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester from 1885 until 1950. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- History :...

 in 1885, before being removed at the 1886 election

United Kingdom general election, 1886

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

. In 1889 he was elected as MP for Gorton

Manchester Gorton (UK Parliament constituency)

Manchester, Gorton is a parliamentary constituency in the city of Manchester, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-1885–1918:...

 in a by-election

Gorton by-election, 1889

The Gorton by-election, 1889 was a parliamentary by-election held on 22 March 1889 for the British House of Commons in the Gorton Division of Lancashire.- Vacancy :...

, a position he held until his defeat at the 1895 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1895

The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...

. He returned to the House of Commons in 1900 when he won a by-election in the Rossendale division

Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency)

Rossendale was a parliamentary constituency in the Lancashire, England. Created in 1885, it elected one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system...

 of Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, where he remained until his resignation

Resignation from the British House of Commons

Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...

 in 1904.
Apart from his parliamentary and commercial activities, Mather had an interest in the promotion of education. He was on the council of Owen's College and of Manchester University, and was chairman of the Froebel Educational Institute. He was also in charge of the British education section of the Franco-British Exhibition of 1908

Franco-British Exhibition (1908)

The Franco-British Exhibition was a large public fair held in London in the early years of the 20th Century. The exhibition attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France....

.

In 1902 he was knighted for his help reorganising the War Office

War Office

The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...

 during the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

, and was made a member of the Privy Council in 1910.

Mather married Emma Watson, daughter of Thomas Watson of Highbury, in 1863 and they had five children.

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