Constituency : Norwich 1871-95
When Jacob Tillett was unseated , his successor was his friend and business colleague Jeremiah Colman.
Jeremiah was a scion of the famous mustard manufacturing family. He became a partner in 1851 and greatly expanded the works providing new employment in a depressed city. He received special commissions from royalty for his products. He was Mayor of the city in 1867. He prefigured President Kennedy in his approach to municipal politics " Men should go into municipal affairs to see what they could do for the town , inatead of seeing what the town could do for them ". He was a noted philanthropist and benevolent employer creating his own mini-welfare state and leader of nonconformity in Norwich. He was also a pioneer of branding and marketing.
Jeremiah seconded the Queen's Speech in 1872. He was not blessed with great oratorical powers so didn't make the impact expected in the Commons. He both sat on and appeared as a witness before a select committee on food adulteration in 1872 where he complained that retailers had been fined for selling his mustard when it was clearly labelled as a manufactured condiment and not mustard seed in its pure state.
Gladstone offered him a baronetcy in 1893 which he declined saying "anything I can do to promote the principles I have always supported... I am glad to do but I much prefer that it should be without the reward or rank a title is supposed to give".
In 1896 Jeremiah and his family visited Egypt to boost the health of his son Alan who unfortunately died while they were there.
He died in 1898 aged 68. He donated a number of works of art , to Norwich Castle Museum which he had helped to establish.
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