Mander family facts for kids

The Mander family has been very important in the English Midlands for over 200 years. They were known for their family business and for their work in public life.

During the early Industrial Revolution, the Mander family helped Wolverhampton grow a lot. Their company, Mander Brothers, was a big employer in the city. They became the top makers of varnish, paint, and later printing ink in the British Empire. The family was also famous for helping the community, supporting art, and giving to charity. Charles Tertius Mander (1852–1929) was given a special honor, becoming the first baronet of The Mount in 1911.

Early Family History

The Mander family were originally farmers who owned their own land, called franklins. They settled in Tredington by 1291, near the borders of Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The Wolverhampton branch of the family comes from Henry Mander (1601–1672), from Aston Cantlow. His son, Samuel Mander, moved to Lapworth Hall around 1695, and the family lived there for about 200 years.

In 1742, Samuel's grandson, Thomas Mander (1720–1764), moved a few miles north to Wolverhampton. At that time, Wolverhampton was a market town with only about 7,500 people. Thomas became a merchant, a malt maker, and a manufacturer. He also inherited property in John Street from his wife's family, which is now a central part of the modern city.

Important Family Members

• Benjamin (1752–1819) and John Mander (1754–1827) were Thomas's sons. By 1773, they started several businesses in Wolverhampton. These included one of the largest chemical factories in the country. They also had businesses in baking, japanning (a type of varnishing), and tin-plate work. They were involved in canals and making gas. Benjamin Mander led the Wolverhampton Union Flour and Bread Company. This was a charity that provided cheap bread and flour to people who were struggling after the Napoleonic Wars. Both brothers actively worked against the slave trade. They also helped start chapels, libraries, and schools. They became local politicians, with four Manders serving as town commissioners at one time.

From this point on, the oldest sons in the main family line were often named Charles:

• Charles Mander (1780–1853) was Benjamin's oldest son. In 1803, he started a varnish factory that grew successfully throughout the 1800s. He was a reformer who worked to change unfair laws. He helped get a law called the "Blood Money Act" removed in 1818. This law had encouraged people to report crimes for money, which sometimes led to unfair accusations. A famous story about him saving two soldiers from a harsh punishment became a novel. He also worked hard to protect the rights of non-conformist religious groups.

• Charles Benjamin Mander (1819–1878) was Charles's oldest son. He was key in setting up Britain's first public art school in 1852. As a town councilor, he pushed for clean drinking water and a free library in Wolverhampton. As railways grew, he greatly expanded the Mander Brothers business. He formed a partnership with his brother Samuel in 1845. A blue plaque marks The Mount, Tettenhall Wood, the house he built after 1862, which is now a hotel.

• Sir Charles Tertius Mander (1852–1929) was Charles Benjamin's oldest son. He held many public roles. He was mayor of Wolverhampton four times between 1892 and 1896, which was very unusual. He was also an alderman and received the honorary freedom of the city. He was a colonel in the Staffordshire Yeomanry and the first in his family to be High Sheriff of Staffordshire. He was a forward-thinking industrialist and manufacturer. He was the first chairman of Mander Brothers (1923), the family paint and varnish company. He was also involved in other companies, including one that invented the spark plug. He was made the first baronet of The Mount, Tettenhall Wood, in 1911 for his public service.

• Sir Charles Arthur Mander (1884–1951) was the second baronet and the older son of Charles Tertius. He was mayor of Wolverhampton twice and an honorary freeman of the borough. He shot rifles for England while at Trinity College, Cambridge. In World War I, he was a major in the Staffordshire Yeomanry. He fought in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and was wounded in 1917. After a major battle, he entered Damascus with General Allenby. He served on over 65 committees and organizations at one time. He was a popular public speaker and hosted early radio discussion programs. He was also vice-chairman of the National Savings Committee and President of Rotary International for Britain and Ireland. In the US, he was made an honorary chief of the Blackfoot tribe in Montana. This happened when he spoke at the opening of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in 1932. This was the first national park dedicated to peace.

• Sir Charles Marcus Mander (1921–2006) was the third baronet and the only son of Charles Arthur. He fought in World War II in North Africa, Germany, and Italy. He was seriously wounded in Italy in 1943. He was a director of Mander Brothers and managed their properties. From 1968, he redeveloped the center of Wolverhampton. He created the Mander Shopping Centre and Mander Square on the site of the family's early factories. He was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1962–1963. He then became chairman of two property groups. He also developed a new town for 11,500 people called Perton outside Wolverhampton. This was on the family's farmland, which had been used as an airfield during World War II.

