Career
Rutherford was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1900 general election for the Liverpool Scotland constituency. He served as mayor of Liverpool between 1902 and 10 January 1903 when he resigned, and was re-elected on 4 February 1903 for a second term. He was made a baronet on 24 July 1923.
He developed the Rutherford Code for transmitting chess moves over a telegraph.
