The Life of Sir William Hartley

No form of philanthropic activity appealed to Mr. Hartley more than the relief of pain and the healing of disease, and it was natural that this should find its chief expression in the provision of hospitals. For here his philanthropic instinct was linked with his interest in building and his sense of the valuable results to be expected from scientific research. But he was deeply concerned for the support of institutions already in existence. He was characteristically liberal in his personal contributions and he stimulated the gifts of others by adding in many instances an equivalent amount. It was in fact by no means uncommon for him to double the collection made on Hospital Sunday in Churches with which he was connected or in which he had some interest. He financed research on the cause and cure of cancer at the University of Liverpool, and he was also keenly interested in its School of Tropical Medicine--all the more so because of its importance for missionary work.

One of the first of his larger contributions was occasioned by an accident to his youngest daughter, which occurred in the very week when he left Southport to live at Aintree. I quote his own account of it.