Harold Hartley (businessman)

Harold Thomas Hartley (28 October 1851 – 29 September 1943) was a British journalist, publisher, mineral water manufacturer, and professional organiser of exhibitions.

Katie died in 1884 and Harold remarried, to the eldest daughter of the civil engineer Rowland Mason Ordish.

[2] He was a partner in the firm of Emmott, Hartley & Company, publishers and founders of the Warehousemen and Drapers' Trade Journal (1872) and the Chambers of Commerce Chronicle (1876).

It was through supplying aerated water to the builders of the Imperial Institute (completed 1893), that he met Joseph Lyons.

One evening later on Lyons, who had never travelled, asked me if I had ever been to Venice, as he had an idea that it might be reproduced with its canals in an attractive form.

The show was designed and directed by the theatrical impresario Imre Kiralfy who specialised in spectacular events and lent his name to the production to increase its appeal to the public.

[5] Hartley went on to organise the Indian, Victorian Era, Greater Britain, and Military exhibitions.