Percy Malcolm Stewart

{{Short description|English industrialist and philanthropist}} {{More citations needed|date=July 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Percy Malcolm Stewart | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|Bt}} | image = Malcolm Stewart in 1932.jpg | alt = | caption = Stewart in 1932 | birth_date = {{birth date|1872|05|09|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[St Leonards-on-Sea|St Leonards]], [[Sussex]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|1951|02|27|1872|05|09|df=yes}} | death_place = | occupation = Industrialist | father = [[Halley Stewart]] | relatives = [[Bernard Halley Stewart|Bernard Stewart]] (brother)<br/>[[Harold Charles Stewart|Harold Stewart]] (nephew) | spouse = | children = }} '''Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart, 1st Baronet''' (9 May 1872 – 27 February 1951), was an English industrialist and philanthropist. He incorporated the [[London Brick Company]] in the 1920s, which was at the time reputed to be the largest brick-making company in the United Kingdom.

==Early life== He was born at [[St Leonards-on-Sea|St Leonards]], Sussex, the sixth of eight children of [[Halley Stewart]] and his wife Jane Elizabeth Atkinson. He attended the [[University School, Hastings]], the [[King's School, Rochester]], and the [[Royal High School, Edinburgh]], and was also educated in Germany.<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB|id=36297|first=Chris|last=Pickford|title=Stewart, Sir (Percy) Malcolm, first baronet (1872–1951)}}</ref>

After a first job in [[lightering]] on the [[River Thames]] from about 1891, Stewart entered his father's business, and became a junior partner in 1895.<ref name="ODNB"/> The family lived in [[Luton]] until the early 1900s at the Bramingham Shott estate. Their home went on to become [[Luton Museum]], and the estate [[Wardown Park]].{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

==Business== The cement business in which the family had an interest – B. J. Forder & Son Ltd – became part of the British Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd in 1912, and Stewart became a managing director. He had remained managing director of the brick division of B. J. Forder & Son until it was amalgamated into the [[London Brick Company]] in 1923, and he became chairman of its board. He became chairman of the board of the [[Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd.|Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd]] (APCM) in 1924 and remained in that position until 1945 when he became company president. He was thus chairman of two of the largest monopolistic companies in British industry.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

==Influence== Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart and his father, Sir Halley Stewart, believed in good working and living conditions for employees. They developed the model village of [[Stewartby]] in Bedfordshire from 1926 onwards. As a special commissioner appointed by [[Ramsay MacDonald]]'s [[National Government (1931–1935)|coalition government]] of 1934, he helped devise schemes to reduce unemployment. In 1934, Sir Malcolm bought [[RSPB The Lodge|The Lodge]] at [[Sandy, Bedfordshire|Sandy]], Bedfordshire<ref>RSPB. A history of Sandy Lodge leaflet, 2007 (reference number 000-1821-06-07)</ref> which is currently the headquarters of the [[RSPB]]. Stewart was created a '''Baronet''', of [[Stewartby]] in the [[County of Bedford]], in 1937.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34379 |date=12 March 1937 |page=1640}}</ref> He was a governor of [[The Peckham Experiment]] (a social experiment in public health) in 1949.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Bulletin of the Pioneer Health Centre|journal=Peckham|date=September 1949|volume=1|issue=5|url=http://www.sochealth.co.uk/1949/09/21/peckham/|accessdate=21 October 2016}}</ref>

== Death == He died in February 1951, aged 78, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Ronald.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

==References== <references/> *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928050420/http://en.erih.net/index.php?pageId=62&anchor=213 Article on the village of Stewartby] – European Route of Industrial Heritage, archived in 2007

{{s-start}} {{s-reg|uk-bt}} {{s-new|creation}} {{s-ttl| title=[[Stewart Baronets|Baronet]]<br>'''(of Stewartby)''' | years=1937–1951}} {{s-aft| after= Ronald Compton Stewart }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Percy Malcolm}} [[Category:1872 births]] [[Category:1951 deaths]] [[Category:English philanthropists]] [[Category:People from Luton]] [[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Bedfordshire]] [[Category:English businesspeople]] [[Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh]] [[Category:Stewart baronets|1701]] [[Category:National Council of Social Service presidents]]