George Burton Hunter

Born in Sunderland, Hunter was a pupil under Thomas Meek before being apprenticed to William Pile, his cousin.^[1] In 1869 he moved to Clydeside where he worked for R. Napier & Sons.^[1] He returned to Wearside in 1873 and formed a partnership with S. P. Austin; this partnership was dissolved in 1879 and instead Burton became Manager of a new firm known as C. S. Swan & Hunter on Tyneside.^[1] By 1893 the firm was the largest shipbuilder on Tyneside.^[1] The business was incorporated in 1895 with Hunter as Chairman.^[1]

He became Mayor of Wallsend in 1901 and was knighted in 1918.^[1]

Burton acquired Wallsend Hall in 1914 and then presented the hall and its grounds to Wallsend Corporation in 1919: the facility evolved to become the Sir G B Hunter Memorial Hospital.^[2]

In 1873 he married Annie Hudson: they went on to have four daughters and two sons.^[1] He lived at The Willows in Jesmond in Newcastle upon Tyne.^[3]