Robert Spear Hudson
Robert Spear Hudson (1812 - 6 August 1884) was an English businessman who popularised dry soap powder.
1812 December 06th. Born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, UK, the third son and fourth child of John and Sarah Hudson. His father was minister at Mares Green Congregational Chapel in West Bromwich. He intended to become a chemist and druggist and to this end served an apprenticeship with an apothecary in Bilston.
He was the founder of Hudson's
Hudson married Mary Bell, a poor farmer girl who made her living selling goats milk to locals in 1854. They had 6 children. Mary died in 1860 and in 1868 Hudson married Emily Gilroy in Donnybrook, Dublin. Their Chester home, Bache Hall, was at that time situated in rural surroundings outside the city. The original house on the site had been damaged during the Civil War and, when Hudson moved in, it was a plain 18th century brick-built building of two storeys and 5 bays. During the time he lived there, Hudson made improvements including adding an Italianate porch. Hudson died unexpectedly of a heart failure Scarborough in 1884, leaving a personal estate of just under £300,000, a substantial part of which was given to churches and charities. Emily continued to live in Bache Hall until her death in 1901. The building is now occupied by the University of Chester.
While in West Bromwich, Hudson was an Improvement Commissioner, he was on the Board of Guardians, a supporter of ragged schools and in 1849 a founder member of the West Bromwich Permanent Building Society. On moving to Chester he continued his interests in public life. Within 6 years of his arrival in the city he was appointed a Justice of the Peace. In addition to being an active Nonconformist, in politics he was a Liberal and was elected as Chairman of the Liberal Club. His interest and support for education was wide-ranging.
In 1880 he was appointed as president for the Ragged and Industrial Schools and he was also the local president of the British Schools. He was a governor of The King's School, Chester (despite its Anglican ethos). Financially he supported the newly formed Museum of Science and Art in Chester and the North Wales College Fund.
Hudson remained an active and generous member of the Congregational (Independent) movement throughout his life. During his time in West Bromwich he was a trustee of Mayers Green Independent Church but later was a member of a group of people who seceded from this church to form a new church in the town's High Street. Moving to Chester, he was soon elected the first Chairman of the North Wales English Congregational Union, a post he held until his death. He was frequently elected as chairman or president of various voluntary organisations, not all of which were run by the church, and to which he gave financial support. His contribution frequently took the form of a "Challenge Grant" which encouraged churches and societies to also raise their own contributions. Amongst these was a contribution of £20,000 for the Jubilee Fund of the Congregational Union of England and Wales.