Name Thomas Harding | Died 1927 | |
Colonel Thomas Walter Harding (1843–1927) was an industrialist and civic figure in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He was born in Lille, France where his Leeds-based father had a factory, and was educated at Leeds Grammar School. He built extensions to Tower Works in Holbeck in 1899 and the 1920s, and proposed and financed the sculptures including the Black Prince when Leeds City Square was remodelled.
He used the title "Colonel" after the Leeds artillery volunteers gave him the title of Honorary Colonel when he retired after 33 years service in 1893.
He was Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1898–99, and was created a Freeman of the City of Leeds in 1903. He moved from his home in Abbey House (originally Kirkstall Abbey's gatehouse) to Hartsholme Hall, Lincolnshire (1902) and Madingley Hall, Cambridgeshire (1906), which he restored. He was appointed High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in March 1901, and deputy lieutenant of Cambridgeshire in April.