An industrialist who had made his fortune as a sugar refiner, Henry Tate offered his collection of art to the nation on the condition that a gallery dedicated to British art was built. The son of a clergyman, Tate was born in 1819 in Chorley, Lancashire and was educated in his father's own school until the age of 13 when he moved to Manchester to become a grocer's assistant. By the age of 20 he had his own shop and by 35 a chain of six shops, all in the Liverpool area.