Feature Article
Robert Mather (1782–1855)
Robert Mather (1782?-1855), retailer, was born on 1 May 1782? at Lauder near Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland, England, eldest son of Andrew Mather, blacksmith and farrier, and his wife Agnes, née Hamilton. He had little formal education but developed a sturdy, practical and independent character. At 14 he went to London, where he was apprenticed to a Scottish hosier for seven years and then set up for himself and became a member of the Weavers' Company and a freeman of the city. In the new...