• Sir (Charles) Nicholas Mander (born 1950) is the fourth baronet. He is a knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He lives at Owlpen Manor in Gloucestershire. He helped start two companies: Mander Portman Woodward (a college) and Sutton Publishing (a book publisher). He has also written a history of his family and other books.

• (Charles) Marcus Septimus Gustav Mander (born 1975) is the oldest son of Charles Nicholas. He is expected to inherit the baronetcy. He is a barrister, which is a type of lawyer.

Other Notable Family Members

• The Hon. Francis Mander (1849–1942) was a member of the Parliament of New Zealand. He was also part of the New Zealand Legislative Council. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1902 to 1922. He then served on the Legislative Council from 1923 to 1930. In business, he was a pioneer in sawmilling and owned a newspaper called The Northern Chronicle. He later bought another newspaper, The Northern Advocate, and closed his first one. He was the father of the famous New Zealand novelist, Jane Mander.

• Jane Mander (1877–1949) was one of the most important New Zealand novelists of the early 1900s. Her most successful novels were The Story of a New Zealand River (1920) and Allen Adair (1925). She was the daughter of Francis Mander and started her career as a journalist for his newspaper, The Northern Advocate.

• (Samuel) Theodore Mander (1853–1900) was a paint and varnish manufacturer, a public servant, and a generous giver to charity. He studied at universities in London, Berlin, and Cambridge. In 1879, he joined the Mander Brothers company with his cousin, Charles Tertius Mander. He was very interested in arts and education. He helped build the Wolverhampton Free Library and was a governor of several local schools. He also supported Birmingham University and was one of the first people to help fund Mansfield College, Oxford, a college for non-conformist students. He was an art collector and is remembered for building Wightwick Manor in 1887 and 1893. This beautiful house, filled with art, was given to the National Trust by his son Geoffrey in 1937. Theodore Mander was an alderman and a judge. He died while serving as Mayor of Wolverhampton at the age of 47.

• Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander (1882–1962) was the oldest son of (Samuel) Theodore Mander, who built Wightwick Manor. He was an industrialist in the Midlands and chairman of Mander Brothers. He was also an art collector and a politician who supported social change. He was a Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton East from 1929 to 1945. He was the Liberal Party's expert on foreign policy between the World Wars. He strongly opposed policies that tried to avoid war by giving in to aggressive countries. He was a strong supporter of the League of Nations, an organization that aimed to promote world peace. He gave Wightwick Manor, with its amazing collection of Victorian art, to the National Trust in 1937.

• Sir Frederick Mander (1883–1964) was a headmaster and a trade union leader. He was the General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) from 1931 to 1947. Mander College of Further Education in Bedford was named after him. He was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, and was also a descendant of Henry Mander of Aston Cantlow.

• Miles Mander (1888–1946), Geoffrey's younger brother, chose a different path. He became a well-known actor in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a film director, playwright, and novelist. He was an early pilot and loved racing cars. He spent his twenties farming sheep in New Zealand. He found success with the film The First Born, which he directed and acted in, based on his own book. He is best remembered for playing smooth, often upper-class villains. For example, he played Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers (1939). In his first Hollywood role, he played King Louis XIII in the 1935 version of the same story. Other films he was in include Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier. His first wife was an Indian princess, Princess Prativa Sundari Devi.

• John Mander (1932–1978) was a British writer, editor, and poet. He was also a political commentator and translated works from German. He was the younger son of Geoffrey Mander.

• Raymond Mander (1911–1983) was a theatre historian, author, and collector. With Joe Mitchenson, he founded the Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection. This collection of theatre items and archives is now housed at the University of Bristol.

• Lewis Norman Mander (1939–2020) was an Australian organic chemist, born in Auckland, New Zealand. He spent 20 years at the Australian National University studying and creating a type of plant hormone called gibberellin.

See also

• Mander Baronets
• Mander Brothers
• Charles Tertius Mander
• Charles Arthur Mander
• Charles Marcus Mander
• Sir Nicholas Mander, 4th Baronet
• Roger Mander
• Frederick Mander
• Geoffrey Mander
• Francis Mander
• John Mander
• Miles Mander
• Jane Mander
• Rosalie Glynn Grylls