# John Orrell Lever
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{{Short description|English shipping owner and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = John Orrell Lever
|image = John Orrell Lever.jpg
|caption =
|honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MP}}
|office = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) for [Galway Borough](/source/Galway_Borough)
|leader =
|term_start = 1859
|term_end = 1865
|predecessor =
|successor =
|office1 =
|leader1 =
|term_start1 =
|term_end1 =
|predecessor1 = [Thomas Nicholas Redington](/source/Thomas_Nicholas_Redington)
|successor1 =
|office2 =
|term_start2 = 1880
|term_end2 = 1885
|predecessor2 =
|successor2 =
|majority2 =
|birth_name =
|birth_date = 1824
|birth_place =
|death_date = 4 August 1897
|death_place =
|party = [Conservative](/source/Irish_Conservative_Party)
|spouse = Elizabeth Dorning
|children =
|website = }}
'''John Orrell Lever''' (1824 – 4 August 1897)[{{Rayment-hc|g|1|date=March 2012}}] was an English shipping owner and politician who sat in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom) in two periods between 1859 and 1885.
Lever was the eldest son of James Lever of Manchester, and the descendant of Sir [Ashton Lever](/source/Ashton_Lever).[{{cite book |last=Walford |first=Edward |date=1869 |title=The County Families of the United Kingdom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C9EkzFlBgz0C |publisher=Spottiswood and Co |page=597}}] He was interested in railways and shipping, being a director of the [South Wales Railway](/source/South_Wales_Railway) and the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation Co. He was responsible for establishing [Galway](/source/Galway) as a packet-station. He was the sole lessee of the Thames and Channel Passenger Service and wrote several works.[{{cite book
|last=Mair
|first=Robert Henry
|title=Debrett's Illustrated House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
|url=https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1881londuoft#page/140/mode/1up
|year=1881
|publisher=Dean & Son
|location=London
|page=141
}}]
==Business==
Lever had diverse business interests, including cotton, linen, and corn mills in [Lancashire](/source/Lancashire) and [Ireland](/source/Ireland), the exports of finished products from [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool), and especially steam shipping. During the [Crimean War](/source/Crimean_War), he created several charter companies with Thomas Howard to ship soldiers and supplies to the war. This wartime activity led to a large profit. He and other investors established [the Galway Line](/source/the_Galway_Line), a transatlantic shipping company. He considered establishing a transatlantic cable, but was unable to do so. Lever and his partners did successfully manage to lobby for several transatlantic mail contracts between Great Britain and Canada.[{{cite journal |last1=Collins |first1=Timothy|date=1994 |title=The Galway Line in Context: A Contribution to Galway Maritime History (Part I). |journal=Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society |volume=46 |pages= 1–42 |jstor=25535634}}]
==Member of Parliament==
In February 1859, Lever was elected at a by-election as a [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) (MP) for [Galway Borough](/source/Galway_Borough). During the campaign for his first election, he claimed that "as a result of his coming to Galway men's wages had doubled from one to two shillings a day and that he looked forward to the time when they would receive double that again. He wanted to see every man, woman and child in Galway well fed, well clad, and well housed; their children well educated; bonnets on the heads of the working men's wives, good boots and stockings on their feet, and a twelve pound leg of mutton in their kitchen ranges every Sunday and Thursday, with all the appropriate accompaniments."[{{London Gazette
|issue= 22230
|date=15 February 1859
|page=611
}}] He was re-elected at the [general election in May 1859](/source/1859_United_Kingdom_general_election),[{{London Gazette
|issue= 22261
|date=10 May 1859
|page=1907
}}] but was defeated at the [1865 general election](/source/1865_United_Kingdom_general_election).[{{cite book
| title = Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922
| editor = Brian M. Walker
| publisher = [Royal Irish Academy](/source/Royal_Irish_Academy)
| location = Dublin
| year = 1978
| isbn = 0-901714-12-7
| pages = 94, 96, 102, 124, 282
}}]
At the [1880 general election](/source/1880_United_Kingdom_general_election) he was re-elected for Galway,[{{London Gazette
|issue = 4835
|date = 20 April 1880
|page=2601
}}] and held the seat until the [1885 general election](/source/1885_United_Kingdom_general_election).