William Batty

William Batty (18231893) was a Manchester jeweller, clockmaker and Lord Mayor of Manchester.

Early life William Batty was born in 1828, the youngest son of Rev. James Batty, a nonconformist congregationalist minister in the village of Dent, West Riding of Yorkshire.

Business career William Batty began as a watchmakers' apprentice in the nearby town of Kirkby Lonsdale. He later moved to Manchester, initially living in a small room in a flat on Deansgate and working as a tradesman, repairing watches for local watch retailers. In 1853 opened his own shop at 10 Albert Place, Bridge Street, near the then-new Albert Bridge, and specialised in selling “high-class watches”.

Alderman and Mayor Batty entered Manchester City Council in 1868 as one of the representatives of All Saints' ward, and in 1884, on the death of the late Alderman Worthington he was raised to the position of alderman. As alderman he was one of the first advocates for the building of the Manchester Ship Canal, which he described as "one of the grandest schemes which has ever entered the mind of man."

He was elected as Lord Mayor in 1888 for one term. Notable events during his mayoralty included the July 1889 visit of Persian Shah Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, who attended Manchester Town Hall and the building works at the Manchester Ship Canal, as well as the stay of Irish nationalist William O'Brien. Batty was criticised for allowing O'Brien to stay at his own apartments at the Town Hall.

Batty had a keen and practical interest in the housing of the poor, and in the question of the formation of "Greater Manchester".

Later work For some years he resided in Moss Side, where he taught at the Radnor Street Wesleyan Chapel and Sunday School. He later moved to Chorlton-cum-Hardy, where in 1873, he gave a significant donation towards the building of the Chorlton-cum-Hardy Wesleyan chapel, today known as the Chorlton Methodist Church, of which he became one of the trustees and superintendent of the Sunday School.

Family Batty was married twice and had eleven sons.

His second wife was the daughter of the late Rev. Moses Rayner, a Wesleyan minister and missionary in Barbados prior to the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act.

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