Hugo Hirst, 1st Baron Hirst

Born near Munich, Hugo Hirsch became a naturalized British subject in 1883 and changed his surname to Hirst.

[1] He was co-founder with Gustav Binswanger of the General Electric Company plc, and in 1910 became its chairman.

[2] He was created a baronet, of Witton in the County of Warwick, on 2 July 1925[3] and elevated to the peerage as Baron Hirst, of Witton in the County of Warwick, on 28 June 1934.

Leslie joined GEC and became chairman and managing director after Hirst's death.

As both his son and his grandson died before Hirst, his baronetcy and peerage both became extinct on his death in 1943.