Alfred Baldwin

Alfred Baldwin was born on 4 June 1841 and died on 13 February 1908. He was an English businessman and a member of the Conservative Party who served as a Member of Parliament (MP). Baldwin was the twelfth child of George Pearce Baldwin and Sarah Chalkley Stanley. His place of birth was in England, and he was born posthumously, after his father's death.

Baldwin began his career working at the Wilden Iron and Tin Plate Company located at Wilden near Stourport in Worcestershire. In 1840, the company was taken over by his uncle, Enoch Baldwin, who operated it in partnership with his nephews Pearce and William Baldwin under the business name E.P. & W. Baldwin of Wilden. In 1879, Alfred Baldwin and his brothers dissolved the business partnership. Subsequently, Alfred took over the Wilden Works located at Wilden House and renamed the company Baldwins Ltd.

In addition to his interests in manufacturing, Alfred Baldwin expanded his role in the railway industry by becoming a director and chairman of the Great Western Railway. His public service included being elected as a Member of Parliament for Bewdley in Worcestershire in the 1892 general election. He served in this parliamentary position until his death. Upon his death, his parliamentary seat was succeeded by his only child, Stanley Baldwin, who later became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Baldwin held several other public offices, including positions as Justice of the Peace (JP) for Staffordshire and Worcestershire. He was also appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Worcestershire.

In his personal life, Alfred Baldwin married Louisa Macdonald on 9 August 1866. Louisa was the daughter of Reverend George Browne Macdonald, a Wesleyan minister, and Hannah Jones. Through his marriage, Baldwin was connected to notable figures in the arts; his family links included prominent artists and writers. His sister Alice married the art teacher John Kipling, and their son was the writer Rudyard Kipling. Another sister, Agnes, married Sir Edward John Poynter, a painter, in a joint wedding with Alice. A third sister, Georgiana, married the painter Edward Coley Burne-Jones in 1860.

Alfred Baldwin contributed to local religious and cultural heritage by financing the construction of All Saints Church in Wilden, which was consecrated in 1880. The church's stained glass windows, mostly replacing original designs, were created by Sir Edward John Poynter between 1902 and 1914 and include designs dedicated to the Baldwin and Burne-Jones families. One of the windows depicts Stanley Baldwin setting out on life's journey, accompanied by a guardian angel.

References to his contributions and life can be found in sources such as the History of Wilden Industrial Estates, archives documenting Victorian art and stained glass, and Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs. External links include records of his contributions in the UK Parliament documented by Hansard from 1803 to 2005.