Editing Thomas Crapper (section)

==Life==
Thomas Crapper was born in [[Thorne, South Yorkshire|Thorne]], West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1836; the exact date is unknown, but he was baptised on 28 September 1836. His father, Charles, was a sailor. In 1853, he was apprenticed to his brother George, a master plumber in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], and thereafter spent three years as a journeyman plumber.

In 1861 Crapper set himself up as a sanitary engineer with his own brass foundry and workshops in nearby Marlborough Road.<ref name="odnb">{{cite ODNB |last=McConnell |first=Anita |contribution=Crapper, Thomas (1837–1910) |title=Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/55389 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/55389 |access-date=10 November 2008 |archive-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125062434/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-55389;jsessionid=A740E5409CDC4160BD995C330D0EF56F |url-status=live }} </ref>

[[File:Thomas Crapper Toilet Horta Museum Branding.jpg|thumb|Thomas Crapper Branding on one of his company's toilets]]
In the 1880s Prince Albert (later [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]) purchased his country seat of [[Sandringham House]] in Norfolk and asked Thomas Crapper & Co. to supply the plumbing, including thirty lavatories with cedarwood seats and enclosures, thus giving Crapper his first [[Royal Warrant of Appointment (United Kingdom)|Royal Warrant]]. The firm received further warrants from Edward as king and from [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]], both as [[Prince of Wales]] and as king.

In 1904 Crapper retired, passing the firm to his nephew George and his business partner Robert Marr Wharam. Crapper lived at 12 Thornsett Road, [[Anerley]], for the last six years of his life and died on 27 January 1910. He was buried in the nearby [[Beckenham Crematorium and Cemetery|Elmers End Cemetery]].<ref name=odnb/>