Sir John Tomlinson Brunner, 1st Baronet, DL (8 February 1842 – 1 July 1919) was a British chemical industrialist and Liberal Party politician.

His father established a school in Netherfield Road, Everton, known as St George's House, to teach children along the lines advocated by Pestalozzi.

[3] He spent four years in a shipping house in Liverpool, but found it neither exciting nor lucrative, and so decided on a change of career.

[9] Brunner and Mond decided to build their factory at Winnington, near Northwich, Cheshire on land owned by Lord Stanley of Alderley.

Lord Stanley insisted on selling the house, Winnington Hall, as well as the surrounding land, as part of the deal.

[10] The early years were extremely difficult, initially in getting the plant to work efficiently and then in selling the soda ash.

[11] In 1881, the partnership was converted into a limited company with capital assets listed at £600,000 (£7.6 million in 2025)[6] and the founders became managing directors for life.

Measures introduced by Brunner and Mond were shorter working hours, sickness and injury insurance, and holidays with pay.

[17] As a result of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the parliamentary constituency of Northwich was created and Brunner offered himself as a candidate for the Liberal Party.

He responded "My father was a Swiss, my mother was a Manx woman, I was born in Liverpool, my nurse was Welsh: is that Cheshire enough for you?

"[20] At the general election on 1 December 1885 Brunner beat William Henry Verdin, his Conservative rival, with a majority of 1,028.

Brunner's opponent at the 1886 election was William Henry Verdin's brother, Robert, standing as a Liberal Unionist.

His return to Northwich on 2 July 1887 was greeted with great celebration, as he was extremely popular in the town, regarded as a kind and sympathetic employer and a generous benefactor.

At the 1892 general election, Brunner's opponent was not a Liberal Unionist, but a Conservative, George Whiteley, who was a cotton manufacturer from Blackburn.

[31] In the 1906 general election, Brunner's opponent was the Conservative Colonel B. N. North who had fought in the Boer War.

[3] Leading up to the First World War he argued that Britain should adopt a more sympathetic approach towards Germany, including naval disarmament.

[6] When the building of the bridge was complete in 1905 it was due to be opened by Edward VII, but the king was unable to attend, and so Brunner performed the ceremony himself.

Salome died on 29 January 1874 and the following year he married Jane Wyman, the daughter of a Kettering physician and the governess to his children.

[44] Amongst other offices held, he was Vice-President of the British Science Guild, Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Lancashire (from 1904) and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool.

In 1895 he was made the Baronet of Druids Cross in the County of Lancashire and in 1906 he became a member of the privy council, but he declined offers of a peerage.