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James
Glover, Business leader and JP
Obituary
JAMES Glover, who was, described in a Sentinel article in 1980 as an
“elder statesman of the Potteries”, was born in Dublin in 1913.
A
former JP and director of North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, he had studied at Trinity College, Dublin, graduating with
honours in economics and English.
During
his time at university he was a member of several debating societies,
and became president of the Commerce and Economics Society. He also
played rugby, rowed and boxed for Trinity. After his graduation in 1936
he travelled extensively
around Europe, returning home on the out-break of the Second World War.
He
joined the Royal Artillery as a field gunner in 1940 and
later
transferred to the Anti-Aircraft Command Regiment. He became a
lieutenant in 1942 serving on the Western Front.
Mr
Glover met his wife Doreen in 1943. She was working as a Wren with
Combined Operations, and was one of the few people who knew the date of
the Normandy landings. They married at Endon in 1945, and moved to
Nigeria where Mr Glover was working with the Colonial Service near
Lagos, serving with the Department of Commerce and Industries.
They
stayed there for three years, and on their return in 1949 Mr Glover
became editor of a trade magazine in London. Later that year he joined
the distribution division of a firm of management and industrial
consultants.
The
couple moved back to Doreen’s home village of Endon in 1950 and their
daughter Louise was born in 1957. The family never moved away from Endon,
and Mr Glover fell in love with Stoke-on-Trent and the people he met
there. On his arrival in the Potteries he became involved in the Chamber
of Commerce, taking over as secretary in March 1950. He eventually
became director of the chamber, and travelled around the world promoting
North Staffordshire’s industries.
In
1962 he was sworn in as a magistrate for Endon, a post he held until his
retirement from the chamber in 1980.
He
was thrilled to be awarded the MBE in 1971 for his services to export,
having spent the preceding 20 years expanding and developing the scope
of the chamber’s work at home and abroad. Under his leadership .
the chamber sponsored
trade missions to major export markets, bringing in millions of pounds.
After
his retirement from the chamber he continued to act a consultant and
helped with publicity for the Tableware Distributors’ Association. Mr
Glover was a keen reader, and particularly enjoyed the novels of John le
Carré. He also enjoyed the works of Irish authors and never lost his
great affection for Ireland.
His love of the English language extended to writing, and he often
contributed features on trade and industry to the Evening Sentinel. .
His
family believed that he was a frustrated novelist with a great work
inside him, and although he never wrote his book he was fond of
entertaining guests with after-dinner speeches. He died peacefully on
Friday, December 21, at the City General Hospital, following a chest
infection. He was 88. The funeral will be held at 3pm on Thursday,
January 3, at St Luke's Church in Endon.
Sentinel
Sunday, newspaper. December 30 2001 |
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