Empedia

Charles Bennion was born in 1857, the son of a farmer. His career began with an apprenticeship at Crewe railway works, followed by a period at sea, as a ship's engineer. On his return to England he became involved in shoe machinery manufacture, eventually settling in Leicester in the 1880s. He soon went into partnership with a Leeds man, Marshall Pearson. In 1899, Pearson and Bennion Ltd. merged with the United Shoe Machinery Company of America to form the British United Shoe Machinery Co Ltd. Charles Bennion was managing director of the company from 1899 until his death in 1929.