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Cosmo Rowe and two Wolverhampton houses
For decades, portraits of great socialists by the same artist hung in very different houses, one working class and one a country estate — and both played a role in labour movement history, writes NICK MATTHEWS

IN 1887 the Mander family decided to move out to the country and purchased part of the Wightwick Manor estate, three miles from their paint factory in central Wolverhampton.
The new house built between 1887 and 1889, designed by Edward Ould, of Port Sunlight fame, was built for Theodore Mander. Mander Brothers, the family firm, was a successful paint and varnish manufacturer with branches all over Europe and North America.
Like all the family, Theodore was very active in local affairs and became mayor of Wolverhampton shortly before his death in 1900.
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