William Mather

Sir William Mather PC (15 July 1838 – 18 September 1920) was a British industrialist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1904.

He returned to the House of Commons in February 1900 when he won a by-election in the Rossendale division of Lancashire,[3] where he remained until his resignation in 1904.

[4] [5] Apart from his parliamentary and commercial activities, Mather had an interest in the promotion of education, including pioneering the idea of standardised testing.

He utilised the results of academic testing in the development of Apprenticeship schemes, at British Westinghouse.

This would lead to the Gipsy Hill College in South London[10] which in time became a key part of Kingston University.